APPENDIX I

 

HISTORY OF THE PRINCIPLE APPROACH

Miss Verna Hall .;began researching American history during the Great Depression of the 1930s. While working in the California state relief system (which was to develop into a national public works), she became concerned about America's drift into socialism and the effect of the welfare mentality on the character of the people. In the past, during times of national disaster (as during the Civil War) it had been customary for the American people to turn to God, repent of their sins, and to ask for His help (Lev. 26:40-42; 2 Chron. 7:14). The local church had been the centre of their lives, but since 1865 the church had relinquished its leadership in Christian education and political life, so Americans had forgotten their Christian foundations. Instead of turning to God, the people looked to the government to meet their needs, making themselves dependants of the state.

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.

In 1961, Miss Hall met Miss Rosalie J. Slater .;who at the time was pursuing a PhD in Education at Stanford University, but had become disillusioned with public education because of the change in the character of the people she saw as a result of the rejection of the teaching of America's Christian history. She saw in Miss Hall's book a key to restoring Christian history to education, so the two ladies began working together, developing Christian history study groups. The leading ideas of Miss Hall's volume were developed by Miss Slater into seven principles (discussed in chapter 2) which she deduced were the foundation of American Christian history and government. A plan for teaching these principles is described in her book: Teaching and Learning America's Christian History: The Principle Approach (1965). Miss Slater observed that the times in history when biblical principles were practised brought civil liberty as well as personal freedom. During such times, the people had free access to the Bible--were able to read it and to reason from it, as the Holy Spirit (not some king or priest) directed. She reasoned that by teaching the seven principles of government in the context of American history, it would be possible to restore American education to its original purpose--to prepare individuals to be citizens of an American Christian nation.

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.