Early Christian Views on Schools and Education

Ignatius, Epistle to the Philadelphians (Long Version) Direct teaching

Fathers, “bring up your children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord;” and teach them the holy Scriptures, and also trades, that they may not indulge in idleness.

Ignatius, Epistles of Ignatius Direct teaching

Ye children, reverence your parents. Ye parents, “bring up your children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.” Honour those [who continue] in virginity, as the priestesses of Christ;

Didache, The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles Direct teaching

You shall not remove your hand from your son or from your daughter, but from their youth shall teach them the fear of God.

Barnabas, The Epistle of Barnabas Direct teaching

Thou shalt not withdraw thy hand from thy son, or from thy daughter, but from their infancy thou shalt teach them the fear of the Lord.

Clement of Rome, First Epistle to the Corinthians Direct teaching

Let your children be partakers of true Christian training;

Polycarp, Epistle to the Philippians Direct teaching

and to train up their children in the knowledge and fear of God.

Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor (Paedagogus) Direct teaching

but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

Ephesians 6:4 Direct teaching

And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

Deuteronomy 6:7 Direct teaching

And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.

Deuteronomy 11:19 Supporting witness

And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.

Proverbs 22:6 Supporting witness

Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

2 Timothy 3:15 Supporting witness

and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

Origen, Commentary on Matthew Direct teaching

...ou hear in the ear proclaim on the housetops," Matthew 10:27, will say that He first wished to give catechetical instruction, so to speak, to those of the Apostles who were to hear the name of Christ. Then He wished to allow this, so to speak, to be digested in the minds of the hearers. So, after there had been a period of silence in the proclamation of something of this kind about Him, at a more fitting time there might be built upon the earlier first lessons Christ Jesus crucified and raised from the dead, which at the beginning not even the Apostles knew. For it is written in the passage now under consideration, "From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem," Matthew 16:21, and suffer this and that. But if the Apostles are now, for the first time, learning from Jesus the things that were about to happen to Him, namely, that the elders will plot against Him, and that He will be killed, and that after these things, on the third day, He will rise from the dead, what necessity is there for supposing that those who had been taught by the Apostles concerning Jesus knew these things before? Or that, although Christ was announced to them, He was annou

Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Direct teaching

...en they rise from sleep, pray before they go to work, after they have washed themselves. But if any catechetical instruction is being given, let the faithful person choose the word of piety before his work. Let the faithful person, whether man or woman, treat servants kindly, as we have ordained in the earlier books and taught in our epistles.

Cyprian, Epistles Direct teaching

...or contentious, but gentle and teachable. He is teachable who is meek and gentle in the patience of learning. For a bishop ought not only to teach, but also to learn. He teaches better when he daily grows and advances by learning better. The same Apostle Paul also teaches this very thing when he warns that if anything better is revealed to one who is sitting by, the first should keep silent. 1 Corinthians 14:30. But there is a short way for religious and simple minds both to put away error and to find and bring out the truth. For if we return to the head and source of divine tradition, human error ceases. And when the reason of the heavenly sacraments has been seen, whatever lay hidden in obscurity under the gloom and cloud of darkness is opened into the light of truth. If a channel supplying water, which once flowed plentifully and freely, suddenly fails, do we not go to the fountain so that the reason for the failure may be found there? We ask whether the water has failed at the source because the springs have dried up, or whether, after flowing from there free and full, it has failed in the middle of its course. Then, if this has happened because of the fault of a broken or l

Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata (Miscellanies) Direct teaching

...ns. Acts 17 But he teaches that knowledge, or gnosis, which is the perfection of faith, goes beyond catechetical instruction, in keeping with the greatness of the Lord's teaching and the rule of the Church. Therefore he goes on to add, "And if I am rude in speech, yet I am not in knowledge." 2 Corinthians 11:6

Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata (Miscellanies) Direct teaching

Acts 17 But he teaches that knowledge (gnosis), which is the perfection of faith, goes beyond catechetical instruction, in accordance with the magnitude of the Lord's teaching and the rule of the Church.

Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor (Paedagogus) Supporting witness

For the life of Christians, in which we are now trained, is a system of reasonable actions — that is, of those things taught by the Word — an unfailing energy which we have called faith.

