Our educational systems are critical to our nation’s health and success. I want to begin with a quote by Vishal Mangalwadi, born and raised in India where he studied philosophy in secular universities and Hindu ashrams. After studying in Swiss L’Abri for six months, he returned to India to serve the rural poor through several creative projects. This frontline engagement with oppression and corruption sent him to jail, helped prevent the revival of widow-burning, and led to politically organizing peasants and lower-caste “untouchables.”

Here is a quote from his book, The Book That Made Your World: How the Bible created the Soul of Western Civilization:

“Why did my university in Allahabad have a church, but not a Hindu temple or a Muslim mosque? Because the university was invented and established by Christians. Neither colonialism nor commerce spread modern education around the world. Soldiers and merchants do not educate. Education was a Christian missionary enterprise. It was integral to Christian missions because modern education is a fruit of the Bible. The biblical Reformation, born in European universities, took education out of the cloister and spread it around the globe.”

It is biblical commission and Christian zeal to fulfill that commission which built, established, and promoted education. It is Mr. Mangalwadi’s position that the biblical ethic was first established in the founding of the universities and over the course of the years, they have lost their way and have been taken captive by humanist thought. More on this in following editions.