Mallory Elise Bilger
Student, elementary educator in training
Evansville Christian School
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MalloryBilgerResume (.pdf) 0.15mb Everyone possesses a worldview, sometimes unknowingly, but it is always present under the surface, informing a person’s decisions, actions, and motivations. A worldview is a lens through which a person sees and interprets the world. It could be likened to a filter through which a person makes sense of issues like creation, existence, and the value and purpose of human life. The only lens a human can utilize that truly gives a clear view of the world and how humans fit into the overarching plan for creation is the Bible. Adopting a Biblical worldview is essential to helping people understand who they are in relation to God, how they fit into His ultimate plan for creation, and how they can access hope, purpose, and meaning within that plan.
Biblical Worldview
A Biblical worldview must be rooted in the inerrant truth found in God’s word, and begins with the essential facts that the triune God created the universe and everything in it, including man and woman, in his image and for his glory (English Standard Version Bible, 2001, Genesis 1:26-27). Genesis goes on to say that God looked upon his creation, including Adam and Eve, and saw that it was very good (English Standard Version Bible, 2001, Genesis 1:31). It takes almost no time after Genesis chapter 1 for Eve and then Adam to errantly determine they know better than the Creator God, when they choose to follow the wayward advice of the serpent by eating the forbidden fruit from the only tree God instructed them not to bother (English Standard Version Bible, 2001, Genesis 2). Thus, Genesis 3 explains that with this disobedient choice the marring curse of sin enters creation, and along with it death, disease, pain, and striving, and perhaps most terrible consequence – a perfect relationship with the creator God severed (English Standard Version Bible, 2001). Creation continues to groan under this curse today, and can be seen on full display in man’s depravity, the world’s continual unrest, and creation’s groaning as time passes. However, hope has never been lost. Through many whispers from the very beginning in the Old Testament, and through prophecies fulfilled in the New Testament, we see that it was always God’s ultimate plan to redeem his people through the sacrificial blood of Jesus Christ (English Standard Version Bible, 2001). Only through a relationship with Jesus Christ built on grace through faith can a person’s right relationship with the Creator God be restored, and this is a gift from God that no man can fully understand or claim as his own doing (English Standard Version Bible, 2001, Ephesians 2:8-9).
A life devoted to Christ through faith helps any man, woman, boy, or girl fulfill God’s purpose for all humanity and restores man’s right relationship with God. As the Westminster Shorter Catechism states, with its basis from Psalm 145: “The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.” (Shorter Catechism of the Assembly of the Divines, 1647). The only way a person can rightly orient him or herself in the world is to understand that he or she is created in the image of God, for his glory and purposes, and that those purposes can only be fulfilled through a relationship with the savior, Jesus. This foundational truth illuminates the fact that God’s people are called to live urgently and on mission to spread the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which many believers know well as the Great Commission. Christians should live knowing that Jesus is coming back one day to claim all those who belong to him, to take them to eternal glory to be with him forever (English Standard Version Bible, 2001, Matthew 28:19-20).
Christian Philosophy of Education
Recognizing the truth about creation, the fall of man, and about God’s redemptive plan for mankind unveiled through the scriptures, any educational endeavors created apart from the Bible are incomplete at best, and seriously dangerous when at their worst. Those facts make a Christian Philosophy of Education not only important, but truly essential in helping students orient themselves correctly in creation. This can only be done effectively according to the truth of God’s word.
A comprehensive Christian Philosophy of Education answers the major metaphysical questions in education. This philosophy funnels itself through a Biblical worldview and gives students answers to questions surrounding their meaning and purpose. When we understand that we must be truth-seekers and hungry to acquire Godly knowledge in the context of the Lord’s sovereignty, we understand that a Christian Philosophy of Education will require us to work diligently to know God and make him known, all through the pursuit of genuine truth and knowledge revealed in the scriptures. Jennings (2019) notes that all humankind is created with an innate desire to know truth, and God’s word expounds on the idea that through the pursuit of Godly knowledge, we do not have to remain fools.
