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Why is it important for the Christian educator to know his/her answers to the questions asked by metaphysics, epistemology, and axiology?
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It is important to know about your existence, your ability to know things, and your values so that we can pass those onto our students and help them to understand why we know these things. It is also important to understand that the students may not know and will need help and guidance to find their answers and so being secure in ours helps them to see that it is possible and how to get to a place of knowing and understanding that helps them get through life and all the uncertainty to come.
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These are difficult concepts for both students and teachers. My answers to these questions were in flux in high school. Now, my answers to these questions are still challenged by events in my life. I still find that certain books challenge my stances on metaphysics more so than movies or tv shows. My students are likely challenged through other media. My answers to the questions asked by metaphysics, epistemology, and axiology (if I am honest with myself) influence every word I speak.
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It is important to know the answers to these questions, because our students will ask. It will also come out in the way we treat them and teach them.
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I have a seminary degree and have studied these topics in depth, but my brain is not really wired to embrace these kinds of questions. They are fun for a season, but when I talk to people who are very philosophical, I really cringe. But I do know that it is important that I not be totally taken by surprise or crushed by philosophical arguments. I also think that it is good to have a basic understanding so that I can help my students know that there are some people to believe totally different and explain why. I have seen many students strong in their faith, walk away from God in their college years because of philosophies that gripped their minds and gave them doubts. For me it is important to know that God is the source of life and truth, that he is good, and that he is worthy of trust and my devotion.
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1 Peter 3:15 states:
“Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.”Having an answer to those asked by metaphysics, epistemology, and axiology, will assist us in sharing our faith with others. If we have an answer to these questions and are living in a godly way, we are hopefully bringing others to a saving knowledge of Christ.
I also think it’s important to know our answers to these questions because they will surely come up in the classroom. We don’t want to stumble through them when the world is trying to claim authority on these answers. Students need to know that in a vast universe, we were created by God for a specific reason because He values and loves us so much that He has given us very real senses to experience this world, but that because our emotions and sinful nature, He has also given us a Savior who has given us a prescription for eternal life. We can only get here if we trust and have faith in HIM as the authority, and not put our faith in man, (including in our own experiences and feelings which can deceive us).