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Many of us have chosen to homeschool in part because we can shield our children from the influences of the world and teach them the principles that we would have them follow as they grow from youth to adulthood. We like having the freedom to teach from a Christian perspective. We like having the freedom to leave behind all the baffling array of arguments against our beliefs and just teach our children what we know - and believe.
But should we only offer our students one perspective? Should we, for example, only teach that God created the earth in six literal days without ever mentioning the opposing viewpoint? Many parents choose not to for fear of upsetting their children's budding faith and leading them astray. Other parents may choose to present each argument with equal weight and leave the decision as to which is right entirely up to the child.
With our children my husband and I take a middle ground approach. From a young age we have taught them our beliefs and we have raised them on the principles that flow from those beliefs. I may not always explain it to my kids, but there is usually a reason behind the things we do and don't do and the standards of behavior we hold them to. We are continually reaffirming our beliefs and theology to them, sometimes in explicit statement and sometimes by way of principle. So we are making sure they are well grounded as, Lord willing, they come to faith and begin to mature.
Using our own beliefs as a backdrop, we then venture into the world of the controversial. We do not spend a lot of time talking about these things, but as they come up we discuss each topic presenting what the world believes in contrast to what we believe, limiting the discussion, of course, to the level of the child's understanding. In doing so, we are not only affirming our beliefs, but we are giving them a defense against the attacks of the world's philosophy.
Why do we do this? Part of the process of passing along our beliefs to a younger generation is teaching them not only what we believe, but why we believe it. If our children must "take it on faith" that certain things are true, they are much more likely to be swayed by the world when a more compelling argument comes along.
Take for example the evolution and creation debate. In a secular setting, the debate is all but over. College professors no longer debate the merits of evolution against creation, they simply accept that the world is a random process of evolution formed over billons of years - and they build their entire philosophy on that structure. A student who has only been taught on the "The Bible says it so I believe it" system will suffer major shock coming into such a hostile setting is sure to have his faith shaken if not destroyed.
A better solution would be to teach creation and affirm the faith while simultaneously teaching the student now to rationally present a defense of his beliefs. And there are many rational, scientific proofs for creation! One has only to look at the second law of thermodynamics: "Things tend to greater disorder" to discover that the very laws governing how nature works are opposed to a system where time produces greater order.
In Romans 12 Paul exhorts us to "be transformed by the renewing of your mind". I believe that Paul is urging us to strengthen our minds in the truth, both by learning the truth and by learning to defend the truth against opposing viewpoints. I believe that he would have us do as the Bereans did, and "find out if these things be so". And I believe that we should guide our children to do the same thing.
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