Appendix A
By means of my signature, I declare truthfully and in good conscience before the Lord that I sincerely believe and will actively work to support the following statements regarding the basis and purpose of Manhattan Christian School:
1. Mission and Vision Statement:
A. Mission-- Manhattan Christian inspires students to live God-glorifying lives by teaching Christ’s Lordship in faith, learning, and living.
B. Vision:
- Grow together with our students in knowledge, conviction and maturity
- Create a dynamic vision of Christ’s Lordship
- Nurture a personal relationship with Jesus Christ that develops a Christ-like love demonstrated to all people, and
- Inspire each other to strive for His glory in all of life.
2. Education:
In education we seek to acknowledge the Lord[1]
by promoting schools and teaching[2]
in which the light of his Word shines in all learning,[3]
where students, of whatever ability,
are treated as persons who bear God's image[4]
and have a place in his plan.
(Our World Belongs to God)
[1 Prov. 4; 9:10]
[2 Ps. 119:105]
[3 Col. 1:17]
[4 Deut. 6:1-9]
3. Bible:
The Word of God was not sent nor delivered by the will of men, but that holy men of God spoke as they were being moved by the Holy Spirit.1
Afterwards our God-- because of the special care he has for us and our salvation-- commanded his servants, the prophets and apostles, to commit this revealed Word to writing. He himself wrote with his own finger the two tables of the law.
Therefore we call such writings holy and divine Scriptures. They are God’s infallible and authoritatively inspired revelation.
The Holy Scripture consists of the two volumes of the Old and New Testaments. They are canonical books with which there can be no quarrel at all.
1 2 Pet. 1:21
(Belgic Confession Article 3 and 4a)
4. Creation:
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I believe in God the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth. The eternal Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who out of nothing created heaven and earth and all that is in them,1 and who still upholds and governs them by His eternal counsel and providence,2 is, for the sake of Christ His Son, my God and my Father.3 In Him I trust so completely as to have no doubt that He will provide me with all things necessary for body and soul,4 and will also turn to my good whatever adversity He sends me in this life of sorrow.5 He is able to do so as almighty God,6 and willing also as a faithful Father.7 ((Heidelberg Catechism Question and Answer 9)
1 Gen 1 and 2; Ex 20:11; Job 38 and 39; Ps 33:6; Is 44:24; Acts 4:24; 14:15. 2 Ps 104:27-30; Mt 6:30; 10:29; Eph 1:11. 3 Jn 1:12, 13; Rom 8:15, 16; Gal 4:4-7; Eph 1:5. 4 Ps 55:22; Mt 6:25, 26; Lk 12:22-31. 5 Rom 8:28. 6 Gen 18:14; Rom 8:31-39. 7 Mt 6:32, 33; 7:9-11.
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5. Fall:
Man was originally created in the image of God and was furnished in his mind with a true and salutary knowledge of his Creator and things spiritual, in his will and heart with righteousness, and in all his emotions with purity; indeed, the whole man was holy. However, rebelling against God at the devil's instigation and by his own free will, he deprived himself of these outstanding gifts. Rather, in their place he brought upon himself blindness, terrible darkness, futility, and distortion of judgment in his mind; perversity, defiance, and hardness in his heart and will; and finally impurity in all his emotions. (Canons of Dort)
6. Redemption:
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My only comfort in life and death is that I am not my own,1 but belong with body and soul, both in life and in death,2 to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ.3 He has fully paid for all my sins with His precious blood,4 and has set me free from all the power of the devil.5 He also preserves me in such a way6 that without the will of my heavenly Father not a hair can fall from my head;7 indeed, all things must work together for my salvation.8 Therefore, by His Holy Spirit He also assures me of eternal life9 and makes me heartily willing and ready from now on to live for Him.10 (Heidelberg Catechism Question and Answer 1)
1 1 Cor 6:19, 20. 2 Rom 14:7-9. 3 1 Cor 3:23; Tit 2:14. 4 1 Pet 1:18, 19; 1 Jn 1:7; 2:2. 5 Jn 8:34-36; Heb 2:14, 15; 1 Jn 3:8. 6 Jn 6:39, 40; 10:27-30; 2 Thess 3:3; 1 Pet 1:5. 7 Mt 10:29-31; Lk 21:16-18. 8 Rom 8:28. 9 Rom 8:15, 16; 2 Cor 1:21, 22; 5:5; Eph 1:13, 14. 10 Rom 8:14.
