Duane Litfin: What do We Mean by ?Christ-centered Education??

If this definition put into the context of education, the focus of education cannot be limited, instead, it should be made into a broad one. This focus could be fulfilled by exposing the finest of humans themselves have created across centuries to the students and appreciate those creations because all of them come from Him. Therefore, the vision of Jesus Christ as Lord of the Universe is the core of ?Christ-centered? education.

After defining ?Christ-centered?, Dr. Duane then described the education that follows the ?Christ-centered? perspective. ?Christ-centered? education is an education that place Jesus Christ as the One ? the only One who can ? that serve as the center of curriculum. According to Duane, without Jesus Christ as the center, no fact, no theory, no subject could be fully grasped and appreciated. Moreover, he also added that what makes ?Christ-centered? education distinctive is because the involvement of full Trinitarian implications exploration in the study activities. But at the same time, this distinction also brings many challenges in the modern education settings. Dr. Duane laid out three challenges; first is that many people still have a small vision of Jesus Christ. The second challenge is there will be a lot of pressures in the academic fields. The last is the world that is getting secular day by day that makes the name of Jesus Christ ends up just as a mere name without considering any of the real values behind it. Duane said that these challenges are unavoidable but he assured that Jesus accompany those who serve Him at every moment. (lau)