BY MARSHALL FOSTER
If we work upon marble, it will perish; if we work upon brass, time will efface it; if we rear temples, they will crumble into dust; but if we work upon immortal minds, if we imbue them with principles, with the just fear of God and love of our fellow men, we engrave on those tablets something which will brighten to all eternity.
-Daniel Webster
THE HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY has been the history of the growth of excellence in education. The ancient world had no conception of education for the common man. Scholarship was the sole property of the class-conscious elite of Greece, Rome, and Egypt. Our Lord rent the veil of educational elitism when He said, "Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven." He taught that everyone, including children, must know Him through His written Word (John 8:31). Christians spearheaded the cause of literacy from the time of the early Church through the Middle Ages. Monasteries and schools were established and eventually the first universities were started for the purpose of Christian and classical training at Cambridge, Paris, and Bologna.
With the invention of the printing press and the start of the Protestant Reformation, a paradigm shift took place in education. The Bible, for the first time in history could be purchased and read by the average family, and reformers like Martin Luther and William Tyndale made certain it was available in the common language of the people. For the purpose of scholarly study of the Bible, schools and universities were founded throughout Europe. For the very first time, books by Shakespeare and Milton, and books on science and civil government, could be found in thousands of homes, being read by candlelight.
For twelve years, a small banished congregation of English believers studied together next to the leading university of Europe, the University of Leiden. In the fall of 1620, these Pilgrims braved a sixty-six day voyage to settle the untamed wilderness of New England. According to their own diary, they came for three major purposes. They desired to be free to pursue family-directed education apart from the corruption and tyranny of Europe. They hoped to be materially prosperous through free enterprise in order that others would be drawn to join their colony and their faith. Finally, they wanted to help advance the Christian faith "to the remotest parts of the world."
These three ideals were the underlying foundations of America's success for more than two hundred years. From this precious seed, unprecedented prosperity and liberty have flourished, and the world missionary movement has grown worldwide. But perhaps the most amazing result of the intelligent biblical faith of our forefathers was the quality of education that it produced.
Harvard historian Perry Miller said, "In contrast to all other pioneers, they made no concessions to the forest, but in the midst of frontier conditions, in the very throes of clearing the land and erecting shelters, they maintained schools and a college."2 Only four people out of one thousand in New England were illiterate in the early 1800s, according to John Quincy Adams.
Moses Coit Tyler, historian of American Literature, indicated the colonists' "[f]amiliarity with history…extensive legal learning…lucid exposition of constitutional principles, showing, indeed, that somehow, out into the American wilderness had been carried the very accent of cosmopolitan thought and speech."3 From this fertile intellectual soil came the world's foremost political documents and cultural prosperity.
Millions of Americans still share this common vision of our forebears. But in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries many Christians were persuaded to withdraw from the "secular" world and two hundred years of education leadership. This left a vacuum that was quickly filled by a new breed of secular intellectuals. Historian Paul Johnson explained:
| With the decline of clerical power in the eighteenth century, a new kind of mentor emerged to fill the vacuum and capture the ear of society. The secular intellectual might be deist, skeptic or atheist. But he was just as ready as any pontiff or presbyter to tell mankind how to conduct its affairs.4 |
Today, the pressures on American students to reject the Christian faith are greater than ever. What has been the result of the removal of Christian faith and values from education? From 1960 to 1990, violent crime increased 560 percent, teenage suicide rose more than 200 percent, and SAT scores dropped almost 80 points.5 Another study found that, among other things, "nearly one-third of American seventeen-year olds do not know that Abraham Lincoln wrote the Emancipation Proclamation,. . .nearly half do not know who Joseph Stalin was, and. . .about thirty percent could not locate Britain on a map of Europe."6 A fruit of education without God and the Bible has become evident, the twentieth-century illusion of "Happy Days" and a secular "Camelot" has slowly died. But from the ashes of these misguided dreams has come a new passion burning in the hearts of godly parents all across our nation. Their realistic dream is to give their children the moral, traditional Christian education they need and deserve.
