Why does a coherent Christian education matter?
In his book “Souls in Transition: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers," Christian Smith and his co-authors found the vast majority of 18-24 year-olds are espousing a worldview of "Moralistic Therapeutic Deism", which many of the youth confused with Christian faith. This is the "religious" culture in which our graduates will live.
Moralistic Therapeutic Deism consists of five key beliefs: (1) a God exists who created the world and watches over human life; (2) God wants people to be nice, good and fair to each other as taught in the Bible and most world religions; (3) the central goal of life is to be happy and feel good about oneself; (4) God does not need to be involved in one’s life except when needed to fix a problem; (5) good people go to heaven when they die.
Moreover, these young adults were found to be less religious than they were as teenagers and the participation of these young people in missions trips and youth group have absolutely no impact on their religiosity later in life.
With these conclusions in mind, it is clear that the education our students receive in our schools will either contribute to or combat the Moralistic Therapeutic Deism that drives the incoherence of so many young adults’ lives. Join us in Chicagoland to discuss how Christian Schools can provide a coherent education that will impact our students, their communities, and the world for the Glory of God.
For a detailed description of the the Fall Symposium and to register for the event see the attached document or visit www.cesaschools.org/events. We reached capacity at last year’s Fall Symposium, so be sure to register soon- early registration rates will be granted for all those registrations postmarked on or prior to September 16, 2012.
Click here for a link to an audio interview with Christian Smith on White Horse Inn. Additionally, here is a link to David Brooks’ commentary on Smith’s follow-up book “Lost in Transition: The Dark Side of Emerging Adulthood”.
Katie Wiens
Associate Director
Council on Educational Standards and Accountability
