Did You Know That Historically, the Christian Faith Played a Large Role in the American School System?
Did you realize that reading the Bible basically created the American educational system?
Education in America in 1690
English printer Benjamin Harris, who had moved to Boston in 1686 to avoid the short Catholic hegemony under James II, initially produced The New England Primer between 1688 and 1690. The New England Primer was the first reading program created for the American colonies, and it was heavily based on his previous work, The Protestant Tutor. It went on to become the most popular instructional book printed throughout the colonial and early American periods of history. It was implemented in the first grade that we would have in two hundred years. Although The New England Primer’s choices changed a little over time, there was always common ground for teaching beginning readers. Questions regarding the Bible and the Ten Commandments were included in each class. In reality, the majority of the book taught kids Bible texts while simultaneously teaching them how to read.
The ninety-page book included both original writings and passages from the King James Bible. It represented the prevalent Puritan mindset and worldview of the time. Respect for parental figures, sin, and redemption were among the subjects covered in the conversation. Both John Cotton’s Milk for Babes catechism and both were included in various forms. The primer was used up into the twentieth century and stayed in print far into the nineteenth. In the 1700s, it is said that two million copies were sold. Early editions are only known through publisher and bookseller advertising; it is not known if any copies of editions before 1727 have survived.
Supreme Court Ruling:
In 1844, the practice of using Bible texts to teach English and morals in public schools came under fire. Three distinct decisions supported the use of the Bible for that particular purpose in public schools, one of which being Vidal v. Gerard, a Supreme Court case from 1844, when a Philadelphia school sought to teach values without referencing the Bible. The Court questioned, “Why can’t the Bible, particularly the New Testament, be read and taught at colleges as a divine revelation, with its broad precepts explained, its supporting evidence clarified, and its wonderful moral ideals inculcated?”
The court came to the conclusion that because the New Testament teaches what any literature on morals should, why not utilize the original, unchanging source? “The moral principles and precepts contained in the Scriptures ought to form the basis of all our civil constitutions and laws,” wrote Noah Webster in the History of the United States (1832). “All the miseries and evils which man suffers from vice, crime, ambition, injustice, oppression, slavery, and war proceed from their despising or neglecting the precepts contained in the Bible.”
In his July 4, 1800, oration in Hanover, New Jersey, Daniel Webster said that in order to save the government, we must also preserve morality. Religion serves as the basis for morality; if you eliminate the basis, the whole building will collapse. Laws are void and constitutions are worthless when the general mentality is poisoned and corrupt.
The Association for National Education (NEA)
43 educators from eight states and the District of Columbia attended the first National Teachers Association conference in 1857, which marked the beginning of the National Education Association (NEA) (NTA). The NTA joined with three other organizations and changed its name to the National Education Association (NEA) in 1870.
The National Education Association is the largest professional group for retired educators, college students majoring in education, support employees, college and university professors, and other professionals. The NEA is based in Washington, DC, and has 3.1 million members.
The National Education Association (NEA) has member groups in every state and in more than fourteen thousand towns throughout the country. The NEA employs at least eight hundred United Service (UniServ) personnel on a permanent, paid, full-time basis. The NEA reported $352,958,087 in total revenues in its 2007 financial report. The NEA is incorporated as a labor union in the majority of states and as a professional organization in a few places (but it is not a member of the AFL-CIO or other trade union federations). The NEA bills itself as a “professional employee association” on its website. However, especially by its detractors, it is often characterized as a labor organization with strong leftist and liberal leanings. The NEA is now one of the liberalest organizations in existence.
Moral Deterioration in Education
The deterioration in students’ moral conduct and the exclusion of Christianity from public education are directly related. The top disciplinary issues between 1940 and 1990 are compared here.
1940 1990
Talking out of turn Drug abuse
Chewing gum Alcohol abuse
Making noise Pregnancy
Running in the halls Suicide
Cutting in line Rape
Dress code infractions Robbery
Littering Assault
Our First Colleges
The school’s motto, Veritas Christo et Ecclesiae, which translates from Latin as “Truth for Christ and the Church,” became the school’s motto in 1692. Later, it was altered to only state, “Truth (Veritas).” They undoubtedly eliminated the real source of truth.
