Undoubtedly, he is perfectly educated who is taught all the will of God concerning him, and enabled, through life to execute it. And he is not well educated who does not know the will of God, or knowing it, has received no help in his education towards being inclined and enabled to do it.
Have you ever wondered what you are doing in your classroom? You are providing an education of course, but what kind of education is it? Is it simply teaching your student(s) to read, or write? Is your goal simply to give them a grasp of higher mathematics, or a deeper understanding of history?
Thomas Arnold believed the purpose of education was much deeper than just imparting knowledge about a particular subject. The purpose of education is that the student should know God’s will for his life, and be strengthened to do it. In contrast, a poorly educated person is someone who has no knowledge of how God wants him to live. For instance, does God want people to be hard working or lazy? Does he want your students to be courageous or cowards? Does he want them to learn that bullying brings no negative consequences, or that a lawful authority will always protect the vulnerable?
Who we are in the classroom teaches the student as much as what we write on the blackboard or say from our desk. The things we laugh at in the class, the behaviour we punish or tolerate, the language we use or permit others to use either reveals God’s will to the students, or conceals his will from them.
For Arnold, God’s will was clear. God wants people to believe in his son.
“For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” (John 6:40)
Whether you are a home educator, or work in a school, be encouraged in your job as you start the term. But don’t forget that the primary purpose of education, according to Thomas Arnold, is to bring young people to a knowledge of God’s will for their lives. Because one day, a few years from now, the students you teach today will be facing moral decisions, and there is only one person who can lead them in the right way. Furthermore, one day, perhaps many years from now, your students will be facing the reality of death - and there is only one man in history who can save them from it. If you are a Christian, you are his ambassador in the classroom today.
