LEONARD THEOLOGICAL COLLEGE

ASSIGNMENT
Subject : Christian Education for Social Change (BME02)
Topic : Christian Education: An Activity of empowerment of people
Submitted to : Mr. Abhinilesh Prakash
Submitted by : Kamlesh R. Peter (B.D. - IV)
Submission date : 10th October, 2021

1. Introduction: “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations” (Matt. 28:19) is the universal
mission of the Christian Church, commissioned by Jesus. But education in India, being
regarded from a short range point of view, results in expediency, mass mania of
materialism and spiritual bankruptcy. The impressive economic growth rate contributed
to the reduction of illiteracy, mortality rates and poverty. This paper is about the brief
explanation of Christian education and how its became as an activity of empowerment of
people.

2. Christian Education: Christian education is the process by which persons are confronted
with and controlled by the Christian gospel. It involves the efforts of the Christian
community to guide both young and adult persons toward an ever-richer possession of the
Christian fellowship. It is both individual and social in nature.
2.1. Importance of Christian Education: Every day children are exposed to different
worldviews. Some of these messages spur children on toward the mind of Christ,
while others are far more misleading. While the Bible does not say that Christian
education is the only way, it does emphasize the importance of training our hearts for
Christ. It is critical to take time to consider the concept of truth within educational
settings. John Gresham Machen states “A Christian boy or girl can learn
mathematics, for example, from a teacher who is not a Christian; and truth is truth
however learned. But while truth is truth however learned, the bearing of truth, the
meaning of truth, the purpose of truth, even in the sphere of mathematics, seem
entirely different to the Christian from that which they seem to the non-Christian; and
that is why a truly Christian education is possible only when Christian conviction
underlies not a part but all, of the curriculum of the school.”
 2.1.1. For the Student: When education is presented with a Biblical mind-set, all
subjects possess a mindful reverence to the Creator of science and the Author
of history. A Christian education equips students to see the world through a lens
of purpose. When God is incorporated in the classroom, students
are encouraged to draw deeper meaning even from subjects they dislike.
Academics are not merely an obligation, but an opportunity to understand more
vastly about the intricacies of our Maker. Christian education is important
because it teaches students to incorporate God into all things. God is not
confined to church or family life. Instead, students learn to include God in every
corner of their life.
2.1.2. For the Parent: Education is an investment into the heart of a child. As
believers, there is a deeper responsibility to “train up a child in the way he
should go; so that even when he is old he will not depart from it” (Proverbs
22:6). This responsibility should invoke thoughtful consideration. Is what’s
being taught in the classroom undermining your voice and in your child’s
life? Who are they being influenced by?  These questions are not to incite fear,
but instead to inspire a deeper reverence for the voices you allow to speak into
your child’s life. There is a weightiness that comes with holding an influencing
role in the life of a child during their formative years that often we treat far
too flippantly.1

3. Christian Education with a Vision: The Indian Education Commission, an ad hoc

commission set up by Indian Government to examine all aspects of the educational sector
in India, observes that the greatness of a country does not depend on the extent of its
territory, the length of its communication or the amount of its wealth, but on the love for
higher values of life. All must develop thought for the poor and suffering, regard and
respect for women, faith in brotherhood regardless of race, colour, religion etc. As we
focus on the role of Christian educational institutions in empowering women through
their education, it should address more specific questions such as what were the most
important contributions that the Christian educational institutions have given to women’s
empowerment in the society and in what ways the education and teaching-learning
process in the institutions are proving helpful to women. We should also look into the

1
Rebecca Hyde, “Liberty University,” The Importance of a Christian Education, accessed on 10 Oct 2021,
https://www.liberty.edu/index.cfm?id=1101871&blogpid=33000&pid=9720
 extent to which these institutions contributed to the empowerment of women in terms of
their contributions to their family and the society.2
3.1. Value Based Education: The need of the Hour: The education system in India is
yet to declare a world of values well nursed by the children of one world, one society
and one big brotherhood of mankind. This common language for mutual
understanding is the lesson most needed to be inculcated in our parochial system of
education. The values are norms laid down by society for desirable behaviour which
help human beings to live a healthy, peaceful and productive life. What is desirable
today may not be desirable tomorrow and what is desirable here may not be desirable
elsewhere; values are related to the time and place, and are thus subjective and
relative. Menuhin-Hauser, the renowned American pianist writes, “We are living
between two eras, between rich and poor, between the old and the young, and we are
also caught between the macro-symptoms and the micro-symptoms of imminent
social and personal breakdown. In this ambivalent situation we are not quite sure of
knowing the right way.”. The repressed sense of ambivalence leads to a desperate
kind of frustration that drives people mad, and creates in their blocked minds a
readiness to put the blame on others. Ambivalence which expresses itself, on the
other hand, leads to democracy of the mind away from extremes, away from
obsessions and away from fanatical partisanship. A value based educational system
makes one examine other people’s ways of life and other people’s view-points.3
3.2. Faith and Human Values: Through value education and by setting good examples,
we impart knowledge other than what is just given in the text books. In this age of
scientific knowledge with its commitment to technological advancement, there is no
room for superstition and blind faith. The logical and reason-based actions are
acceptable in the present age of knowledge explosion and knowledge-driven society.
So the development of scientific temper and scientific attitudes are now considered to
be a prime objective of formal education. Christian educational institutions combined
two ideals, namely, good life based on human values and the means to earn a decent
livelihood. They help women to become good citizens, leaders, mothers, wives and
teachers, within their families and in the society as well.4

