Wêreldwye Belangstelling in Christelike Wetenskapsbeoefening en Christelike Hoër Onderwys Hoe Afrika daarby kan baat

Abstract

At the moment in many parts of Sub-Saharan Africa there is a promising awakening of thousands of Christian schools (for primary and secondary education) as well as many Christian colleges and universities (for tertiary education). The main reason for this turning point is that African Christians are realising that politics alone cannot guarantee a better society. The low standards and secularised nature of government education (with its many consequences) can no longer be accepted. (See the authors previous article in this journal.) This article investigates how these mushrooming educational institutions can, on the basis of a genuine Biblical-Reformational worldview be assisted and developed towards their full potential. Because of limited space, it is focussed on Christian scholarship and Christian higher education.
The set-up is as follows. First the contents of a Kuyperian-Reformational worldview is explained. (The previous article already asked attention for its origin, its present worldwide popularity as well as bibliographical material available in English.)
The focus of the second section is Christian scholarship worldwide. As an introduction it briefly mentions different parts of the world where Christian scholars advocate an integral Christian approach in various disciplines. The second part draws attention to the fact that basically two approaches in Christian scholarship (the Continental and the Anglo-American) can be distinguished. Thirdly, a possible solution for the difference between these two schools of thought is suggested.
To correct the existing misconceptions about institutions for Christian higher education (also in Africa – see Van der Walt, 2010) the next main section (3) tries to answer the question what a Christian college/university really entails. The answer is provided by indicating what a university is (its structure), what a Christian university implies (its direction), and how it should look like in a specific culture (its relevance).
This concluding (fourth) part of the article intends to be an encouragement to consider the establishment of institutions for Christian higher education in the readers’ own country/religion. Since a large amount of information about existing institutions as well as the advice of organisations like the IAPCHE is available, the wheel need not be invented anew. Even a small start today may in the long run bear fruit for generations of Christians to come.