This is a good question to ask. We will first have a look at how education is conducted today and then, what it will be like when Jesus Christ returns to set up the Kingdom of God on earth at His return.
It should be obvious that there will be an enormous shift from what we see today in schools, colleges and universities for one very good reason, and that is that Satan is the “god of this world” (2 Corinthians 4:4) and that his influence can be clearly observed by all who have eyes to see. And by extension, society as a whole is encompassed, not just the educational sector.
For the purpose of this new series, we will give examples of how things have changed over the last several decades. It can only be brief because it is an enormous subject to cover, but a few highlights will show that we are, today, in a much poorer state than we were some decades ago. We will also show that the future is bright, as we have biblical guidance for how the plan of God will work out in His soon-coming Kingdom.
In 1979, Mr Herbert W Armstrong, then the Pastor General of the (now defunct) Worldwide Church of God, published a remarkable book, entitled “The Wonderful World Tomorrow.” It would be remiss of us not to use some of the very descriptive passages that compellingly and purposefully describe education both at that time and on into the future, even though this was written over forty years ago.
On page pages 12-14, Mr Armstrong writes the following, under the heading ”Education is Decadent”:
“But take a realistic look at this world’s civilization.
“We look at modern education first, because it is the mother — the alma mater — which has spawned the scientists, captains of industry and business, the politicians and rulers, the leaders in the modern social order, and the theologians.
“Today’s world is what its leaders have made it. And the leaders are the product of modern education. Education is defined by the Encyclopaedia Britannica as a system by which adult leaders of a society inject their philosophies, ideas, customs and culture into the minds of the growing generation. Education is, and has been through the centuries, essentially pagan in origin and character. The academic system was founded by the pagan philosopher Plato.
“The 19th and 20th centuries have witnessed the absorption of German rationalism into the educational bloodstream — an approach that regards human reason as the chief source and test of knowledge. There has been a dangerous drift into materialism and collectivism. God is ignored. Revelation is rejected. The ancient belief of gnosticism, meaning we know, was succeeded by agnosticism, meaning we don’t know (we are ignorant!). This ignorance is glorified as knowledge. Professing themselves to be wise, have not the educated become fools? Compare this with Romans 1:22 in the Bible.
“Modern education trains students to earn a living in the professions, occupations and vocations — but fails to teach them how to live! It commits the crime of developing the machine, but it fails to develop the man.
“In modern education we find perpetuation of false values, the teaching of distorted history, warped psychology, perverted arts and sciences, worthless knowledge.
“Recently a leading expert on educational philosophy, Dr. Donald M. Dozer (professor emeritus of history at the university of California at Santa Barbara), in an article entitled ‘Educational Humbuggery,’ wrote this about contemporary university education:
“‘Ours is an age dominated by half-truths, and for this situation many causes can be found, not the least of which are attributable to the processes of higher education.
“‘American universities,’ he added, ‘have succumbed to the cult of faddism, sensationalism, and even vulgarism. New courses in scatology, whether masquerading as sociology, anthropology, or literature, have been given classroom platforms and respectability …. As students have become increasingly involved in curricular planning they have encouraged the idea that courses rich in content inhibit their creative impulses and represent an imposition upon them. This has led to the multiplication of colleges of creative studies, which might better be called colleges of undisciplined studies where lectures are eschewed as “bourgeois” and students educate themselves in “rap” sessions’ (The University Bookman, winter, 1978).”
Mr Armstrong continued: “A tree is known by its fruits. A mixed-up, unhappy and fearful world in chaos, divided against itself, filled with heartaches, frustrations, broken homes, juvenile delinquency, crime, insanity, racial hatreds, riots and violence, wars and death; devoid of honesty, truth and justice; now facing extinction by man-inflicted cosmocide — that is the fruit of modern education.
“This materialistic knowledge God calls foolishness — ‘For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God …’ (I Cor. 3:19).
“So what’s the cause of this educated foolishness? This day of man — from creation of the human race to Christ’s coming back to rule — has been a period of 6,000 years during which God sentenced the human world — except for those specially called of God — to being cut off from God and His revealed knowledge. Human knowledge without the Holy Spirit of God has been confined to the physical and material.
“The first man, Adam, having the opportunity to make a choice between being thus limited in knowledge, or yielding to God’s Government (and hence receiving God’s Holy Spirit), chose the former. Actually, the natural human mind, with only the human spirit… is only half complete. Man needs God’s Spirit as well as the human spirit given from birth.
“Yes, today’s educational intellectualism is ready to die. It will be replaced by the right and true educational system of the world tomorrow. This new-day system already has been introduced, and, like the proverbial grain of mustard seed, already is beginning to spread around the world — teaching young men and women the true values; the purpose of human life; the way to peace, prosperity, happiness, abundant living. All this is made possible only through the Holy Spirit, providing spiritual comprehension. In the world tomorrow this true education will banish illiteracy, and cover the earth as the ocean beds are covered with water!”
Is our education system any better today than when the above was written in 1979? There are many who would say that it is, but they would be the progressives who seem to have a death-wish and those who have no real idea of what true education is all about.