2
D. S. Kothari, The Indian Education Commission Report, (Govt. of India Publication: New Delhi, 1966), 32
3
M. Chakrabarti, Value Education: Changing Perspectives, (Kanishka: New Delhi, 1997), 12
4
Molly K. Abraham, “Jesus and Mary College,” Value education and women’s empowerment: A compelling
priority of christian educational institutions in India, accessed on 10 Oct 2021,
file:///C:/Users/kamle/Downloads/marcin,+Journal+manager,+10.15503.jecs20172.21.28.pdf
4. Mission of Christian Education:
4.1. Bring people into the community of the faithful.
4.2. Educate people to understand and acknowledge their faith.
4.3. Nurture by sharing stories of faith, heritage of the church and Christian values.
4.4. Educate people of faith to carry out the mission of the church, to empower them to
action in the name of Christ and service to all children of God.
4.5. Encourage people to become committed disciples.
4.6. Raise the conscience of all members of the congregation to the importance of
Christian Education.5

5. The Role of Christian Education and Empowerment of People:

5.1. The role of these Christian education networks was credited with helping to most
people who were uneducated, and many in the rural countryside were illiterate.
5.2. Christian educational institutions’ roles in the process of assimilation of values and
their contribution to women for the building up of democratic India in terms of their
leadership, commitment to the family and nation, and dedication to the general
welfare of the people.
5.3. This meant nurturing the faith of people for Christian living that empowers them to
participate in the processes.
5.4. Christian education for girls have left a tradition of providing both basic education
and professional education for a century and a half. This paper looks into the extent.6

6. Challenges in Value Education and Women’s empowerment: In India today, the

pressures of the prevailing caste system, communalism, poverty and other exploitative
structures make it imperative to equip young women not only with intellectual skills, but
also with a set of strong attitudes imbued with spiritual, moral and social values. The
society gives women a subordinate status, and due to that they may miss opportunities
and have become victims of deprivation, discrimination and atrocities. The role of
education in understanding and appreciating the self in relation to others and the divine
5
“Woodridge Christian Church,” Christian Education, accessed on 10 Oct 2021,
http://www.woodridgecc.org/about-us/christian-education.html
6
“Brainly,” The Role of Christian Education and Empowerment of People,” accessed on 10 Oct 2021,
https://brainly.in/question/5038993
 self encapsulates the essence of values. This enables us to be in perfect tune with the
truth. The Christian educational institutions are committed to this kind of education in
order to teach young girls to reach out to the poor and the least favoured. Their education
also seeks to make them conscious about their rights in the struggles they face in the
midst of all oppression, social evil and exploitation in the materialistic and consumerist
society of today. They invite their collaborators, students, parents as well as benefactors
to work for the realisation of this objective in forming a nation without any social
disparities.7

7. Christian Education: The Vision for a New World Order: To establish a new world
order of compassion, peace, justice and security, it is essential that mankind free itself
from the limitations of national prejudice and acknowledge that the forces that unite it are
incomparably more powerful than those that divide it. The spirit of Christian educational
institutions promotes the concept that all people are part of the one global community,
dependent on one body of resources, bound together by the spirit of oneness. This
Christian vision affirms that the resources of the globe are finite, not infinite; that they are
the heritage of no one nation or generation, but of all peoples and for posterity. Education
helps women to resist exploitation, besides, of course, empowering them to be self-
reliant. Women’s literacy is essential for economic vitality and independence.8
Education increases women’s awareness about their rights and capabilities. An educated
and independent woman takes decisions concerning various aspects of her life. Women
are allowed to participate as equal partners in the process of national development only
when equal opportunities to women in all areas of life are provided. Empowerment
implies greater access to knowledge and resources, greater ability to plan one’s life,
greater control over circumstances that influences one’s life and overcome the restrictions
and constraints imposed by customs, beliefs and practices. Women’s empowerment can
be attained only through meeting their needs and interests. Education thus is a pathway
and has been recognised as a major instrument which societies can use to direct the
process of change and development towards desired goals. It also affirms that the
exploitation of the poor by the rich and of the weak by the strong violates our common
7
Molly K. Abraham, “Jesus and Mary College,” Value education and women’s empowerment: A compelling
priority of christian educational institutions in India, accessed on 10 Oct 2021,
file:///C:/Users/kamle/Downloads/marcin,+Journal+manager,+10.15503.jecs20172.21.28.pdf

