The principle of jurisdiction demands that education be handled by the individual, family, church, and voluntary organizations, rather than civil governments.
God’s order includes three primary spheres of authority beyond the authority of the individual’s self-government: the home, the church, and civil government. Each sphere has its Biblically prescribed responsibilities and limits on its power (jurisdiction). Jurisdiction comes from the two words—juris (law) and dicto (to speak or pronounce); therefore, it indicates the limits within which one can lawfully speak (make, declare, or apply the law) or exercise authority.
A Biblical example of this principle is found in I Samuel 13. Here the nation of Israel is fighting against the Philistines with King Saul as its leader. While Saul is waiting for Samuel, his army is in disarray and “the people are scattered.” Saul decides to take matters into his own hands and offers burnt offerings and sacrifices. When Samuel shows up he rebukes Saul severely, telling him that his kingdom will not continue. Why the harsh punishment? Saul was the civil leader and did not have the lawful authority to offer sacrifices, which was the jurisdiction of the priest only. Through this action Saul reveals the heart of a tyrant who disregards God’s spheres of jurisdiction.
The major responsibilities of the home, church, and civil government are as follows:
The home has the responsibility to evangelize, nurture, and educate children, provide for all family members, etc. (Ephesians 6:4, Psalm 78:1–8, Deuteronomy 6:4–7).
The church has the responsibility to train believers to fulfill the Great Commission, to educate parents and to assist them in discipling their children, to determine church doctrine, to conduct corporate worship, to provide for administration of mercy and help through service, and to administer church discipline (Matt. 28:18).
Voluntary organizations stem from individuals who join together to:
Produce a good or a service (businesses); Fellowship and recreate (churches, clubs, sports); Provide ministry, education or service to others (Red Cross, Kiwanis, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, World Vision, Compassion International, The Republican Party, etc.); Minister through philanthropy.
Civil government has the responsibility to administer justice by punishing evildoers (Romans 13). It has a monopoly on the use of physical force (beyond the parental authority to spank), including the death penalty to enforce its will (Genesis 9:6).
Consider these possible scenarios of abuses of power:
Parents who have a rebellious ten-year-old decide to punish him by branding him with a hot iron.
Church officials decide to persecute those in their community whom they believe are preaching or teaching false doctrine.
Civil authorities that favor a particular religion pass laws to tax the citizens to support that religion.
When all spheres of authority operate according to their Biblically prescribed roles and within their jurisdiction, then there is liberty. Conversely, liberty is abrogated when jurisdiction is exceeded.
Biblically, civil government serves a primarily negative role (punishing evildoers), and the church and home are primarily positive in nature (teaching, nurturing, providing, etc.). When the civil government does its job well, the home and church have the greatest liberty to fulfill their Biblical responsibilities. Conversely, when civil government usurps the authority of the home and church and begins to “do good” (provide for health, education, and welfare) the home and the church are hindered in their work, because there is improper competition and confusion as to who is responsible for what.
One of the great needs of our generation is the strengthening of all of the homes, churches, and voluntary organizations. This helps diminish the power of the state. Christian worldview Author and Professor, Nancy Pearcey stated, “Strong, independent social groupings actually help to limit the state because each claims its own sphere of responsibility and jurisdiction, thus preventing the state from controlling every aspect of life.[i]
Civil government does not belong in the business of education any more than it should be involved in establishing churches. In fact, since education is by nature theological, in America we do have a “state church”—the public school system. We need the “separation of school and state”! According to the Alliance For The Separation Of School and State, four national polls show that 25% of Americans now say that they are ready to end tax financing of schools. Another 25% would also be in favor of this concept if they knew that the poor would have a choice of a good school.[ii]
I am not advocating a new idea; this concept is fundamental to our form of government. Thomas Jefferson wrote a document in 1777 considered by some to be one of the greatest charters for human liberty. Entitled, “An Act Establishing Religious Freedom,” the following is included in the preamble:
. . . that to compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical; that even the forcing him to support this or that teacher of his own religious persuasion is depriving him of the comfortable liberty . . . that the opinions of men are not the object of civil government, nor under its jurisdiction.[iii]
What Jefferson was saying is sinful and tyrannical (in other words an affront to God and man) is exactly what we are doing today; by operating government schools we are forcing man (through taxation) to pay for the teaching of opinions which he disbelieves. Not only that, by the use of compulsory education laws, we are forcing children to be taught these opinions. Jefferson is clear; actions are the purview of civil government, but opinions are not.
