Integral Education: Bible Knowledge
Bible Knowledge: “We believe that genuine life change begins when we personally encounter the God of the Bible. God has given us His Word, the Bible, to reveal Himself to us. Our students are immersed in the study of the Bible, Theology, and Ministry Methods so that they are grounded and equipped in their faith.”
We’ve adopted an educational model at Millar that we refer to as the “Integral Model of Education.” The word integral means “essential for completeness, lacking nothing essential.” The goal of our Integral Model is that the ‘whole student’ would be moved to deeper maturity in Jesus and that no essentials of that development and education would be lacking. Most postsecondary institutions focus primarily on academics, and although the knowledge piece is critical in our approach to education, it is not the only focus. Our desire is that our students would love Jesus more and serve Him more effectively as their whole life is impacted because of their time at Millar. Our integral model focuses on four areas of our student’s lives: Bible Knowledge, Character Development, Relationships, and Life Skills. Let me outline Bible Knowledge.
God has graciously given us two primary revelations of Himself to us. The Psalmist addresses both in Psalm 19. The first part of Psalm 19 outlines what is referred to as “general revelation” – God revealing Himself to us through His creation. We read:
The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard. Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world (Ps 19:1-4a ESV).
In other words, creation is crying out to all of mankind: “There is a God. Look. See. Don’t miss it!” Paul, in writing to the church in Rome, emphasized the same reality when he states that no one will stand before God with an excuse that they didn’t know there was a God:
For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse (Rom 1:19-21).
What a glorious revelation of God. We observe creation and the conclusion we come to is: there must be a God.
God’s second revelation of Himself is much more detailed about Who He is and what He has done. This revelation is the Bible, and we refer to it as “special revelation.” God is very specific about revealing Himself in the Scriptures and we believe that real life change begins when we personally encounter the God of Bible. King David continues in Psalm 19 and says this about God’s Word:
The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward (Ps 19:7-11).
Bible Knowledge is essential in our Integral Model of Education. Our teachers spend most of the time in the classroom unpacking the Scriptures and theological truths and implications that are found in the pages of the Bible. Our students sit and listen and engage with what is being taught. The goal behind the teaching of the Scriptures, and our student’s growth in Bible Knowledge, isn’t primarily cognitive. We don’t want to primarily be a depository of Bible information at Millar. Though lots of facts and information are given in the classroom, the main goal of teaching the Bible is for life change to take place. When our students are confronted with the bigness of God through the classes they sit in, when they begin to see themselves in the light of the majesty, holiness, and righteousness of God, our prayer is that their hearts and affections would be moved towards Him and that they would grow in their love for and devotion to God.
“The goal behind the teaching of the Scriptures, and our student’s growth in Bible Knowledge, isn’t primarily cognitive. We don’t want to primarily be a depository of Bible information at Millar. Though lots of facts and information are given in the classroom, the main goal of teaching the Bible is for life change to take place.”
The scarlet thread through the entire Scriptures is the story of God’s redemptive plan for mankind through Jesus Christ and His work on the cross. When we embrace and trust Jesus Christ and His gospel, the good news of His life, death, burial, resurrection, and ascension, we are brought to new spiritual life and our lives begin a process of being transformed into the image of Jesus. The fuel behind this transformation is the Holy Spirit taking the Word of God and applying it to the lives and hearts of His children. It is with this understanding and the promise of real-life transformation, that we long for Bible Knowledge to take deep root in the lives of our students. As God’s Word moves from our student’s minds to their hearts, we are absolutely convinced that the Scriptures, breathed out by God, will be “profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Tim 3:16).
About the Author
This article in our Integral Education series is written by Steve Janz, Director of our Sunnybrae campus.