{"id":4093,"date":"2023-11-18T06:31:03","date_gmt":"2023-11-18T12:31:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/?p=4093"},"modified":"2023-11-18T11:49:24","modified_gmt":"2023-11-18T17:49:24","slug":"pauls-school-of-mentorship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2023\/11\/18\/pauls-school-of-mentorship\/","title":{"rendered":"Paul’s School of Mentorship"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Classical school leaders often emphasize the centrality of mentorship in the educational process, particularly in grades 6-12. They have wisely observed that the junior high and high school years are a pivotal phase in a person\u2019s development. As students gradually spend more time with peers in settings without their parents, small yet formative opportunities emerge for these students to make decisions for themselves. Overtime, these decisions will form nothing less than their personality and character. Thus, the presence of wise and intentional mentors who can offer advice to these students becomes all the more crucial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In a similar way, the young church leader Timothy benefited from the counsel of the apostle Paul. The Book of 1 Timothy is essentially a letter of mentorship that Paul writes to Timothy to support the young leader as he seeks to shepherd the Ephesian church. Contextually, pernicious false teaching had infected the community, located in a wealthy, coastal city of the Roman Empire. Paul knew that if Timothy was going to successfully lead the Ephesian Christians through such troublesome times, he was going to need guidance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this article, I will explore the guidance Paul provides Timothy with the aim of drawing out general principles of mentorship. By doing so, I hope to introduce a biblical approach to mentorship that moves from theory to practice in the context of local church life.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Right Doctrine<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

To begin, it is worth noting that Paul addresses his letter \u201cTo Timothy, my true child in the faith\u201d (1:2). From the offset, Paul makes his relationship and love for Timothy clear. Though he will soon proceed through a list of mandates, the security of the relationship is never in question. Thus, Paul begins his mentorship letter with a key move: establishing trust<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following the introduction, Paul transitions quickly to the root issue in the Ephesian church: false teaching. As biblical scholar Frank Thielman notes, \u201cLetters like this were commonly sent in antiquity by a government official to a subordinate upon the subordinate\u2019s resumption of some new public responsibility\u201d.1<\/sup>\u00a0 In this way, the letter serves as both a reminder of duties and as a public commission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

False teaching had plagued the church in Ephesus, spreading as such. The only way to end the plague is to remove it from the organism. In this case, Paul\u2019s counsel for Timothy is to charge the church to teach only what is true and in full alignment with the gospel of Jesus Christ (1:11). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The key takeaway for mentorship is that ideas matter. They serve as the rutter of the ship. Mentors should be careful to not move too quickly to behaviors and practices when these are simply visible manifestations of some animating idea. In the case of the Ephesian church, the congregation was moving toward disorder as a result of the inception of heretical doctrine. Likewise, a person\u2019s life trajectory can shift radically by the ideas they embrace and live by. Thus, the very first mentoring conversation should often focus on ideas and what the student views as her basic life principles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Godly Conduct<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Effective mentors cannot stay in the ideological realm for long, however. Following true doctrine, Paul impresses upon Timothy to promote conduct, or behavior, and godliness in the church. From worship approaches to style of dress, Christians are to live peaceful and quiet lives, \u201cgodly and dignified in every way\u201d (2:2).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This godly approach to living must first and foremost be modeled by bishops and deacons. Notice that Paul does not leave it to Timothy\u2019s imagination to determine the specifics of the godly conduct Paul envisions. Rather, he specifically elaborates on key character traits, familial relationships, and self-control over potential vices such as drunkenness and greed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With these qualifications of church leaders in view, we can easily make a connection to the classical idea of virtue, that is, human excellence directed toward human flourishing. If the church in Ephesus is going to emerge from the disorder generated by false doctrine, its leaders must be freed from the slavery of the appetites, and become servants of Christ alone. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Likewise, effective mentors should discuss with their students what portrait of their future selves the Lord is calling them to become. Encourage them to be as specific as possible. What will they do for fun? What skills will they have mastered? How will they treat other people? How will they navigate complex topics like social media or peer pressure? They can then begin an honest conversation of whether their current conduct matches this desired trajectory. