The History of Education

What are the historical roots of education from a distinctively biblical perspective? When did men and women begin thinking about education with a biblical worldview? What did they think? How can we benefit today from their work?

About history the great Cicero said, "To be ignorant of what occured before you were born is to always remain a child. For what is the worth of human life, unless it is woven into the life of our ancestors by the records of history." G.K. Chesterton put it this way: "The disadvantage of men not knowing the past is that they do not know the present. History is a hill or high point of vantage, from which alone men see the town in which they live or the age in which they are living." I do not want to remain a remain an ignorant child nor always remain in my town to never ascend the hill to gain perspective and enrich my life in the life of those before me. Certainly God is sovereign over history. His fingerprints are on every age. He has not passively waited for this age to speak about such important matters of life like education.

So who has thought about education? Did any Christians think about education from a biblical foundation? What great ideas shaped the way they thought about education? What difference did those ideas make for them? How did they live differently in light of those ideas? I want to see if I can go back and discover answers to these questions. I want to meet and listen to what these brothers in humanity have to say. This sounds pretty dramatic, but I want to continue the Great Conversation of the ages.