The present generation of Christian parents is beginning to prepare children not only to survive, but to succeed in the twenty-first century. They are realizing that the unbelieving world has little interest in presenting the central, positive impact of Christianity to our children. They are simply reasserting their God-ordained role as the primary, not only, teacher to their children. They are claiming this jurisdiction whether their children are in public, private, or home school. This movement toward parental involvement is a national phenomenon.
Already, young people who are being taught the truth of God in history, science, free enterprise economics, law, government, and the arts are stepping back into leadership. They are assuming these roles in a culture that was built through the intellectual sweat, the spiritual tears, and the life's blood of their Christian forebearers. The most important preparation for this pivotal generation of Christians is a comprehensive biblical worldview.
Everyone - including teachers, textbook writers, and the author of this book - has a set of conscious or unconscious presuppositions that guide all thoughts and actions. Dr. Francis Schaeffer, the eminent twentieth-century Christian apologist, defined "presuppositions" this way: "By presuppositions we mean the basic way an individual looks at life, his basic world view, the grid through which he sees the world…presuppositions also provide the basis for [his] values, and therefore the basis for [his] decisions."7 An individual's presuppositions make up his or her worldview. Professor Ron Jenson emphasized the importance of developing the proper worldview when he said, "Our worldview may be conscious or unconscious, but it determines our destiny, and the destiny of the society we live in."8
Worldviews are not inherited; they are learned. If a parent does not reinforce a biblical worldview at home, students will probably absorb a secular worldview from the classroom. Many modern historians, scientists, philosophers, and educators have attempted to claim objectivity in their chosen field of study. Most Americans have adopted this myth of neutrality. They have been convinced that basic education skills and facts can be taught without a religious or philosophical bias. This has resulted in the unspoken ironclad separation of a Christian worldview from education. R.L. Dabney explained the impossibility of neutrality in education:
| The instructor has to teach history, cosmogony [study of origins], psychology, ethics, and the laws of nations. How can he do it without saying anything favorable or unfavorable about the beliefs of evangelical Christians, Catholics, Socinians [Unitarians], Deists, pantheists, materialists, or fetish worshippers, all who claim equal rights under American institutions? His teaching will indeed be 'the play of Hamlet, with the part of Hamlet omitted.'9 |
A Christian world and life view is at the core of the great accomplishments of the Western civilization. Christian historian Philip Schaff illuminated the significance of Christ and Christianity:
| Jesus of Nazareth, without money and arms, conquered more millions than Alexander, Caesar, Mohammed and Napoleon; without science and learning. He shed more light on things human and divine than all the philosophers and scholars combined; without the eloquence of the school, He spoke words of life such as were never spoken before, nor since, and produced effects which lie beyond the reach of the orator or poet. Without writing a single line, He has set more pens in motion and furnished themes for more sermons, orations, discussions, works of art, learned volumes, and sweet songs of praise than the whole army of great men of ancient and modern times. Born in a manger and crucified as a malefactor, He now controls the destinies of the civilized world and rules a spiritual empire which embraces one-third of the inhabitants of the globe.10 |
It is impossible to consistently hide the overwhelming impact of Christianity throughout history. Even Napoleon himself, one of the great tyrants of history, had to admit, "I search in vain in history to find the similar to Jesus Christ, or anything which can approach the gospel. Nations pass away, thrones crumble, but the Church remains."11
Not only must we emphasize that great accomplishments have been the result of sincere biblical Christianity, but those who performed these deeds lived lives of hope and optimism. Believers, "with a firm reliance on Divine Providence," have dared to act in the face of impossible odds, knowing that God would be their rewarder.
