Effective Teaching

All knowledge and wisdom is God's; he alone holds the keys to their proper discovery

The world of education promotes various sets qualities and skills which form the person known as a “good teacher.” You could use Google to find a collection of such descriptions. More narrowly, the world of Classical education defines its own helpful sets of distinctives which effective teachers all share in common. And, of course, teachers are indebted to such resources which point them towards greater and greater effectiveness.

As Christians, though, we possess a resource for guiding us into excellence which transcends all human insight, observation, and intuition. Our Scriptures, as authoritative revelation from God, lead us into being the best we could possibly be at a thing. This is because God made humans by his own power alone, and because he, therefore, gets to define what a human is and what a human does and how a human can be and do the right/best way. And in his perfect wisdom, he has so ordained that his Word stands as the sole authoritative means by which we can know his definitions for what we are and what we are to do.

Therefore, if we want to be the best we could be at a thing like teaching, then we must factor the revelation of his written Word into our responding.

What does Scripture say about effective teaching?

Lots of things. But I want to focus on one profound phrase that is repeated in three distinct places in Scripture. It’s a phrase that secular big name philosophers (Plato and Aristotle) have borrowed and doctored up to their own natural philosophical fancies. But it’s a phrase which belongs solely in the pages of Scripture and which demands that it be understood solely in light of the truth of Scripture. It’s this:

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.” (Psalm 111:10)

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge.” (Proverbs 1:7)

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.” (Proverbs 9:10)

In Psalm 111:10 and in Proverbs 9:10 the English says, "beginning of wisdom," which is a good translation of the typical Hebrew word for wisdom. In Proverbs 1:7 it's "beginning of knowledge," because there's a different Hebrew word in the line to refer to the virtue of wisdom. But it’s from a root that falls within the exact same semantic range, so there really isn’t much of a difference in meaning. The point of this phrase is that the skill of using knowledge (that’s that wisdom is) begins with fearing Yahweh.

Now, I could here make a really interesting connection between wisdom (which is a skill) and the liberal arts (which are skills), but that’s perhaps for a different post. For the idea argument at hand we simply need to recognize that knowledge and wisdom/skill are achieved ONLY when the quest for them originates in the fear of the LORD.

Or, to be clear to my point, the fear of the LORD is also the beginning of good teaching.

Digging a Little Deeper

If you haven’t studied the mechanics of Hebrew poetry, I’d urge you to. Dexterity with literary devices opens up the richness of meaning in any language, and Hebrew is no exception. When David or Solomon wanted to make a “rhyme,” they would do so by coupling together connected thoughts, instead of connected sounds and meters (as we often do in English poems).

Each of the times when we come across the phrase, “the fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge/wisdom,” we find that the line isn’t sitting alone without a context (notice the last half of each verse):

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding.” (Psalm 111:10)

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.” (Proverbs 1:7)

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.” (Proverbs 9:10)

In Psalm 111, we also read that “all those who practice [the fear of the LORD] have a good understanding.” In Proverbs 1 we see the antithesis of submitting to the fear of the LORD: “fools despise wisdom and instruction.” And in Proverbs 9 it is noted that fearing Yahweh for wisdom is synonymous to: “the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.”

We learn greater detail about growing in wisdom from these three complementary lines that accompany the declaration of how one attains to wisdom via the fear of the LORD. These rich details are what the poem writers mean to convey to the reader. They are telling us that fearing the LORD for wisdom is the same thing as practicing it (Psalm 111:10), and that it is the same thing as not despising wisdom and instruction (Proverbs 1:7), and that it is the same thing as the knowledge of the Holy One (Proverbs 9:10).

We could exegete the riches of these words all day, but my initial takeaway is that we learn from these parallelisms that fearing the LORD is connected to three specific things: to obeying God (Psalm 111:10 — practicing the fear of the LORD), to loving God (Proverbs 1:7 — not despising wisdom and instruction), and to knowing God (Proverbs 9:10 — having knowledge of the Holy One).

So, whatever it means to fear the LORD as the starting point for gaining the skill of wisdom, it is no less than the following things:

To fear the LORD is to obey God. (Practicing the fear of the LORD)

To fear the LORD is to love God. (Not despising wisdom and instruction)

To fear the LORD is to know God. (Knowing the Holy One)

And since teaching is a conduit for gaining wisdom, we should also conclude that these three baseline principles form the primary measure of an effective teacher. If obeying God, loving God and knowing God make one wise, then so also do they make one effective in teaching for wisdom. Frankly, we could go so far as to say that any teaching which does not stem from a fear of God for obedience, love and knowledge will ultimately lead away from wisdom, not towards it.

All knowledge and wisdom is God's, and so he alone holds the keys to their proper discovery.

Conclusion

By all means go explore recommendations for how to teach more effectively. But don't forsake the proper starting point — fearing God by obeying him, loving him and knowing him.