What Was The Importance Of American Education

Why Lutheran Education?
To say education was important to Martin Luther would be an understatement. Most of the historical focus on his life and works remains with his work in polemics, translation, and biblical commentary. Not only was Luther a life-long learner of the Scriptures, he was also a skilled educator, though one may not always find his name immortalized in the hallowed halls of education like one could find his contemporary, Philip Melanchthon. This attitude, however, betrays an aspect of the Lutheran Reformation which adherents to Luther’s dogma continue to analyze and strive to do better. Efforts to explore, explain, and expound Luther’s thought about education abound. Perhaps the best summary of these efforts is V.F.N. Painter’s
Through his influence, which was fundamental, wide-reaching, and beneficent, there began for the one as for the other a new era of advancement. Let us note a few particulars:
1. In his writings..., he laid the foundation of an educational system which begins with the popular school and ends with the university.
2. He exhibited the necessity of schools both for the Church and the State and emphasized the dignity and worth of the teacher’s vocation.
3. He set up as the noble ideal of education a Christian man, fitted through instruction and discipline to discharge the duties of every relation of life.
4. He impressed on parents, ministers, and civil officers their obligation to educate the young.
5. He brought about a reorganization of schools, introducing graded instruction, an improved course of study, and rational methods.
6. In his appreciation of nature and child-life, he laid the foundation for education science.
7. He made great improvements in method; he sought to adapt instruction to the capacity of children, to make learning pleasant, to awaken mind through skillful questioning, to study things as well as words, and to temper discipline with
“He believed that education was the only avenue to maturity. He gave the world a faith that set human beings free and thinking, a philosophy of education that opened new vistas, and a vernacular Bible.” With a special focus on secondary education in this essay, the subject of maturity is one which captures our attention. Maturity is an oft-discussed topic when dealing with young adults. But Luther’s emphasis was not merely on social maturity. Rather, his focus was on spiritual maturity. But, how does one ensure that young Christians continue to grow and mature in the gift of faith with which the Holy Spirit has blessed