APPENDIX I
HISTORY OF THE PRINCIPLE APPROACH
Miss Hall became convinced that the only way to reverse this drift was for Americans to return to God, to repent and believe the Gospel (Mark 1:15). She saw the need to educate them in their Christian history and heritage, so they would understand God's purpose for their country. In 1960, Miss Hall published the first of three volumes entitled: The Christian History of the Constitution of the United States of America: Christian Self-Government--the culmination of thirty years of research. While Miss Hall's work is not widely known in the secular field, her documentation could be validated by any inquiring student who has access to the primary records of English and American colonial history. However, what makes Miss Hall's research worthy of copyright is the setting. Like the deft incision of a surgeon's knife dissecting the marrow from the bone, she divided the leading idea--the Christian concept of man and government--from the pagan philosophies of men. She traced the development of the Christian form of government, and constitutional law from the Magna Carta to John Locke and William Blackstone. She discovered that the Bible was the political textbook of the American founding fathers.
Miss Hall felt that the content of these early English documents by Locke and Blackstone, as well as the Magna Carta and others, needed to be given back to Christians, so they would understand the foundations of their liberty. She compiled a collection of excerpts from the major original sources which demonstrated, without a doubt, that America was founded as a Christian nation with a form of government based on biblical principles. So is Australia, the author discovered. Both America and Australia have their roots in the English common law. Miss Hall's thesis was that the philosophy of education of one generation becomes the philosophy of government of the next. In other words, we govern through teaching.
Slater identified these seven biblical principles of government from her study of Hall's compilation of American history. .;Another Christian educator, Paul Jehle, influenced by the work of Slater, identified these same seven principles of government from his study of Scripture. Historian and educator, Stephen K. McDowell, founded the Providence Foundation to spread these biblical principles of government among the nations. His writings (with Mark A. Beliles) include Fundamentals for Building Christian Nations and America's Providential History.
James B. Rose is another student of Slater. .;His comprehensive Guide to American Christian Education for the Home and School: The Principle Approach has become another classic for Christian educators. Of the many contributors to the Guide, Katherine Dang's contribution is particularly pertinent in any discussion of Australian history because of her Chinese cultural background. She is Administrative Director of the Chinese Christian Schools in San Leandro, California. A scholar of American history for many years, Dang has developed four themes which she has identified as notable individuals, important events, key institutions, and significant documents (including speeches, sermons or essays). They are useful for identifying the Providential history of any nation. Another pioneer in the Principle Approach to American Christian history is Ruth J. Smith, who contributed the section in the Guide on teaching American Christian history to the Elementary School. In 1979, the Smiths founded the Pilgrim Institute in Granger, Indiana. The work of the Institute includes teacher-training seminars, correspondence courses, and a nationwide consulting service. Many Christian schools using the Principle Approach have sprung up around America and elsewhere. In Canberra, Australia, Peter Frogley is pioneering a Biblical Approach School at the Youth with a Mission National Headquarters.