Before the 1960s, and referring to the USA, “there was very little resistance to teaching religious principles, Bible reading, or prayer in school—in fact, it was the norm. You could walk into virtually any public school and see examples of teacher-led prayer and Bible reading” (compare thoughtco.com). That would be reflected in the UK and many other “Christian” nations around the world.
The 1960s was a decade of massive change. On the website labour-history.org, we read:
“Interpretations of the 1960s vary according to attitudes. One view suggests that traditional values were overturned deferring to pop music and a laxity of morality. Another stance suggests that it was a highly progressive decade with the legalization of abortion, abolition of capital punishment and outlawing of racial discrimination. Was the 1960s a defining moment in post war Britain when working class solidarity was overturned by generational revolution? Or perhaps as Kenneth O Morgan suggests it was a decade of economic failure and political disappointment for Britain whilst at the same time ‘an era of psychic liberation.’”
The above is about the UK but the same sorts of attitudes and behaviour were reflected in many other countries, particularly the USA and Europe, and these Q&As will reflect the similar situations that exist, educationally, in those countries. Our societies, and therefore their educational approach, reflect the “new and updated” ways of thinking and doing things.
We know that evolution has been historically taught in schools for a long time, but there can be little doubt that as we now live in an increasingly godless age, this theory is being promoted even more although it is entirely unprovable and unscientific. When you have a teaching profession that has so many liberal and left-wing adherents at both school, college and university levels, you know that their beliefs will be part of their teaching methods.
In the Introduction in our booklet “The Theory of Evolution – A Fairy Tale for Adults?”, we read: “The theory of evolution, teaching that species developed gradually into other species, is widely expounded to be the most logical explanation for the origin of plants, animals, mankind, and in fact, the entire universe. It holds that animals have evolved over millions of years and that man is the latest product of this development—the top of the line, so to speak. Though Christianity was originally opposed to this concept, some groups gradually embraced it, with the proviso, however, that God directed the whole process. Other religious people—Christian and non-Christian alike—continue to reject evolution in its entirety, believing in Divine creation.
“While theology is divided on the subject, many scientists no longer consider evolution merely a theory. Rather, they regard it as fact, as if science had actually proven its accuracy. It is not surprising then to find evolution being taught in our schools, thus creating a conflict of beliefs between evolution and creation.”
In his book “The Breakdown of Higher Education,” which was published in 2020, John Ellis had this to say on a television programme on Fox News:
“Well, you’ve had a very long campaign of converting the universities into one party campuses. I mean, if you go back 50 years, studied on by a county commission in 1969, there were three left of center professors to two right of center professors.
“But by the end of the century, 1999, a study shows five to one, so you got a very great concentration building up. By another five to six years later, it’s gone to eight to one, and the current studies being done coming out now, so something like 13 to one.
“Now, there’s every reason to believe that that’s getting more extreme all the time because one of these studies look to the junior ranks, let’s say the recent appointees — assistant professors, associate professors — had found that the ratio there, left to right is 48 to one.
“So, in other words, the hiring being done now is at the rate of about 50 to one, not five to one or eight to one. So you’re going to wind up with a complete monoculture within a short period of time.
“Now, everyone can see, anyone with a brain can see that’s very unhealthy.
“You can’t have a serious debate about the issues of the day when one party is missing.”
Jeff Charles wrote on July 20th 2017 that “Higher Education Is Now A Leftist Bastion” (LibertyNation.com). He continued: “There was a time when American universities provided an education for their students – when young people learned about the subjects they were supposed to be studying in each class. Unfortunately, many of our higher learning institutions have transformed into bastions of leftist ideas. It is a well-known fact that many universities have a decidedly anti-conservative bias – this is particularly the case in the social sciences. By discriminating against conservative professors, they have ensured that left-wing teachers make up the majority of their teaching staff. In this way, they can continue to inundate their students with leftist principles without being challenged. At first glance, this might appear to be a wild conspiracy theory — but the studies have shown that liberals vastly outnumber conservatives on the teaching staff of most colleges. The evidence is so strong that even The Washington Post has acknowledged the disparity.”
In fact, in the UK in March 2017, an article “Groupthink?” stated that 80% of Britain’s university lecturers are left-wing. It went on to say: “Universities in the UK are at risk of developing a ‘dysfunctional atmosphere’ and of practicing censorship because scholarship is dominated by lecturers with left-wing views, according to a new report by one of the world’s leading think tanks.
“In its report, ‘Lackademia: Why do academics lean Left?’ the Adam Smith Institute warns the ‘overrepresentation’ of left-wing views in academia could lead to a ‘groupthink.’ ‘Social settings characterised by too little diversity of viewpoints are liable to become afflicted by groupthink, a dysfunctional atmosphere where key assumptions go unquestioned, dissenting opinions are neutralized, and favoured beliefs are held as sacrosanct,’ the report says.
“It claims right-wing academics only make up 12 percent of lecturers at British universities, in stark contrast with the wider population, half of which support conservative views.”
A phrase often used by Hitler was “whoever has the youth has the future” (dirkdeklein.net), and the young have been fed, for far too long, an educational diet of false values. It seems set to continue for a little while longer, yet while God-rejecting academics rule the academic roost, the future is bright as we shall see later, when Godly governance takes centre stage.
(To be continued)
Lead Writer: Brian Gale (United Kingdom)
