Christ Marked Absent

8/6/2019 Christ Marked Absent

1/84


2/84


3/84


4/84


5/84


6/84


7/84


8/84


9/84


10/84


11/84


12/84


13/84


14/84


15/84


16/84


17/84


18/84


19/84


20/84


21/84


22/84


23/84


24/84


25/84


26/84


27/84


28/84


29/84


30/84


31/84


32/84


33/84


34/84


35/84


36/84


37/84


38/84


39/84


40/84


41/84


42/84


43/84


44/84


45/84


46/84


47/84


48/84


49/84


50/84


51/84


52/84


53/84


54/84


55/84


56/84


57/84


58/84


59/84


60/84


61/84


62/84


63/84


64/84


65/84


66/84


67/84


68/84


69/84


70/84


71/84


72/84


73/84


74/84


75/84

75

There is no abstract theology in the scripture. No Bible verse existsto tickle our ears and give us warm fuzzy feelings. Its all there to instructand to encourage us to work and to worship to the glory of God in thehere and now of Northern Ireland with its rain and drizzle and occasionalbright spells. If theology is there to be applied, how are we to apply Gods

Word to the field of education? How will the Word become flesh in theclassrooms of wee Ulster?

We in Northern Ireland are most willing to give to foreign missions.I have been the recipient of the generosity of mission-minded friends andcolleagues and Churches. Lets continue to be generous, not forgetting our own back yard. Perhaps the greatest and hardest mission field is in theU.K. and Europe and among the formerly-Churched of Northern Ireland.

I cannot build a school, the kingdom work of God is the work of thebody of Christ. I cannot build a school, but we, if we are moved by GodsHoly Spirit can. Let us invest in creating schools that will set the light of Christ on a hill for all to see right here in the Province. Let us be like St.Patrick, who lit the paschal fire on the hill of Tara, in defiance of Druidsand of tradition and of the sun-god. Let us light a bigger fire, defying thegod of secular humanism. Let us invest in our children and be prepared toopen our doors to those of every denomination and every religion andeach ethnic background that they, too, might learn the wonderful worksof God in the world. Let us rise up in the strength of God and buildfaithful Christian schools for the sake of God and for His glory that Hiskingdom might be built in the six counties of our beloved wee Ulster.


76/84

76


77/84

77

Endnotes

i This does not mean that I advocate a top-down takeover of the school system. Rather,the Biblical response is to ask the question who IS responsible for education. Theanswer is, the parents, this will mean, therefore, not a replacement of a top-heavy centralised school-system, but, rather, a decentralised parent-funded parent-directededucation.ii Teachers who have not qualified recently will not have been trained in the Revisedcurriculum for four years. They are, however, required to be re-train themselves and befamiliar with the document, with a view to applying it to their own subject-areas.iii Luke 11:23iv Humanism may in principle deny supernatural religion but, it does recognise religiousemotions and seeks, very openly in the first Humanist Manifesto, to replace the worship of God and prayer to God with a naturalistic, man-centred alternative. If we definespirituality as religious emotions it is very possible to take about a humanistic spirituality.

The text of the first humanist manifesto can be found here: www.americanhumanist.org/who_we_are/about_humanism/Humanist_Manifesto_I v p. 6 The Statutory Curriculum at Key Stage 3, Rationale and Detail vi p. 6 The Statutory Curriculum at Key Stage 3, Rationale and Detail vii 1 John 4:1 viii p. 2 The Statutory Curriculum at Key Stage 3, Rationale and Detailix p. 45 The Statutory Curriculum at Key Stage 3, Rationale and Detailx p. 45 The Statutory Curriculum at Key Stage 3, Rationale and Detailxi p. 3 Nannies in Blue Berets:

Understanding the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child, Michael P. Farris, J.D.HSLDAxii Geraldine Van Bueren, International Rights of the Child, Section B, University of London, 139-140 (2006).xiii p. 3 Nannies in Blue Berets: Understanding the U.N. Convention on the Rights of theChild, Michael P. Farris, J.D. HSLDAxiv

p. 2 Nannies in Blue Berets: Understanding the U.N. Convention on the Rights of theChild, Michael P. Farris, J.D. HSLDAxv p. 2 Nannies in Blue Berets: Understanding the U.N. Convention on the Rights of theChild, Michael P. Farris, J.D. HSLDA


78/84

78

xvi p. 2 Nannies in Blue Berets: Understanding the U.N. Convention on the Rights of theChild, Michael P. Farris, J.D. HSLDAxvii

