Friday, August 17, 2012

Quotable Theonomy: The Atheism of Public Schools (Gordon H. Clark)




"Obviously the [public] schools are not Christian. Just as obviously they are not neutral. The Scriptures say that the fear of the Lord is the chief part of knowledge; but the schools, by omitting all reference to God, give the pupils the notion that knowledge can be had apart from God. They teach in effect that God has no control of history, that there is no plan of events that God is working out, that God does not foreordain whatsoever comes to pass. Aside from definite anti-Christian instruction ..., the public schools are not, never were, can never be, neutral. 

"Neutrality is impossible. Let one ask what neutrality can possibly mean when God is involved. How does God judge the school system, which says to him, “O God, we neither deny nor assert thy existence; and O God, we neither obey nor disobey thy commandments; we are strictly neutral.” Let no one fail to see the point: The school system that ignores God teaches its pupils to ignore God; and this is not neutrality. It is the worst form of antagonism, for it judges God to be unimportant and irrelevant in human affairs. This is atheism."

Gordon H. Clark, "A Christian Philosophy of Education," The Trinity Review, ed. John W. Robbins (Unicoi, TN: May, June 1988): 5. 

    

2 comments:

horace said...

However Dr. Clark was opposed to theonomy if one reads his reviews of books on the Trinity Review website,

Steve C. Halbrook said...

Interesting; sources?