Philosophy of Education
The Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. —PROVERBS 2:6
We believe that human flourishing is rooted in life with God.
St. Augustine once said that God made us for himself and our hearts are restless until we find our rest in him; that is, to love, glorify, and enjoy God forever. As life and flourishing are gifts, so wisdom is a gift of God and found in the Father’s greatest gift of his Son, Jesus Christ.
Wisdom comes from God, grounded in awe and wonder of God–the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. God bids us to know him through Jesus Christ, in whom are all treasures of wisdom and knowledge. As we come to know God more fully, we learn to love him more deeply and live into the very purpose for which we were created. Thus, the ultimate goal of a Christ College education is to love God more deeply and follow him more faithfully.
True intellectual growth is only possible with corresponding spiritual growth.
Because wisdom and knowledge are gifts of unmerited favor, grace is a key principle that shapes our attitude toward education. Grace and truth are inextricably tied. First, in Jesus Christ who is full of grace and truth (John 1:14); it is from him and through him that all things are created. Second, knowledge and wisdom are received as an unmerited gift and received as an invitation to know and love God in the gift. The response to receiving the unmerited favor is grateful humility, which situates the soul to love and know God more deeply. Further, understanding intellectual growth as a gift fosters a sense of stewardship. This understanding fundamentally redefines intellectual pursuits. The writer of Proverbs exhorts us to get wisdom and to get understanding (Proverbs 4:7). This means that intellectual growth is an act of obedience, a response to an invitation graciously given. The principle of grace, therefore, instills Christian education with an attitude of humility and reverence.
We believe education is a relational and communal activity in which we learn from one another.
Understanding the beginning of wisdom as a relationship with God, Christ College approaches education relationally; as a community of learners, growing together, serving, and providing accountability. From faculty to students, we are all learners. As we grow in grace and labor in learning, we experience the joy of life together Coram Deo [before God] and learn to live the reality of Psalm 37:3: Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and befriend [pursue/cultivate] faithfulness. As learners in a community, we have a responsibility to regard each other as brothers and sisters, supporting one another in doing good and encouraging one another as we dwell together pursuing faithfulness. Each student is fearfully and wonderfully made and, in their uniqueness, each contributes much to the community. Under the providential guidance of God, each student is received as a gift to be stewarded well before God. Further, each student is known and treated with dignity and promise as befits one created in the image of God.
We believe that discussion-based instruction enables professors to carefully guide students as we think together in pursuit of truth.
Consistent with the relational and communal approach to education, the interaction inherent in discussion-based learning provides an ideal environment for those maturing in the faith. Dialogue, as opposed to more lecture-oriented methodology, fosters a sense of enthusiastic discovery, which deepens scholarship and cultivates a pattern for a lifetime of learning.
Further, the liberal arts are formidable tools for leading students along the path of knowledge and wisdom. Wisdom is obtained in struggle—it must be sought as silver and mined as gold. Only those who desire and seek wisdom with persistence and focus will discover it—receiving it as a gift of grace. Passive reception of lecture material does not adequately cultivate in the practice of asking, knocking, and seeking which followers of Christ are called to do. Jesus, we are told, constantly asked questions of his disciples—often disrupting their easy assumptions. We often read in the Gospels, “Jesus asked his disciples,” “Jesus answered his disciples,” and “Jesus told his disciples.” Jesus’ disciples received the blessing of conversation. Conversation furthers community and discipleship by recognizing each student’s unique intellectual gifts and nurturing spiritual growth, fitted to the needs of particular hearts and minds.
Sharing life together in discipleship and mentoring is an essential component in learning and continues the tradition of formation that is central to Christ-centered humanities.
Faculty and students at Christ College walk together in a relationship of discipleship and mentoring. College is a time of life that is spiritually, intellectually, and morally formative. The model of discipleship and mentoring through life together recognizes the basic truth that growth occurs through relationship and that the teacher shapes the student, thus, the importance of choosing our teachers carefully.
Whole life discipleship involves body, mind, and spirit, and education must engage the whole life, focusing on more than the mind and more than the classroom. Additionally, knowledge finds its proper expression in loving service to Christ and the common good, affirming the inseparable nature of being and doing.
The college, a community of learners, is part of a larger community. The church and the families that comprise the church provide opportunities for growth, service, and accountability. Just as a liberal arts education is training for all of life, all of life is part of a liberal arts education. Community engagement is part of seeking the common good and loving our neighbor. In doing so, we imitate Christ who came not to be served, but to serve (Mt. 20:28). Education is preparation for life, not simply a career, thus, it is important for students to live well rounded lives. Relationships forged in college are some of the most enduring, and these bonds are strengthened by time spent together in extra-curricular activities. An essential part of developing a sense of wonder about God’s creation is to be out in it. Hiking, surfing, collegial games, and our own peculiar sports deepen that sense of collegial community. The beaches and forests of the Space Coast, and the stars in the night sky form part of our grand classroom.
We believe in the inherent goodness of meaningful work that affirms and cultivates human dignity.
Entrepreneurship is a critical way meaningful work is pursued and it is a fundamentally human pursuit. Thus, the robust intellectual tradition of the humanities is the ideal preparation for entrepreneurship.
The study of entrepreneurial learning cultivates the inherent creativity of creatures made in the image of the creator God. Pursuing meaningful work is an expression of humans created in God’s image and affirms the worth of people, community, and the world. Approaching work entrepreneurially prepares students of Christ College to create professional opportunities allowing students to “do well while doing good.” It allows students to approach employment with an “owners mentality” serving employers well and viewing work not simply as a “job” but as service to Christ. Entrepreneurship prepares Christ College students for creating professional opportunities for others, thus bettering the lives of their neighbors and the community. Thus, we see entrepreneurship as a loving God with all we are and our neighbors as ourselves.
We believe we have much to learn through tradition and the wisdom that is embodied in the great minds and great works of the past; therefore, we unapologetically study ancient texts for present application.
C.S. Lewis warned of the dangers of intellectual provincialism. In his “Introduction to Athanasius’s On the Incarnation,” Lewis says that our characteristic blindness of the present is only made worse,
if we read only modern books… The only palliative is to keep the clean sea breeze of the centuries blowing through our minds, and this can be done only by reading old books. Not, of course, that there is any magic about the past. People were no cleverer then than they are now; they made as many mistakes as we. But not the same mistakes. We are not trying to revive the past, but to learn from it.
We believe that true learning equips us to perceive more fully the wonder of God’s creation and providence, culminating in worship as the only proper response to the goodness of God.
Ultimately, all human endeavors should seek to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. The person has not learned rightly if knowledge becomes a source of pride. For genuine knowledge is not puffed up, but in love, builds up. As students grow in knowledge, understanding, and wisdom, they gain a clearer view of who they are, who God is, and what the world is. Thus, a Christ College student is equipped to live a life of integrity, a life well integrated in all spheres of life; to live a life that glorifies God in word and deed wherever life takes them. This vision reorients the student’s attitudes and results in humble thankfulness and reverential awe.
