In his commentary on 1 & 2 Kings, Dr. Peter J. Leithart brings up the problem of spiritual apathy and indifference to idolatry: “Europeans discovered that theology was bloodily divisive and concluded that the only way to restore comparative harmony was to expunge theology from the public square, forcing theological decision and debate into the recesses of the conscience or, at best, safely behind the walls of the church. Christian capitulation to secular politics - more the rule than the exception in the modern church - is nothing less than apostasy, a denial of the gospel that announces Jesus as Lord.”

Taking their cues from Renaissance idolaters centuries before, the liberal Warren Court in the mid-20th century devised a strategy to stamp out Christianity from American culture, employing the Abington School District v. Schempp case. 1

Just like Roman emperor Diocletian [244-311] failed to eradicate Christianity, despite giving it his utmost, so it will go with any push for Christianity’s burial, “for the living have no tomb.” 2

Progressives appear unable to understand that moral knowledge is of higher value than learning by rote or blind memorization. Solomon sagely esteemed “fear of the Lord” as “the beginning of knowledge” and “wisdom” as “the principal thing,” delineating the theological and epistemological foundation of knowledge. 3

Impossible to be acquired through present-day secular education, moral knowledge can only be gained through the provision and incentive of exemplary moral character, as opposed to those living in folly, whose moral deficiency prompts their irrational behavior. 4

“[In the economy of God] Wisdom (hokmâ) is inseparable from knowledge (da’at). A person [for example] could memorize the book of Proverbs and still lack wisdom if it did not affect his heart, which informs behavior. Hokmâ in Proverbs does not refer to the Greek conception of wisdom as philosophical theory or rhetorical sophistry.” 5

It is easy to understand why early American education theory had the Bible as its cornerstone. We need to look no further than Founding Father Fisher Ames [1758-1808], coauthor of the First Amendment, who in 1805 declined the presidency of Harvard University due to failing health. He said: “We’ve become accustomed of late of putting little books into the hands of children containing fables and moral lessons. We are spending less time in the classroom on the Bible, which should be the principal text of our schools.”

Yet, 20th-century intellectual and political secularists determined in their ostentatious pomposity that education, which included prayer and the worship of God, be deemed as a “primitive form of knowledge, a consolation for the weak-minded, and an obstacle to peaceful coexistence [with their religion Secularism].” 6

Jehovah, therefore, had to be removed from the public square; to be replaced by a religion created out of whole cloth by secularists on the bench … as the complete antithesis of the principles that founded Western Civilization and America.

Alluding to the challenge facing Christians from state-controlled education, historian Herbert Schlossberg wrote: “Values-free education is a contradiction in terms, and any hierarchy of values constitutes a religious system. Hence, all education is fundamentally religious.” 7