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Exploring the History and Philosophy of Christian Education
Written by two leading scholars in the field, this volume integrates the history and philosophy of Christian education and explores the contemporary applications.
Unknown Binding
First published November 1, 2003
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
July 17, 2018
If you're looking for a book that provides depth and careful analysis of the history and philosophy of education, this is not your book. If you need a summary of Western civilization that occasionally touches on educational issues, and also assumes that the reader needs great convincing that he or she ought to be reading this book, then you may find it helpful. (The last few chapters were an exception and were much better.) I found this book disappointing, but I (a history teacher who loves philosophy) am apparently not part of the audience (reluctant undergrads who don't know much about Western civ?) that the authors had in mind.
March 26, 2020
This book was fairly helpful. It is mainly a very broad history of education from a Christian perspective. It is fairly easy to read, and it covers a lot of material.
There are two main weaknesses of this book. The first weakness is its organization. It proceeds through the historical portion (probably 80-85% of the book, and then only briefly deals with the philosophy behind many historical movements. The philosophy should have been at the beginning so that the reader could properly deal with the historical movements and figures as they come along.
The second weakness is some of the content. This is a fairly large book, and some of the content was just plain needless. For example, in the Reformation chapter, the author felt the need to take up 5 pages or so to reproduce Martin Luther's Ninety-Five Theses in its entirety. Why? It didn't make sense.
In general, this book is helpful, but lacks a good bit in terms of actual analysis. It is mostly just a bare history of figures and events, with some relatively short comments in terms of evaluation at the end.
There are two main weaknesses of this book. The first weakness is its organization. It proceeds through the historical portion (probably 80-85% of the book, and then only briefly deals with the philosophy behind many historical movements. The philosophy should have been at the beginning so that the reader could properly deal with the historical movements and figures as they come along.
The second weakness is some of the content. This is a fairly large book, and some of the content was just plain needless. For example, in the Reformation chapter, the author felt the need to take up 5 pages or so to reproduce Martin Luther's Ninety-Five Theses in its entirety. Why? It didn't make sense.
In general, this book is helpful, but lacks a good bit in terms of actual analysis. It is mostly just a bare history of figures and events, with some relatively short comments in terms of evaluation at the end.
February 17, 2020
I think the book provides a good overarching (somewhat benign) view of religious education from Hebrew origins to Christian Education in the 21st century. The authors remark that Christian Education started with the earliest civilization with God as the instructor. The book's chapter on Developing a Personal Philosophy for Ministry is helpful to the practitioner. I would recommend the book to every undergraduate or master's level student in Christian Education. It's a book that is easy to read.
November 16, 2021
A very readable history. This book is extremely helpful for understanding the inputs into, and the context for, the state of Christian Education today.
Anthony breaks down education in ancient Israel, Greece, and Rome before carrying his survey through the Christian Age through to modern America. He completes the book with a less-than-satisfying, and probably unneeded, chapter on developing a personal philosophy of ministry. Why have a personal philosophy when one can conform one's philosophy to that which God has outlined in His scriptures?
Overall, a worthwhile read.
Anthony breaks down education in ancient Israel, Greece, and Rome before carrying his survey through the Christian Age through to modern America. He completes the book with a less-than-satisfying, and probably unneeded, chapter on developing a personal philosophy of ministry. Why have a personal philosophy when one can conform one's philosophy to that which God has outlined in His scriptures?
Overall, a worthwhile read.
April 11, 2018
I got this book as a course requirement. It is a good book. Lots of historical facts. Great for research
July 10, 2023
Superficial, shoddy scholarship. Find something else.
May 30, 2016
I read this book for a class. Why else would anyone read this book? I am certain their are other reasons, but perhaps not many.
The book is pretty well written. It reads smoothly too, which helps.
The authors begin their examination of the history of of Christian Education in the Old Testament and Ancient Near East. Given that the Old Testament encompasses several thousand years of history, I found their examination too brief. A section on the New Testament and Apostolic Period comes next. Again, the time frame covered is several hundred years and the section probably could have been better treated in three sections (one for the NT, one for the history of the church before Constantine, and one for the Apostolic period after Constantine). Why? The New Testament is Bible and should, in my opinion, be treated separately from other books of history. Then, the development of the church and discipleship remained steady until about 250AD when some changes began to occur methodologically. Then, Constantine set in motion major changes. With all this presented in one chapter it was difficult to track progression and changes in approach to Christian Education.
Chapters for different periods of history follow. The information is good, though not always easy to follow in terms of development. One noteworthy observance is that few quotations come from original sources until the authors arrived in the 19th Century. Many quotes, the majority, are from other "history of Christian education" or " history of thought" type books. So, the extent to which this book only rehashes other theories is not clear, unless, of course, one has already read both original works and other histories like this one.
The next to the last chapter is a very useful examination of philosophy beginning with the Greeks up to Post Modernism and the relation to those philosophies to educational philosophy. For those not familiar with these philosophies and philosophies of education (as I was not) will find this chapter very worthwhile!
The final chapter is devoted to helping the reader develop his or her own philosophy of Christian education.
For the size of the task undertaken, this is a valiant effort!
The book is pretty well written. It reads smoothly too, which helps.
The authors begin their examination of the history of of Christian Education in the Old Testament and Ancient Near East. Given that the Old Testament encompasses several thousand years of history, I found their examination too brief. A section on the New Testament and Apostolic Period comes next. Again, the time frame covered is several hundred years and the section probably could have been better treated in three sections (one for the NT, one for the history of the church before Constantine, and one for the Apostolic period after Constantine). Why? The New Testament is Bible and should, in my opinion, be treated separately from other books of history. Then, the development of the church and discipleship remained steady until about 250AD when some changes began to occur methodologically. Then, Constantine set in motion major changes. With all this presented in one chapter it was difficult to track progression and changes in approach to Christian Education.
Chapters for different periods of history follow. The information is good, though not always easy to follow in terms of development. One noteworthy observance is that few quotations come from original sources until the authors arrived in the 19th Century. Many quotes, the majority, are from other "history of Christian education" or " history of thought" type books. So, the extent to which this book only rehashes other theories is not clear, unless, of course, one has already read both original works and other histories like this one.
The next to the last chapter is a very useful examination of philosophy beginning with the Greeks up to Post Modernism and the relation to those philosophies to educational philosophy. For those not familiar with these philosophies and philosophies of education (as I was not) will find this chapter very worthwhile!
The final chapter is devoted to helping the reader develop his or her own philosophy of Christian education.
For the size of the task undertaken, this is a valiant effort!
February 13, 2016
Helpful for the history, mainly.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews