Journal of the ACMS


 

Journal of the ACMS, 2006 Issue

Mathematics: Always Important, Never Enough. A Christian Perspective on Mathematics and Mathematics Education

Calvin Jongsma, Dordt College

Abstract: This article is an edited version of the keynote address delivered at the B. J. Haan Education Conference on Teaching Math in the Christian School held at Dordt College on March 9, 2006 for elementary and secondary school mathematics teachers, primarily in Christian schools. After briefly considering whether religion in general and Christianity in particular might be related in some way to the development of mathematics, the talk explores the main contours of a Reformational Christian perspective on mathematics, developing various ways in which the Biblical narrative motif of Creation-Fall-Redemption might impact one's viewpoint on mathematics. The paper concludes by revisiting the issue of Christian perspective on mathematics and by looking at several implications for mathematics education.

Article in .pdf format