The Puritans founded Harvard in America first. According to early documents, every student should be “clearly instructed and earnestly pressed to consider well the main end of his life and studies to know God and Jesus Christ, which is eternal life (John 17:3), and therefore lay Christ at the bottom, as the only foundation of all sound knowledge and learning.” In 1746, Princeton was established. Jonathan Dickinson, the organization’s first president, said that “any learning that is opposed to the Cross of Christ is cursed.”
Harvard
I gave a speech at a gathering organized by students from the Harvard Extension Service & Leadership Society in April 2011. (HESLS). The conference’s topic was “Social Transformation by the Power of God,” and it took place on the Harvard campus. The conference had a significant influence on many of the attendees, including a Wiccan who said, “Curiosity,” when asked why she went to a Christian conference. I was curious as to what all the hubbub was all about. I had a great day and felt completely at home. Someone even prayed for me. I was astounded by how “connected” these folks who were praying were. They have far greater hearing than humans do.
The conference’s organizers want to return Harvard to its Christian foundations. One of the conference’s goals was to “promote a change in the spiritual environment at Harvard that would aid in reestablishing the pillars of religion upon which this institution was formed.” This is, undoubtedly, an ambitious objective considering the school’s current situation. But we have to start somewhere. To recapture the education mountain, we need instructors and “Joshua” students who perceive themselves as change makers.
Columbia College
King George II of England issued a royal charter that allowed King’s College to become Columbia University in 1754. “In lumine Tuo videbimus lument,” the university’s motto, is Latin for “By Your light we will see light” (based on Psalm 36:9). It is the fifth-oldest university in the United States and the oldest in the state of New York. Before the institution was established, there was contention about where it would be located and what religion it would follow. On the first point, supporters of New York City were successful, while the Anglicans won out. However, while deciding on the college’s policy, all constituencies agreed that they would uphold the ideals of religious liberty.
The college’s expansion was halted by the American Revolution, which also caused an eight-year teaching hiatus in 1776. However, the institution and the individuals connected to it continued to have a big impact on American society. John Jay, the first Chief Justice of the United States; Alexander Hamilton, the first Secretary of the Treasury; Gouverneur Morris, the author of the final draft of the US Constitution; and Robert R. Livingston, a member of the five-man committee that drafted the Declaration of Independence, were among the first students and trustees of King’s College. In 1784, the institution reopened under a new name—Columbia—that reflected the zeal for the country that had motivated the battle for freedom.
The Preamble of the Constitution is commonly regarded as having been written by Gouverneur Morris. At the age of twelve, Morris enrolled at King’s College, which is now Columbia University. He earned his bachelor’s degree in 1768 and his master’s in 1771. “Religion is the only firm foundation for good morality; thus, education should teach the principles of religion and the duty of man towards God,” he is recorded as stating. One of the most well-known speakers at the Constitutional Convention was also him.
Engel v. Vitale, Supreme Court, June 25, 1962
The Supreme Court’s decision in the 1962 case of Engel v. Vitale was a turning point that ended prayer in public schools. This case is cited as the earliest instance of the separation of religious beliefs from public education in the 1963 World Book Encyclopedia. The astounding thing is that it was accomplished without following customary practice and referencing any precedent from earlier instances. There were no examples from earlier court proceedings. Instead, it was a brand-new theory that, in accordance with all prior judicial judgments, was unconstitutional. In spite of this, it superseded all earlier constitutional interpretations.
The man known as the father of modern education, John Dewey, initiated early shifts away from God in the classroom that encouraged a lack of ultimate truth:”…confidence in the prayer-hearing God is an unproved and obsolete faith. Both God and the soul do not exist. Hence, there is no need for the props of traditional religion. With dogma and creed excluded, then immutable truth is also dead and buried. There is no room for fixed, natural law or moral absolutes. “
You now know why there is less of a Christian impact on education today.
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