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Will to Train<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Right doctrine and godly conduct will establish the path for Timothy, but to go the distance, an additional step is required: the will to train. Train for what? Godliness according to the words of the faith (4:6). He compares the reward of bodily training to training for godliness in that the latter reward is experienced both in the present life and the life to come (4:8). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The idea of training appears often in our work at Educational Renaissance<\/a>, particularly as it relates to the modern notions of possessing a growth mindset<\/a> and engaging in deliberate practice<\/a>. Research in elite performance has shown that the key to mastery in any skill or discipline is to practice with the right attitude and in the proper way.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In the Christian faith, we are to train as well, though we must be careful to train for the right objective. The Bible is clear that we do not train to earn<\/em> our salvation, but to live out<\/em> our salvation. Salvation is a free gift for a person to accept. It is the result of the gracious work of God, the exact opposite of any sort of result through human training. And yet, when we did receive salvation through conversion, the training regiment sets in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The topic of training for godliness is a fascinating one to bring up in a mentoring conversation. The metaphor has a way of underscoring intensity and dedication of growing in Christlikeness in a manner that the idea of sanctification does not. By mentors taking their conversations to the deeper level of spiritual growth, they fuse together true doctrine with godly conduct in a way that will cause the student to truly think differently about how to steward their lives most wisely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conclusion<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This exploration of 1 Timothy regarding principles of mentorship is merely an introduction into what is truly an expansive topic. There is much more to cover in Paul’s school of mentorship found in 1 Timothy, including such topics as devotion to scripture, exhibiting compassion, and practicing true contentment. As mentors plan out their meeting with students, these are all worthy topics to discuss. Following Paul, mentors taking a multi-dimensional approach will help students grow in not just one area of their lives, but holistically, instead, in a way that allows these dimensions to complement one another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. Thielman, Frank. Theology of the New Testament<\/em> (Zondervan, 2005). 413.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    \n

    <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

    \"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Classical school leaders often emphasize the centrality of mentorship in the educational process, particularly in grades 6-12. They have wisely observed that the junior high and high school years are a pivotal phase in a person\u2019s development. As students gradually spend more time with peers in settings without their parents, small yet formative opportunities emerge […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":4094,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[33],"tags":[757,627,756,377],"class_list":["post-4093","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-biblical-worldview","tag-1-timothy","tag-biblical-worldview","tag-mentorship","tag-paul"],"yoast_head":"\nPaul's School of Mentorship •<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In his first letter to Timothy, Paul demonstrates an approach to mentorship that classical educators can imitate today.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2023\/11\/18\/pauls-school-of-mentorship\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Paul's School of Mentorship •\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In his first letter to Timothy, Paul demonstrates an approach to mentorship that classical educators can imitate today.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2023\/11\/18\/pauls-school-of-mentorship\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-11-18T12:31:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-11-18T17:49:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Paul.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"390\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"353\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kolby Atchison\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kolby Atchison\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2023\/11\/18\/pauls-school-of-mentorship\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2023\/11\/18\/pauls-school-of-mentorship\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Kolby Atchison\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/#\/schema\/person\/5102870afaf16d74d0ad1fa4ed0363bd\"},\"headline\":\"Paul’s School of Mentorship\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-11-18T12:31:03+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-11-18T17:49:24+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2023\/11\/18\/pauls-school-of-mentorship\/\"},\"wordCount\":1157,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2d4cdc44e87637ecf2c2c4327e66ade6\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2023\/11\/18\/pauls-school-of-mentorship\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Paul.jpeg?fit=390%2C353&ssl=1\",\"keywords\":[\"1 