Kathy Overman feeding her husband, Christian, on their wedding day, 1970.
Kathy’s cooking has resulted in 4 adult children and 12 grandchildren.
Established by C & K Overman in 2000
2. How did we lose it?
3. When and where will it be restored?
What on earth was God thinking when He made human beings?
What role or function did God have in mind for humans to fill, before He made Adam and Eve?
“Forgive me, Lord!”
“Forgive me, Lord!”
One day in the life of Christian Overman:�
"A young man came to my office who had recently graduated from Bible school.
When I ask him what profession he wanted to pursue, he cocked his head to the side, looked up at the ceiling, and uttered these words: ‘Forgive me Lord.’
Then he turned to me, looked me straight in the eye, and declared: 'I want to fly helicopters.'
“Forgive me, Lord!”
His dream was to fly helicopters in logging operations in the Pacific Northwest. Yet, he felt guilty.
Flying helicopters was obviously not the kind of work that he felt qualified as ‘the Lord’s work.’
I asked him if he had heard of the First Commission. He was not familiar with that term, so we looked at Genesis 1:26-28:
‘Let Us make man in Our likeness and image, and let them rule…over all the earth.’ This includes ruling over trees.�
“Forgive me, Lord!”
I shared how flying a helicopter in logging operations is one way people can fulfill God’s clear intention and purpose for human beings.
This young man could love God and serve people by lifting logs from forests so they could be hauled to mills, where they could be shaped into lumber for building homes, and other useful things people need.
For the first time he saw how he could serve God and love people by taking responsibility for ruling well over the material world by flying a helicopter in logging operations.
The lights went on for the first time. He looked at me with his face aglow, and said: ‘I never thought of that before!’ ”
“Forgive me, Lord!”
How is that possible?
He was raised in a godly Christian home, home-schooled with Christian curriculum and spent 2 years at a Bible school.
Who has charge of planet earth?
We are God’s “Vice-Regents,” commissioned to rule over all of His creation.
“On the sixth day, God created human beings and commanded them to pick up where He left off.”
Chuck Colson
"The idea that the service to God should have only to do with a church altar, singing, reading, sacrifice, and the like is without doubt but the worst trick of the devil. How could the devil have led us more effectively�astray than by the narrow conception that service to God takes place only in a church and by the works done therein...The whole world could abound with the services to the Lord, Gottesdienste - not only in churches but also in the home, kitchen, workshop, field..."
“Theology of Work”
Martin Luther
After Luther came John Comenius: 1592 - 1670
After Luther came John Comenius: 1592 - 1670
After Luther came John Comenius: 1592 - 1670
“Biblical Worldview Integrationists”
of the 1600s
John Amos Comenius
John Alsted
William Ames
Alexander Richardson
Early reformers of education upon whose shoulders all Christian educators stand.
text
Puritan Circle of Knowledge: From God Back to God
text
1
Puritan Circle of Knowledge: From God Back to God
God initiates all things through His creation of everything.
text
1
Puritan Circle of Knowledge: From God Back to God
God initiates all things through His creation of everything.
Humans discover what God has made. (This is what education is largely about.)
text
1
Puritan Circle of Knowledge: From God Back to God
God initiates all things through His creation of everything.
Humans discover what God has made. (This is what education is largely about.)
Humans imitate God by making “secondary creations” based upon what they have discovered.
text
1
Puritan Circle of Knowledge: From God Back to God
God initiates all things through His creation of everything.
Humans discover what God has made. (This is what education is largely about.)
Humans imitate God by making “secondary creations” based upon what they have discovered.
God is glorified through the imitation of Him in human occupations (vocations) of all kinds.
The purpose of education is to equip the next generation to rule well over this material world.
What is the purpose of education?
John Milton
1608 - 1674
“The end then of learning is to repair the ruins of our first parents by regaining to know God aright, and out of that knowledge to love Him, to imitate Him, to be like Him, as we may the nearest by possessing our souls of true virtue…
I call therefore a complete and generous education that which fits a man to perform justly, skillfully, and magnanimously, all the offices, both private and public, of peace and war.”