Paragraph 39 and 40, Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Rights of theChild: Ireland, Committee on the Rights of the Child, 43rd sess., U.N. Doc.CRC/C/IRL/CO/2 (2006)xviii p. 45 The Statutory Curriculum at Key Stage 3, Rationale and Detailxix http://www.ofmdfmni.gov.uk/index/equality/statutory-duty/section_75.htmxx p. 40 The Statutory Curriculum at Key Stage 3, Rationale and Detailxxi Judges 21:25, King James Versionxxii I am aware that R.E., Religious Education has become R.S., Religious Studies. Theolder term has been retained as a convenient shorthand.xxiii Revelation 3:16xxiv Matthew 5:13xxv More research needs to be done in looking at the past curricula in denominationalschools in Northern Ireland. Old Time Schools and Schoolhouses,

www.childrensnursery.org.uk/old-time-schools/ which focuses mostly on the history of American education is revealing in this regard. Many of the textbooks listed in this work were of English origin and are remarkable in the prominence they give to the Bible inmaths, literacy and numeracy.xxvi C.H. Spurgeon paints and vivid picture of this struggle against unbelief in his shortbook The Greatest Fight in the World. He paints a picture of the Church being like astagecoach hurtling at breakneck speed over the Russian Steppes. A pack of wolves arechasing the coach, ready to rip the horses and passengers into pieces. The Churchessolution? to discard some of the passengers to save the rest. Thus he pictures the threat tothe Church from outside and inside. The text is freely available here:

www.spurgeon.org/misc/gfw.htm.xxvii p. ??? The Statutory Curriculum at Key Stage 3, Rationale and Detailxxviii p. ??? The Statutory Curriculum at Key Stage 3, Rationale and Detailxxix The Humanist Manifesto I, Ninth and Tenth Points.

www.americanhumanist.org/who_we_are/about_humanism/Humanist_Manifesto_Ixxx These are legally binding by virtue of the U.K. being a signatory to these documents.xxxi Is this true? Are the schools helping or hindering? What is the present state of theChurch in Northern Ireland? Whatever answers satisfied us before sound very hollow asagainst black and white reality of the revised curriculum. What are we Christians doing tohelp our children to survive school? Is your Sunday school any match for 15,000 hours of programmed schooling plus the other ungodly influences in their lives?xxxii The god who appears in R.E. and disappears afterwards is, it seems, just like the Baal,

whom Elijah ruthlessly mocked, 1 Kings 18:27.xxxiii Genesis 1:1xxxiv Genesis 1:3


79/84

79

xxxv Genesis 1:28xxxvi I am aware that the three men here mentioned were of an ungodly line, but, they were

still, even in their rebellious manner, doing that which God had mandated and had writteninto their natures.xxxvii Genesis 3:15xxxviii Genesis 9:1xxxix The Generations of: Genesis 2:4 The heavens and the earth , Genesis 5:1 Adam,Genesis 6:9 Noah, Genesis 10:1 the sons of Noah, Genesis 11:10 Shem, Genesis 11:27

Terah, Genesis 25:12 Ishmael, Genesis 25:19 Isaac, Genesis 36:1 Esau, and Genesis 37:2 Jacob.xl

Genesis 9:12xli Genesis 18:19xlii Exodus 20:2-17xliii Deuteronomy 6:2xliv Every adult was destroyed, the children, by Gods grace, were spared.xlv Deuteronomy 6:5xlvi Deuteronomy 6:6,7xlvii Psalm 78:2-8xlviii Psalm 1:1xlix Psalm 127:3l 1 Samuel 3:13li Proverbs 1:7lii Proverbs 8:18liii Proverbs 22:15liv Colossians 2:3lv Romans 11:36lvi Colossians 1:17lvii John 1:1lviii

John 14:6lix John 8:32lx Luke 18:16lxi Luke 17:2


80/84

80

lxii Luke 10:27lxiii Matthew 28:18-20

lxiv Ephesians 6:4lxv Douglas Wilson in first essay of his book The Paideia of God: And Other Essays onEducation. Develops the meaning of the Paideia and its relation to education in Paulsday and how this injunction, still valid in our day, is to be applied in the formal educationof children.lxvi 2 Corinthians 10:5lxvii C.B. Eaveys book History of Christian Education has high praise for Germanpietists, noting their concern for the establishment of schools.lxviii Cultic in the sense of that which is related to a system of religious worship and ritual.lxix Jesus Take Me As I Am, Dave Bryant, Kingsway Music, 1978.lxx Lyric taken from I Serve a Risen Saviour Alfred H. Ackley. It is helpful to note thatthe Bible is inspired by the Holy Spirit of God, Christian hymns can, in some cases, findtheir inspiration elsewhere.lxxi Luther's Works , Volume 44, ed. James Atkinson (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1966),207.

