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Critical Book Review
Teaching for Spiritual Growth
by Perry G. Downs 2008-12-28 This reaction paper to the book Teaching for Spiritual Growth, Zondervan Publishing House, 1994, attempts to evaluate the qualifications of the author on this topic, point out strengths and weaknesses of the material, and how it helped, or misled me in my study of this topic. Order at Amazon.com now! (Click on the image below.)
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Author This book is authored by Perry G. Downs. At the time of this writing, Downs is Professor of Educational Ministries and Associate Dean for Doctoral Education at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He received his Doctor of Philosophy and Master of Arts in religion education from New York University. Author's Background Prior to joining Trinity, Downs taught at Philadelphia College of the Bible, where he also served as Department of Christian Education Chair. He has also taught as an adjunct professor at Canadian Theological Seminary in Saskatchewan and North Park Theological Seminary in Chicago, Illinois. He has also been interim pastor in a number of churches in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Illinois. Downs's areas of expertise include faith development, moral development, and moral education. He is a member of the National Association of Professors of Christian Education, the Religious Education Association, and the Association of Professors and Researchers in Religious Education. Downs has authored many books and articles on the topics of Christian Education and youth ministry, and has written chapters in a number of books published by Moody Press. He has been editor of the Christian Education Journal, sponsored by Trinity International University, since 1997. Point of View The focus of Christian Education has, regretfully, shifted from sharing Christ and teaching for spiritual growth to a response to the “first needs” of people. It has become a ministry focused on “feel good” rather than “be and do good.” What Christian Education must be is a ministry to believers—taking up where evangelism leaves off—to bring the believer to spiritual maturity in Jesus Christ. This process has cognitive, relational and volitional aspects that must be faithful to Scripture. Teaching must be from a biblical perspective—seeking biblical answers to questions about how to teach—and patterned after Jesus’ model and methodology. As a ministry for leading believers to spiritual maturity, it is also a critical means of maintaining the life of the church and moving the church forward. Downs demonstrates that this was critical in the life of the Lord and became critical and central in the life of the church. Effective Christian Education must focus on the mysteries of God—the deep things of God—and proclaim the content of the faith so people know what to believe. Downs repeats the theme that teaching is not optional, but an imperative. Educators must also be aware of how humans develop (the role of the mind) and learning processes to effectively teach for spiritual growth. Down’s chapters on these subjects provide a comprehensive introduction in these areas that help prepare students for a future in education. In addition to his passions for faith development, moral development, and moral education revealed in this book, a couple of other areas of interest were revealed throughout the book including his passion about training children to think Christianly and his obvious interest in how God created us and the strategies for Christian education that we can develop to compliment our “Lord's masterful design.” Evidence to Support Author’s Views Downs supports his views regarding the questions of what spiritual maturity is and what the church can do to help people grow by looking to the Scripture itself. Downs claims that Jesus as a teacher serves as a model in four major areas: - His primary aims. Not to teach information, but to “change lives.” By teaching different ways to look at the truths of Scripture, life response became the objective of Jesus’ teaching rather than content.
- Christ's relationships with students could not be predicted. He responded to people in light of their needs and approaches. He did not reject them because of their sinful state. His primary concern was people.
- Christ used both formal and informal methods for teaching. However, he used informal methods far more than formal ones.
- The role of content in Jesus' teaching is authoritative and truthful. Jesus regularly taught from the Scriptures but He used “Bible study” as a means of growth, not as an end.
I think that the author convincingly developed the idea that the integration of the social sciences with theology should be of utmost importance for the Christian educator. Research revealed that this textbook is in use in a number of universities for teaching Christian education. Azusa Pacific University uses the text in its “Foundations of Educational Ministry” course taught by Dr. Ronald Freeman. This course focuses primarily upon the theological, philosophical and historical foundations of an educational ministry. Missouri Baptist University uses the text in its “Foundations for Christian Ministry” course taught by Dr. Curtis K. McClain, Jr. This course is a foundational survey of the skills involved in Christian ministry studies including the theory of Christian ministry, the practice of Christian education, and the ongoing work of Biblical exegesis. Impact Approaching the Bible and theology is foundational. Use of psychology and learning theories is informational. Teaching for Spiritual Growth is a textbook that explains what it means to be spiritually mature and how churches can help people achieve spiritual growth. This book reinforced many of the things I have learned about teaching for spiritual growth in my own church. My definition of spiritual growth and that of Downs were very similar. Downs includes valuable discussion about teaching in different venues such as to children, and points out that approaches and methods—what and how it is taught—should be age specific to be effective. I would add to this that affinity-appropriate methods can enhance effectiveness. I think the author does a good job of incorporating the ideas of others who influenced his conclusions into his writing and he deals in a principled manner with those which he disagrees. I think Down’s book is full of meaningful discussion and implications for the discipline of Christian education. He also stresses the necessity for a supernatural intervention in the education process, which I think is often overlooked in Christian education programs. I felt that there was too much illustration in some areas (chapter four on God’s holiness). I felt I had the point with the second illustration. I would highly recommend this book to others.
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Books and Bible Studies 