Faith in the fact that covenant keepers win and covenant breakers lose has led believers throughout history to persevere and win: Moses and Pharaoh, David and Goliath, Deborah and the Cannanites, Paul and the Roman Empire. Christopher Columbus battled against the skepticism of men. Isaac Newton fought the ignorance of the Middle Ages. George Washington warred against the British Empire. George Washington Carver struggled against ingrained racism. All are examples of God building His kingdom through the faithful service of His people. Against incredible odds, they transformed their world by seeing beyond the circumstance to a biblical worldview.
In our media world of fantasy and hype, being a NBA forward or a rock star is the dream of millions. But the real world changing occupation and the most satisfying - is the parental challenge of preparing their young to serve God in the next generation. "Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb is His reward. Like arrows in the hand of a mighty warrior, so are the children of one's youth."12
The Bible makes it clear that the authority and responsibility to educate children rests with the parents. We may have assistance in the form of teachers or a curriculum, but we are accountable to train and point God's "immortal arrows" into the next generation. Obedience to this task brings great reward. "Train up a child in the way that he should go, and when he is old he shall not depart from it."13
What is the Bible's strategy for successful child training? Most biblical scholars, both Jewish and Christian, would agree that the most complete and powerful statement in all the Bible concerning children's education is in the five step strategy of Deuteronomy 6:4-12. This passage is called the Shema, which relates God's vital declaration to the Hebrew people as they prepared to enter the Promised Land. God began His vital declaration with the wake-up call, "Hear [Shema], O Israel!" It means Listen! Attention! Wake-up!
It is not an overstatement to say that obedience to the principles laid down in Shema is pivotal to the success of any family, education program, and, ultimately, for the success of any nation. Here are those principles.
1. Know God: His Character and Attributes
Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God, the Lord is one.14
A knowledge of the true character and nature of God is the first and most important truth to be comprehended by any parent or child. Without this knowledge of our Creator from the Bible, we would be left groping for false gods and idols like much of the world. The Westminster Catechism is an ideal means of educating children about the nature of God.
2. Love the Lord: Personal Relationship and Faith
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might.15
As parents, we must do more than exhibit an intellectual knowledge of God. We are admonished to love the Lord with our whole being. In doing so, we are responding in obedience to the love God already displayed for us: " But [He] demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."16 Christian educator Douglas Wilson said, "The command to teach children all the time is not limited to religious instruction. If our children do not think like Christians when they study history, math, and science, then they are not obeying the command to love God with all their minds."17 As a result of obedience to the first two commandments of the Shema, parents themselves are prepared to share God's view of the world, and through their sincere love for Him, exhibit a real faith to their children.
3. Teach God's Truth to Your Children
These words which I command you today shall be in your heart and you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.18
This commandment tells us that God's Word and truth should be in our memory, so that as parents we can naturally take advantage of every opportunity, throughout the day or night, to teach our children. Here we see the importance of consistent training. We are told is Isaiah 28:10, "For precept must be upon precept, line upon line, here a little, there a little." Even fifteen or twenty minutes a day of consistent teaching can transform a child.
4. Mark Yourself, Your Home, and Your Business with Obedience to God's Law
You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlet between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.19
Like the Jews who visibly displayed their obedience to God on their persons and homes, we should show our obedience to the world-first in our own lives, then in our homes, and then through the works of our hands. This commandment graphically documents God's internal-toexternal strategy for changing His world-from the heart to the home, to the society. The Bible affirms this strategy in both the Old and New Testaments: "This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord. I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them."20 This is how the New Testament believers were able to permeate and eventually subdue the pagan Roman Empire.
5. Expect Blessings for You and Your Children for 1,000 Generations
And it shall be, when the Lord your God brings you into the land of which he swore to your fathers…to give you large and beautiful cities which you did not build, houses full of good things, which you did not fill, hewn-out wells which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant…Beware, lest you forget the Lord. 21
Here we see the promise of blessing which follows obedience to the Shema. Those who, by faith, obey God can be the greatest optimists because they know God is going to reward them regardless of their temporary situation.
