Why?
The Necessisity Of Biblical Integration in the Mathematics Classroom
It has been rightly said that "He who never knows his need for God, will never come to know God."
It is equally true that if we are going to make the Bible come alive in the Mathematics classroom, then we need to see the necessity for it. Otherwise, we will never do it unless under compulsion by the administration, and a work done by compulsion has a greater chance of being less quality, and effectiveness. Our goal in this section, entitled 'Why?', is to help the reader see where we (Christian educators) have been failing our students in the mathematics classroom.
Where have we failed? We have failed to teach our children that when God speaks to us in the Scriptures, He speaks about the real world. The secular world is teaching our children that the world does not speak, but only when we attach our own meaning (or sentences) to the world does it show the truth. We have fallen into the trappings of Rorty.
“The world does not speak. Only we do. The world can, once we have programmed ourselves with a language, cause us to hold beliefs. But it cannot propose a language for us to speak. Only other human beings can do that.”
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Richard Rorty - American Philosopher
Not only is this against what the Scriptures teach, but it is also completely opposite to what the Scriptures teach!
"The heavens declare the glory of God..." Psalm 19:1
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The heavens are yours; the earth also is yours;
the world and all that is in it, you have founded them. Psalm 89:11
“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
Tell me, if you have understanding.
Who determined its measurements—surely you know!
Or who stretched the line upon it?
On what were its bases sunk or who laid its cornerstone,
when the morning stars sang together
and all the sons of God shouted for joy? Job 38:4-7
Before we are teachers, we are first and foremost Christians. How can I say that I believe that God made the universe and yet never help my students make the connection between the elliptical orbits of planets and the ordered mind of the God who set them in motion? Why do I never take the time to show my students that place value was a useful tool to the tribes of Israel when they went to war and that it remains useful for us today? While there may be no scriptural verse that communicates the importance of adding decimal numbers, does not King Solomon beseech us in Proverbs to follow his instructions for a well-lived life? So, in turn, we can teach our students that following instructions and learning procedures is part of a well-lived life. We understand that knowing how to add decimal quantities is an important and needful skill to have. Let us show our students that they need to know how to add decimal quantities in order to live well in God's world. Not just the world.
Biblical Integration into the Mathematics classroom is essential because God has spoken and when He spoke, He spoke from an ordered and rational mind. The obedience of planets, plants and all the elements of the periodic table to these fixed laws point to a God of order and power. Interestingly enough Richard Rorty's philosophy also leads to a very startling conclusion. (Not that Rorty himself believed it to be true)
"If there is a God who created all things, then
it must be by necessity that this God has a language
all His own, and that he has written it into the cosmos."
It is no mistake that in Genesis 1 it says 11 times, "and God said...". God is a God who speaks, and what He has spoken into the universe is the realization of His ordered mind. Students can see that mind behind the tapestry when they are taught how to correctly use the language of mathematics when studying the creation. Mathematics is His gift to us. It is the only tool we have in order to study the universe in which we live.
"What is man that you are mindful of him?
Or the son of man that you care for him?" Psalm 8:4
God, in his kindness, has given us the very means and ability to develop the language of mathematics in order that we might see Him and glorify Him in that which He has created. "What is man, that You are mindful of him?"
A hundred years ago, mankind could not truly escape the world around Him. Yet with the changes of the Industrial and Information ages, we have developed patterns of living that help us escape the real world every day. We are now a people that live within a rectangle. (Smartphone or some other device). The real world is both at our fingertips and light years away. We have come to believe that reality is what we make it, not what we experience independent of our own minds.
A hundred years ago, a mathematics teacher could rely more upon day to day life in the real world to keep their student's minds engaged, and to show the handiwork of God. That time is now gone. Now, we must be intentional. We must carefully and purposefully craft our lessons, and guide our students to see the creation they are missing, and most importantly, the Creator. Mathematics is a gift of God. Let's take up the task of making much of Him in the classroom with the gift He has given.
- John Partridge
Nov 3rd 2018