Biblical Reasons to Home School
By Chris Klicka, Senior Counsel for the Home School Legal Defense Association
THEME: God has delegated the authority and responsibility to teach and raise children to the parents first. Parents can delegate their authority to teach and raise children to someone else, but they can never delegate their responsibility to teach their children to anyone else. God will hold parents responsible for what education their children receive (whether from teachers, books, projects, or peers). To whom much is given, much is required.
We have a free choice in this country to not send our children to an ungodly public school— we will, all the more, be responsible. Remember, our children are dying souls entrusted to our care!
I. The raising of children is delegated to parents by God:
1. A. Psalm 127:3-5 ("Behold, children are a gift of the Lord; the fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one’s youth. How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them; they shall not be ashamed when they speak with their enemies in the gates.")
2. B. Gen. 33:5, 48:8-9; Isa.8:18; Heb. 2:13 ("Children whom the Lord has given me")
3. C. Matt. 22:21 (Render to Caesar that which is Caesar’s, and unto God that which is God’s—our children are God’s)
4. D. Training of children was not delegated to the state. The only Biblical accounts of states education were coerced: i.e. Moses, Joseph, Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-ego.
II. Children, however, is still considered by God to be His (Therefore, children are a gift of stewardship and parents do not own the children):
1. A. Ezekiel 16:20-21 ("You slaughtered My children and offered them up to idols ..."
2. B. Psalm 139:13-16; Job 10:8-12; Isaiah 49:1,5; Jeremiah 1:5; Luke 1:41,44 (God’s claim to unborn children)
III. God has given us certain conditions we are commanded to meet when raising
children (part of our stewardship responsibility):
1. A. Ephesians 6:4 ("Fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.") Fathers have the greatest responsibility in training their children in the Lord and disciplining them. Are fathers "provoking" their children by sending them to public school?
2. B. Deuteronomy 6:6-9 (also see Deuteronomy 4:9, 11:18-21) we are commanded to diligently teach our children God’s commandments and principles all the time. Sunday school is not enough—children in public school are taught to think as non-Christians thirty or more hours a week.
3. C. Psalm 78:1-11 (Teach God’s principles to your children all the time so they will teach their children and so "that they should put their confidence in God and not forget the works of God.")
4. D. Exodus 13:8-14 Joshua 4:20-22-24 (Teach your children what God has done).
5. E. Proverbs 6:20-23 (Children’s responsibility to obey parents’ teachings who in turn, should be teaching God’s principles)6. F. Psalm 1:1-2 (Meditate on God’s law day and night); Proverbs 23:7 ("For as a man thinks, so is he") Children in public school are being taught to think like non-Christians.
7. G. II Corinthians 10:5 (Take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ)
8. H. Isaiah 54:13 ("And all your children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of your children."); John 21:15 ("Feed My lambs" and "Feed My sheep").
9. I. Jeremiah 10:12 ("Thus saith the Lord, learn not the way of heathen nations.") Isn’t that what our children are learning in the public schools?
10. J. Colossians 3:1-3 ("Keep seeking the things above, where Christ is . . . set your mind on things above, not on the things that are on the earth.") The things above are God’s words recorded in Scripture. The Bible is the "blueprint" for all areas of life.
11. K. Matt. 16:23 (Peter, thinking like a humanist, told Jesus he wouldn’t have to die. Jesus said, "Get behind me Satan! You are a stumbling block to me: for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s."
12. L. Matt. 22:37 ("You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and foremost commandment.") How can our children love God with their mind when public school trains their minds to ignore God?
13. M. Luke 6:40 ("A pupil is not above his teacher but everyone after he has been fully trained, will be like his teacher—a blind man cannot guide a blind man, can he? Will they not both fall into a pit?") Are spiritually blind teachers teaching our children and leading them astray?
14. N. Romans 12:2 ("Be not conformed to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.") Public schools conform our children to the pattern of this world.
15. O. Prov. 22:6 ("Train up a child in the way he should go, even when he is old, he will not depart from it.") We need to train our children in God’s ways now so they will walk in righteousness as adults.
16. P. I Samuel 15:1-23 ("To obey is better than sacrifice.") Are we trying to make a "sacrifice" to God by sending our children to public school to "save souls" while disobeying God’s clear commands to us concerning raising our children?
IV. Good versus bad "socialization" of children:
1. A. Proverbs 13:20 ("He who walks with wise men, will be wise but a companion of fools will suffer harm")
2. B. I Corinthians 15:33 ("Be not deceived; bad company corrupts good morals")
V. Content of true education:
1. A. Psalm 111:10; Proverbs 1:7 ("Fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge")
2. B. Proverbs 2:6, 9:10 ("The Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth comes understanding.")
3. C. Colossians 1:16-17, 2:3 (All things created by Him and for Him, he holds all together.) James 1:5 (In Christ are all treasures of wisdom)
4. D. II Timothy 3:15-17 ("continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of . . . and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.")
5. E. II Tim. 2:15 ("Study to show yourself approved to God, handling accurately the Word of truth.")
6. F. James 3:13-18 (Wisdom not from above is earthly, natural, demonic. Wisdom from above is "pure, peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy.") Whose wisdom are your children being taught?
7. G. Psalm 119:97-101 (The goal of education is to train children in God’s law so they can govern themselves, be wiser than their enemies, have more insight than their teachers, understand more than the aged).
8. H. Matthew 18:6 (Whoever harms one of these little ones who believe in Me, it would be better for Him that a millstone hung about his neck and he drowned in the sea.) Are we harming our children if we send them to public school?
Thoughts to remember: God’s truth and His principles are the foundation of all knowledge; children must not only be taught to believe as Christians but also to think as Christians; God’s principles must be taught to children in a comprehensive manner on a daily basis; God’s truth speaks to every academic discipline. Where would Satan like our children to be taught? Sending our children to modern public education is like playing Russian roulette with their souls!
"I have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth." III John 4