Quoted in http://www.prca.org/articles/article_3.html

lxxii See Matthew 16:6-12, especially verse 12lxxiii 1 Peter 2:9lxxiv http://www.fundingeducation.co.uk/state-school-costs.htmllxxv Galatians 6:8lxxvi Mark 8:38lxxvii Proverbs 22:6. Although this text is not a cast-iron guarantee of the salvation of achild, it is certainly does point to the correlation between early training in the way andcontinued fidelity in that way.lxxviii It is interesting to note that in the computing world Microsoft, Comtia andCisco all provide their own programmes of professional accreditation without the aid of the state.lxxix See above comment about computer companies who offer training.lxxx For example the Queens University of Belfast Institute of Theology http://www.qub.ac.uk/schools/InstituteofTheology/ has no requirement that its staff hold to the orthodox Christian faith. Without the Institute of Theology the PresbyterianUnion Theological College, the Methodist Edgehill Theological College and Belfast BibleCollege would have to go elsewhere for accreditation and the ability to offer

Undergraduate degrees and accredited Postgraduate awards. It is very possible, therefore,that an unbeliever rules over the Christian in the teaching of academic theology. This is, Isubmit a lamentable and foolish arrangement.lxxxi Association of Christian Schools, International, www.asci.org, to name but one.lxxxii http://www.christian-education.org/icce.html


81/84

81

lxxxiii Colossians 3:1lxxxiv 1 Peter 2:9

lxxxv Revelation 1:6lxxxvi 2 Corinthians 10:5lxxxvii Genesis 3:5lxxxviii 1 Corinthians 3:11lxxxix John 16:33xc Sanballat and Haran were the enemies of Nehemiah and of his rebuilding programme.

They used a series of tactics, threats, lies, political intrigue and finally attempted murder toget Nehemiah to stop building.xci Matthew 28:20xcii Exodus 20:6xciii Romans 12:2xciv action of running, course of action, race, chariot, equiv. to curr(ere) to run + -i- + -culum. Based on the Random House Dictionary, Random House, 2009xcv Hebrews 12:1xcvi Proverbs 15:24xcvii The Westminster Shorter Catechism, Question 1xcviii John Dunphy, The Humanist, Jan/Feb 1983xcix I am convinced that the battle for humankinds future must be waged and won in thepublic school classroom by teachers that correctly perceive their role as proselytizers of anew faith Howard C. Barnard, A History of Education from 1760 2nd Ed., Revised, 1961,c The answer to question nine of the Westminster Shorter Catechism and question fifteenof the Westminster Larger Catechism, What is the work of Creation?

ci Hebrews 1:3cii There are over five hundred references to the words bless, blessings and blessed inthe word of God. All blessings are of grace, of course, and some blessings are given, ingrace, to those who neither know nor serve God. However, through scripture, the pictureis that of the man who is declared good by God and who does good in faith andobedience who is then blessed, spiritually and materially by God. The last scripturalreference to the blessings for obedience will suffice as an example of Gods blessing.Revelation 22:14 Blessed are those who do his commandments, that they may have theright to the tree of life, and may enter in by the gates into the city.ciii Exodus 34:7civ 2 Peter 3:9cv Proverbs 14:34cvi Up to the fifth edition of Darwins seminal work the Origin of the Species was calledOn the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured


82/84

82

Races in the Struggle for Life. The outward espousing of Racial discrimination onbiological grounds has become less popular than it was in Darwins day.cvii The title of the book of Revelation; The Apocalyse of John contains the idea of anunveiling of what would, otherwise, have been hidden to mortal eyes.cviii One instance of this total sovereign predestination of God of the realm of history isour salvation, see Ephesians 1:4ff.cix The hugely influential German philosopher Hegel, in his book The Philosophy of Right said that; The march of God in the world, that is what the state is. It is no greatjump to call the state the humanists god incarnate or the statists Immanuel.cx Apple OS X Dictionary cxi Nature, properly understood, is just a collective noun, a holder to store and assortmentof different objects but which is not, by itself, an object. To clarify, another example of acollective noun is furniture. Furniture includes real, concrete things; such as tables,chairs and bookcases but is not, itself, a concrete thing in its own right.cxii Psalm 98:8cxiii Judges 5:20cxiv Romans 8:18-25cxv Belief in an old earth is not new. It is a very old pagan idea. Darwinism is simply onemanifestation of the revival of paganism in the western world.

Only the God of the Bible can create since only he stands outside of nature. Other godsor spirits are part of nature, just as much as men and beasts are. In the closed world of paganism there is a chain of being, to which every living thing is attached, from the godsto the microbes to the devil. There is movement on this chain of being, up and down,evolving and de-evolving. Special creation out of nothing by the God of the Bible isdespised, in part at least, because it flatly denies that man the possibility to move up thechain of being and become like a god.cxvi Adam, in the Biblical account, was created as a man, with all the faculties of strengthand speech and senses of a man. He, being only newly created, had the appearance of age.

