It was mid-2017. I had just finished creating the last of my four years of math courses for the Ron Paul Curriculum. The grueling pace of working a full-time job in the daytime and putting those courses together at night had finally come to an end. Relief!
I could now shift my focus to the next phase of my online teaching: creating a standalone math instruction website. I began to explore and delve into what that would look like, what I would need in the way of digital tools to put it together, what to call it, where to put it, how much money and time it was going to cost, and who such a site would appeal to.
That went on again, off again for the next three years. It was a tinkering and dabbling sort of project. Spare time when I had time.
Then in 2020, Gary North began discussing with me his plans for a free online Christian curriculum. He wanted me to help with the math courses. Of course I would! This is something he had talked about for years. The Ron Paul Curriculum project was completed. It was doing very well. But it was not a Christian curriculum — even though it was developed almost entirely by Bible-believing Christians. It was meant for a broader, liberty-minded audience.
This was to be an explicitly Christian curriculum. Very explicitly. A curriculum designed for a global, biblically-minded audience.
He directed me to some reading material that he knew I would need in order to mentally come to terms with how this curriculum was to be different from other programs.
He didn’t want the courses to be simply humanistic, moralistic hybrids with Bible verses pasted onto the lessons.
He wanted the courses to have an explicitly biblical Christian worldview built into every lesson of every course. Baked in. Woven throughout. Part of the warp and woof of each course.
This meant the instructor needed to have this comprehensive biblical worldview fully integrated into his thinking about his subject and about each and every concept that he was to teach.
That required, even in my case, a heavy duty reorientation and expansion of mindset.
You see, even a Trinitarian, Calvinist, Six-Day Creationist like myself needed more than just another article or essay!
The Fat Book of Logic
One of the key texts Gary recommended to me was a not-so-little book written by a Westminster seminary professor. Dr. Vern Poythress. Dr. Poythress is a theologian and philosopher with a strong background in mathematics and linguistics. His PhD in math is from Harvard. He is a lifelong academic, teaching, studying, writing. He is also a teaching elder in his church.
The book is Logic: A God-Centered Approach to the Foundation of Western Thought.
I ordered it. I read it.
Now I know why he told me to read it!
It’s the same reason I am now recommending that YOU read it.
It is more than a logic book written by a seminary professor. It is a very detailed, biblically-based analysis and exploration of the very foundation of Western thought.
This is really deep stuff.
“For Christians looking to improve critical-thinking skills” (from the back cover).
The book really opened my eyes to what it means to see the operation of the Trinity at work in every aspect of thinking and learning and the acquiring and imparting of knowledge about our world and ourselves — even through the pagan thinkers whose knowledge was darkened and distorted through their unbelief. The working of the triune God in His fallen creatures is evident even in them and their erring contributions to the forward progress of the development of thought.
The sovereignty of God and His painstaking providence is on full display in this development of thought.
You can preview Poythress’s book here:
https://frame-poythress.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/BLogicFinal.pdf
It is indispensable, in my opinion, for understanding how to apply this Trinitarian biblical worldview to the teaching of academic subjects beyond math and science. Critical thinking skills are crucial!
Poythress can help you develop yours.
(Note: I bought my copy a little cheaper here than at certain other online platforms named after large rivers: https://www.heritagebooks.org/products/logic-a-god-centered-approach-to-the-foundation-of-western-thought-poythress.html.)