timothy\",\"biblical worldview\",\"mentorship\",\"Paul\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Biblical worldview\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2023\/11\/18\/pauls-school-of-mentorship\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2023\/11\/18\/pauls-school-of-mentorship\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2023\/11\/18\/pauls-school-of-mentorship\/\",\"name\":\"Paul's School of Mentorship •\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2023\/11\/18\/pauls-school-of-mentorship\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2023\/11\/18\/pauls-school-of-mentorship\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Paul.jpeg?fit=390%2C353&ssl=1\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-11-18T12:31:03+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-11-18T17:49:24+00:00\",\"description\":\"In his first letter to Timothy, Paul demonstrates an approach to mentorship that classical educators can imitate today.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2023\/11\/18\/pauls-school-of-mentorship\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2023\/11\/18\/pauls-school-of-mentorship\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2023\/11\/18\/pauls-school-of-mentorship\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Paul.jpeg?fit=390%2C353&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Paul.jpeg?fit=390%2C353&ssl=1\",\"width\":390,\"height\":353},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2023\/11\/18\/pauls-school-of-mentorship\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Paul’s School of Mentorship\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/\",\"name\":\"\",\"description\":\"Promoting a Rebirth of Ancient Wisdom for the Modern Era\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2d4cdc44e87637ecf2c2c4327e66ade6\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":[\"Person\",\"Organization\"],\"@id\":\"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2d4cdc44e87637ecf2c2c4327e66ade6\",\"name\":\"Patrick Egan\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/cropped-Screenshot-2025-02-23-at-10.17.57%E2%80%AFPM-1.png?fit=1093%2C995&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/cropped-Screenshot-2025-02-23-at-10.17.57%E2%80%AFPM-1.png?fit=1093%2C995&ssl=1\",\"width\":1093,\"height\":995,\"caption\":\"Patrick Egan\"},\"logo\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/#\/schema\/person\/5102870afaf16d74d0ad1fa4ed0363bd\",\"name\":\"Kolby Atchison\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d73aecc58884ed3f866d4ecd69943f4a233d779692f1253bf5476ce84a59ccbd?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d73aecc58884ed3f866d4ecd69943f4a233d779692f1253bf5476ce84a59ccbd?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Kolby Atchison\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/author\/kolbyatchison\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Paul's School of Mentorship •","description":"In his first letter to Timothy, Paul demonstrates an approach to mentorship that classical educators can imitate today.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2023\/11\/18\/pauls-school-of-mentorship\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Paul's School of Mentorship •","og_description":"In his first letter to Timothy, Paul demonstrates an approach to mentorship that classical educators can imitate today.","og_url":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2023\/11\/18\/pauls-school-of-mentorship\/","article_published_time":"2023-11-18T12:31:03+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-11-18T17:49:24+00:00","og_image":[{"width":390,"height":353,"url":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Paul.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Kolby Atchison","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Kolby Atchison","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2023\/11\/18\/pauls-school-of-mentorship\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2023\/11\/18\/pauls-school-of-mentorship\/"},"author":{"name":"Kolby Atchison","@id":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/#\/schema\/person\/5102870afaf16d74d0ad1fa4ed0363bd"},"headline":"Paul’s School of Mentorship","datePublished":"2023-11-18T12:31:03+00:00","dateModified":"2023-11-18T17:49:24+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2023\/11\/18\/pauls-school-of-mentorship\/"},"wordCount":1157,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2d4cdc44e87637ecf2c2c4327e66ade6"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2023\/11\/18\/pauls-school-of-mentorship\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Paul.jpeg?fit=390%2C353&ssl=1","keywords":["1 timothy","biblical worldview","mentorship","Paul"],"articleSection":["Biblical worldview"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2023\/11\/18\/pauls-school-of-mentorship\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2023\/11\/18\/pauls-school-of-mentorship\/","url":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2023\/11\/18\/pauls-school-of-mentorship\/","name":"Paul's School of Mentorship •","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2023\/11\/18\/pauls-school-of-mentorship\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2023\/11\/18\/pauls-school-of-mentorship\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Paul.jpeg?fit=390%2C353&ssl=1","datePublished":"2023-11-18T12:31:03+00:00","dateModified":"2023-11-18T17:49:24+00:00","description":"In his first letter to Timothy, Paul demonstrates an approach to mentorship that classical educators can imitate today.