A sophisticated society cannot teach everything it knows to everyone. It has to reach consensus on what are the fundamentally important things which all should know, and what can belong to later specialist teaching. There has to be a selection and the beliefs and values of the society will set the agenda.

A secular society will inevitably make choices and promote knowledge according to its current understanding of what its people require to be successful and its definition of ‘success’ will change according to circumstances. However, a successful secular education will produce a generation with a secular way of looking at the world.

A Christian society endeavours to live according to its understanding of what God requires. Its definition of success is primarily related to how far it is able to live according to those high standards. Its idea of a successful education will be one which produces young people with a Christian worldview.

In the 1960s the church began to see young people raised in Christian homes leaving the faith in large and increasing numbers. Some ministers began to see this as a result of a successful secular education and desired to set up schools in no way inferior to the secular model, but which would enable young people from Christian families to retain their faith.

A Christian School is one which starts history with creation and man’s responsibility for what went wrong; one whose mandate is from Philippians 4:8: “whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report;—think on these things;” one which celebrates learning, promotes understanding, and encourages wisdom, not merely the application of little-understood formulae to new situations.

Christian Education should provide a whole package for the whole person and lead to success academically, spiritually, physically, emotionally, socially, and even economically. It should result in people who are able to contribute in works of service to the church and to the world. They should be able to spread the gospel and take their place in church and civil life. It should produce fully educated leaders, people who can think originally and creatively and be able to stand up for God’s kingdom in a corrupted world.