ACU Educational Philosophy

African Christian University's (ACU's) principal aim is to explore and express being united in love to the glory of God through the knowledge of Jesus Christ in all things, inspiring and equipping God's people faithfully to fulfill their part in the grandest story of all, God's history-encompassing project of bringing glory to Himself through exalting Jesus Christ and summing up all things in Him.  ACU's Vision, Mission & Core Values Statements  articulate in general terms how we envision responding to this aim.
The following account of ACU's philosophy of education builds on those statements and explains how the university understands the specific role it is given within God's comprehensive plan for humanity and history. First, we explain our commitment to God's Word as the inerrant source for our understanding of God's will and our calling as an educational institution. Then, we consider the grand narrative of God's actions in His creation, particularly those features of God's creative work most relevant for grounding a Reformed Christian approach to higher education. Finally, in the remainder of this account, we work out the implications of God's grand project in history for ACU's specific task.
This document is a modification of the philosophy of education statement of Covenant College (Lookout Mountain, Georgia, USA), and arises from their actual practices and convictions, which we fully affirm as representing our philosophy as well. This document presents our ideals and goals regarding the importance of working out our Reformed theology and worldview in the classroom, on committees, in our disciplines, and in the larger community of Africa and the world. To specify our educational philosophy in such terms does not imply that ACU can live up to its own philosophy in all respects. In fact, the statements of our goals can make our failures rather obvious. Nevertheless, our philosophy of education does reflect the shared understanding of the boards, administration, faculty, and staff that unifies our university community in its educational role and the task of fulfilling it.
We believe that, as an articulation of this understanding, this statement will provide helpful guidance to the university's senior administrators as they carry out their responsibilities, to individual faculty and staff members as they pursue their callings in this place, to committees of the faculty and the faculty assembly as they direct the academic work of the university, and to future colleagues as they seek to understand and participate in the educational mission of the university.
Rather than being seen as the final word on our philosophy of education, this statement of our beliefs should be viewed as a platform from which inquiry will continue as the university engages in the ongoing project, articulating more clearly, concisely, and completely the philosophy of education of ACU.