Educational Applications of Theological Anthropology by Luther, Whitehead, and Palmer: Considering Freire’s Liberation toward Praxis

Realizing human potential has always been a focal point within the field of education. To further discover ways of achieving this ob-jective, this paper deals with the anthropological understanding of Martin Luther, Alfred Whitehead, and Parker Palmer and the applica-tions of their thoughts on education. Luther emphasized language ed-ucation as a way of realizing human potential and restoring the rela-tionship between God and humans. Whitehead claimed that con-ceptual power should be developed through epistemological proc-esses, while Palmer presented a compromise between Luther and Whitehead, emphasizing love. Paulo Freire helped them to achieve the balance between theory and practice through the process of crit-ical reflection and liberation. The holistic understanding of education contributes to a Christian interpretation of creation and the identity of the Christian educator. The goal of Christian education can be exa-mined by producing epistemological development, as well as buil-ding loving relationships, because meaning is made through dia-lectical processes in education and the awareness of the meaning of life liberates people, as Paulo Freire indicated.