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2023\/11\/18\/pauls-school-of-mentorship\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2023\/11\/18\/pauls-school-of-mentorship\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2023\/11\/18\/pauls-school-of-mentorship\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Paul.jpeg?fit=390%2C353&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Paul.jpeg?fit=390%2C353&ssl=1","width":390,"height":353},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2023\/11\/18\/pauls-school-of-mentorship\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Paul’s School of Mentorship"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/","name":"","description":"Promoting a Rebirth of Ancient Wisdom for the Modern Era","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2d4cdc44e87637ecf2c2c4327e66ade6"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2d4cdc44e87637ecf2c2c4327e66ade6","name":"Patrick Egan","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/cropped-Screenshot-2025-02-23-at-10.17.57%E2%80%AFPM-1.png?fit=1093%2C995&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/cropped-Screenshot-2025-02-23-at-10.17.57%E2%80%AFPM-1.png?fit=1093%2C995&ssl=1","width":1093,"height":995,"caption":"Patrick Egan"},"logo":{"@id":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/#\/schema\/person\/5102870afaf16d74d0ad1fa4ed0363bd","name":"Kolby Atchison","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d73aecc58884ed3f866d4ecd69943f4a233d779692f1253bf5476ce84a59ccbd?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d73aecc58884ed3f866d4ecd69943f4a233d779692f1253bf5476ce84a59ccbd?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Kolby Atchison"},"url":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/author\/kolbyatchison\/"}]}},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Paul.jpeg?fit=390%2C353&ssl=1","uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Paul.jpeg?fit=390%2C353&ssl=1",390,353,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Paul.jpeg?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Paul.jpeg?fit=300%2C272&ssl=1",300,272,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Paul.jpeg?fit=390%2C353&ssl=1",390,353,true],"large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Paul.jpeg?fit=390%2C353&ssl=1",390,353,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Paul.jpeg?fit=390%2C353&ssl=1",390,353,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Paul.jpeg?fit=390%2C353&ssl=1",390,353,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Kolby Atchison","author_link":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/author\/kolbyatchison\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Classical school leaders often emphasize the centrality of mentorship in the educational process, particularly in grades 6-12. They have wisely observed that the junior high and high school years are a pivotal phase in a person\u2019s development. As students gradually spend more time with peers in settings without their parents, small yet formative opportunities emerge…","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa7K1D-141","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4190,"url":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2024\/03\/01\/discipleship-in-the-school\/","url_meta":{"origin":4093,"position":0},"title":"Discipleship in the School, Part 1: An Introduction","author":"Kolby Atchison","date":"March 1, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"What is discipleship and how does discipleship happen in a Christian school? Like most good questions, we must begin by defining our terms. What is discipleship? According to Mark Dever, a pastor in the Washington D.C. area, we can define discipleship simply as helping someone follow Jesus. As an expanded\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Biblical worldview"","block_context":{"text":"Biblical worldview","link":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/category\/biblical-worldview\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Screen-Shot-2024-03-01-at-5.54.38-AM.png?fit=515%2C342&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1804,"url":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2021\/01\/16\/creating-a-culture-of-mentorship\/","url_meta":{"origin":4093,"position":1},"title":"Creating a Culture of Mentorship","author":"Patrick Egan","date":"January 16, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"In Episode 10 of the Educational Renaissance podcast, we took a deep dive into what Charlotte Mason means by atmosphere, one of the three instruments of education. One of the ideas that surfaced was the concept of mentoring. In today\u2019s article I want to extend that discussion to look at\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Charlotte Mason"","block_context":{"text":"Charlotte Mason","link":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/category\/charlotte-mason\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/mentor-advising-telemachus-in-charles-joseph-natoire-s-painting_orig.jpg?fit=812%2C540&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/mentor-advising-telemachus-in-charles-joseph-natoire-s-painting_orig.jpg?fit=812%2C540&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/mentor-advising-telemachus-in-charles-joseph-natoire-s-painting_orig.jpg?fit=812%2C540&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/mentor-advising-telemachus-in-charles-joseph-natoire-s-painting_orig.jpg?fit=812%2C540&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":54,"url":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2018\/09\/13\/review-of-wisdom-and-eloquence-by-robert-littlejohn-and-charles-t-evans\/","url_meta":{"origin":4093,"position":2},"title":"Review