The whole cosmos, in like manner, was created with the appearance of age.cxvii The older uniformitarianism of gradual change over countless ages is retreating inpopularity, giving way to the idea of local catastophies shaping the landscape. The former

view is, probably, the most widely held of views.cxviii Genesis 1:26cxix The gathering together of man at the tower of Babel in rebellion to God and theirsubsequent dispersal by God after His confusion of their tongues is a good example of thispunishment for not fulfilling the God-given mandatecxx

Genesis 4:2cxxi Genesis 4:17cxxii Genesis 4:22


83/84

83

cxxiii Genesis 4:1cxxiv Stormont is the seat of the Northern Ireland Assembly cxxv 1 Corinthians 15:52cxxvi 1 Corinthians 15:23cxxvii 2 Corinthians 5:17cxxviiiRevelation 5:13cxxix p. 2 The Statutory Curriculum at Key Stage 3, Rationale and Detailcxxx Anti-Christianity here is defined as setting up a rival to the Christianity. Positing aman-centred spirituality and morality is a replay of the sin of our first parents and is mostcertainly anti-Christian. You dont have to speak openly against Christ to be anti-Christian.cxxxi Romans 13:1-7 is the classic text in the Bible which outlines, very clearly, the limitedrole of the state in a godly order.cxxxii Matthew 12:33cxxxiiiThat is, the temptation of Christ by the Devil in the desert, after his baptism.cxxxiv "All this I will give you," he said, "if you will bow down and worship me." Matthew 4:9

cxxxv I am not entirely sure about the financial operation of Free Presbyterian schools. Ibelieve that they receive no direct state funding for their capital or running costs.cxxxvi Some home-educators have preferred to drop the title school and substituteeducation for school and educator for teacher.cxxxvii Christian Education Europe; www.christian-education.org are suppliers of Accelerated Christian Education; www.schooloftomorrow.com curriculum materials.

They are orthodox, Bible-believing and have a vision to support existing Christian Schoolsand homeschools here and, quite literally, around the world.cxxxviii These comments are anecdotal and reflect personal contact with homeschoolers.

There is a very clear case that state schools must answer as to the quality of their ownteachers and teaching programmes. Every year, in the U.K. 100,000 pupils leave schoolfunctionally illiterate.

www.guardian.co.uk/education/2007/jul/10/schools.primaryeducationcxxxix Christian Education Europe offers both G.C.S.E and G.C.E. equivalent qualifications

which are presently recognised by U.K. universities.cxl Luke 14:28cxli http://www.nicurriculum.org.uk/cxlii For Example;Cornelius Van Til, Louis Berkhof. Foundations of Christian Education: Addresses to Christian Teachers . Edited by Dennis E. Johnson. P & R Publishing, 1990.

Short, Bruce N. The Harsh Truth About Public Schools . Ross House Books, 2001.


84/84

Rushdoony, Rousas J. The Messianic Character of American Education: Studies in the History of the Philosophy of Education . Vallecito, California: Ross House Books, 1963.

Machen, Gresham, J. Education, Christianity, and the State . Jefferson, Maryland: The Trinity Foundation, 1987.

Rushdoony, Rousas J. Intellectual Schizophrenia . Ross House Books, 1961.

Thoburn, Robert L. The Children Trap: The Biblical Blueprint for Educaiton . Fort Worth, Texas:Dominion Press, 1986.

Douglas, Wilson. The Paideia of God: And Other Essays ... - Google Book Search . Canon Press,Moscow, Idaho, n.d.http://books.google.com/books?id=KhlmBngU5FgC&printsec=frontcover&lr=&sig=W pu9jc7zYVjM9Gy9TNr_D2PtXjA#PPP1,M1.cxliii

http://www.christian-education.org/ Christian Education Europe; Christian Schoolsand Homeschools in the U.K. and Ireland and beyond.

For a list of Christian schools, including those in N. Ireland and the Republic of Irelandsee: http://www.christian-education.org/schools.htmlcxliv www.christian-education.org, tel. (0)1793 783783cxlv http://www.brusselsjournal.com/node/1330 Germany Imprisons Mum. Dad andKids Flee to Austria http://www.hslda.org/hs/international/Germany/200907220.asp GermanHomeschoolers Seek Asylum in America

http://www.hslda.org/hs/international/Germany/200806710.asp German Family Faces Trial, Possible Jail Time for Homeschooling See also http://www.hslda.org/docs/media/2010/201006250.asp BATTLEESCALATES OVER HOMESCHOOLED CHILD SEIZED BY SWEDISHGOVERNMENTcxlvi A German family who I had the privilege of meeting in England were taking a teacher-training course to be licensed to teach an A.C.E. Christian school and, for the sake of theirchildren and grand-children were going the administrative hurdles to make the creation of this miniature school a possibility.

Christ Marked Absent

Documents

Transcript of Christ Marked Absent