William Barclay:

“The New Testament lays down no kind of curriculum of training for the child; the New Testament knows nothing about religious education and nothing about schools; for the New Testament is certain that the only training which really matters is given within the home, and that there are no teachers so effective for good and evil as parents.” (William Barclay, Educational Ideals in the Ancient World, Grand Rapids, Mich: Baker Book House: 1974., p.236)

In the 4th century the Emperor Julian challenged the Christians to take their children out of the classical schools, where other gods were taught, and to retreat to their own schools where they could be taught out of “Matthew and Luke”. He was determined to force on Christians the educational consequences of the New Testament. The Emperor Julian uses the word “anetos” to describe the children of Christian parents … it means “mindless”. He suggested that they be cured by an Hellenistic education. However, children were not penalised because of their parent’s beliefs and the classical schools remained open to all people. Two people named Apollinaris (father and son) converted the bible into pseudo-classical literature with the Pentateuch as a Homeric epic and the gospels as Platonic dialogues because Julian compelled Christians to to work from texts written in sub-classical Greek.

In subsequent centuries Christians developed a quasi-educational system to teach the New Testament but this did not come into conflict with classical schooling in any practical manner. basil, Bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia, wrote “To Young Men on the Advantages of Greek Literature” which suggested that pupils need not be corrupted by their work, but the onus was upon parents (and also secondarily teachers) within the church to train them in Christian belief after school.

The historical fact is that Christians educated their children fully within the secular system for the first four centuries after Christ’s death in spite of any contradiction that might have posed. They contradicted any negative influence by biblical training at church and home.

[Source Unknown].