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The Philosophy of Biblical Integration in School Curriculum

Outline:

• Biblical Integration Defined
• Integration as it relates to “All Truth.”
• Biblical Integration is a Synthesizing of Truth to Life
• What Biblical Integration is Not
• Integration as it relates to the Bible
• Integration as it relates to Worldviews
• The three Superintending Principles of the Christian Worldview
• Three Approaches to Integration and Outside Viewpoints of Truth
• Presuppositional Integration (Compatibilist)
• Complementary Integration (Transformational)
• Direct Interaction Integration (Reconstructivist)
• The Dimensions of Integration
• Integration in Theoretical Disciplines (Subjects)
• The foundation of a Christian Worldview
• The existing foundations within Specific Disciplines
• Integration in Applied Disciplines (Subjects)
• The Philosophy behind the Practice
• The Attitudes, Ethics and Values of the Discipline
• The contribution to the Kingdom of God through the Discipline
• How Biblical Integration relates to the Christian School Environment
• Who is the Integrator?
• What is the Content?
• How is it applied to the Educational Environment?
• Examples of Biblical Integration in Christian School Curriculum
• Administration: Conflict Resolution
• Primary: Language Acquisition
• Elementary: Mathematics
• Middle School: Science
• High School: Social Studies & History
• The Student Learning Outcomes of Heritage Christian School
• Spiritual Learning Outcomes
• The Intellectual/Academic Learning Outcomes
• Physical Fitness Learning Outcomes
• Social and Relational Learning Outcomes
• Vocational Learning Outcomes

I. Biblical Integration Defined

“All truth is God’s truth, as all life is God’s life; but God’s truth and God’s life are incarnate in Jesus.”

“Faith-learning integration may be briefly described as a scholarly project whose goal is to ascertain and to develop integral relationships which exist between the Christian faith and human knowledge, particularly as expressed in the various academic disciplines.”

“There is not one square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign, does not cry out, Mine!”

Integration as it relates to “All Truth”

The idea of Biblical Integration begins with the premise “All truth is God’s truth.” This implies that everything in the world and outside of the world has been created by God and, as the Designer of all things, He is the first authority on understanding the true nature of everything. Therefore any and all disciplines of learning must start and end with Him who has the sole distinction in the universe as “The Truth” (John 14:6). The Scripture points us to creation itself as a means to knowing God and his attributes (Psalm 19:1-6, Rom. 1:20-21), conversely God’s attributes teach us about the nature of creation (Gen 1-3, Prov. 8:22-31, Heb 1:3).

It is our task as Christian Educators to present God’s world and all of it’s principles, disciplines and applications to our students as succinctly and biblically as is possible in our limited understanding. This means that we are to figuratively “go into all the world…” (Matt. 28:19) and take our disciples with us as we try to understand it through the means God has given using the tools of “special revelation” and “general revelation.” It also means that “truth” is not exclusive to Christian teaching or the Bible itself. We can know truth outside of the Bible and, in fact, to seek truth exclusively within the confines of scripture would be to rob the reality and splendor of such statements in scripture as:

The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands. Day to day pours forth speech, And night to night reveals knowledge. Psalms 19:1-2

J.P Moreland, noted Christian scholar and philosopher, explains the difficult nature of integration; “To be engaged in the task of integration is to embark on a journey that is at once exciting and difficult. Integration is no easy task and it is a life-long project that should occur within an individual believer’s life and among the various members of the Christian community working together. Part of the difficulty of this journey is due not only to the massive amount of information and vast array of studies that need to be consulted, but also the fact that there are many different aspects of and attitudes toward integration itself.”

Our journey must take us into any discipline that renders creation or the creature in a truthful light. This will take us through the great discoveries of science and mathematics, the language arts and humanities, the fine arts and craftsman’s skills; the theoretical and practical aspects of learning. And we are to do this always in the light of our Christian world-view coming out of the Scriptures as revealed to us through the Holy Spirit and sound orthodoxy.

