AN ANALYSIS OF THE CORRELATION BETWEEN THE CHRISTIAN EDUCATION CONTEXT OF THE LOCAL CHURCH AND THE BIBLICAL WORLDVIEW OF HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS By David S. Rutledge Liberty University A Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree Doctorate of Education Liberty University July 2013 1 An Analysis of the Correlation Between the Christian Education Context of the Local Church and the Biblical Worldview of High School Students By David S. Rutledge A Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree Doctorate of Education Liberty University, Lynchburg, VA July, 2013 APROVED BY: TONI A. STANTON, Ed.D., Committee Chair LYNN CLEVELAND, Ed.D., Committee Member . DONNA JOY, Ed.D., Committee Member SCOTT WATSON, PH.D., Associate Dean, Advanced Programs 2 ABSTRACT David S. Rutledge. AN ANALYSIS OF THE CORRELATION BETWEEN THE CHRISTIAN EDUCATION CONTEXT OF THE LOCAL CHURCH AND THE BIBLICAL WORLDVIEW OF HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS. (under the direction of Dr. Stanton) School of Education. Liberty University, July, 2013. The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine whether a significant relationship exists between the Christian education context of the local church and the Biblical worldview of high school students. This investigation assessed the Biblical worldviews of senior high school students who have basic knowledge of Christianity but different levels of involvement in church-based Christian education. The study used the PEERS Worldview Test and compared students’ scores to their self-reported involvement in the main worship services, Sunday school classes, and youth services of their churches and their parents’ church attendance. The results showed little to no correlation between church attendance and the Biblical worldviews of the students in this study. No statistically significant correlation was found between students’ attendance at main worship services, youth services, or Sunday school classes or the church attendance of students’ parents and the students’ Biblical worldview scores on the PEERS Worldview Test. Descriptors: Worldview, Church Attendance, High School 3 Dedication To my wife, without you this dream would have perished and without you life would be nightmarish. To my parents and siblings, for a lifetime of constant support, encouragement, and love; and for showing me what it means to be faithful servants of God. To my three kids, without whose loving attention this would have been finished in half the time. To the countless people who invested precious portions of their life in mine, I hope to do that sacrifice justice. To the One True God, thank you for everything I have and everything I am. 4 Table of Contents Table of Contents .................................................................................................................5 List of Tables .......................................................................................................................8 List of Figures ......................................................................................................................9 CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ............................................................................11 Background ........................................................................................................... 12 Problem Statement ................................................................................................ 14 Purpose Statement ................................................................................................. 15 Significance of the Study ...................................................................................... 15 Research Questions ............................................................................................... 16 Research Hypotheses ............................................................................................ 17 Identification of Variables .................................................................................... 17 Definitions............................................................................................................. 18 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW .............................................................. 21 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 21 Conceptual or Theoretical Framework ................................................................. 21 Review of Literature ............................................................................................. 25 Summary ............................................................................................................... 52 CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY .....................................................................57 Design ................................................................................................................... 57 Questions and Hypotheses .................................................................................... 58 Participants ............................................................................................................ 60 Setting ................................................................................................................... 61 5 Instrumentation ..................................................................................................... 61 Procedures ............................................................................................................. 65 Data Analysis ........................................................................................................ 66 CHAPTER FOUR: FINDINGS ......................................................................................67 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 67 Participants’ Worldviews ...................................................................................... 68 Null Hypotheses 1: Main Worship Service. ......................................................... 73 Null Hypotheses 2: Youth Service……………………………………………….74 Null Hypotheses 3: Sunday School Class. ............................................................ 77 Null Hypotheses 4: Parents Church Attendance. .................................................. 79 Summary………...……………………………………………………………….80 CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION ...................................................................................84 Discussion of the Findings .................................................................................... 84 Study Limitations .................................................................................................. 88 Implications........................................................................................................... 89 Recommendations for Future Research ................................................................ 92 REFERENCES…………...…………………………………….………………...……...95 APPENDIX A: SCRIPT FOR TEACHERS TO INFORM STUDENTS ABOUT THE STUDY .......................................................................................................105 APPENDIX B: LETTER TO HEADMASTER REQUESTING PARTICIPATION .....107 APPENDIX C: CONSENT FORM .................................................................................109 APPENDIX D: STUDENT SURVEY.............................................................................111 APPENDIX E: SURVEY QUESTION 1 AND SUBCATEGORYS OF THE PEERS WORLDVIEW TEST ..........................................................................................112 6 APPENDIX F: SURVEY QUESTION 2 AND SUBCATEGORYS OF THE PEERS WORLDVIEW TEST ..........................................................................................115 APPENDIX G: SURVEY QUESTION 3 AND SUBCATEGORYS OF THE PEERS WORLDVIEW TEST ..........................................................................................118 APPENDIX H: SURVEY QUESTION 4 AND SUBCATEGORYS OF THE PEERS WORLDVIEW TEST ..........................................................................................121 7 List of Tables Table 1 Comparative Summary of Four Worldviews ...................................................53 Table 2 The Mean Scores for the PEER Test ...............................................................69 Table 3 The Mean Scores of the PEERS Test by Gender .............................................69 Table 4 Participants by Denomination ..........................................................................69 Table 5 Average PEERS Scores by Denomination Compared to National Average ...71 Table 6 National Average Scores by Grade Level Over the Previous 10 Years ..........72 Table 7 Average Composite Scores for Survey Question 1 ..........................................74 Table 8 Average Composite Scores for Survey Question 2 ..........................................76 Table 9 Average Composite Scores for Survey Question 3 ..........................................78 Table 10 Average Composite Scores for Survey Question 4 ..........................................80 Table 11 Correlation Coefficients of the Composite Scores ...........................................81 8 List of Figures Figure 1 Composite scores and main worship service attendance .................................74 Figure 2 Composite scores and youth service attendance ..............................................76 Figure 3 Composite scores and Sunday