Later in Deuteronomy, God details how long this generational blessing can reach: "know that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for 1,000 generations with those who love him and keep his commandments."22
We know that God's plan centers on the fulfillment of Shema, for He blessed the nations through Abraham, who trained his children and his household:
And the Lord said: Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing? Since Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed by him? For I have known him, in order that he command his children and his household after him, that they keep the law of the Lord, to do righteousness and justice, that the Lord may bring Abraham what he has spoken to him. 23
The Church in the 21st Century is awakening to the reality that God's heart and plan is generational not existential. Power mongers, political pundits, and many ".com" company fanatics may sacrifice principle and conscience for short-term gain, but the God of Heaven, who controls and plans all of history, doesn't need to play head games to win. He has already won the victory over all His enemies. Jesus Christ is seated now in heaven on His throne ruling His world (Col 2:9, Eph 1:18-23).
History is God's story of how He is revealing His glory and wisdom to all His creation. He could have demonstrated His holy wrath on the rebellious human race by annihilating human kind for sinful rebellion. But instead, He for His purposes, has, "…chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things that are mighty" (1 Cor. 1:27).
God has done the impossible, humanly speaking, by reaching into the hearts of those that were lost in sin and imparted to them a love for Him and His law. He calls these converted saints to gather as families in His Church, and sends them out, promising them generational blessing for following His Word.
"Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who delights in His commandments. His descendants will be mighty on earth. The generations of the upright will be blessed" (Ps. 112:1-2).
We, each one of us, right now, whether we know it or not, stand at the apex of an unfolding generational drama. We are heir to the past, and ancestor to the future. Counting our grandparents or early mentors through our grandchildren, we will most likely mentor, or be mentored by, people whose life cycles will extend well over 200 years and include parts of four centuries!
Charles Frances Adams, Ambassador to England during the Civil War, found himself in the center of an extraordinary family tree. He wrote a ten-volume biography of his grandfather (our 2nd President), and compiled a twelve-volume diary of the notes of his father (our 6th President), and then saw one of his sons (a celebrated author) write a biography of him. Just think! Charles' grandfather, John, was born in 1735, and his grandson, Charles Frances III, died in 1954. Both of their lives overlapped Ambassador Adams for roughly two decades. Charles was nurtured by an ancestor and gave nurture to an heir whose combined life spans stretched 220 years.24
Sarah Pierrepont and Jonathan Edwards were married in 1727. He was the only son out of 11 children, and his father was a minister. The couple went on to have 11 children of their own, which continued a generational blessing that has populated America with godly seed for centuries.
Jonathan believed in rising early before sunrise for prayer by candlelight. He would then read a chapter of the Bible to his children before the day began. Even though he was perhaps the greatest intellect ever produced in Colonial America, he always took time out from his writing, pastoring, and mission work to give one hour each day of undivided attention to his children while sitting in his special father's chair. (Today, the average father gives about 3 minutes per week to his children.) He frequently took time to rescue his wife from the kitchen and ride with her into the hills of Connecticut for the afternoon.
Imagine the difficulty of raising 11 children in the wilderness, with hostile Indians, on a pastor's meager salary. Yet Sarah maintained her radiance and beauty to the end. She died one year after he did, many believe of a broken heart. Jonathan died unexpectedly when given a fatal smallpox vaccine in 1758, just after accepting the Presidency of Princeton University (College of New Jersey).
One hundred and seventy-three years after their marriage, a study was made of some 1400 of the descendants. By 1900 this single marriage had produced 13 college presidents, 65 professors, 100 lawyers, a dean of an outstanding law school, 30 judges, 56 physicians, a dean of a medical school, 80 holders of public office, 3 United States senators, 3 mayors of large American cities, 3 governors, 1 vice President of the United States, and 1 comptroller of the United States Treasury.
Members of the family had written 135 books and edited 18 journals and periodicals. They had entered the ministry in platoons, with nearly 100 of them becoming missionaries overseas. I refer to the Jonathan Edwards' story in my seminars as an example of a Godly family dynasty that has changed the world.