Biblical Integration is the Synthesizing of Truth to Life

The process of Biblical Integration is really a synthesizing of our Christian Worldview into everything around us, although this may be a misnomer because in all aspects of reality there is no need for synthesis. Truth and reality are synonymous. There is no need to integrate a singular, unified reality. We must be careful not to slip into the subtle error of dualism even in the process of integration. Noted Christian philosopher William Hasker is helpful here, “There is a single reality, all of which is created by God and under his dominion, and all of which we as his children and image-bearers must seek to understand…And yet there is ample justification for speaking of ‘integration.’ First of all, though there is a unity of truth there is nevertheless a diversity in our ways of knowing that makes the unity of truth a difficult and demanding achievement for us humans…So as a matter of fact we as human knowers are confronted by diverse and apparently unconnected bodies of knowledge achieved through different means; it is precisely and only by ‘integrating’ such diverse bodies of knowledge that the vision of a unity of truth is gained.” This “diversity in our ways of knowing” is easily seen in how we can know theology (through Biblical studies and philosophy; special revelation) and how we can know chemistry (through experimentation; general revelation).

Biblical Integration is further necessary for us to bring together the various disciplines. The Christian Worldview places all things within the proper context of life itself giving everything its reason for existence and thus becomes the integrating force of all truth. Without it we see a fragmented approach to life without any singular purpose to different realms of study. The physicist has little to do with the artist, the fitness teacher sees little use for the philosophy teacher; but when theology breathes purpose and meaning into all aspects of life relevance is seen in the most sublime disciplines of creation and human thought.

Therefore, Biblical Integration is a synthesis of thought and understanding not an integration of reality itself. Hasker continues: “Integration is concerned with integral relationships between faith and knowledge, the relationships which inherently exist between the content of the faith and the subject-matter of this or that discipline; such connections do not have to be invented or manufactured. But they do need to be ascertained and developed; unless this is done faith and knowledge may appear to be, and for practical purposes may be in fact, alien and unrelated to each other.”

What Biblical Integration is Not

As we carefully define what Biblical Integration is it seems to be necessary to define what it is not. This phrase is often misunderstood as a www.google.com search will reveal. The internet search renders a number of spurious ideas as well as boiler-plate creedal statements made in various Christian educational institutions. Here are some of the common misconceptions made about integration and the Bible:

• Integration is using the Bible metaphorically. The teacher will take a concept from the Bible to illustrate a particular topic such as: the triangle is like the Trinity or Noah had to bring the animals two by two into the arc so let’s practice our times-tables. This can happen in the reverse by using subject matter to explain the Bible such as two plus two is always four, and God is always the same, you can depend on Him. In these examples there is no integral relationship between the issues being taught.
  
  
• Integration is using the Bible to show a relevant correlation between life and the Scriptures. The teacher is trying to make both their topic and the Bible relevant by using one to inspire the other. Example: teaching the Bible as literature because the Bible uses language in many different ways, poetry, narrative, instructive, prose, etc. and thus it teaches us that we must use language the same way. Again this is done in reverse. Example: using modern day examples of war to teach the art of warfare as it is found in Biblical times. Often we try to correlate history to Bible events and timelines. In these examples there is obvious correlation but there is no integral or foundational meaning being applied from the scriptures to the particular subjects.
  
  
• Integration is creating a Christian Environment for learning. This is where a school will emphasize that it integrates a Christian lifestyle both in its staff and clientele. Example: we only hire Christian teachers or we only accept students that go to a particular type of church and profess their Christian faith. In this example we see an external emphasis on the nature of teaching that may lack the internal necessities for true Biblical Integration. Often application is emphasized in this environment such as service projects or missions trips. But the deeper Christian issues embedded in subjects themselves, the curriculum, the learning outcomes and teaching methods may never be addressed.
  
  
• Integration is including Bible as a core subject in our school. This is the school whose overall scope teaches what is considered neutral disciplines like math and reading using standardized learning outcomes but adds Bible classes to the curriculum. It may go as far as to exclude anti–Christian ideologies such as evolution or secular humanism. The problem here is that there is no such thing as “neutral disciplines.” This approach lends itself to a dualistic6 approach towards life. It still leaves the disciplines and subjects taught in the school without an integrated foundational perspective.