of Wisdom and Eloquence by Robert Littlejohn and Charles T. Evans","author":"Patrick Egan","date":"September 13, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Robert Littlejohn and Charles T. Evans. Wisdom and Eloquence: A Christian Paradign for Classical Learning. Wheaton: Crossway, 2006. In Wisdom and Eloquence Robert Littlejohn and Charles Evans connect the classical tradition of education to a Christian outlook on the goals of education. Both Littlejohn and Evans are leaders and practitioners\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Reviews"","block_context":{"text":"Reviews","link":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/category\/reviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"An odeon of ancient Greek where wisdom and eloquence were expressed","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Canva-Odeon-of-Herodes-Atticus.jpg?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Canva-Odeon-of-Herodes-Atticus.jpg?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Canva-Odeon-of-Herodes-Atticus.jpg?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Canva-Odeon-of-Herodes-Atticus.jpg?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Canva-Odeon-of-Herodes-Atticus.jpg?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":276,"url":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2019\/02\/24\/review-of-recovering-the-lost-tools-of-learning-by-douglas-wilson\/","url_meta":{"origin":4093,"position":3},"title":"Review of Recovering the Lost Tools of Learning by Douglas Wilson","author":"Patrick Egan","date":"February 24, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Most people in the classical Christian school movement look upon Dorothy Sayer\u2019s 1947 essay \u201cThe Lost Tools of Learning\u201d as something of a founding document. However, the movement as it currently exists in North America stems from the implementation of that essay in the late 1980s, and is best represented\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Reviews"","block_context":{"text":"Reviews","link":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/category\/reviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Canva-Landscape-Photography-of-Columns.jpg?fit=1200%2C933&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Canva-Landscape-Photography-of-Columns.jpg?fit=1200%2C933&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Canva-Landscape-Photography-of-Columns.jpg?fit=1200%2C933&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Canva-Landscape-Photography-of-Columns.jpg?fit=1200%2C933&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Canva-Landscape-Photography-of-Columns.jpg?fit=1200%2C933&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3680,"url":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2023\/04\/01\/teaching-a-narration-based-bible-lesson\/","url_meta":{"origin":4093,"position":4},"title":"Teaching a Narration-Based Bible Lesson","author":"Kolby Atchison","date":"April 1, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201cChild,\u201d said Aslan, in a gentler voice than he had yet used, \u201cperhaps you do not see quite as well as you think. But the first step is to remember. Repeat to me, in order, the four signs.\u201d The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis Teaching a Bible lesson can be\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Biblical worldview"","block_context":{"text":"Biblical worldview","link":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/category\/biblical-worldview\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Bible-reading.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1771,"url":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2020\/12\/18\/educating-for-a-christian-worldview-in-a-secular-age\/","url_meta":{"origin":4093,"position":5},"title":"Educating for a Christian Worldview in a Secular Age","author":"Kolby Atchison","date":"December 18, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"In our secular age, there exists a plurality of options for how to think about complex questions. Take the question of what it means to be human, for example. For the biologist, to be human is to possess the DNA of the species Homo sapien. In contrast, for the eastern\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Biblical worldview"","block_context":{"text":"Biblical worldview","link":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/category\/biblical-worldview\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/secular-urban.jpg?fit=900%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/secular-urban.jpg?fit=900%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/secular-urban.jpg?fit=900%2C900&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/secular-urban.jpg?fit=900%2C900&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4093","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4093"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4093\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4098,"href":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4093\/revisions\/4098"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4094"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4093"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4093"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4093"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}