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7. Humankind:
Q. 1. What is the chief and highest end of man?
A. Man's chief and highest end is to glorify God1, and fully to enjoy him forever.2
1 Ro 11:36, I Co 10:31
2 Ps 73:24-28; Jn 17:21-23
(Westminster Standards- Larger Catechism)
8. Serviceable Insights:
Our mandate to be busy in Christ's kingdom requires that Manhattan Christian School study, examine, and understand his world. Christian educational institutions must work to gain and transmit insights into the created order. Such insight is not merely theoretical. While Christian insight reflects an understanding of the structure and workings of God's created order, it includes other dimensions as well: the practical ability to carry out one's task in loving obedience and service and the desire to function effectively as a kingdom citizen.
(Modified from Dordt College Philosophy)
9. Exposition:
God is sovereign over all of creation. The scope of humanity's rebellion against God is total, affecting every aspect of creation, including every area of human life. In divine grace God acted unconditionally in Jesus Christ to redeem humanity and all creation from sin and evil. Believers receive God's salvation through faith alone, which is a product of divine grace. The Bible is the only infallible guide for faith and practice in the Christian life. All believers stand in direct relationship and communion with God through the Holy Spirit, and are called to experience God's grace regularly conveyed in the preaching of the Word and administration of the sacraments. All believers are called to serve the Lord as witnesses to Christ's love in every area of life and as agents of renewal in the creation.
As redeemed people, we live in a covenantal relationship with God through Jesus Christ. The concept of covenant implies an agreement between consenting parties. But God's covenant with us has a special character, being initiated by God alone in sovereign grace. We have been formed in relationship with God, and this intimate relationship is upheld by God's promise. Although divinely initiated and upheld, God's covenant requires our grateful response in lives of faith expressed in service to the Lord. Thereby the covenant establishes our relationships with other persons, forming us into a people who practice God's covenantal love with one another.
This covenant pattern is evident through the four great moments of human history: creation, fall, redemption, and fulfillment. In creation God initiated a relationship of love with everything created, manifested in the very order and pattern of what God made.
Yet humanity is unique among the objects of God's love, having been created to represent God on the earth. Human beings are the stewards of God's whole creation with the responsibility to help the creation flourish while also respecting and preserving what God declared good.
Created to acknowledge God's claims and enact God's purposes in created reality, human beings have an innately religious character. Life cannot be divided into sacred and secular realms. Right human action begins in worship of the covenant Creator; wrong human action begins in ignoring or rejecting God's authority.
The tragedy of human existence is that men and women, created to live in responsible freedom as God's children, exchanged God's truth for a lie, and served created things rather than the creator. Humanity replaced its worship of God with the worship of idols, setting personal desire over devotion to God's revealed will. The effects of this disobedience are total in scope. Since people are covenantally bound to acknowledge God's rule in all areas of life, all of human life suffers the effects of denying this worship. Sin penetrates the deepest desires of the human heart, affecting the way and the things people believe. Because covenantal responsibilities extend to the physical as well as the human creation, scripture teaches that the entire creation has come under a curse. A universal illness has been unleashed and is directed toward undoing life as God intended it.
The relationship between creation and the Creator was marred, but God's covenant promises were not broken. Throughout history God intervened in human life to redeem it. Finally, God became one with humanity in the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus lived in obedient covenant love with God, fully revealing the design of God's image in human life. He fulfilled God's covenant promises in his death, liberating humanity and all of creation from its enslavement to sin. He restored creation's relationship with God in a new covenant by his resurrection victory over death.
Through the Holy Spirit, God in Christ continues this covenant relationship today. In the midst of all creation's brokenness, God continues to uphold the order and pattern of creation, which reveals the divine claims to all humanity. At the same time God chooses a people to receive Christ's forgiveness by faith, live in renewed covenant relationship, and enter into eternal life. God's people are to live as the visible embodiment of the covenant promises. They manifest the universal scope of divine love; drawn from every tribe and language and people and nation, they become one body, one priesthood, one church.
Through this people God declares the restoration and completion of the creation. The church calls men and women to faith in Jesus Christ, and as agents of covenant renewal the people of God work to see God's reign over the whole creation. The redeemed are called to correct the exploitation and oppression of people, to alleviate pain in the world, and expunge evil from themselves. The confessing community forms the principal witness to the awakening reign of God, and provides a vision of spiritual liberation that also requires liberation from injustice and bondage. (http://www.calvin.edu/admin/provost/mission/part1b.htm)