Pentecostals meet Charlotte Mason

She was a British educator in the late 1800s, inspired by a painting by John Ruskin. In this painting, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit is pictured as descending upon, not only the disciplines of theology, but the seven liberal arts and sciences. Her name was Charlotte Mason. Mason explains the painting this way:
 
But the Florentine mind of the middle ages went further than this: it believed not only that the seven Liberal Arts were fully under the direct outpouring of the Holy Ghost, but that every fruitful idea, every original conception, whether in Euclid, or grammar, or music, was a direct inspiration from the Holy Spirit, without any thought at all as to whether the person so inspired named himself by the name of God, or recognized whence his inspiration came.[1]
 
Every thought, idea, and original thought were believed to be inspired by the Spirit. Advancements in science, observations in nature, business ideas and principles—these are rooted in the Spirit of Pentecost, Who is the source of all knowledge and ideas. This idea of Charlotte Mason is called The Great Recognition.
 
The Great Recognition
For Charlotte Mason, the Great Recognition held that the Holy Ghost was the True Teacher, and that every good educator merely partners with Him in revealing the good, true, and beautiful ideas that are present in today’s world. Mason developed a powerful method of education, but her thoughts are somewhat unknown today, except in the homeschool movements and some small Christian school organizations. Mason’s method took the teacher off of center stage in order to make room for the Spirit.
 
In many, many ways, Mason was years ahead of her time, truly a prophetess of education. Central to her ideas, especially in the education of children, was the cultivation of habits through the transformation of the mind. With insights into neuroscience years ahead of her time, Mason developed a pedagogy that cultivated habits of attention, imagination, and good work in children, preparing them for a life of learning long after their time in a classroom came to an end.
 
Pentecostals Meet Charlotte Mason
Pentecostals, meet Charlotte Mason. I’d like to introduce Pentecostals to the thoughts and methods of this British educator and her Spirit-dependent pedagogy. Now, Charlotte Mason was an Anglican, so she would not be a theological Pentecostal, yet I believe her philosophy of education falls right in line with what modern Pentecostal scholars are beginning to articulate.  See, I believe Mason developed a pedagogy that aligns with Pentecostal epistemology. Cheryl Bridges-Johns and Jackie David Johns were some of the first Pentecostal theologians to put forth a distinctive approach to knowing for Pentecostals. In their article on a Pentecostal approach to group Bible study, they develop this idea of Pentecostal epistemology where “to know is to encounter.”[2] They contrast a Greek conception of knowledge, where one learns about something, with a Hebraic understanding that is relational. For Pentecostals, to know God is to encounter Him, not simply learn about Him. In a similar vein, Mason’s educational philosophy held that education is the science of relations.[3]
 
Pentecostal Education
Pentecostals, so often, have not put forth a vision of education rooted in their unique understanding of God and the Spirit. Instead, they often followed the educational vision of their evangelical and fundamentalist counterparts, rooted as they were in the intellectual ideas of the enlightenment and scientific approach to the world. Sure, our Bible schools had a hidden curriculum where the gifts of the Spirit interrupted the classroom, but our general teaching methods were not intentionally cultivated to make room for the Spirit. What if we truly welcomed the Holy Spirit into the heart if the teaching moment?  
 
A Pentecostal Method of Education
Modern scholars such as Amos Yong, James K. A. Smith, and the Johns have really opened up a dialogue about what Pentecostal education should look like. My doctoral work really introduced me to the thoughts of these Pentecostals and put forth a challenge that Pentecostal epistemology necessitates an intentional Pentecostal approach to teaching. My past two years in a Charlotte Mason school have put some flesh on the bones of a Spirit-dependent learning environment, shaped by a Pentecostal epistemology. I’ve seen Charlotte Mason’s philosophy at work, as her profoundly simple philosophy has filled the minds and hearts of students with living ideas across a very broad curriculum. As I’ve done so, I’ve found so many parallels with my research into Pentecostal education.
 
What if Pentecostals taught from the foundation of The Great Recognition? What if we truly believed the Spirit was THE teacher, and our job was to cultivate an environment in which He was filling the minds of our students with great ideas? What if we too often get in the way when we teach, instead of putting great books into the hands of our students and letting the Spirit develop their minds? What if we were intentionally Pentecostal in the classroom? What if we let the outpoured Spirit breathe upon every book and every idea, from Systematic Theology to Introduction to Biology, from Homiletics to English Grammar? Perhaps this Divine Breath would reignite the minds and hearts of students with life-changing, world-shaking ideas that might just change the culture. Lord, let it be. 

[1]Charlotte Mason, “The Great Recognition,” The Parents Review, 7 (1896); https://www.amblesideonline.org/PR/PR07p052GreatRecognition.shtml.
[2]Jackie David Johns and Cheryl Bridges Johns, “Yielding to the Spirit: A Pentecostal Approach to Group Bible Study,” Journal of Pentecostal Theology, 1, no. 1 (1992): 110.
[3]M. Owen, “Education is the Science of Relations,” The Parent’s Review 16, no. 1 (1905). https://charlottemasonpoetry.org/education-is-the-science-of-relations/.   
 

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