2. How did we lose it?
3. When and where will it be restored?
How did we lose this purpose for learning?
recommended reading
“sacred”
“secular”
1
1
“related to the church” “of the spiritual realm”
“pertaining to God’s affairs”
“pertaining to humans” “of the public” “of the marketplace” “outside of the church”
“sacred”
“secular”
1
1
“pertaining to humans” “of the public” “of the marketplace” “outside of the church”
“related to the church” “of the spiritual realm”
“pertaining to God’s affairs”
Where exactly
is
the “secular” world?
"For it was in Him [that is, in Christ] that all things were created, in heaven and on earth, things seen and things unseen, whether thrones, dominions, rulers or authorities; all things were created and exist through Him and in and for Him. And He Himself existed before all things and in Him all things consist [cohere, are held together]."
Colossians 1: 16-17 The Amplified Bible
“The earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness, the world and those who dwell therein."
Psalm 24:1
“Jesus is Lord of all.”
Acts 10:36
Interaction with the physical world in
the form of work is a good and
honorable thing,
when done "heartily as unto the Lord.”
(Col. 3:23)
Is this secular work?
How did we lose the purpose for learning?
Christianity has been personalized and privatized…now it’s being demonized.
2. How did we lose it?
3. When and where will it be restored?
To restore the lost purpose for learning we must:
“sacred”
“secular”
1
1
“pertaining to humans” “of the public” “of the marketplace” “outside of the church”
“related to the church” “of the spiritual realm”
“pertaining to God’s affairs”
A Different Way of Seeing Things
b u s i n e s s
e d u c a t i o n
l a w
s p o r t s
p o l i t i c s
a r t s
l a b o r
f a m i l y
d r a m a
a g r i c u l t u r e
c h u r c h
m u s i c
l e i s u r e
p h i l o s o p h y
s e x
m e d i c i n e
m e d i a
t e c h n o l o g y
light
darkness
In harmony with God's designs; fulfilling His will; in line
with the Kingdom of light; or, good.
In conflict with God's designs; contrary to His will; in
line with the domain of darkness; or, evil.
b u s i n e s s
e d u c a t i o n
l a w
s p o r t s
p o l i t i c s
a r t s
l a b o r
f a m i l y
d r a m a
a g r i c u l t u r e
c h u r c h
m u s i c
l e i s u r e
p h i l o s o p h y
s e x
m e d i c i n e
m e d i a
t e c h n o l o g y
A Different Way of Seeing Things
light
darkness
In the workplace:
co-worker relationships
marketing
salary/benefit issues
work conditions
decision-making policies
product
production
pricing
contracts
service
global trade
hiring
firing
accounting
management
environmental impact
strategic planning
profit distribution
community service
In conflict with God's designs; contrary to His will; in
line with the domain of darkness; or, evil.
In harmony with God's designs; fulfilling His will; in line
with the Kingdom of light; or, good.
To restore the lost purpose for learning we must:
Welt = “world“
Anschauung = "conception," "idea," "opinion," "view“
“Weltanschauung” Immanuel Kant
(1790, Critique of Judgment)
What are you looking at?
What’s the truth about this photo?
Context matters!
Context matters!
See the whole, and think wholistically.
Viewing things in context is the key to understanding anything properly.
Christian teachers help students to see all things in the ___________________________ .
proper context of a biblical worldview
art?
math?
science?
language?
literature?
sports?
music?
history?
“A comprehensive framework of beliefs that helps us to interpret what we see and experience
and also gives us direction in the choices that we make as we live out our days.”
Richard Wright
(professor emeritus, Gordon College)
A WORLDVIEW is the “bigger picture,” or context.
The Biblical worldview is a “meta-narrative” (story)
A biblical worldview is a “big picture of reality” shaped by beliefs or assumptions about
…also a “big picture”
Who or what is the ultimate authority or highest power, and what is the nature and role of this entity?
A biblical worldview is a “big picture of reality” shaped by beliefs or assumptions about
What makes up all the stuff of the universe, how did it get here, and is there more to it than meets the eye?
