Are there any verses in the bible which specifically talk about education?

Upvote:0

As far as I know, the word "education" itself does not occur in the Bible. Still, there are a number of verses in the Bible which deal with eduction matters, and coping. Look under "learn", and "teach", where one finds finds Job 6:24; Psalms 25:4, 27:11, 51:6, 90:12, and 143:10; and Proverbs 3:1, 4:11-13; Philippians 4:8-13; and Titus 3:14 to name a few.

These have little to do with coping with education. But I found the first words in the Bible relevant to education, in Genesis 4:6-7, where the Great Teacher asks,

Why are you angry, and why has your countenance fallen?

and then exhorts,

If you do well, will it not be accepted? and if you do not do well, sin is lurking at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must master it. [NRSV]

and Psalm 23 (Hebrew numbering; 22 Septuagint numbering):4, to be most useful when I encountered obstacles during my schooling and during the education since.

Upvote:2

Ecclesiastes 12:11-12:

"The words of wise men are like goads, and masters of these collections are like well driven nails; they are given by one Shepherd. But beyond this, my son, be warned: the writing of many books is endless, and excessive devotion to books is wearying to the body."

The writer of Ecclesiastes (Solomon?) in looking back over his life realized that the words of wise men are valuable in encouraging us (prodding us, goading us) to learn new things. Not all teachers are wise, however, so we as Christians need to use discernment when listening to a professor, for example, who ridicules matters of faith.

Perhaps you are coping with teachers of that sort, and you feel flummoxed in countering their often illogical and unwarranted presuppositions and expostulations. If this is the case, I recommend you look into books on apologetics by Christians authors such as Lee Strobel (The Case for Christ, and other The-Case-For __ books). Some professors may sound wise and on the surface be quite convincing. Dig a little deeper, however, and with the help of people like Lee Strobel, Josh McDowell, and Hank Hannegraff ([email protected]) you'll often expose unbelieving professors' theories as mere straw men and cop-outs.

As for the "excessive devotion to books," the writer of Ecclesiastes realized that since there is no end to the writing of books (and hey, by the way, there's nothing wrong with writing books; authors deserve to make a living by doing what they do!), one should not make reading everything there is to read on any given subject a life goal. Being devoted to learning is not bad, and lifelong learning is good. Being excessively devoted to learning, particularly when one neglects the true wisdom of God's infallible and unchanging Word, however, is to risk becoming knowledge rich and wisdom poor.

Remember what the apostle Paul said,

"Now about food sacrificed to idols: we know that, as you say, "We all have knowledge." Yes, that is so, but 'knowledge' puffs a person up with pride; whereas love builds up" (1 Corinthians 8:1 CJB, my emphasis).

A more memorable short version of the above verse:

Knowledge puffs up; love builds up.

Sounds like a good motto for life, particularly regarding the acquisition of knowledge. Check out 1 Corinthians 13:2 as well:

"If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing" (my emphasis).

More post

Search Posts

Related post