Based on His pronouncement, "[A]ll authority has been given to Me in heaven and in earth," Jesus commands us, His brethren, to "go therefore and teach (KJV) [make disciples of] (several other translations) all nations." He employed His authority to send His followers to disciple all nations.

The Greek "matheteuo" used here means to disciple, instruct or teach. A disciple is a learner, follower or an adherent to the doctrines of another. The words "teach," "disciple," and "learner" all necessarily relate to education. Thus, Jesus' command said another way is, "Go therefore and educate all nations."

If we are to educate all nations, we must understand what "education" is and that it can operate in two ways; namely, with either a God-centered or a man-centered focus. Because no authority exists unless it is from God (Rom 13:1), authority resides in the educating power only when it is God-centered. Such educating power is education with authority. On the other hand, the man-centered exercise of educating power is education without authority.

Man is the beginning and the end of all public education. For several reasons, public education has been "humanized" and God and His attendant absolute standard of right and wrong have been eliminated. Consequently, all public education today is man-centered, and by definition constitutes education without authority. For example, the Pledge of Allegiance is no longer recited because it contains the words "one nation under God." Such concepts have been stripped from the public school curriculum. The stripping process started shortly after the Civil War and public education has operated in a substantially complete "humanized" condition for the past 30 years.

Consider another illustration. Virginia is the home of George Mason, George Washington and Patrick Henry. Virginia State law requires the teaching and explanation of the American Declaration of Independence, the Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom, the Virginia Declaration of Rights and the principles of the U.S. Constitution (Virginia Code Section 22.1-201). However, such principled documents are ignored because they are God-centered and not man-centered.

Virginia is not unusual. Few, if any, public school systems in our nation teach or explain the God-centered principles embodied in these founding documents. Consequently, few people in the United States know and understand the principles of LIBERTY, AUTHORITY and GOVERNMENT as contained in those documents. These principles undergird the American Constitutional Republic. By having our hearing and understanding dulled, we are being prepared for the formal institution of an Atheistic Socialist Republic.

In its broadest sense, education is the teaching of and instruction in knowledge, wisdom and understanding. Teaching and instruction of knowledge answers the question, WHAT?; wisdom tells HOW; and understanding explains WHY. In the words and commands of God are wisdom and understanding (Prov 2:1-2). Wise people store up knowledge (Prov 10:14). The heart of him who has understanding seeks knowledge (Prov 15:14) and wisdom rests quietly in the heart of him who has understanding (Prov 14:33).

Furthermore, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge (Prov 1:7) and wisdom (Prov 9:10). Knowledge is a clear and certain perception of that which exists, or of truth and fact; while wisdom is the right use or exercise of knowledge (Webster 1828). Understanding comprehends and provides an explanation of the truth.

Today, in public schools, as elsewhere, a frequent question is "What is truth?" Public school education provides an answer limited to the person's own experience or what can be observed by the five physical senses. This is man-centered truth. However, God-centered truth involves fixed, uniform and universal principles that are absolute in nature. Man-centered truth depends on relationships, environment and cultural heritage, and is therefore changing, arbitrary and uncertain.