The purpose of education...

worth contemplating:

"A Compelling Reason for Rigorous Training of the Mind

I was reading and meditating on the Book of Hebrews recently, when it hit me forcefully that a basic and compelling reason for education - the rigorous training of the mind - is so that a person can read the Bible with understanding.

This sounds too obvious to be useful or compelling, but that is because we take the preciousness of reading for granted. We fail to appreciate the kind of thinking that a complex Bible passage requires.

The Book of Hebrews, for example, is an intellectually challenging argument based on Old Testament texts. The points that the author makes hang on biblical observations that come only from rigorous reading, not light skimming. Understanding the Old Testament interpretations in the text of Hebrews requires rigorous thought and mental effort. The same could be said for the extended arguments of Romans, Galatians, and the other books of the Bible...

... This is an overwhelming argument for giving our children a disciplined and rigorous training in how to think an author's after him from a text - especially a biblical text. An alphabet must be learned as well as vocabulary, grammar, syntax, the rudiments of logic, and the way meaning is imparted through the sustained connections of sentences and paragraphs.

The reason Christians have always planted schools where they have planted churches is because we are a people of the book. It is true that the book will never have its proper effect without prayer and the Holy Spirit. It is not a textbook to be debated. It is a fountain for spiritual thirst and food for the soul. It is a revelation of God, a living power, and a two-edged sword. None of this, however, changes the fact that apart from the discipline of reading, the Bible is as powerless as paper. Someone might have to read it for you, but without reading, its meaning and power are locked up.

The ability to read does not come intuitively. It must be taught. And learning to read with understanding is a lifelong labour. The implications for Christians are immense. Education of the mind in the rigorous discipline of thougthful reading is a primary goal of education. The church of Jesus is debilitated when his people are lulled into thinking that it is humble or democratic or relevant to give a merely practical education that does not involve the rigorous training of the mind to think hard and to construe meaning from difficult texts. The issue of earning a living is not nearly so important as whether the next generation has direct access to the meaning of the Word of God.

We need an education that puts the highest permuim under God on the knowing the meaning of God's Book and growing in the abilities that will unlock its riches for a lifetime. It would be better to starve for lack of food than to fail to grasp the meaning of the Book of Romans. Lord, let us not fail the next generation!"

- John Piper, excerpt from "A Godward Life"