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Postmodernism presents a challenge to the Christian view of epistemology. What are some practical ways you, as a Christian educator, can respond to this challenge?
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Postmodernism in this area certainly has created challenges for education today. Some ways I can respond are to make sure that I am in the Word daily, studying and learning the ways that I should respond that would honor God. Using questions to respond to students can help guide and direct them back to biblical truths. I can share my own experiences and how I have come to answer some of these tough questions.
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The topic of epistemology was the most interesting to me because this is where Christians tend to lack clarity. The professor said that in this post-modern world students are being taught to ignore observation and feelings. This is right after she expressed, correctly, that our feelings can lie. She also said that post-modern students are pulling away from scientific fact. This is an interesting observation for a Christian educator to make considering the tension that exists between secular science education and Christian science education.
I point these tensions out to say that one things Christian educators individually and as a movement can do is be humble and acknowledge when secular academia has been correct and we have been wrong. We can use that as an opportunity to show how all true knowledge comes from God. That will help us when we challenge a tenet of secular education. We will be able to offer critique without seeming contrarian for contrarians sake.
Epistemology is about how what we know what we know. Sometimes what we think we know is wrong. That is ok. If we acknowledge our fault, we demonstrate maturity. Sometimes the secular world is right about something. It is their philosophical interpretation that is wrong. When we are humble to acknowledge the right, we can offer an alternative to what is wrong.
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I can point students to the Word as their main source of understanding what God has created and what He has for us.
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We can be knowledgeable of the Bible and what we believe.
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I think that one of the practical ways to meet this challenge is to always point the student back to the Bible and the truth of its word. We are given truth and the ability to know many things about our Creator.
