THE
WORLD'S EDUCATION.
WHEN Christianity, as such, began in the world, the Word of God
was its
educational Book. However, there was at that time in the world
that which claimed to be
education; and not only education, but the only education in any
true sense. This which
was claimed to be the true education, and which was accepted by
the world as the only
true education, had to be met by Christianity. And on this
question of education, as in all
other things, Christianity and the world were at direct
opposites.
Christianity and this other education met at the then three
great educational
centers in the world; and we know how entirely at opposites they
stood, because we have
the words of Inspiration on the subject, defining exactly what
that was which was held by
the world to be education.
Corinth was one of the three educational centers in the world,
at that time.
"Corinth was the Vanity Fair of the Roman Empire;
therefore, at once the London and the
Paris of the first century after Christ." -- Farrar. The
great apostle to the Gentiles spent
eighteen months in planting Christianity in that center of the
world's education; and when
he had gone away, he wrote concerning heathendom and its
education, these words:
"After that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew
not God, it pleased God by
the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe." 1
Cor. 1:21.
The world had reached the point at which it did not know God. It
was "by
wisdom" that the world reached this point. It was "by wisdom"
that the world was caused
not to know God. And that wisdom was the world's philosophy, the
world's science, -- in
a word, the world's education. Therefore, Inspiration plainly
shows that that which was
accepted by the world as education, was itself the means of
their not knowing God. But
Christianity is the definite and certain knowledge of God. How
could any two things be
more directly at opposites, than are a system which causes men
definitely and certainly to
know, and a system which definitely causes men not to know?
Ephesus was another of the three educational centers of the
world. It was the most
magnificent of "the magnificent cities of Asia."
"Its markets glittered with the produce of
the world's arts -- were the Vanity Fair of Asia. Nor was any
name more splendidly
emblazoned in the annals of human culture, than that of the
great capital of Iodia." --
Farrar. In that cultured and educational city the great apostle
to the Gentiles conducted a
Christian school nearly two and a half years: first in the
synagogue "for the space of three
months," and afterward, "when divers were hardened,
and believed not, but spake evil of
that way before the multitude, he departed from them, and
separated the disciples,
disputing daily in the school of one Tyrannus. And this
continued by the space of two
years." Acts 19:9, 10. He was establishing a distinctly
Christian education as against a
distinctly heathen education. That which led directly to the
establishing of this specific
school of Christian education, was that "divers were
hardened, and believed not." Then,
from the promiscuous audience, Paul separated the disciples,
those who believed, and
taught daily in the school of Tyrannus the way of Christian education.
As a consequence
many of the Gentiles of that cultured city became Christians.
And when Paul wrote to the
Ephesians, his epistle contained the following earnest words:
"This I say therefore, and
testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other
Gentiles walk, in the vanity of
their mind, having the understanding darkened, being alienated
from the life of God
through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness
of their heart." Eph. 4:17,
These Gentile people of the city of Ephesus were alienated
(separated, cut off)
from the life of God through the ignorance that was in them. It
was their ignorance that
was the cause of their separation from the life of God. But
Ephesus was a center of
education; and it was precisely that education that caused their
alienation from the life of
God. Yet Inspiration declares that they were alienated from the
life of God through the
ignorance that was in them. It is, therefore, perfectly plain,
that Inspiration defines their
education to have been ignorance.
Athens was the third of these great centers of the world's
education. Athens was
more than this: she was the mother of the then world's
education. Yea, she was even more
than this: she was the mother, in a large sense, of that which
has been the world's
education to this day. And to Athens also went the great apostle
to the Gentiles. There he
was brought before the Supreme Court, to be heard as to what
bearing his teachings were
having in the matter of being a "setter forth of strange
gods." And twice in his speech
before that Court, and the assembled crowd, Inspiration uses the
precise word that was
used with reference to the world's education in Ephesus. He
said: "Ye men of Athens, I
perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. For as I
passed by, and beheld your
devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE
UNKNOWN GOD. Whom
therefore ye ignorantly worship, Him declare I unto you. God
that made the world and all
things therein, seeing that He is Lord of heaven and earth,
dwelleth not in temples made
with hands; neither is worshiped with men's hands, as though He
needed anything, seeing
He giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; and hath made
of one blood all nations of
men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath
determined the times before
appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; that they should
seek the Lord, if haply
they might feel after Him, and find Him, though He be not far
from every one of us; for
in Him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of
your own poets have
said, For we are also His offspring.
"Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought
not to think that the
Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art
and man's device. And the
times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all
men everywhere to
repent; because He hath appointed a day, in the which He will
judge the world in
righteousness by that Man whom He hath ordained; whereof He hath
given assurance
unto all men, in that He hath raised Him from the dead."