The above four misconception are all valid aspects of the Christian School. There is nothing wrong with drawing illustrations and metaphors from scripture and life or developing relevant correlation between the Bible and life. In fact, these are often good teaching tools to be used to help promote both Biblical literacy and relevance with our students. Certainly who we hire and the environment we cultivate must be Christian through and through. Nevertheless this does not mean that concentrated efforts are being made towards good Biblical Integration. I am a big proponent of teaching the Bible as its own subject because of its central importance to all of life. But this must not be a substitute for the scholarship that has to be done in every discipline and subject in our school. These ideas are all part of what makes a Christian School Christian but they should not be confused with true Biblical Integration.

Integration as it relates to the Bible

Because we hold to the inerrancy of the Scriptures and the Bible is so much more than a book of philosophy or religion we are faced with the daunting task of reconciling the statements and context of Scripture with the world as we experience and know it. The challenge is presented to us because of the following points:

• A profound ignorance of the Scriptures within the modern day church and its teachers keeps us “from rightly dividing the word of truth” (II Tim. 2:15).
• The Bible is not the starting point of truth in many of the disciplines we teach. Most teachers, curriculum and disciplines do not start with the underlying universal principles of scripture to guide them. They do not begin with a biblically sound perspective of the fundamental ideas of the subject matter.
• We possess a dualistic approach towards reality separating “secular truth” from “sacred truth” which relegates the Bible null and void of those concepts beyond theology and religion.
• We fall into faulty hermeneutics in scriptural interpretation and understanding. The cultural context we find ourselves in may make it difficult for us to see the context that scripture was written in. We bring to the Bible a cultural bias that comes from the age in which we live and the religious influences and traditions we aspire to. It is theoretically impossible to be truly objective in our understanding of the Bible yet this must be every Christian scholar’s quest.
• We encounter contradictory aspects of the Bible and “accepted knowledge” within the particular discipline, such as, apparent contradictions between the Genesis account of the origin of the universe and contemporary scientific theory.

These challenges must be overcome by Christian school teachers if they are to bring true Biblical Integration into their classrooms. We must dedicate ourselves to thorough understanding of the scriptures especially in the disciplines and fields of study that we teach. In order to truly know something we must see it from the Designer’s perspective as given to us in the Bible. We must integrate our knowledge of the subject with the Bible in all aspects of purpose, history, function and application. The Bible gives us the “principles” through which we can know the true nature of all things as God created them.

Biblical Integration as it relates to Worldviews

Worldview is always at the center of what we know and teach. It is the framework, the paradigms, in which we approach our understanding of reality. Every discipline, subject and skill we teach has been affected by the various worldviews around us. Because we find ourselves in a pluralistic culture we must always navigate our way through any topic with the Christian worldview at the helm. This requires us to first and foremost know how the Christian perspective integrates into the topic. This is found through the aforementioned process of embracing scripture led by the Holy Spirit. It will also require the broader shaping of Christian doctrine so that both the big picture and the specifics of the subject are accurately understood within the context of a Christian framework.

Obviously, much of what we teach has been inculcated with many of the pluralistic viewpoints of a fallen and misled culture (II Cor. 4:4, Eph. 2:1-3, I John 5:19). We must be on guard in our own thinking that we do not possess these perspectives about the subjects to which we teach. Our own minds have at one time experienced the alienation from God and we must redeem our minds from the fashionable, worldly way of thinking (“at war with God in your minds” Col. 1:21 BBE; “Do not conform to the fashion of this world;” Rom. 12:2, Twentieth Century Version). Our minds must undergo a “spiritual revolution;” a literal overthrow of the ideologies that have governed our perspectives. Once our own thinking has been “sanctified” we are able to present the things we teach from the Christian Worldview.

Biblical Integration involves the important task of unraveling those worldviews that have invaded the subjects to which we want to bring our students. Such erroneous perspectives as naturalism, dualism, secular humanism, relativism, existentialism and the many other “isms” that have invaded our culture’s collective belief systems have to be rooted out and exposed in the various disciplines we teach. It is not enough to teach the Christian worldview; we must prepare our students for the deluge of “anti-christ” thinking that they will encounter the minute they step from the classroom, church and home.