The framers of our Constitution understood this truth and therefore did not provide a role for the new federal government in education. Some argue that the general welfare clause in the Constitution is the place where our founders envisioned a role for the new government in education. James Madison denied that the general welfare clause of the Constitution (Article I, Section 8, paragraph 1) was a vague grant of power that would allow the Federal Government to have a role in education:
“I, sir, have always conceived . . . that this is not an indefinite government, deriving its powers from the general terms prefixed to the specified powers, but a limited government, tied down to the specified powers which explain and define the general terms . . . If Congress can apply money indefinitely to the general welfare, and are the sole and supreme judges of the general welfare, they may take the care of religion into their own hands; they may establish teachers in very state, county, and parish, and pay them out of the public treasury; they may take into their own hands the education of children, establishing in like manner schools throughout the Union; they may undertake the regulation of all roads, other than post roads. In short, everything from the highest object of state legislation, down to the most minute object of police, would be thrown under the power of Congress; for every object I have mentioned would admit the application of money, and might be called, if Congress pleased, provisions for the general welfare.“[iv]
Notice that, of all of the examples Madison could have chosen, he chose education (along with religion and the regulation of roads) as an example of a grievous violation of jurisdiction.
As Christians, we should desire the best possible situation for all children and this would ideally be the complete privatization of all education. This desire is not madness, meanness, or worse! It is the logical conclusion of examining what the Bible teaches about education and jurisdiction. We need to remember that, with rare exceptions, all education was private in our country from 1607–1830’s, for over 200 years! And under this private education, Americans produced the greatest level of literacy the world has ever known!
The free market will provide the best education at the lowest price.
Why are there tens of thousands of highly successful Christian, parochial, and private schools? Why are parents willing to pay up to $10,000 or more per year for their child to attend them? Is it because these schools have more money? More talented teachers? Better facilities? Better curriculum?
No! It is rather that private schools honor the Biblical principle of “free market” economics. That principle teaches that producers and consumers meet in the market and that consumers purchase the best product at the price they agree on, with no coercion from outside forces. In private education, parents purchase education from an individual school, and the school board, administrators, and teachers answer to their customers, the parents. If they do not do their jobs well, the customer will refuse to purchase their product. and the school will suffer.
When civil government provides education, school authorities have a divided loyalty; they are responsible to parents but they often feel a greater responsibility to higher authorities: “the system,” the state, and the Federal Department of Education. If parents are not happy with the product, they do not have the same leverage in seeking a remedy.
Interestingly, there is a movement in our day to privatize certain services that public schools provide. Some argue that services such as transportation, food service, and facility maintenance can be better provided for by the private sector. Statistics indicate there are significant cost savings by doing so, as well as an improvement in the quality of those services. According to Geoffrey F. Segal, Director of privatization and government reform at the Reason Foundation:
By privatizing these non-education related functions, we achieve two positive results: 1) educators are allowed to focus on education; and 2) by injecting competition into the equation, we lower the cost and improve the quality of those services that have been outsourced.[v]
The assumption that Mr. Segal and others espouse, that the free market provides better quality goods and services at lower prices, can be applied not just to some services that public schools provide but to all of them! If the free market can do a better job with transportation and meals it can also do a better job with the educational process.
Conclusion
The Bible advocates distinctively Christian education, either in the home or the school.
Civil government clearly has no jurisdiction in the area of education, and a Biblical understanding of liberty demands that parents, and those they choose to help them, be free to pursue the best educational process for their precious children.
It is not enough to use Christian texts or have Christian schools—we must demand that our philosophy, curriculum, and methods line up with the Word of God. Only the best is good enough for our children!
[i] Nancy Pearcey, Total Truth (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2004)
[ii] Marshall Fritz, How Much Longer Will We Allow Public School Authorities To Undermine Parents? (Alliance for the Separation of School and State, newsletter), June 2001
[iii] William F. Cox, Jr. Tyranny Through Public Education (Fairfax, VA: Allegiance Press, 2003), 85–86
[iv] James Madison and John Laurance, Abridgement of the Debates of Congress from 1789 to 1856 (New York, NY, 1857) 360–364. Quoted in The Annals of America Vol 3, 493,495
[v] Geoffery F. Segal, “Privatize . . . For the Kids of Course” Virginia Viewpoint, (June 2004), 1