The Rutland Area Christian School exists for the purpose of educating children in light of the Word of God. The fundamental thought of Christian Education is that all truth is God’s truth and that Jesus Christ is central in all learning.
We believe that education should begin with a concern for the student’s relationship with God through Jesus Christ, and extend throughout every aspect of his or her life. Our goal is to guide each child to think biblically, to develop a Christian worldview, and to independently appraise all things from this framework.
Central to our curriculum is the integration of biblical principles into the total learning experience. This is our basis for developing Christian character. Our conviction is to guide children to their capacity for poised leadership, serving their fellow man within the call to love God with all their heart, soul, mind and strength, and their neighbors as themselves.
What is “Christian Education”?
Christian education is a distinctive, not simply an alternative. Bible classes, chapels, dress codes, training in character, and even teachers who are Christians do not make a school “Christian.” Rather the focus of Christian education is found in interpreting all of life through the lens of biblical truth. Everything from the arts to the sciences should be studied biblically. Due to the fall of the human race in Genesis 3, sin has corrupted, distorted and fragmented every discipline. But because of the Cross of Christ we can have reversal and repair. Christian thought becomes the unifying factor that brings the fragmented parts together into a whole. This is what makes the Christian school different from other academic institutions.
Biblical truth must form the foundation and framework of every activity, decision, and discussion in the Christian school. From the admissions policy, discipline policy, actual classroom lessons, to the songs sung in worship- all must be built upon the foundation of biblical truth.
The Christian educator is the critical component for laying this foundation on behalf of the student. It is incumbent on the Christian teacher to know the Scriptures, (both doctrine and theology), to lead an integrated life of faith and practice, and to be able to capture the biblical truth in any activity or discipline. The teacher discovers the biblical truth already there, presents the truth and draws application for the student. We trust the Holy Spirit to apply internally what the teacher presents externally. The Christian educator must think in worldview terms, understanding that thinking “Christianly” in all of life collides with every other possible worldview.
The Christian educator understands that everyone has a worldview, even if a person is unaware of it. Everyone believes in something. Everyone has a philosophy of life made up of what he/she believes about right and wrong, life and death, truth, God and man, even if that someone is unable to articulate it. One’s worldview affects the way one lives and behaves, how one performs his/her job, and how one formulates life’s decisions.
There are many worldviews, but they can be reduced to just two: the Christian worldview with God at the center, and all else which point to the autonomy of man. Herein lies the distinction and answers the question of why Christian schools exist. The integration of biblical thought into all subject matter is the distinctive of Christian education.
We are preparing young people, the next generation, with a biblical worldview and training them to think biblically in all of life. John Calvin said, “The Grace Of Christ permeates the whole of life. There is nothing that is not touched by God.” Students in a Christian school need to learn this with a goal for each one to bring “every thought captive to the obedience of Christ” (2 Cor. 10:5).
Frank Gaebelein says in his book, The Pattern of God’s Truth, (1954), “We have had a great deal to say about God-centered, Christ-oriented, Bible-based education. But in actual practice we are not doing nearly enough of it. The old Negro spiritual, ‘Everybody talkin’ ’bout heav’n ain’t goin’ there’ might be paraphrased as ‘Everybody talkin’ ’bout Christian education ain’t doin’ it.”‘
At the Rutland Area Christian School, we are doin’ it! We are preparing today’s generation to engage our culture and permeate it with the truths of the Word of God.
Find out how we are doing ‘it’ in the following subjects:
grammar | history | literature | math | science