Confession: I haven’t used any creationist science materials in my kids’ science classes. We use Usborne, DK, and other secular humanistic books.
Why? Because we have nothing to fear from evolutionary thinking if and when it is exposed for the limited mindset it really is.
I’ve also experienced the consequences of waiting for the world to introduce our young people in its own time and way.
My siblings and I grew up using some of the few Christian homeschooling materials available at the time. The only exposure we had to evolution was a brief introduction to the discarded idea of inherited traits eventually producing completely new organisms. Other than that, we were only taught observational science and a little Flood geology.
The popular idea at the time was that people were trained to recognize counterfeit money by handling real currency so much they would recognize fakes instantly and reject them. Therefore, we should do the same for our kids.
But it doesn’t work.
Far too often, the first time a young person from such an environment hears the Enemy’s carefully packaged lies, they fall for them hook, line, and sinker. It happened to some of my siblings. It can just as easily happen to our kids.
This is also a classic definition of indoctrination.
Here’s the analogy I prefer to use:
Training up children is a lot like developing the immune system. You want your kids to run into dangerous ideas as soon as they can safely handle them. You just carefully control the way they are introduced.
I don’t just hand those Evolutionary science books to my 8 year olds. I sit down with them and read them together.
- We discuss how they talk as if they were there, when no one but God actually was
- We look at how they skip over the impossible parts, like Spontaneous Generation
- We talk about how fossils actually only tell us how deeply they were buried
- We learn how genetics allow for lots of variation, but not creating completely different organisms
- We examine what the Uniformitarians must believe to avoid seeing how quickly rocks/fossils can be formed
Then we study what God (the only eye witness) said He did in Genesis and other places. He told us how He spoke, used logic (John 1:1), stretched the universe out, and created living things “after their kinds“.
We also look at how God rested after the Six Days of Creation. God isn’t doing the same kind of creative work in the world today. Instead, He uses natural laws. Scientists can study what goes on today because of these rules. We can rely on an experiment to work today like it did last year (all things being equal).
But we can’t take what we see today and assume it was like that from the beginning of time.
Then we look at The Big Picture:
We learn the reasons people refuse to consider anything outside of nature being real. We learn how it was Bible rejecting (not necessarily atheistic) scientists who started the West on the path to denying God’s role as Creator.
We look at what the world would actually be like if the Evolutionary Secular Humanism was right. Why are we here? Where are we going? What’s the point of living? (For more, sign up for my emails on the right to get the PDF talking about these issues).
We study what the Scripture says about itself and talk about what would happen to Jesus and the Bible with Genesis explained away.
Another benefit of learning evolutionary thinking someone pointed out to me is this: If you don’t know anything about a subject, how are you supposed to speak to those who believe it? We are called to be lights in the world. If our only answer to those who say the world made itself is, “that’s not true, God did it.” What do we give the Holy Spirit to work with in their lives?
Am I afraid for my kids? No. Do I pray God will guard their hearts and minds? Oh, yes. But God’s Word is true. Nature declares its Maker’s praise when we look at it clearly.
Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts. Psalm 145:3,4
For further study:
Answers in Genesis: Victory Begins at Home
Parents—Don’t Leave Teaching to the Church
Creation Ministries International has a whole Parent’s Corner
Dr. Jay Wile understands this concept. Here’s what he’s found: A College Education Makes You MORE LIKELY To Retain Your Faith:
The vast majority of intellectual and scientific data support a belief in a personal God. Thus, it is not surprising to me that the more people learn, the more likely they are to remain engaged in their faith!
2 Comments
Tiny Noordijk · at
It would be great if you want to give a reply on my advices to the teenagers. Can you use it?
