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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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Since we are made in the image of God and are like God, we need to know and believe that we are made to represent Him and bring Him glory. While God did indeed give us a free will, He wants us to want to have a relationship with Him. He wants us to want to be like Him. He wants us to want to make the right choice, and sometimes that choice won’t be what we want to do, but what we know God wants us to do. I think the sooner people realize that we were not made for ourselves and that we were made for God and made to bring Him glory, the sooner people might actually start living that way. As Christians, we are called to die to ourselves; put our fleshly desires to the side. This is not our life to live for ourselves, we were given this life to live for God. He gives us our every breath. We should use our every breath to bring Him glory, not ourselves.
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Knowing your Bible and where to find pertinent biblical truths is one way to assist in areas where people may challenge elements of your faith. Without arguing, pointing people to the truth in a loving way will be a greater witness to God’s love than trying to argue a point, especially if both you and another person has very strong convictions. 1 John tells us that they will know we are Christians by our love. How we love others and the way we approach them will speak volumes about what it looks like to acknowledge Jesus as your Savior and follow in his ways. If we become Jesus with skin on, so to say, then the testimony of our lives in our demeanor, actions, words, gestures will be a reflection of Jesus.
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In a Postmodern world, people get to chose, and sometimes invent, what they “know.” In a Christian school, you have to keep pointing out the Word of God as truth, and keep pointing student to it. It really is the only standard of truth that we have to base the rest of the things that we ‘know’ on.
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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.