The Christian worldview is more than a mental framework or philosophy it is also where we teach from. It affects what we teach, where we teach, who we teach and how we teach. John Van Dyk is helpful in his explanation of worldviews in the classroom, “Now remember, your worldview is not limited to sweeping generalities about God and humankind, or to a set of theological truths. As a teacher, your worldview controls what you believe not only about the big picture, but also about subject matter, about children, and about the purposes of your efforts in the classroom.” Often our pedagogical training reflects ideologies that are contrary to our faith and employs methods of teaching and thinking that are based in faulty worldviews such as behaviorism, perennialism, progressivism and essentialism. We cannot just possess a Christian perspective of a given subject; our pedagogy must also reflect our worldview in order to teach in a fully biblically integrated manner.

The Three Superintending Principles of a Christian Worldview

Charles Colson’s definition of all worldviews helps us understand the three aspects of the Christian viewpoint: “…every worldview can be analyzed by the way it answers three basic questions: Where did we come from, and who are we (creation)? What has gone wrong with the world (fall)? And can we fix it (redemption)? These three questions form a grid that we can use to break down the inner logic of every belief system of philosophy that we encounter, from the textbooks in our classrooms to the unspoken philosophy that shapes the message we hear on Oprah.” These great themes are found in all worldview perspectives though they may be called by a different name.

These three superintending principles must govern every aspect of our understanding of the world as we know it and present it to our students:

• God is the creator and origin of all things and thus he gives all things purpose and intention.
• God created the universe as we know it: Gen. 1-3, John 1:1-3
• God created all things good: Gen. 1:31
• God created man in His image thus distinguishing man from all other aspects of creation: Gen. 1:26-28
• God gave mankind the authority over all else in the created universe as a stewardship: Gen 1:26, 2:15
• God created all things to follow its order of kind: Gen. 1:11-12, 21-22
• Mankind fell through sin and rebellion from relationship with God and caused spiritual death to enter into himself and thus into all of creation.
• The nature of man’s rebellion was one of choice, Gen 2:17
• Spiritual death first entered man thus causing physical death and corruption of all of man’s stewardship (creation). Gen. 2:17, 3:1-8, 5:3
• All of Adam’s offspring have been affected by his decision and have likewise entered into his rebellion. Rom. 3:23, 5:12
• Christ came into the world in order to restore what mankind lost in the garden of Eden.
• He came to deliver us from our sin and the spiritual forces of the devil to which we were held bondage; Rom. 5:6-8, I John 3:8
• He came to restore spiritual life and redeem us from the fall of Adam and the effects of our own sin; John 10:10, I John 2:1-2, 5:10-12
• He gives us a new regenerated spirit and brings us into union with Himself through which all of God’s inheritance is restored to us. II Cor. 5:17, I Cor. 6:17, Eph. 1:3
• He restores our relationship to God as our spiritual Father and brings us into His covenant family. II Cor. 5:19, Gal. 3:26-28, Eph. 2:19
• We will one day see this salvation extend itself into our bodies when Christ returns again to this world. Phil 3:20-21, I Cor. 15, I Thes. 4:14-18.
• He will either judge or destroy that which was affected by the fall or he will redeem and restore it. II Thes. 1:5-10, Rev. 20-22, II Peter 3:4-18

These themes must inculcate every “truth” we bring forth in the classroom. This does not mean every class need be a Bible study but rather an integration of these three superintending principles:

• Everything we teach about was first created by God with an original intention specified by God. In order for our students to understand the true nature of a subject they must see it in the light of God’s original intention.
• Everything we teach about has been affected directly or indirectly by the fall of man. In order for our students to understand the flaws, degradation, sinfulness and corruption in a particular subject they must see it in its past and present fallen state.
• Everything we teach has been or will be affected directly or indirectly by the redemption provided in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. Students must see the redemptive aspects of the subject matter as it applies to their own experience as Christians and how it must undergo its own redemptive process.

There are many more aspects and principles involved in a Christian Worldview and one may argue that there are other ways of classifying the essentials of worldview. Nevertheless these three concepts permeate all truth and all the various disciplines of study. As one fellow put it, “the reason I believe the Bible is because it is the most consistent with everything I can see and know.”...

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