A biblical worldview is a “big picture of reality” shaped by beliefs or assumptions about
Who are human beings, what gives them value, what happens when they die, and how do they know what is true?
A biblical worldview is a “big picture of reality” shaped by beliefs or assumptions about
How do people determine right and wrong?
A biblical worldview is a “big picture of reality” shaped by beliefs or assumptions about
Is there a reason and purpose for all that exists?
A biblical worldview is a “big picture of reality” shaped by beliefs or assumptions about
God
Purpose
Creation
Humanity
Moral
Order
“Frame of Reference”
“Big Picture”
“Context”
God
Purpose
Creation
Humanity
Moral
Order
To be truly educated is to view all things in their God-given context..
recommended reading
2 tools for Biblical worldview contextualization:
The
Awesome Activator
The
Truth & Baloney Detector
Have you ever seen a secular peanut?
“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God; Not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand [in advance] that we should practice.” (Ephesians 2:8-10)
good works
"There is truly no division between sacred and secular except what we have created. And that is why the division of the legitimate roles and functions of human life into the sacred and secular does incalculable damage to our individual lives and to the cause of Christ. Holy people must…take up holy orders in farming, industry, law, education, banking, and journalism with the same zeal previously given to evangelism or to pastor and missionary work."
Dallas Willard
“Man, who needed a purpose, a mission, to keep him alive, had one. He could be…God’s co-worker...My purpose alone must be God’s purpose.”
Carver said to his friend Jim Hardwick:
“Pray for me please that everything said and done will be to His glory. I am not interested in science or anything else that leaves God out of it.”
In a letter to Rev. Lyman Ward, Carver wrote:
What are you looking at?
What’s the truth about this photo?
Context matters!
Context matters!
See the whole…think wholistically.
Viewing things in context is the key to understanding anything properly.
God
Purpose
Creation
Humanity
Moral
Order
To be truly educated is to view all things in their God-given context..
A tool for contextualization:
The
Awesome Activator
The Awesome Activator
…washing dishes
99 Truths about Work,
Economics and Human Flourishing
Which of these truths relate directly to washing dishes?
creating new products from plants, to help boost the economy
creating new products from plants, to help boost the economy
creating new products from plants, to help boost the economy
God created plants, and He intends for humans to rule over them well.
creating new products from plants, to help boost the economy
God created plants, and He intends for humans to rule over them well.
God shares His secrets with those who wait on Him for direction.
creating new products from plants, to help boost the economy
God created plants, and He intends for humans to rule over them well.
God shares His secrets with those who wait on Him for direction.
Humans have a responsibility to govern over plants in ways that are resourceful and beneficial, without waste or abuse.
creating new products from plants, to help boost the economy
God created plants, and He intends for humans to rule over them well.
God shares His secrets with those who wait on Him for direction.
Humans have a responsibility to govern over plants in ways that are resourceful and beneficial, without waste or abuse.
Humans are the crown of God’s creation, and are to be loved in practical ways.
P
P
P
Applications at School
A tool for exercising discernment…
The
Truth & Baloney Detector
The correct context matters!
What does this TV program assume, teach, ignore or imply about GOD?
M
What does this TV program assume, teach, ignore or imply about CREATION?
What does this TV program assume, teach, ignore or imply about HUMANITY?
What does this TV program assume, teach, ignore or imply about MORAL ORDER?
What does this TV program assume, teach, ignore or imply about PURPOSE?
What does this TV program assume, teach, ignore or imply about GOD?
What does this TV program assume, teach, ignore or imply about CREATION?
What does this TV program assume, teach, ignore or imply about HUMANITY?
What does this TV program assume, teach, ignore or imply about MORAL ORDER?
What does this TV program assume, teach, ignore or imply about PURPOSE?
www.biblicalworldview.com
Handouts that are part of this presentation are found under the “Resources” tab of the Worldview Matters website.
:
www.biblicalworldview.com
“The WRAP”
In depth, all-school teacher training: “Worklife Restoration and Advancement Project”
Lighthouse Christian School, a WRAP school
in Gig Harbor, WA