Suppose you woke up one day and decided that you wanted to see how Christians set themselves apart in their field of work. You might begin by looking at the Christian musical artist, who seeks to fill her songs with beautiful flows of musical cadence, harmony and lyrics that edify the listener. You could look at the Christian who is a banker, and how he seeks to build a reputation of integrity and honesty in his financial transactions. You might even look at the farmer, who seeks to work faithfully in his fields, cultivating and stewarding his crops and caring for his animals. However, when it comes to the sphere of mathematics, you may have to look closely to find what sets apart a Christian from an unbeliever.

To properly understand "Christian" mathematics, one must also have a definition of what mathematics is. Over time, the definition and purpose of mathematics has evolved as the discipline has changed. Some would say that mathematics is simply a tool that can be used in real life situations to quantitatively relate abstract ideas to real world problems. Others define it as a language used to discuss abstract ideas of quantitative relations. Still others would explain that it is an art form that mysteriously relates the real world to the abstract. While all of these brief definitions are true in their own sense, they all leave out a vital part of the equation; they leave out the Author of mathematics.

How does our Creator fit into the picture? First off, we know that God " upholds the universe by the word of his power" (Hebrews 1:3 ESV). That "... by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible,...all things were created through him and for him." (Colossians 1:16 ESV). This would include the applicable and abstract realms of mathematics. To deeply and uniquely understand the purpose and beauty of mathematics, we must understand that it came about, not by man's cleverness and reasoning, but rather by God's perfect plan, will and creativeness.

When God is revealed as the foundation of mathematics, the convoluted human attempts at defining the purpose of mathematics can be synthesised into one definition that rests under God's creativeness. For example, the connection between real world problems and abstract answers can be holistically understood as God's handiwork in action. A clearer picture emerges as to why the mathematical tools that we use in physics and engineering can also be used to explain the foundations of music. It is because it is all under God's holistic plan and it reflects His truth and orderliness in His creation.

The true knowledge of God as creator and provider allows us to approach mathematics with an unhindered, holistic view of its application and purpose because we know He holds all things together. Mathematics becomes more than memorising numbers and equations in order to recite them later. It becomes a way to interact with reality through abstract ideas and gives us an understanding of how God's truth and orderliness underlie the foundations of our reality.
 

In the end, mathematics is not just a boring subject that we should dread; rather it is a gift of God's common grace by which we can develop our knowledge and understanding of His creation and creative power. Through mathematics, God has given us the ability to use our own creative gifts and understand more of His truth and beauty. At ACU, we hope to develop that love and understanding of mathematics in order to bring glory to God in all things.

I was recently informed that ACU gained the attention and ire of an atheist website. We are now the recipients of their tired, old vitriol against anything noble and holy. From what I read on the site, it seems that we are here in Zambia starting ACU because we hate the Africans and want to corrupt their brains and ruin their lives. Yawn! (Hmmmm, I wonder if my friends in Uganda and Zambia feel that way about my presence here.) I think it odd that people who have never met us, do not know us, and do not live here know so much about our attitudes and motives. (Admittedly, it is a little embarrassing that we have to practically beg many Christians to assist us with the finances and manpower needed to start a Christian university in Africa. The atheists, apparently, are fully aware of this reality!)

I was somewhat amused by Ken Turnbull's response to all of this. He was thrilled that we are being noticed by the dedicated enemies of God. We must be doing something right! But I declared that I would not give these "haters" (their word) another thought. Since you are reading this article, you can see that I was wrong.

Many Christians are familiar with the scripture, " The fool says in his heart, 'There is no God,'" (Psalm 14:1; 53:1 ESV) and are rather quick to recite it when thinking of atheists. As an educator, I often ponder the implications of that verse with regard to the secular educational paradigm which assumes there is no God (or, at best, makes God completely irrelevant to learning and knowledge). In essence, most of the education in the world today is foolishness, because most of the educational institutes study and discuss academic disciplines to the exclusion of Jesus Christ. They try to pursue knowledge while ignoring the Creator, Sustainer, and Goal of all truth.

Yet they often sound so noble! For example, this educational declaration: "Truth is in each student and needs to be drawn out". That is, a child's nature, a child's mind, is the source of truth. That sounds great ... if you are an atheist! However, it assumes that truth is relative; we each must find "what is true for me". Experience (experimentation) is the only test for truth and there cannot be any moral implication in or interpretation of truth. Therefore we can determine for ourselves what is right and wrong and no one has the ability to question us. Ultimately we are our own final authority; we are our own god.

Actually, Genesis 3 gives us a good account of the nature of Adam and Eve's "education" in the Garden of Eden. In fact, if you look closely, you will see that Satan used the very argumentation with Eve that secular educationists, who know what they are doing, are using with our youth today. And the results were devastating. Oh yes, Adam and Eve were educated all right. Their eyes were opened for sure. Then God (Who most educationists say is irrelevant!) did what He said He would do. And we have been reeling from the effects of the curse ever since. These effects include our ability to learn, understand, interpret and apply truth in education. The result has proven to be intellectual, social and moral chaos.

Unlike our atheistic counterparts, we Christians offer hope. At ACU we offer hope. It is because, according to the grace of the living God through the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ and the ministry of the Holy Spirit, we can learn about and interpret and apply truth according to the insights of the One Who created it all. The result of the gospel is grace and love for today, and a blessed hope for eternity.

So, apparently, some think we are the fools and haters. Fine. We at ACU choose to align ourselves with the Apostle Paul. Reread the first two chapters of 1 Corinthians which end with, " The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. 'For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?' But we have the mind of Christ."
(1 Corinthians 2:14-16 ESV)

Progress is being made on the 150 acre ACU campus property in Chisamba. A construction team led by Phil Bailey (Director of Haygrove Zambia) has been working on a few projects. The first project was to install a gate at the entrance to the property. Currently an addition of two bedrooms is being made to the structure built by the squatters who invaded the property last year. In addition, an ablution block and an insaka (a small hut where a fire is kept for cooking) are being constructed. This will allow the ACU caretaker, Donald Tembo, and his family to move on site.

We joyously announce the return of Logan Nyasulu to the ACU team. Logan was on the initial 2009 Working Committee formed to start ACU. He is now returning as the Vice-Chairman of the Infrastructure Committee. He aggressively jumped in to survey the Chisamba property to prepare for more detailed construction planning.

We thank the Lord for Logan Nyasulu, Phil Bailey, Donald Tembo and the work that is underway in the development of the ACU campus.

 

Gate Installation at Chisamba

Phil Bailey and Lucky

Donald Tembo

Logan Nyasulu