Credible pollsters like George Barna sadly document the fact that most young Christians in our day discard their belief system in college and learn to think and act like the world.
The question is not "if" but "when" we or our children will succumb to one of the full ordered false worldviews that dominate our secular culture. Our only hope of escaping this fate is through training ourselves and our families to manifest the mind of Christ (Phil 2:5). How do we start?
First, we must make the daily worship of the awesome triune God our priority. The first thing that Israel was commanded to do in the Shema strategy "was to know who God is and learn to love and obey Him. This teaching is best accomplished in the home with a daily commitment of fathers and mothers to teach the great doctrines of Scripture. In early America, the Westminster or Hidelburg Catechisms were memorized by most of the youth. If we were not brought up learning these truths, then we must commit to preparing ourselves and our disciples to break the bondage of theological ignorance that plagues the Western Church.
Secondly, we as families and churches, must aggressively take the "mind of Christ" as revealed in Scripture and "cast down arguments and everything that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ" (2 Cor. 10:5). We must organize our thinking and carry out our actions in this fallen world from the presuppositioned foundation of the will of God as revealed in the inherent Word of God and confirmed by all of history.
For example, Christians in our day are confronted with an apparent international juggernaut moving toward a global village and a New World order under the United Nations and the World Court. Recently in England, I met with a group of public school teachers in the town of Chester. They told me that by national mandate their schools were to dedicate the entire year to the teaching of the virtues of globalism and enviornmentalism.
What is the Biblical response to the latest drive for world government? Christians who are prepared with a knowledge of Scripture and history can reason from cause to effect and powerfully counter the shallow thinking of our "touchy-feely world of opinions." The following expose of globalism is an example of a reasoned argument from Scripture to issues of our day.
The first unified skirmish in man's rebellion against God followed the Flood. Before this time, every man followed his own will-which set all people except Noah and his family against the plan of God. After the waters of the flood subsided and the world was again populated, mankind united under the banner of Nimrod.
The Bible teaches that all civilization after the universal flood came from Noah's sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Their descendants migrated southeastward from Mount Ararat to the plain of Shinar (Sumer). Originally, the people had been told by God to go forth and fill the earth (Gen. 9:1-3). Genesis 10:5 says that for a time this did happen: "From these, the coast land peoples of the Gentiles were separated into their lands, everyone according to his own language, according to their families, into their nations."
But Nimrod, one of Noah's great-grandsons and the founder of Nineveh, "began to be a mighty one on the earth."25 He built many cities and was able to coerce or entice all of the other families to come under him and his worship of pagan idols, such as Baal and Ashtaroth. In direct rebellion against God's command to multiply and fill the earth, all the people of the earth set out with one language to build a tower into heaven. God thwarted their efforts and scattered the people by confusing their languages.
In Genesis 11:1-6, in Nimrod's Tower of Babel, we see man's first attempt at salvation through a counterfeit Messiah-state worship disguised as religion. God did not tolerate man's assault on His sovereignty. By confusing the languages of the masses, He forced a dispersion of the people into various nations worldwide thereby preventing a centralized, one-world government.
Throughout the centuries, numerous attempts have been made by men and nations to establish a new world order without God. Each of these attempts has met with failure. Like the withering weeds that Isaiah speaks of in Isaiah 40:23-24, these powermongers have found some real obstacles as they lunged for the golden ring of world power. This knowledge that God knows how to handle the evil conspirators and tyrants of our day, just as He has in the past, should encourage our families.
All civilizations from Mesopotamia to Egypt, Greece, and Rome, as well as our modern cultures, have faced the same challenges when attempting to overthrow God's moral order. They have faced the scriptural truth that it is God who has set the boundaries and the times of habitaton for every people on earth (Acts 17:26). No one overrides God's will for men and nations.
