Educational Philosophy & What We Teach

Bethany Christian School reflects in every way a Christian philosophy of life.  We are a Christ-centered school.  We honor Jesus Christ as the physical Enabler and spiritual Motivator for pursuing knowledge.  We affirm the Biblical teaching that man is created in God’s image.  We therefore, appreciate inquiring minds, the desire to create, freedom to explore, and the will to achieve order as expressions of God’s image within us.  We seek to stimulate these internal motivational forces so that our students will find their educational experiences to be genuinely fulfilling.

The Scriptures

The Bible, consisting of the Old and New Testaments, are the inspired Word of God without error in the original writings, are the complete revelation of God concerning His will for the salvation of humankind, and are the supreme and final authority for Christians and the only rule of faith and obedience.

God

There is but one living, sovereign, and true God, who is infinitely perfect and eternally existing in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, coequal in power and glory, each having the same attributes and perfections.

Humanity 

Humankind, male and female, were created in the image of God with reasonable (rational) and immortal souls, endued with knowledge, righteousness and true holiness, to have intimate fellowship with God and to glorify and enjoy Him forever. Therefore, all human beings have great dignity and value. By their sin, however, our first parents (Adam and Eve) fell from their original righteousness and communion with God and thereby became spiritually dead. Being the root of all mankind, the guilt of their sin, and the penalty of death, were imputed and conveyed to all of their descendants at that moment and their corrupted natures are passed on to us by ordinary generations. Thus, all of humankind is separated from God, under His condemnation and wrath, and are totally unable to please Him. Moreover, humankind cannot merit in any way, nor can it even know the need for salvation without the intervening work of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus Christ

Jesus Christ is true God and true man, one person with two distinct natures. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He died on the cross as the supreme and only acceptable sacrifice for our sins and according to the Scriptures, was buried, and on the third day He arose bodily from the grave and ascended into heaven, where He sits at the right hand of the Majesty on High and forever makes intercession for His people. Thus, there is no other name under heaven whereby humankind can be saved.

Salvation

God has graciously provided a plan of salvation for fallen humanity in the Covenant of Grace. In this plan, Jesus Christ has become our representative, fulfilling the broken Covenant of Works in Adam and in perfect obedience, and having taken our sins upon himself has offered himself as a sacrifice to satisfy divine justice and to reconcile us to God. Salvation is the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit and is by grace alone (Sola Gratia), through faith alone (Sola Fide), in Christ alone (Solo Christo), as revealed in the Scriptures alone (Sola Scriptura), to the glory of God alone (Soli Deo Gloria).

The Church

We believe in the one holy, universal church, which is made up of all believers of all time in the entire world, of which Christ is the head. The visible church, which is the Body of Christ in the present age, is the ordinary means of the spread of the gospel and the building up of God's people in Christ. Particular or local churches are the visible manifestations of the Body of Christ throughout the world, the members of which include believers in Christ and their covenant children. Water baptism and the Lord's Supper are sacraments to be observed by the Church during this present age, though they are not to be regarded as means of salvation.

Last Things

We teach the personal, visible return of the Lord Jesus Christ at the end of this present age at which time he will judge the world. We believe in the bodily resurrection of the just and the unjust, the everlasting punishment of the lost in hell, and the everlasting blessedness of the saved in God's New Creation.