written by Dan Sarian

David Brees wrote a book called Seven Men Who Rule the World from the Grave. Some of these names are probably familiar: Karl Marx, Charles Darwin, Sigmund Freud, Julian Wellhausen, John Dewey. Sound familiar? The premise of Brees’ book is that although these guys are long gone their ideas and influence endure beyond the grave. They altered the thinking of society through their philosophies which continue to impact schools, businesses, homes, and even the church. Of specific interest to me is the name John Dewey (1859-1952). This isn’t the inventor of the Dewey decimal system, but a major game changer in the world of public education. Some have referred to Dewey as “the greatest educational thinker of the 20th century.” Ironically Dewey was born in the same year that Darwin published “On the Origin of Species” (1859) which lit the fuse on the powder keg of empiricism and naturalism and some believe made it possible to become an intellectually fulfilled atheist.

Dewey’s philosophy of education is known today as “Progressivism”. He rejected the traditional confines of the public school classroom pedagogy which usually involved rote learning, recalling facts, a prescribed daily schedule and little or no freedom for students to learn by exploration and inquiry. Dewey believed that experience was a better educator than the teacher, but that teachers are necessary to provide and guide experiential learning. “Progressivism” became synonymous with a child-centric education. What Dewey meant by this was that children are naturally curious and therefore schools should give students opportunities in their curriculum for critical inquiry, problem solving and build a worldview based on the scientific method.

On the surface, who would argue with this education model? Students learn a lot more about the founding of the Unites States by walking the streets of downtown Philadelphia than by reading about it in a textbook. But John Dewey had a worldview which rejected the meta-physical (that which is beyond a physical or natural explanation). In other words, his education model and theory were based on a closed system worldview and was in keeping with a later atheist, Carl Sagan, who said, “The Cosmos is all that is or ever was or ever will be.”

Dewey believed that children learn best through interaction with their environment and are capable, with adult guidance, to piece together their worldview based solely on critical interaction with the physical evidence all around them. But Dewey emphatically rejected a Theistic worldview. In fact, Dewey was one of the major writers that contributed to the Humanist Manifesto which he signed in 1933. Within this first edition of the Humanist Manifesto was language that referred to Humanism as a “religion.” The 5th of 15 Articles of Belief in the Humanist Manifesto I states, “Humanism asserts that the nature of the universe depicted by modern science makes unacceptable any supernatural or cosmic guarantees of human values.”

Dewey was a humanist and also a major contributor to the public education model still practiced widely today. But in drafting his view of how children learn best he laid his axe at the roots of theism and rejected any thought of a divine purpose for our existence.

As an educator I can learn from John Dewey and incorporate some of his theories of education into our instructional programs. However, Dewey wasn’t morally neutral in his approach to education. In fact, there is no such thing as a morally neutral education. All instruction comes from some position, some view or what we call a worldview.

FRCS is distinctively Christian. We teach from the position that God has revealed Himself through the prophets, Apostles, through what He has created and most recently through His final Word, Jesus Christ. As one of my seminary professors (Howard Hendricks) used to say, “God has spoken and he has not stuttered.” While God has initiated communication with His creation we also believe that God has given us inquiring minds that seek to understand His world. Not unlike John Dewey we encourage our students to learn and employ the scientific method, ask questions, study living systems and explore. However, as those who teach from a Theistic Worldview we also see the world as an “open” system. There’s more to this world than what can be studied in the lab or through direct observation. We recognize that every human being longs for meaning and purpose which can never be found in a world where nothing exists beyond the material. Either we are a random, cosmic accident, or we are made in the image of God.

As educators at Front Range Christian we study the methods, philosophies and models of educators who went before us, but in doing so we recognize that some of their philosophies ring hollow without a true north to guide children to the Truth of Christ. We teach from a moral position that all creation groans until the time when it finds redemption in Christ. We seek ultimate meaning, justice and long for the day when a new heaven and a new earth will be ours to enjoy and we ourselves experience the communion and intimacy with God that we were created for from the beginning.

“See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.” (Colossians 2:8 NIV)