Acts 17:22-31.
They had erected an altar in honor of the unknown God. In this,
they "ignorantly
worshiped." That city was wholly given to idolatry, for it
was full of idols of gold, or
silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device, expressing
their ideas of God; and "the
times of this ignorance" God endured, but now commanded
"all men everywhere to
repent" of this "ignorance." But do not forget
that all this was but a part, the central part
indeed, of the education of Athens, of the education which she
imparted, of the education
of which she was the mother. For that education culminated in
art; that art was idolatry;
and that idolatry was but the manifestation of ignorance.
Therefore, again it is
demonstrated that the world's education, Greek education, at
that time, was only
ignorance. And when it is understood how supremely Athens prided
herself upon the
education which she gave to the world, some faint estimate can
be formed of the depth of
the spirit of their mockery in response to the word of a
despised Jew, standing in such a
presence, and defining it all as "ignorance," and
calling upon them to repent of their
education.
Yet ignorance is precisely, and only, what it was. That alter
with its inscription
"TO THE UNKNOWN GOD," was but a monument erected to
their ignorance. For that
word "ignorance" which Inspiration uses, is not merely
a term captiously used, to imply
that the world's education was equivalent to ignorance, and was
ultimately ignorance in
that it did not attain to the knowledge of God; but it is a word
definitely selected by
Inspiration as truly defining, in its very essence, the real
character of that education: that
it was in itself "ignorance." This is clearly seen
when it is understood what the principle
and the process of that education were. This is given by
accepted authority.
Socrates was the great educator of Greece; and Greece, through
Plato and
Aristotle, was the educator of the world. And of Socrates it is
written: -- “Socrates was
not a `philosopher,' nor yet a `teacher,' but rather an
`educator,' having for his function `to
rouse, persuade, and rebuke.' -- Plato, Apology, 30 E. Hence, in
examining his life's work,
it is proper to ask, not, `What was his philosophy?' but, `What
was his theory, and what
was his practice, of education?' He was brought to his theory of
education by the study of
previous philosophies, and his practice led to the Platonic
revival.
"Socrates' theory of education has for its basis a PROFOUND
AND
CONSISTENT SKEPTICISM.
"Taking his departure from some apparently remote principle
or proposition to
which the respondent yielded a ready assent, Socrates would draw
from it an unexpected
but undeniable consequence which was plainly inconsistent with
the opinion impugned.
In this way, he brought his interlocutor to pass judgment upon
himself, and reduced him
to a state of `doubt,' or `perplexity.' `Before I ever met you,'
says Meno in the Dialogue
which Plato called by his name, `I was told that you spent your
time in doubting, and
leading others to doubt; and it is a fact that your witcheries
and spells have brought me to
that condition.'" -- Encyclopedia Britannica, article
"Socrates."
Plato was the pupil and reporter of Socrates. Socrates himself
left no writings. It is
to Plato that the world owes almost all that it knows of
Socrates, especially as to his
"philosophy." Thus, in the field of philosophy,
speculation, metaphysics, Plato is the
great voice and continuator of Socrates. Aristotle was a
disciple of Plato; but he broke
away from the particularly philosophical and metaphysical
speculations of his master,
and turned specially to science and physics. Plato leaned to
having all things culminate in
philosophy. Aristotle leaned toward having all things culminate
in science: he would
"reduce even philosophy to science." And Aristotle
like Plato continued in education the
identical principle of education which was entertained by
Socrates and continued by Plato:
that doubt is the way to knowledge. For with Aristotle it was a
maxim that "to frame
doubts well" is a service to the discovery of truth.
Thus, then, as stated concerning Socrates, the basis of the
whole theory of Greek
education, both in science and philosophy, was
"doubt," -- "a profound and consistent
skepticism." Indeed, the principal idea of that philosophy
is expressed in the word
"doubt." The history of philosophy is but the history
of doubt.
Now, the essential characteristic and quality of doubt is that
it definitely causes
him who exercises it, not to know. So long as any one doubts a
thing, he can not know
that thing. And not to know, is simply ignorance. Since,
therefore, the basis of the great
Greek educator's theory of education was "doubt," --
"a profound and consistent
skepticism;" and since the essential quality of doubt
causes him who exercises it not to
know; it follows that Greek education, being founded in doubt,
and built up through
doubt, was essentially ignorance. And Inspiration pierced to the
very core of the whole
system when it repeatedly defined that education as
"ignorance." And the word
"ignorance" was definitely chosen by the Spirit of
Inspiration simply because it
essentially defined the thing.
WRITTEN BY
Christian
Education by A.T Jones
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