A long time ago I posted something that could be a big help for teenagers on the public school. Nobody gave any reaction. So I think that the problems on the American schools are not as big as American Christians claim… But I post the same post again, in the hope that it might be a help, even if only one teenager can use it I’ll be happy. Read this:
This is for Young Christians on school. When I was a teenager, I wrote The behaviour code. There are several people who did copy this and put in on internet, with their own ideas.:
PEACE IN PUBLIC SCHOOL – PLEASING GOD OR MAN?
Finding peace in Public School can be a challenge for young believers. Biology class in particular can be a dramatic experience. In every quiz or test, the following dilemma presents itself: “Do I choose to be obedient to God? Or do I want good grades and a pleasant relationship with my teacher instead”?
I must admit I was greedy: I wanted both! As a teenager I asked God for wisdom and then I knew what to do. At the top of every test I wrote a short message:
“Dear sir, my answers will show you the things I have understood and memorized in your class. But I want to stress that these answers are not my personal opinion, because the writers of the curriculum have very different opinions from mine. I personally base my entire worldview on the Bible.”
After this testimony, I had total freedom to give the answers that were expected. I gained the respect of my teacher, because I tried extra hard.
Peace in Public School – Some Useful Tips
Here are some more useful tips to experience peace in Public School. I have learned these from experience and I would like to share them with you.
1. Add a testimony like the above to the first quiz or test of the schoolyear. But don’t aggrevate your teacher by doing this all the time. Teachers do have an excellent memory!
2.Do not misuse your faith as an excuse to not do your homework! In the past, my teacher had students who camouflaged their laziness with pious arguments about their faith. Because of their behavior, he was biased against believers. The result was that I had to try three times as hard as others to prove that I was motivated to learn.
3. Show respect to your teachers! Even pray for them. Combined with a healthy motivation to learn, this will ensure that teachers will respect you in return — well, at least those teachers with a mature attitude.
Many scientists — atheists as well as believers — show a deep contempt for people who think differently. They offend and hurt those others, but even more: they are missing out on some great opportunities. First, a hurt person will never be willing to listen to you and therefore you will never be able to convince him of antyhing. Secondly, it is foolish to assume that people who think differently cannot teach you anything. King Solomon wrote the following in the Bible:
“I also saw under the sun this example of wisdom that greatly impressed me: There was once a small city with only a few people in it. And a powerful king came against it, surrounded it and built huge siege works against it. Now there lived in that city a man poor but wise, and he saved the city by his wisdom. But nobody remembered that poor man. So I said, ‘Wisdom is better than strength.’ But the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are no longer heeded. The quiet words of the wise are more to be heeded than the shouts of a ruler of fools. Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good.” (Ecclesiastes 9:13-18)
So it is important to listen to others, or you might just be locking out some essential knowledge you are lacking.
Peace in Public School – Gentleness and Respect
Another key to finding peace in public school is the following: ask your teacher what his (or her) preference is for your approach in class when you disagree with his teaching. Are you allowed to question his teaching? Some teachers don’t mind if you do this “with gentleness and respect” (1 Peter 3:15-16), especially if you phrase your comment in the form of a question. I once had a teacher who did not want to argue his point in front of the class. So we agreed that I could talk with him afterward. And guess what? Any time I gave him interesting additional information or even convinced him of a better alternative, he would gladly tell the class at a later time. So he was certainly willing to debate, but wanted to avoid the possibility of being stuck in an embarassing situation in case a student would outwit him in front of his own class.
As a teenager, I was involved in breeding animals and cultivating plants, so I knew quite a bit about genetics and heredity. At the same time, I was an avid reader of biology books and encyclopedias. So I knew a lot of facts, in some areas even more than my teacher! But whenever I argued with him, I was polite and respectful. And in those few instances where my teacher became hostile, I continued to be friendly. Why? Because I follow a master who teaches gentleness. “Turning the other cheeck” means: don’t be offended too quickly, but treat people who provoke you with kindness and patience. This way you will be an effective witness of the Gospel in Public School.
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Cheri Fields · at
Excellent advice, Tiny. Thanks for the recommendations! 🙂