They also have faced the historic reality that since Nimrod, numerous drives at world power have been attempted and all have been thwarted by God. Nebuchadnezzar was turned into a hairy beast eating grass on all fours. On the verge of world conquest, Alexander the Great self-destructed before his death at the age of thirty-three. Julius Caesar met his fate in the Roman Senate. Napoleon met his on the mud- drenched fields of Waterloo. Adolf Hitler faced off with God, and then committed suicide in a Berlin bunker in April 1945.
Additionally, all idolaters, according to the First and Second Commandments, have faced a generational curse to the fourth generation.
| You shall have no other gods before me. . .you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me. |
We and our children can learn from the Tower of Babel the great truth expressed by Isaiah that we should fear God, not those who conspire for world conquest:
| Do not say, 'A conspiracy,' concerning all that this people call a conspiracy, nor be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled. The Lord of hosts, Him you shall hallow: let Him be your fear, and let Him be your dread. |
We can faithfully go about our task of "discipling the nations" and "filling the earth" knowing that the wave of history is at our back. Our job is not accomplished in a day. We are called to build generational covenantal families who love the Lord and no other. "Who is the man that fears the Lord? Him shall He teach in the way He chooses. He shall dwell in prosperity, and his descendants shall inherit the earth" (Ps. 25:12-13).
The above refutation of globalism is built upon the basic doctrines of the sovereignty of God, the sin nature of man, the priesthood of believers, and jurisdictional authority and responsibility under God's government of this world of various institutions.
By comprehending God's fundamental ruling principles, we as believers can then apply God's truth in love, giving real solutions to the problems of our day.
A third and vital step in passing on a Biblical worldview to our children and disciples is to live out our faith before a watching, and often mocking world.
We can do so with great optimism. Contrary to other worldviews and ideologies, the Bible declares and history confirms that the universe is a closed system with unchanging laws of success. As God told Joshua as he entered the promised land, "This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success" (Joshua 1:8).
We can faithfully go about our task of "discipling the nations," and "subduing the earth" knowing that the wave of history is at our back. Our task cannot be accomplished in a day. We are called to build generationally covenanted families and disciples who will fear the Lord and no other. "Who is the man that fears the Lord? Him shall He teach in the way He chooses. He shall dwell in prosperity, and his descendants shall inherit the earth" (Ps. 25:12-13). It is a true statement that covenant keepers win and covenant breakers lose. We just have to stay around generationally to see the end of the story.26
The Apostle Paul calls God's people "more than conquerors."24 But it is a great encouragement to our faith to remember those imperfect, but undaunted saints of the past who have truly conquered against imposing obstacles. The reasoning and sacrifice of these faithful brethren laid the foundation for America's republic.
On 22 July 1620, the Pilgrims left Holland for England, and then for America. Their sacrifice was made in part because they desired an unpolluted, godly education for their children. They left behind their dearly beloved pastor, John Robinson. In Robinson's final letter to them, he charged them, as a general on the battlefield. You can smell the powder of the battle as his final words ring out:
|
Thus this holy army of saints is marshalled here on earth by these officers, under the conduct of their glorious Emperor, Jesus Christ. Thus it marches in this most heavenly order and gracious array, against all enemies, both bodily and ghostly; peaceable in itself, as Jerusalem, terrible to the enemy as an army with banners, triumphing over their tyranny with patience, their cruelty with meekness, over death itself with dying.
Thus, through the blood of that spotless Lamb, and that Word of their testimony, they are more than conquerors, bruising the head of the Serpent; yea, through the power of His Word, they have the power to cast down strongholds, and everything that exalteth itself against God. The gates of hell, and all the principalities and powers on earth shall not prevail against it.27 |
May we, as Christian parents and students, be faithful in the coming century to reach and disciple our world, as our Pilgrim forebears did theirs. Just as they could believe against all odds that God would bring them through to victory, we too, can believe God to "do exceedingly, abundantly, more than we can ask or think."28
1Matt. 19:14.
2Perry Miller and Thomas Jefferson, The Puritans (New York: American Literary Service, 1938) 11.
