Parents may choose to educate their children for many different reasons. Before making such a decision as Christian parents, however, it is important to consider what God’s Word says about this subject. Let us begin by clarifying a few basic concepts.

The Parent and the Child

According to the Bible, children are a gift from God (Psalm 127:3), created in His own image (Genesis 1:26–27). This already places us in sharp contrast with the world around us, which increasingly views children—especially unborn children—not as gifts bearing God’s image but as products.

Consider, for example, the increasingly popular and profitable industry of commercial surrogacy, where, after a nine-month “production period,” children are transferred much like other commodities. Or consider highly developed Western European countries where, thanks to early prenatal screening, unborn children diagnosed with birth conditions (such as Down syndrome) may be “screened out” before birth.¹

According to the Bible, parents, like all people, are stewards (Luke 12:42–44). Stewardship is a privilege, but it also carries responsibility. We are all accountable for our words and for how we manage the resources God has entrusted to us—our money, time, and relationships. One day we will give an account of these before the judgment seat of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:10). Those of us who are parents, however, have an additional responsibility: we must also give an account of how we have raised the children whom God has entrusted to us.

Mission and Responsibility

The Bible teaches that parents—especially fathers—are responsible for providing for their children (1 Timothy 5:8) and raising them according to God’s instruction (Deuteronomy 6:6–7; Ephesians 6:4). Scripture does not require that parents alone must teach their children. However, if parents involve others in their children’s education, the God-given responsibility for that education still rests on the parents. In other words, as Christian parents, we are responsible for ensuring that our children are raised according to God’s instruction, regardless of whether we personally teach them or whether others (such as teachers, instructors, or coaches) participate in their education. The Bible therefore does not prescribe a particular method of education but rather its purpose.

This leads to an important question:

Azok a személyek, akik a gyermekeinket a gyakorlatban nevelik, vajon Isten tanítása szerint végzik-e a munkájukat?

As we have seen, this question matters because God entrusted the responsibility of raising children to parents, and that responsibility remains ours even if others assist us. Before answering this question, it is worth considering two things.

First, biblical education is not passive but active. God does not merely ask us never to speak negatively about Him; He calls us to actively glorify Him through both our lives and our words. Teachers who, in the name of “professional neutrality,” completely exclude God from their teaching are effectively teaching our children that there are two separate realities: a Christian reality, in which God belongs and about which we speak on Sundays or perhaps in religious education classes, and a scientific reality, which is independent of God and about which we speak during every other lesson. This artificial division of reality is not based on a biblical worldview.

Second, we should recognize that within an educational institution, our children’s peers often play at least as significant a role in shaping them as their teachers. This is largely because children spend much more time interacting with their peers than with their teachers. As a result, classmates frequently have an even greater influence—whether positive or negative.

If, after considering these two points, we can honestly answer yes to the original question (“Are those who are educating our children doing so according to God’s instruction?”), then we can be thankful to God that our children are in good hands.

If the answer is no, however, it is worth asking whether there might be another form of education in which we can better fulfill our parental calling. This question becomes especially urgent when we see that institutional education is not merely failing to support our children’s physical, emotional, and spiritual growth but is actually hindering it.

The greatest advantage of homeschooling is that it provides greater freedom and opportunity for parents to fulfill their God-given responsibility. The educational format itself is no guarantee of success; what makes the difference is how we choose to fill the time that would otherwise be spent sitting in a classroom.

Summary

In summary, our children are treasures whom God Himself has entrusted to us, and we are accountable before Him for how we raise them.

The Bible gives parents the freedom to involve others in their children’s education. Nevertheless, the responsibility remains ours.

For Christian parents who believe they cannot faithfully fulfill their God-given parental calling within the framework of traditional institutional education, homeschooling offers the freedom and opportunity to do so.

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Notes

Cover art: The Parable of the Talents by Willem de Poorter (17th century) (Source: Wikimedia)

1. For example, in Iceland, beginning in the early 2000s, nearly all mothers whose unborn children were diagnosed with Down syndrome chose to terminate the pregnancy. In 2015, this rate was 77% in France and 98% in Denmark. Source: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/down-syndrome-iceland ↩︎