Last week we held our first classes at the Geneva Institute. It was an absolute pleasure to sit around a table and discuss Scripture and worldview with some of our area’s bright young minds. As I reflected on that experience this weekend, I was reminded of a WSJ article that I read over the summer that showed the degree to which colleges were failing to teach critical thinking skills. It claimed that “many students fail to improve over four years–even at some flagship schools.”
Of course, it is the case that we want to equip our students with valuable information. For instance, we will not neglect to teach textbook theology, worldview, history, etc. (and, all from a biblical perspective). But, we also want to teach them how to grow in their knowledge of God. As Dr. David Alan Black wrote, we “want them to understand how one comes to know (epistemology) and to think (logic.). (For more details of why doing so is important, take time to read one of Dr Black’s short articles on the subject here.)
So, as we engage our students over the coming year we will continually remind ourselves to love our students by training the mind, always recognizing our dependence on God for truth in all things. Knowledge is not for puffing up for accolades from the world but for training up for life in Christ!