3Marshall Foster and Mary-Elaine Swanson, The American Covenant: The Untold Story (Thousand Oaks, Ca: Mayflower Institute, 1992) 8-9.
4Paul Johnson, Intellectuals (New York: Harper & Row, 1998) 1.
5William J. Bennet, The Index of Leading Cultural Indicators, Vol.1 (March 1993) Heritage Foundation.
6Thomas Sowell, Inside American Education (New York: Free Press, 1993) 3.
7Francis A. Schaeffer, How Should We Then Live? (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 1976) 19.
8Stephen K. McDowell and Mark A. Belilies, Liberating the Nations (Charlottesville, VA: Providence Foundation, 1993) 104.
9R.L. Dabney, On Secular Education (Moscow, ID: Ransom, 1989) 17.
10Philip Schaff, The Person of Christ (New York: Doran, 1913) 137-138.
11Philip Schaff, The Person of Christ: The Miracle History (Boston: The American Tract Society) 323, 328.
12Ps. 127:3-4.
13Prov. 22:6.
14Deut. 6:4.
15Deut. 6:5.
16Rom. 5:8.
17Douglas Wilson, Recovering the Lost Tools of Learning: An Approach to Distinctively Christian Education (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 1991) 48.
18Deut. 6:6-7.
19Deut. 7:8-9.
20Heb. 10:16; Jer. 31:33.
21Deut. 6:10-12.
22Deut. 7:9.
23Gen. 18:17-19.
24William J. Federer, America's God and Country Encyclopedia of Quotations (Coppell, TX: Fame, 1994) 676.
25Verna M. Hall, ed., The Christian History of the Constitution of the United States of America (San Francisco: Foundation for American Education, 1983) 4.
26John 8:32.
272 Tim. 3:16.
28Heb. 5:14.
|
|
Dr. Marshall Foster, nationally recognized historian and bestselling author, is the President and founder of the Mayflower Institute. Dr. Foster was the founder and leader of the Los Angeles Rams chaplaincy program, Campus Crusade for Christ Director at USC, Bible college professor, best-selling author, speaker at the 1994 Promise Keepers Conference, and has been featured on radio and television programs such as Focus on the Family, The 700 Club, and many others.
The Mayflower Institute, founded in 1976 by Marshall Foster, is inspiring and training a new generation in the 21st Century to manifest the biblical worldview to a culture desperately in need of reformation.
The biblically based institutions passed down to us by our Christian forefathers are eroding. The Mayflower Institute focuses its training, research, and materials on training families and individuals on the "how to's" of integrating God's perspective into education, public policy, the church, and social concerns. The Institute uniquely identifies and teaches the Christian history of our Republic, emphasizing the need to restore the holy cause of liberty under God, which made America a nation blessed like no other in history.
Across America, people's lives continue to be impacted with Dr. Foster's seminars, tours, and books including the American Covenant, The Untold Story, and the Christian Home Learning Guides. As Director of Education for American Christian Tours, Dr. Foster trains the ACTS tour staff and shares dynamic stories and his passionate love for God and country on numerous Christian Legacy Tours. Marshall Foster has dedicated his life to teaching the divine foundations of the American success story and the marvelous chain of liberty.
P.O. Box 4673, Thousand Oaks, CA 91359 1-888-222-2001
For those interested in further information about the Mayflower Institute's work or Dr. Foster's availability to come to your community, church school, or business organizations, see below:
|
|
American Christian Tours® (ACTS®) is a full-service company uniquely positioned to offer Christian-oriented tour packages to churches, miinistries, schools, home schools, and organizations. Our mission is to expose people to our nation's historical sites while at the same time reminding them of our country's great Christian legacy. On an ACTS tour, we will share inspiring, true stories of courageous Christian men and women, and we will learn how the providential hand of God worked in creating the United States of America. The ACTS staff is committed to Christian standards of conduct and integrity. We seek to glorify Jesus Christ and provide quality service.
|
|