“ ‘Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus’ (Acts 4:13). Uneducated and untrained refers specifically to religious education. This lack of religious training stands in contrast to the expertise of the Sanhedrin. The wisdom and power of the Holy Spirit transcend earthly religious training, for God works in the humble and simple as well as in those who are formally educated or influential.” (Orthodox Study Bible, Acts 4:13)
“…most of today’s so-called education offers intellectual attainment, but rejects God as the reliable Source of wisdom and the Guide to it. At best, education does a creditable job of accumulating reserves of human knowledge, enlarging mental faculties and sharpening perception within a defined framework. At worst, it merely provides access to social positions and professions, and puts out leaders lacking wisdom to solve life’s abiding problems.” (Dynamis 6/5/2013)
"Sloppy thinking and skepticism concerning morals have conspired in the past three generations to produce students who are inoculated against an ethical imperative, and so have lost the very ground upon which they stand. Indeed, we have come to the point where many well-meaning people educated in this way insist upon society enforcing behaviors and ideas that they consider ethical, while at the same time denying the idea that there is any objective reality." (Edith M. Humphrey)
“In our day, hyper-individualism and exaggerated notions of personal autonomy flourish…This individualism assumes that the individual is primary and community is derivative and artificial and that, therefore, the individual’s claims take precedence over the community…the churches parrot the culture’s obsessive interest in individual psychology and personal autonomy. In Christian education, these habits are reflected in division of instruction by age group and the dominance of developmental models of child psychology that overemphasize autonomy and cognitive capabilities.” (Vigen Guroian)
“One of the most powerful sources of cultural fragmentation has grown out of the great successes of the Industrial Revolution. Its vision, standards, and methods soon proliferated beyond the factory and the economic realm and were embraced in sectors from education to government and even church. The result was reductionism. Modern people began to equate progress with efficiency.” (Makoto Fujimura)
“The number of atheists (many of whom affirm scientism) is disproportionately larger in higher education than in the culture at large, which means that many undergrads each year are unknowingly subjected to the false dichotomy of “faith versus reason.”…Today we often hear education extolled as the cultural engine for creating openness and tolerance to new ideas. In fact, much of what poses as “education” merely serves to train us to accept contemporary biases and prejudices.” (David Kinnaman, Dynamis 5/14/2014)
“In his book of Wisdom, Solomon points to the true “communion of God and men,” for he praises wisdom “knowing she would give me good counsel and encouragement in cares and sorrows” (vs. 8:9). Modern education, by contrast, offers only intellectual attainment, omitting God as the reliable source of true wisdom. At best, education does a creditable job of accumulating reserves of human knowledge, enlarging intellects, and sharpening perception within a defined framework. At worst, it merely provides access to professional fields and produces leaders who lack the wisdom to address life’s abiding problems.” (Dynamis 6/3/2019)
“Profane education is truly barren; it is always in labor but never gives birth. If we should be involved with profane teachings during our education, we should not separate ourselves from the nourishment of the Church’s milk…True wisdom and true education is nothing other than fear of God.” (St. Gregory of Nyssa, St. John Chrysostom)
“Now we begin to see the contrast between what secular education offers today and what our churches and monasteries provide: the life in Christ. We naturally desire our loved ones to gain a quality education, professional skills, and intellectual reasoning, but, if they are not equipped for the “heat of the day” and armed with the convictions of our faith, they will be hampered in life.” (Dynamis 6/3/2019)
“…what do we really consider important in our lives? The world presents us with much that it sees as important (money, power, work, prestige, etc.). It makes all these things look very attractive...these things are not necessarily bad unless they take the place of what should be our highest priority—living a Christ-centered life. We must remember that this world and everything in it is temporary. Our days are numbered; the amount of time we spend in this life cannot even compare to the eternity of the kingdom to come. We will all pass from this world and when we do, it will not matter what educational degrees we had, what material possessions we owned, or if we kept up with the Joneses. What will matter is if we worked to live a Christ-centered life…” (Melissa K. Tsongranis)