A Christian Philosophy of Education also addresses the axiological question of, “What is of value?” This philosophical approach to education helps students understand that a pursuit of God through the scriptures, and more personally, a relationship with Jesus Christ, sanctifies men and women day by day, setting Christians apart for work of the Lord. The Bible clearly states what is most valuable in this life when Jesus answers the question regarding the greatest commandment in Luke 10:27 (English Standard Version Bible, 2001). God’s word is prescriptive for all areas of life, especially the pursuit of knowledge. Paul addresses the issue of value and how it can relate to not only education but to life in his letter to the church at Philippi. He quite clearly instructs his readers upon what they should be thinking on: “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things” (English Standard Version Bible, 2001, Philippians 4:8).
Implications for Educational Practice
The implications of employing and promoting a Biblical worldview through a Christian Philosophy of Education are eternal. While we know that spreading the Gospel is a charge given to all Christians, and especially within the framework of the church, we also recognize that in today’s society, a large portion of today’s youth are not only unchurched, but simply are never being taught the truths of the scriptures. McDowell (2022) notes this truth and emphasizes that not only are scriptural truths no longer widely recognized as morally relevant, more often than not they are twisted as both harmful and hateful. One of the most practical ways to combat this issue is for Christian educators to embrace and fully support a Christian Philosophy of Education grounded in Biblical worldview through educational subjects such as math, science, literacy, social studies, English, and language arts, to name a few.
A genuinely Christian worldview starts at home, but a genuinely Christian education grounded in scripture orients students correctly from the beginning of the school experience – which is a personal passion of mine as an educator. My teaching emphasis is in early childhood education, and I plan to teach preschool or lower elementary grades. I firmly believe these ages are where students begin to put on the armor to fight spiritual wars. During these formative years, children are internalizing who they are, creating rhythms for daily life, and solidifying identities at these tender ages. The world wants to tell these precious young souls they can create their own truth, their own narratives, and their own wisdom for life, but scripture tells us that is foolish and a recipe for lostness. We especially see this in some of the pragmatic, post-modern, and critical theory educational approaches that are popular today. These ideologies dismiss absolute truth, believe the school is a breeding ground for social upheaval and change, and encourage students to create their own truth narratives (Stonestreet & Kunkle (2017) note that creating a Biblically-based identity within our turbulent culture is essential to understanding the value of human life and our own value to God. The implications for educating young students from a Biblical worldview, especially in the areas of science and math, are absolutely matters of both physical and spiritual life and death. They are matters of the whole child – body, mind, and spirit. Apart from the truth of scripture, children are left to create and collect their own misguided narratives about creation, purpose, and value.
Conclusion
Education, both on a macro and micro level, truly cannot fulfill its greatest responsibility of illuminating truth without the guardrails of Biblical Worldview and a Christian Philosophy of Education. Such an approach to education allows students to genuinely understand who they are in relation to God. It gives students answers to their biggest philosophical questions about origin, creation, purpose, and meaning. A Biblical worldview education properly orients students and the subjects they study to the creator of all knowledge – God himself. Any other type of education is simply failing to illuminate the whole truth, and therefore, forcing students to stumble their way through years of schooling on a poorly lit pathway that could ultimately lead them to their spiritual demise.
References
A Shorter Catechism of the Assembly of Divines (1647). The 1647 Westminster Confession and Subordinate Documents. A Puritan’s Mind. https://www.apuritansmind.com/westminster-standards/shorter-catechism/
English Standard Version Bible: Containing the Old and New Testaments. (2001). Crossway.
Gutek, G. (2014). Philosophical, ideological, and theoretical perspectives on education. Pearson
Education Inc.
Jennings, I. (2019, February 11). Why do we go to school? A Christian philosophy of education. Center for Faith and Culture at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.
McDowell, S. (2022). A rebel’s manifesto: Choosing truth, real justice, & love amid the noise of today’s world. Tyndale Momentum.
Stonestreet, J. & Kunkle, B. (2017). A practical guide to culture: Helping the next generation navigate today’s world. David C Cook.
FieldExperienceSummary (.pdf) 0.17mb ReveiwsAndEvaluations (.pdf) 14.04mb Assignments (lesson/unit plans) (.pdf) 1.41mb Proof of Membership (.pdf) 0.50mb CumulativeLog (.pdf) 0.17mb 
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