Cyprian, Epistles Supporting witness

For it is not difficult for a teacher to insinuate true and lawful things into his mind, who, having condemned heretical pravity, and discovered the truth of the Church, comes for this purpose, that he may learn, and learns for the purpose that he may live.

Didache, The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles Supporting witness

but if he teach so as to increase righteousness and the knowledge of the Lord, receive him as the Lord.

Unknown, Unknown Work Background

Such are a few injunctions out of many, for the sake of example, which the Instructor, running over the divine Scriptures, sets before His children;

Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Background

How the Catechumens are to Be Instructed in the Elements.

1 Timothy 4:6 Supporting witness

If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed.

Acts 2:42 Supporting witness

And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

Tertullian, On Idolatry Direct teaching

...montium kept. All the presents of Midwinter and the feast of Dear Kinsmanship must be demanded. The schools must be wreathed with flowers. The wives of the flamens and the aediles sacrifice. The school is honored on the appointed holy days. The same thing happens on an idol's birthday. Every pomp of the devil is frequented. Who will think that these things are fitting for a Christian teacher, unless he is one who thinks them suitable also for one who is not a teacher? We know it may be said, "If teaching literature is not lawful for God's servants, then learning it will not be lawful either." And, "How could anyone be trained for ordinary human understanding, or for any perception or action at all, since literature is the means of training for all life? How do we reject secular studies, without which divine studies cannot be pursued?" Let us see, then, the necessity of literary learning. Let us consider that in part it cannot be admitted, and in part it cannot be avoided. Learning literature is more allowable for believers than teaching it, because the principle of learning and of teaching is different. If a believer teaches literature, then while he teaches he certainly commend

Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Direct teaching

Would you, in truth, entrust your children to this man for education, that they might learn to possess a harlot?

Dionysius of Alexandria, Miscellaneous Fragments Supporting witness

and even philosophers pride themselves greatly in their efforts after the education of men.

Lactantius, On the Anger of God Supporting witness

...something, that he knew nothing except one thing: that he knew nothing. For he understood that this learning had nothing certain in it, nothing true in itself. Nor, as some think, did he pretend to learning so that he might refute others. Rather, he saw the truth to some extent. And he testified even at his trial, as Plato relates, that there was no human wisdom. He so despised, mocked, and cast aside the learning in which the philosophers of that time boasted, that he declared this very thing to be the greatest learning: that he had learned that he knew nothing. If, therefore, there is no human wisdom, as Socrates taught, and as Plato handed down, then it is clear that the knowledge of the truth is divine and belongs to no one except God. Therefore God must be known, in whom alone is the truth. He is the Parent of the world and the Framer of all things. He is not seen with the eyes and is scarcely distinguished by the mind. His religion is accustomed to be attacked in many ways by those who have neither been able to attain true wisdom nor to comprehend the system of the great and heavenly secret.

Athenagoras, A Plea for the Christians Supporting witness

...et it not be for the name, because no Christian is a bad man unless he falsely claims to follow our teachings, but for the wrong that has actually been done. This is how we see philosophers judged. Before the trial, none of them is considered by the judge to be either good or bad because of his learning or profession. But if he is found guilty of wickedness, he is punished, and no disgrace is put on philosophy itself. For he is a bad man because he does not practice philosophy lawfully, but learning itself is blameless. And if he disproves the false charges, he is acquitted. So then, let this same justice be done to us. Let the lives of the accused be examined, but let the name itself remain free from all blame. At the very beginning of my defense, I must urge you, illustrious emperors, to listen to me fairly. Do not let yourselves be carried along by irrational popular talk and judge the case beforehand. Instead, apply your desire for knowledge and your love of truth to examining our teaching also. Then you, on your part, will not go wrong through ignorance, and we, by disproving the charges that come from the unthinking rumor of the crowd, will no longer be attacked.

Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Supporting witness

...rs. But if there is any training in virtue, where will it be sought when you have left that kind of learning?” For my own part, although I tried in some measure to gain the means of learning because I wanted to teach others, I have never been eloquent, since I never even took part in public speaking. But the goodness of the cause is itself enough to make me eloquent, and for its clear and full defense, the knowledge of divinity and the truth itself are enough. I could wish, therefore, that Cicero might rise from the dead for a short time, so that such a man of perfect eloquence might be taught by a humble man who lacks eloquence. First, he should be taught what it is that is considered worthy of praise by the man who blames the study called philosophy. Next, he should be taught that it is not this study by which virtue and justice are learned, nor any other, as he thought. And finally, since there is a training in virtue, he should be taught where it is to be sought, after laying aside that kind of learning, which he did not seek for the purpose of hearing and learning. For from whom could he hear it, when no one knew it? But, as was his usual practice in pleading cases, he want

Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Supporting witness

...ne is introduced that is opposed to itself and destroys itself. But this evasive man wanted to take learning away from the other philosophers, so that he might hide it at home. For truly, he is not taking it away from himself when he affirms anything so that he may take it from others. But he does not succeed. For it shows itself and betrays its plunderer. How much more wisely and truly he would act if he made an exception, and said that only the causes and systems of heavenly things, or of natural things, cannot be known, because they are hidden. For there is no one to teach them. And they ought not to be inquired into, because they cannot be found out by inquiry. For if he had made this exception, he would both have warned the natural philosophers not to search into those things which went beyond the limit of human thought, and would have freed himself from the ill will arising from slander, and certainly would have left us something to follow. But now, since he has drawn us back from following others, so that we may not wish to know more than we are able to know, he has also drawn us back from following himself. For who would wish to labor so that he should know nothing? Or w

Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Supporting witness

But some were not well taught in heavenly learning. They could not answer the accusers of the truth, who argued that it was either impossible or unfitting for God to be enclosed in a woman's womb, and that the Majesty of heaven could not be brought down to such weakness as to become an object of contempt and ridicule, a reproach and mockery among men. They also objected that He should even endure tortures and be fastened to the accursed cross. Since these men could neither defend nor refute these things by ability or learning, because they did not fully understand their force and meaning, they were turned away from the right path and corrupted the sacred writings. So they made for themselves a new doctrine without any root or stability. But others, led astray by the prediction of false prophets, about whom both the true prophets and He Himself had foretold, fell away from the knowledge of God and abandoned the true tradition. But all of these, caught in the deceptions of demons, which they should have seen beforehand and guarded against, through their carelessness lost the name and worship of God. For when they are called Phrygians, or Novatians, or Valentinians, or Marcionites, or

Origen, Against Celsus Supporting witness

For in the Christian system also it will be found that there is, not to speak at all arrogantly, at least as much of investigation into articles of belief, and of explanation of dark sayings, occurring in the prophetical writings, and of the parables in the Gospels, and of countless other things, which either were narrated or enacted with a symbolic signification, (as is the case with other systems).

Tertullian, Scorpiace Supporting witness

Who, now, should know better the marrow of the Scriptures than the school of Christ itself?— the persons whom the Lord both chose for Himself as scholars, certainly to be fully instructed in all points, and appointed to us for masters to instruct us in all points.

Origen, Against Celsus Supporting witness

After this, Celsus proceeding to speak of the Christians teaching and practising their favourite doctrines in secret, and saying that they do this to some purpose, seeing they escape the penalty of death which is imminent, he compares their dangers with those which were encountered by such men as Socrates for the sake of philosophy;

Tertullian, De Anima (On the Soul) Supporting witness

...f writing the philosophers have gathered on this subject in their own commentaries. I know how many schools of thought there are, how many conflicts of opinion, how many rich sources of questions, and how many confusing methods of solving them. I have also looked into Medical Science, the sister of Philosophy, as they call it. She claims that her work is to heal the body, and so to have a special knowledge of the soul. For this reason she has great disagreements with her sister, each claiming to know more about the soul, as if through a more direct treatment of her in her home, the body. But never mind all this rivalry between them over first place. In their different studies of the soul, Philosophy, on the one hand, has enjoyed the full freedom of her genius, while Medicine, on the other hand, has been governed by the strict demands of her art and practice. People search widely into uncertain things. They argue even more widely about mere guesses. However hard it is to bring forward proofs, the labor of producing conviction is no less. So the gloomy Heraclitus was quite right when he saw the thick darkness that covered the investigations of those who were searching into the sou