“A Case For A Confessional Lutheran And Classical Education”
Rev. Craig S. Stanford - Headmaster - P.L.H.S.

A. The Challenge

 i. The west is changing.  The country that was once shaped by Aristotelean
philosophy and Christianity is changing its religion, philosophical outlook,
morality, and laws.  It is also changing our families and children.  The
country in which many older Lutherans grew to maturity is dying.

 ii. Did you know that the number of people in the United States who
identify themselves as Christian has declined from 86% in 1990 to 76% in
2001?  Did you know that the greatest increase has been among those adults
who do not subscribe to any religious identification?  Their number has
doubled from 14.3 million in 1990 to 29.4 million in 2001.  (The American
Identification Survey, The Graduate Center of the City University of the
City of New York)

 iii.  Did you know that by 2010, Muslims are expected to surpass the Jewish
population in the United States, making Islam the second-largest religion
after Christianity in the U.S.?  Did you know that there are nearly 2000
mosques nationwide, as well as numerous Islamic day and weekend schools?
(U.S. Dep. of State)

 iv.  Did you know that witchcraft (WICCA) is becoming increasingly popular,
especially on university campuses and has grown from an estimated 5,000
adherents in 1991 to 135,000 in 2001?  Did you know that the United States
is seeing a marked increase in the practice of eastern religions (Hinduism,
Taoism, and Buddhism)?  (The American Identification Survey, The Graduate
Center of the City University of the City of New York)

 v. The west is changing its philosophic outlook as well.  The rationalism
of the Enlightenment is giving way to a new way of thinking called
‘Post-modernism.,’ which believes that there is no such thing as truth and
contradictory statements about the same subject can be equally true.
Post-modernism promises to be as influential as any of the ideas that marked
Ancient Greece, western cultural Christianity, or the Enlightenment.

 vi.  The America that was once shaped by the philosophic and Christian
traditions of the west is passing away and a new spiritual, cultural, and
legal climate is taking hold.  Religious and moral pluralism,
multi-culturalism and, of course, the ever present and escalating forms of
hedonism are already proving to be the greatest challenge to the Church in
America and the greatest threat to our children’s spiritual and temporal
well being.

 vii.  The devil, the world, and our own sinful natures have sought to
separate us from the truth of God’s Word (“Has God really said”), the
Church, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.  1 Peter 5:8-9  “Be of sober spirit,
be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring
lion, seeking someone to devour. But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing
that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your
brethren who are in the world.”  While the Church will prevail, that does
not guarantee that our children and grandchildren will not fall prey to the
temptations of this generation.

B.  The Problem

 i.  In this moment of history the Church is being pressed on every side to
give up the faith once delivered to the saints (Jude 3), cultural
Christianity is being driven from public life by the court rulings of
activist secularist judges, the biblical doctrines of the Lutheran Church
are being diluted, and Christian parents are failing to throughly train
their children to think and to speak in a manner consistent with the
theological world view of Holy Scripture.  The Western Church is failing the
test.

 ii.  Studies show that the higher one goes in achieving academic degrees,
the less faithful that person tends to be to the orthodox Christian faith
(‘conservative’ Christianity).  It is estimated that more than 80% of those
who are confirmed fall away from regular worship in their high school and
college years.  The answer given to this answer in the 20th century (e.g.,
youth groups and entertainment) has failed.

 iii.  As our culture becomes more pluralistic and multi-cultural, the more
mixed marriages (i.e., Christian to Muslim) we will see as well in violation
of 2 Corinthians 6:14.  Will the next generation bring their children to be
baptized and raised in the church when the religious house is divided?

 iv.  Too many parents, pastors, and congregations believe that Christian
education is completed after a few years in Sunday School, or upon finishing
confirmation class, or when a child has completed elementary or middle
school education at a Lutheran school.  But it is at the high school and
college level that our children face the greatest challenges and temptations
to their Christian faith and it is at this time in their lives many turn
away from their church.

 vi.  20th Century Christianity has been marked by a decline in
intellectual, artistic, and cultural pursuits and a rise in ‘experiential’
and emotional Christianity.  This form of spirituality has proven nearly
fatal to the Western Church and Western Civilization.

 vii.  Is there any question that we need Lutheran schools and congregations
that prepare young people to think more biblically about the philosophies,
religions, morality, and theories of our age?  Is there any question that we
are in desperate need of schools and congregations that will raise up
Christian thinkers and leaders for both the Church and our communities?

 viii.  We need schools and churches that will train students to strive for
excellence, to love that which is beautiful, and to practice that which is
good and acceptable in the sight of God (Rom 12:2).  We need schools that
rise above mediocrity and the philosophic and cultural trappings of the day,
students who master the liberal arts, the sciences, and theology, and
institutions that avoid mimicking the theories, fads, and methodologies of
the day.
“Human reason teaches only the hand and foot of a man; God alone teaches the
heart.” M. Luther
 ix.  Lutheran parents need schools that will help them 1) complete the task
of training a child in the way he should go, and 2) do the job right.  Did
you know that when the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod was established part
of the requirement for synodical membership was for each congregation to
operate a Lutheran school?

