Secular Education

Question from a Facebook friend:

I’m a kindergarten teacher and I recently received Christ. One thing really bothers me. What I don’t understand is how can psychology and theology mix. I want to be an educator, but finances are hard, and there is so much occultism in the educational system, especially with children!

By definition psychology is a study of the soul, which is totally compatible with theology, which is a study of God. What doesn’t mix is secular psychology, and divine revelation. There has always been tension between secular education and Christian education, and the gap is widening. Creation verses evolution has been the most contentious, but other issues weigh heavier on me.

When I was working on my first doctorate at Pepperdine University I was taking a class entitled “futures.” There was some semblance to Christianity on the undergraduate level, but virtually none on the graduate level. The class had nothing to do with prophecy. It was about business forecasting. Most of the students were in public education and every student had to make a presentation. One student was an elementary school principal in the Los Angeles school district, and his presentation was on telepathy, astral projection, etc. That was in 1981 before the New Age movement became a public obsession. I watched with amazement how the presentation captivated all the other students. The lure of knowledge and power still entices the naïve.

As the questions subsided I asked, “While you were researching for this presentation did you ask whether it was right or wrong?” He said, “No, I’m not interested in that.” I said, “I think you should be, because nothing you have shared is new. Such practices are recorded in early biblical history and are strictly forbidden by God.” The teacher thought that was a good time to end the class. The presenter never talked to me again, but I was surrounded by the other students who were questioning me about the morality of such practices. All you have to do is change the names from medium to channeler, and demon to spirit guide and a gullible public will buy it.

I am concerned for the Christian students in our secular universities who are not grounded in their faith. I am equally concerned that liberal professors aren’t being challenged. We are supposed to be the salt of the earth, and the light the world (Matt. 5:13,14).

Dr. Neil

For Spanish, see http://www.ficmm.org/blog

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