8
H. Braun, N. Chudowsky, & J. Koenig, (Eds.), Getting Value Out of Value – Added, (The National Academies
Press: Washington, DC, 2001), 41
 humanity and denies life, liberty, and happiness to the large segments of society. These
Christian educational institutions recognise a moral obligation to strive for a more prudent
and more equitable sharing of the resources of the earth in order to ameliorate poverty,
hunger and disease.9

8. The Significance of Women’s Education in India: The Indian Education Commission

stresses the need for education to be related to the life and needs of the people here and
now. Even long before this Education Commission was appointed, the Christian
educational leadership believed in training the young women under their care to become
mature individuals in the society. They were taught to work which would make them self-
supporting and independent human beings. It is true that the destiny of a nation is shaped
in the classroom. The classrooms of our schools have girl children usually from the age of
four till the university level in some cases. The Christian educational visionaries seemed
to have foreseen the UNESCO’s dictum even before its origin: “If we educate a boy, we
educate a man, and if we educate a girl, we educate a family, and in consequence, a
nation.” Education is one of the powerful instruments to effect change and development
in society. Education is one of the powerful instruments to effect change and development
in society.10

9. Christian education: An Activity of empowerment of people: Empowerment is

defined as a multi-dimensional social process that helps people gain control over their
own lives. It is a process that fosters power in people for use in their own lives, their
communities and in their society, by acting on issues they find as important. One essential
dimensions of the overall aim of Christian education is the appropriation of the gospel of
the reign of God by empowering and promoting social transformation for the increase of
freedom, justice, and peace. Education is an activity of empowerment. Christian
education is an activity of learning to live a faith-life and an activity of empowerment.
This challenges our common perception of the church, society, and systems of education
as systems of domination, characterized as mechanism of control. Learning as an activity
of empowerment also challenges our understanding of human relations as multinationals,
military alliances and economic system controlled by the so-called “powerful.”  The logic
behind such perception is that they come together to take control of the powerless what

9
A. Flannery, Documents of Vatican II, (St. Paul Publications: Bombay, 1998), 78
10
G. Pal, “Women’s Education for a Better Nation,” Documentation on Women’s Concerns, 1993, 7.
they should be doing. This happens both in the global and local level. Christian education
that is based on domineering and controlling instead of transforming the world for
inclusive community is conforming to the world strategies.  Christian education that seeks
to create an inclusive community shall be based on the principle of solidarity and sharing.
The solidarity it seeks should not be compromising and adjustment but an outcome of
genuine sense of mutual respect, recognition, acceptance and mutual trust. The solidarity
and sharing for inclusive community stems from the vision of the oikos (home or
household) or a global family in which the powerless, the poor, the lame, the leper, and
the marginalized find a “home” (Samson Prabhakar). Such a vision expresses its
solidarity with the “groans” of the whole “inhabited earth” as envisioned by the Prophet
Isaiah (11:6-8).

Christian education as an activity of empowerment of people envisages doing away with

all the forces, prejudices, ideologies and beliefs that alienate people from their cultural
kinship. It attempts to facilitate people to be rooted in their local cultural heritages. The
activity of empowerment seeks to make the people aware of their human rights and
empowers them to participate in the divine task of liberation. Thus Christian education
should seek to be an activity of empowerment becomes an activity of responsible-
disobedience.

9.1. Christian education that seeks to empower people must see the plights of the
downtrodden in the society.
9.1.1. Children: Millions of children in the world are involved in force labor or even
in bonded labors. In India there are around 50 million working children.
Children are exploited in both prostitution and pornography and left in inhuman
conditions.
9.1.2. Women: The plights of the female children has attracted much attention in
recent years. At birth they are considered second class citizens. Domestic
violence against women is rampant in some states of India.
9.1.3. Dalits: Dalits are those who are regarded as outcast and untouchable and they
are the victims of the caste ridden society of India.
 Christian education as education for empowering people should take inclusive community
spirit and perpetuate the dignity of all human.11
10. Conclusion and Reflection: Christian Education is an integral part of Christian ministry
which is grounded in divine involvement in the world. The Christian education takes
place in the Christian communities.  Christian education involves the deliberate activities
of faith formation and transformation. The movement of grounding involves providing
systematic grounding in the teaching, history and traditions of faith-community and to
facilitate participation and involvement in the holistic ministry. The role of Christian
education in bringing social transformation has to be done by us. This Christian education
is not limited to the Christians only, but as Lord Jesus has given us command to make the
disciples and to teach them all about the true knowledge of God and to empower the weak
and help them to grow.

11
“Christian Education and Social Change,” The Role of Christian Education in Social Change, accessed on 10
Oct 2021, http://christianeducationandsocialchange.blogspot.com/2017/10/the-role-of-christian-education-
in.html