Educating in the Spirit: An Examination of the Person and Role of the Holy Spirit in Christian School Education (Part One)

This essay is the first of a two-part article that examines the Person and role of the Holy Spirit within the context of Evangelical Christian school education. Both parts form the foundation of a study that compared and attempted to contrast two perspectives on the Holy Spirit: Reformed and Charismatic-Pentecostal. Part One is an extensive literature review of the Person and role of the Holy Spirit from the two perspectives. Part Two will be a cross case study of two principals who led schools representing each perspective. The rationale was that, since Christian schools submit to the authority of the Bible, and Scripture recognizes the preeminence of the Holy Spirit, these schools would seek to comply with this position. The literature review provided an understanding of the Spirit’s role from the perspective of Scripture and a wide range of Christian theologians and writers. This range extended from the Reformed to the Pentecostal-Charismatic positions. Since the importance of the Spirit’s role is established, the challenge became the development of theory and praxis that recognized the ascendancy of the messenger over the message but also followed the Spirit’s example in the employment of the message. Part One concludes with a series of implications for Christian schools