Core Values of Heritage Classical Academy

Christian

By Christian, we mean that belief in God as defined by the Apostles' Creed (2nd century), which tells us what kind of God we believe in — the Trinity. In addition, we would also see importance of the ecumenical creeds as well, which in greater nuance define for us the doctrine of God (Nicene Creed, 327 AD; Creed of Chalcedon, 451 AD). In addition, we espouse the statement by ACCS:

“We address ‘Christian’ first because we are first, and foremost, Christian schools. Our understanding of all things, including all things pertaining to education, is shaped by Christian truth. Thus, to acquire a sufficient understanding of classical education, one must first be able to view it from a Christian perspective. While in other ages and other times, the ‘Christian’ in classical education was assumed, today it is not so. Given the present state of affairs, we believe it is important to clearly spell out the Christian presuppositions that underlie classical and Christian education.”

As a Christian School, we are specifically Protestant, though consciously catholic. We recognize that the Christian faith is broader than any particular denomination. Identifying with Luther's doctrine of the priesthood of all believers, we recognize all baptized persons as members of Christ's visible church and acknowledge our common catholicity with all regenerate members of the broader invisible church. In addition, we emphasize the sufficiency and perspicuity of Holy Scripture for all people. We assume the value and secondary importance of our Confessions and Catechisms as tools and instruments to aid in the discussion and teaching of Biblical doctrine. As a Christian school, we believe education to be theological in nature. Hence, we emphasize certain concepts inherent in our statement of faith:

  1. God's Sovereignty: God is sovereign. He possesses absolute authority over all things. He has created all things, sustains all things, and governs all things. He is the fountain of all being and truth. He works all things together for His own glory.
  2. The Antithesis: The principles by which believers live are squarely opposed to the principles by which unbelievers live. The Scriptures are clear that we are to bring ‘every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.’ Thus, to provide a God-centered and truly Christian education, it is necessary to break completely free from the educational philosophies that surround us. We must build from the ground up, with the Scriptures as the foundation, both our educational philosophies and the framework in which we understand and present all subject matter.
  3. Neutrality: Because God is sovereign over all of His creation, there is no aspect of creation that does not reflect His glory and truth; hence, there is no place, subject, or issue that is neutral and that does not point to the Creator of all.

We interpret everything through unspoken presuppositions. These presuppositions make up one's weltanschauung (world-view). A world-view is comprehensive by uniting all beliefs to one essential presupposition. In the words of the ACCS,

Christianity is more than a set of propositions supported by proof-texts. It is rather an entire system of thought. A worldview shapes our perspective and interpretation of everything in the world. Christianity must be viewed as a whole and not just as a collection of discrete elements. The Christian worldview is the lens through which we see, understand, and teach all things. It is antithetical to all other worldviews and thus, requires that we present all ideas and concepts as part of a larger whole defined by Christian truth.

Since the Fall, there has been an antithesis between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman and this antithesis plays out in all areas of human knowledge. The serpent tempted Eve to discover ‘for herself’ what was true: God's Word or her own mind. Hence, there are fundamentally two types of world-views: humanist and theist. A non-Christian worldview begins with the assumption that something is true ‘if I believe it.’ In current educational philosophy, this is called ‘constructivism,’ which assumes that a child creates his or her own truth and moral values. In contrast, the Bible states, “ . . . let God be true and every man a liar” (Rom. 3.4) and “ . . . whoever trust in his own mind is a fool” (Prov. 28.26). A truly consistent Christian world-view will have its concrete universal starting point in the absolute decrees of the Triune God, as He has revealed Himself as Father, Son and Holy Spirit in the Scriptures. Consequently, this sets it off from any other philosophical system that assumes the normativity of reason or experience. Since God is sovereign (Isaiah 40) and humanity is not we must appeal to God as the only source of authority, thus His Word stands as the foundation to all truth (John17.17). As God's knowledge is infinite and his moral standards absolute, we rest our finite comprehension on the God, who knows, reveals and commands.

Jesus has answered philosophy's quest for wisdom. Philosophy's three greatest questions concern (1) Reality (Metaphysics), (2) Truth/ knowledge (Epistemology) and (3) Value (Axiology). Jesus not only affirms the search for wisdom, but He Himself is the answer to that search: I Am the Way (Absolute Reality/ Metaphysics), the Truth (Epistemology) and the Life (What is ultimately valuable/ Axiology) (John 14.6).

Covenantal Education

Christian children need Christian education. Christian children are heirs to the covenant promises to Abraham, through Christ (Gen. 26:4; Ps. 78.1-8; Mal. 2:15; Gal. 3:27, 29; 1 Cor. 7:14); hence, parents are to educate their children in the fear and knowledge of God and train them in His commands (Dt. 6.4ff) or delegate that authority to teachers. Christian education assumes the normativity of the Christian religion and assumes the perspective of a conscientious Christian world-view through which the academic disciplines are interpreted. Education therefore is the training and traditioning of covenant children, who have been born of God (John 1.13) to understand the world that God has made; to find the will of God and take dominion over the culture with the gifts that God has given; to take every thought captive to Christ (2 Cor. 10.4ff). The purpose of education is the transformation of sinners to the Kingdom of God and the redemption of creation; education is not simply a presentation of ‘facts’ for no apparent reason. A truly Biblical educational philosophy will seek the conversion of sinners for the cultivation of Christian culture. In light of these facts, it is impossible for non-Christians to grapple the task of and end of a Christian education.

Covenantal education assumes...
Covenantal education necessitates...

Classical Education

As a Classical school, we value the time-tested, historic method of education espoused by the Catholic (St. Augustine, St. Aquinas, Erasmus), Lutheran (Luther, Melangthon) and Reformed (Calvin, Farrel, Beza) educational reformers. In Geneva, Calvin's educational reforms were intended initially to provide the tools of learning for all people to be able to read and study Holy Scripture. In knowing Scripture, Christians could understand what God required of them and hence, become an obedient people that would apply God's principle's to all areas of life. This knowledge of the Bible in Greek, Hebrew and Latin with a knowledge of classical literature brought people in poverty up to what has been called the "middle class." This is the basis of what was known as the "Protestant work ethic" and what was known in this country a generation ago as the American work ethic (because of Calvin's influence) or "blue collar America."

Classical scholars believed God had revealed Himself in nature (‘natural revelation‘) and Scripture (‘special revelation’), so they understood the value of literature, science, math, philosophy and the arts, in and by which God had made Himself known in western culture. Study of the natural sciences was as religious as studying theology. Indeed, the progress and development of Western culture can be traced to the influence of the Gospel, which began in Paul's divine appointment to go to the West (Acts 16.9-10) and not to the East (Acts 16.6).

The educational tradition of the Renaissance was brought to American by the colonists and Pilgrim Fathers. Classical schools continued to flourish in the new America. It was not until the rise of progressive education (by non-Christians) led initially by Horace Mann (a unitarian) and later by John Dewey (a Darwinist and atheist) that classical education was dubbed "traditionalist" and "outdated."

Since classical culture is something to preserve because of its time-tested methods of instruction and content, the renaissance classicists used in the common schools what became known as The Trivium, which instills and empowers life-long learning and corresponds to a child's natural, mental development. This approach emphasizes the ‘well-trained mind’ and exposes the students to the ideas and ‘great books’ that have shaped Western and Christian culture.

In contrast to American educational trends such as multiculturalism, there is no apology for the assumption that Western culture is superior to other cultures precisely because of the Providential effects of the Christian religion in the cultivation of the West. In a Christian world-view, the West has flourished in science, mathematics, medicine, architecture, art, music, literature, law and education (with the development of the common school and the university system).