C. The Answer

 i.  While there are good traditions among Christianity’s denominations and
while P.L.H.S. welcomes students from all ethnic, social, and economic
backgrounds, P.L.H.S. believes that Lutheran doctrine, as summarized in the
Confessional Symbols of the Evangelical [Lutheran] Church, which are drawn
faithfully from the Word of God, holds the answers to the crisis that
confronts the Church, the United States of America, and the West.  Lutheran
doctrine, fully comprehended and taught, with its doctrines of the Trinity,
Jesus Christ, justification, theology of the cross, the Church, two
kingdoms, and vocation is the best and should be the only foundation for the
preaching and teaching of the church and the Lutheran school.

 ii.  The biblical [Lutheran] world view provides the best framework from
which to evaluate the world as it really is.  The biblical [Lutheran] world
view provides the best framework from which to evaluate the natural
sciences, world history and civilization, the philosophies that have shaped
human existence, world religions, the arts, government, economics, and
ethics, especially at the high school and college level.

 iii.  What is needed is the restoration of and commitment to a full
Lutheran education, that is truly and fully Lutheran [biblical] from the
earliest years through the high school and college levels.  What is needed
is a full partnership between Lutheran congregations and Lutheran schools.

D. Pedagogy - The Educational Approach

 i.  While the Church is commanded to teach everything that Christ commanded
(Matthew 28:19-20), there is no ordinated educational approach.  However,
that does not mean that the Scripture is silent on the matter of education.
The Great Shema in Deuteronomy 6:6-9 instructs us to teach the very words of
God to our children and make them part of our everyday education and
experience.  “And these words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on
your heart; and you shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk
of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you
lie down and when you rise up.  And you shall bind them as a sign on your
hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead.  And you shall write
them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”  We are also
commanded to commit to our memory all that God has said and done.

 ii.  Memorizing is foundational to religious learning.  Dr. Martin Luther
advised teachers saying, “Furthermore the teachers should ask the pupils to
memorize a number of easy Psalms that contain in themselves a summary of the
Christian life and speak about the fear of God, faith and good works, e.g.:”
He rightly constructed the Small Catechism as a document to be committed to
memory, word-for-word, as he instructs in the introduction to the Small
Catechism.  The use of rote memory is also essential and advised for
learning languages.  “In order that they may learn a greater number of Latin
words, the children may be assigned a few words for memorization each
evening, as wise teachers formerly have done in the schools.”

 iii.   P.L.H.S. has selected as its pedagogical model, the classical
approach to education.  Classical education mirrors the way in which human
beings, especially children learn.  Learning consists of three stages:  1.
Grammar  2. Logic  3. Rhetoric

 iv. Classical education is a thorough and well rounded education.
Religion, Philosophy, Languages and Language Arts, Civilization, Music, and
the Arts are join to the studies of Mathematics, Sciences, and Technology to
offer an education upon which leaders are built.  This approach creates a
comprehensive education based on a Christian learned world view and is
designed to produce leaders.

 v.  On August 25th, 2003, our Lord Jesus Christ created a new school in the
Peoria area; The Robert D. Preus Evangelical Lutheran High School, whose
sole mission is to teach teens today to become our church and civic leaders
tomorrow.  While there are some fine schools in the area, P.L.H.S. is the
only one to combine the classical approach to education (Trivium and the
Quadrivium) with traditional Christian doctrine to produce a school unlike
any other.  While P.L.H.S. is a Lutheran high school, it is not simply for
Lutherans.  We welcome students from every social, ethnic, and economic
background.

 vi.  P.L.H.S. is for parents and congregations who are serious about giving
their students a thorough and well-rounded liberal arts education (in the
classical sense of the term).  P.L.H.S. is perhaps the academically toughest
high school in the area and has been nick-named a “mini-college.” P.L.H.S.
was created to help prepare students for an educational environment and a
culture that is hostile to the historic biblical claims of Christianity.
P.L.H.S. is a . . .

  ?Training ground for future Christian leaders
  ?Survival school to prepare Christians how to think through the many
philosophies and challenges they will face from the world of academia and a
changing western culture
  ?“Mini-college”
  ?School that promotes beauty, wisdom, virtue, and living well
  ?Community of caring, dedicated, and thinking people

E.  Conclusion

P.L.H.S. does not believe it is going to be a catalysis for an
ecclesiastical or cultural reformation. P.L.H.S. has been created to help
prepare Christian students for the academic, social, and spiritual
challenges that await them.  This school has been designed to train
Christians to think, speak, and lead as Christians in the church and in the
community.  We pray that faithful Lutherans will support us in this work
through their prayers, financial contributions, and time.  We also ask our
Lord to raise up schools to follow and improve on the pattern created by our
school and others like it.  We also hope that our wish for the children of
the church is the hope of every Lutheran (Christian) parent.  We invite you
to become a part of this crucial and life changing work.  To make a donation
or request information about P.L.H.S. contact us at:

P.L.H.S., 4911 N. Knoxville Ave. Peoria, IL, 61614 (309) 691-5277


Sola Deo Gloria