#6 Unschooling – The Bible and School
Categories: Unschooling, Léo’s Insights 2025-2026
Before diving deeper into our discussion, we should ask ourselves what it is that we are trying to “undo” or escape when we talk about “unschooling.” Before we begin, let me tell you a funny story.
I was once invited to preach at an evening service; the pastor asked me to speak on what the Bible has to say about school. It turned out to be the shortest sermon in history. I was introduced, got up, went to the podium, announced the topic the pastor had asked me to cover, opened my Bible, took a minute, then looked up and said, “Nothing.” I returned to my seat, causing a bit of discomfort in the congregation. A few moments later, I returned to the podium and stated that since the Bible has nothing to say about school or schooling, I would instead talk about what the Bible has to say about education. Once again, I repeated the exercise of opening the Bible, announcing that there was nothing in it about education, closed it and sat down. By now the congregation was a little more at ease, but still not quite sure what was going on. I returned to the podium and announced that while the Bible has virtually nothing to say about school, schooling or education per se, it does have much to say about parents and parenting. Our remaining time together was instructive, and I believe the folks in the congregation got the message that we often justify what we don’t understand by reading it into the Bible.
Even though public school, schooling and education have come to be a focus in every country of the world, it should be noted that the word “school” is not mentioned in the Bible other than the one reference found in Acts 19:9 where it talks about the Apostle Paul reasoning in the School of Tyrannus, which was a private lecture hall owned by a fellow called Tyrannus and not an actual school.
There may be the occasional reference to a schoolmaster in some translations, but in every case the word mentor would be a better fit when considering what the terms school and schoolmaster have come to mean. From this, it should be easy to conclude that school is not a biblical concept. However, in fairness, there is also no reference to cars, computers or cell phones. As with these items, schools are a relatively new concept, yet they’ve been around long enough for most people to believe they always have been.
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