A report from the Reformed College of Debrecen

Abstract

The Reformed College has many teachers who, as committed Christians, are engaged in the teaching of the various branches of the natural sciences. We try to implement our specific insights of Christian education in the instruction of every subject of our curriculum. Two examples are given:

• To us, history is not simply a process governed by the laws of economics and social life, but a manifestation of the providence and guidance of God. Hence we may work confidently for a just and happy future, being sure of the victory of life over death, this victory guaranteeing the ultimate triumph of good over evil. ‘Our labour is not in vain in the Lord.’ (1 Cor. 15:58)

• We are especially interested in the cultivation of the natural sciences. We have a great tradition concerning this matter. It is a joy for us to know, to discover, and to teach the laws of nature, of the material world, for all this may further the progress of man. However, this knowledge of the laws governing the world of nature does not lead us to devise theories of the origin of the world. We do not seek so-called ‘final causes’, that is, we do not turn our knowledge into a philosophical world-view. We confess that God created the world as it is with its laws and perspectives. The origin of creation is a mystery which faith accepts without being able to fathom it fully. Moreover, the cultivation of the natural sciences has its ethical aspects. Nature is not merely an object of knowledge. If this were so, one might presume to exploit nature mercilessly. The Scriptural injunction, however, is that man has ‘to till the garden of Eden and care for it’ (Gen. 2:15).