Posted in The Principle Approach: A Summary
The Seven Principles of
America’s Christian History & Government
“…[T]he Principle Approach refers to the re-discovery and re-statement of the historic truths or principles of God’s Word on which the character of our original peace, order, liberty and prosperity…were built. It refers to the Christian method of reasoning from the Holy Bible (the proper and primary authority concerning our view or philosophy of life and living), and how to comprehend all subjects, inclusive of education and government in the home, church, school, and society.”
A Guide to American Christian Education for the Home and School
by James B. Rose, pg. 3
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Before we get started, I thought we’d go over a couple of things.
- For some reason, PA books seem to have very long names. That’s why there are abbreviations for all of them. Here are some of them.
Teaching and Learning America’s Christian History (T&L)
The Christian History of the Constitution of the United States(CHOC, I)
Christian History of the Constitution of the United States; Self-Government with Union(CHOC, II)
The Christian History of the American Revolution – Consider and Ponder (C&P)
A Guide to American Christian Education for the Home and School (GACE)
All these are not necessary to begin. But you’ll probably want most of them by your second or third year in. Besides T&L that we’re going to use for our SDS Study, the one that you might want to try to pick up first is CHOC, I.
- I’ve updated the Summary Page at the end, in case you want a quick refresher.
- I wanted to make one clarification about the Chain of Christianity. The ten links are ten key links; meaning there is much in the Chain of Christianity not reflected in the 10 links; such as, God’s movement with Abraham, etc. However, all things are simply compared with the timeline. Basically, the ten links are the guideposts showing the pathway of God’s hand in history—guideposts to our Christian heritage.
- I know as we go through the principles, your minds will be spinning (because mine was), on how you are going to implement the principles. Well, I want to give you a “heads up” so you can try to put it out of your mind and release yourself to begin renewing your mind.
Your going to hear something periodically that happened to stump me for a while. It is called Leading Ideas. Leading ideas are how you bring the principles in. It sounds difficult but it is actually very easy. Leading ideas are simply examples of the principles that you pull from the Chain of Christianity; i.e., people and events. Let me give you a very simple example. When studying God’s Principle of Individuality, you can bring in this principle by the study of Creation and how everything is unique and different. No two living creatures are exactly alike. No two people are exactly alike. Each thumbprint is different, etc. {When we discuss the principles, we’ll go over why this principle is so important.}
So, in essence, through Biblical examples and examples of godly men and women on the Chain of Christianity, you are able to teach the 7 principles just like you would teach any other principle of God through Biblical study and godly examples.
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Anyway, with that, let’s get started from the beginning on The Seven Principles of America’s Christian History and Government, the crème del la crème of the Principle Approach. Of course, this is where character comes into the approach.
CHOC, I and T&L
Please recall that The Christian History of the Constitution of the United States of America (CHOC, I) consists of the compilations of Verna Hall that she had gathered for 20 years from Primary Source documents concerning the founding of this nation. She went on this quest trying to find the reasons why America had begun “embarking on a path of socialism, and why Americans continue to travel this ever-increasing and widening road.” {CHOC, I, Preface, pg. II} Since the first printing of this compilation by F.A.C.E. was in 1966, it would seem to follow that the 20-year period of Verna Hall gathering information & documentation would have begun sometime in the 1940’s. (But don’t hold me to that.) CHOC, I, consists of three parts entitled The Christian Idea of Man and Government (we’ll get to that in SDS); American Background in England, and Local Self-Government (New England Colonies).
Teaching and Learning America’s Christian History (T&L) by Rosalie Slater was published one year before CHOC, I, in 1965. James Rose, in A Guide to American Christian Education for the Home and School (GACE),describes Rosalie Slaterin the following way:
“America’s traditional Biblical principles were first restored and explained in Teaching and Learning America’s Christian History – The Principle Approach by Rosalie J. Slater. It summarizes this approach in seven key principles…”
A Guide to American Christian Education for the Home and School
by James B. Rose, pg. 3
It appears that Rosalie Slater was the first one to explain the 7 principles but that Verna Hall did much of the research over an extended period of time. It would be interesting to learn more about these two women that God used in a mighty way.
In any event, you know what the neat thing is? The principles are not changing. There is no need for updated publications…just re-printings. You know why they aren’t changing? They are biblical principles of self-government first shown by Jesus Christ in his teachings and later further explained by the Apostle Paul. In Scrooby, England, it was the 1599 Geneva Bible that the Pilgrims read comparing it with the teachings of the Church of England. Since God’s principles hadn’t changed, they renewed their minds from what they had been taught by the Church of England and began exercising self-government and learning the Biblical principles that ultimately laid the foundation of liberty that was planted in America. This is exactly what we need to do in the crisis we are experiencing in this nation today. We need to renew our minds comparing all things to God’s Word.
The only thing that is changing is F.A.C.E. updating the guidelines for implementing The Principle Approach. That is encouraging to me. This is not a fad. These principles come straight out of the Bible, were renewed at the Reformation, and renewed again at the founding of America through the Pilgrims. Is homeschooling another renewal of these precepts in our era? If so, should we not separate ourselves from how secular education is performed? Is that where some of our frustration comes? Educating based on the world’s standards and not God’s? I think this is where the term freedom in education comes. Educating based on God’s standards leads to fulfillment. Educating based on the world’s standards leads to frustration.
Why are there only seven principles?
I like the way James Rose described them as “key” principles. There are many, many Biblical principles that we teach our children every day. However, the principles here relate to fundamental truths embraced by the Pilgrims and our founding fathers at God’s leading that resulted in the most complete expression of Christian civilization.
Why do we need to teach these principles to our children?
We need to learn and teach them for the same reasons the Pilgrims learned them. As we discussed, the Pilgrims, before they were the Pilgrims, were simply a congregation in England, who began researching all matters compared to God’s Word. They were actually called Separatists. But they were more simply a congregation of believers following God’s laws. They did not learn these principles because they had plans of starting a colony at that time. That did not happen for over 12 years. There were no such plans in the making. They were just following God’s laws and were concerned where the Church of England wasn’t following the Scriptures. The Pilgrims were applying Paul’s teaching to follow your government unless your government violates God’s laws.
Like the Pilgrims, these Biblical principles need to be a part of our lives so that we will not be in danger of conforming to the world around us. We, and our children, need to know and apply these 7 Biblical principles {as we do all other Biblical principles} in order to follow the Pilgrims’ example of separating ourselves from all ideology around us that does not reflect God’s nature. These are the principles that God providentially instilled in the minds of our founding fathers that resulted in the most complete expression of Christian civilization. One of the best resources for understanding the Pilgrims is William Bradford’s Of PlymouthPlantation. If you run across it, definitely pick it up.
If you make these fundamentals a part of you, you won’t be able to help but teach them to your children. How much do you need to think about it when it’s part of your fiber? This is also where the Guidelines come in. F.A.C.E. provides recommendations and ideas on how the principles can be weaved into the Chain of Christianity. These guidelines are what make PA doable in my mind. But they are just guidelines.
What if we do not teach these principles?
I believe some of these principles we would, in one form or other, teach without even realizing it. However, their presentation in PA is probably the most substantive we can find on those 7 key Biblical principles. So why not take advantage of it.
Such a long introduction to The Seven Principles of America’s Christian History & Government—but the principles are what PA is all about.
Next time…
- The 7 Principles on which PA is based
- Principle 1—God's Principle of Individuality
Staying faithful,
Karen
