Musings of a Christian Humanist

Concerning Civil Government (Second Essay) John Locke

2012-01-27T06:47:00.000-08:00

In a time such as ours, it is wise to be politically well read. As a matter of fact, it might be best to turn off the "debates" and Presidential State of the Re-election Speech and read a Classical document on government. One great starting place, to be more informed is John Lock's Concerning Civil Government: The Second Essay.
Mortimer Adler does a great job of introducing this important political work and its historical context within The Great Ideas Program. He points out that Locke was not the first to articulate the notion of "social contract." Adler, adds also there are great differences between the views of Hobbes and Locke on the origin of the state. Adler compares Hobbes, Locke and Aristotle showing, that for some, the state of nature was rather dark. However, Locke's view of the state of nature was not as bleak. (120) "Hobbes thinks of the state of nature as one of war and brutishness, Locke thinks of it as a state of liberty." (127) However, according to John Locke, there are distinct disadvantages of the state of nature (129). It is clear that property is very important in Locke's political theory. By property, Locke means private property. One can only imagine Locke's reaction to one's labor being taxed.
Adler does another service for the reader by connecting Aristotle's notion of humans being political animals to what John Locke is examining. For Locke, we are political animals because "we possess speech and reason." (131) The other advantage to reading Adler's brief introduction to this work is that he includes interpretive questions. These are the kinds of questions that would cause current American political figures to lose sleep. With teleprompters off, it would get very ugly, very fast.
Some questions that Adler asks,
1) Aristotle said that the political state is natural, Locke says that the natural condition of man is that in which he existed prior to the origin of the state. What is the reason for this difference?
2) Does a social contract theory require us to believe that there actually was a time when men believed in the state of nature?
3) Are sovereign nations in a state of nature?
4) Since, according to social contract theories, a state is formed by the consent of all those who were in a state of nature, must a government of a civil society also be based on consent, i.e., must it be constitutional?
5) What, if anything, is the significance of substituting "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" for "life, liberty and estates" in the enumeration of natural rights?
6) Were the writers of the Declaration of Independence any less believers in the right of estates (i.e., private property) than Locke?
7) Why should property be represented at all?
You can see why I believe that turning off the political noise, reading this work, and then thinking through these questions would be of far greater benefit. It may also shock us into seeing that the issues and ideas of Locke and the Founding Fathers have been set aside for the agenda of a massive federal government that is bloated to the point of self-destruction, and all the while property is still a major issue.

On Why C.S. Lewis is Right About Reading Old Books

2012-01-26T20:52:00.000-08:00

The first-rate Christian intellectual C. S. Lewis (1898 – 1963) certainly left the world of Christendom a chest to constantly return to and draw new treasures from. In addition to Lewis's essay Learning In War Time and his must read (for any and all concerned with real education) The Abolition of Man, his short piece On the Reading of Old Books reflects a maturity and understanding of learning that has few rivals.
Lewis knew what all lovers of Great Books know--that of all their many qualities, literary, theological, and philosophical masterpieces have the potential to expand the human soul. Lewis's case against derivative works, instead of the primary works, is extremely insightful. He was sensitive to the fact that most readers are intimidated by the classics.
When Lewis says, "The simplest student will be able to understand, if not all, yet a very great deal of what Plato said; but hardly anyone can understand some modern books on Platonism," I would agree completely. My experience of teaching Great Books to college Freshmen and Sophomores bears this out entirely. Many of them have even noted that Plato is considerably easy compared to the modern "experts" offering commentary on Plato. I suspect one could say the same about the Bible.
Of the many intellectual nuggets Lewis has in this brief essay, it is the point about reading older books more often than newer books that people often site. In truth, being the kind of person that does read more old books than new books, I would agree again. There is something fresh, new, distinct, rich, and vibrant with the old books in contrast to most of the new books, especially since most new books are in some way or manner derived from the old books. One point that Lewis makes on why we should read older books more often than new books is that the new books are still being tested. In other words, the jury is still out on the real value of these works. If we only have so many hours in a day, and so many days in a year, and so many years of our life, then the big question is what should we spend time reading?
After reading this essay, we can better recognize that we need books that help us to see the mistakes of our own era, and modern books are too much a part of our own error. Modern books tend to increase our myopia of our own age. Lewis was not ignorant of the past. As a brilliant literary historian, he recognizes that the past had its own set of problems. However, these problems were not always the same as our own, and by virtue of being different problems, it gives us both an insight into that age and into our own age.
On an autobiographical note, it was actually C. S. Lewis's deep admiration for George McDonald that prompted me to write a doctoral dissertation on MacDonald's shorter fairy tales. I was so struck by Lewis's love of an author who preceded him and so keenly affected him, that I needed to read this author. Knowing MacDonald's works has indeed heightened my appreciation of Lewis's works, especially Lewis's The Great Divorce.
In this fine essay on books, Lewis makes a brief and yet persuasive case of the historical reality and the value of what has been associated with Lewis's name--"mere Christianity." "Measured against the ages, 'mere Christianity' turns out to be no insipid interdenominational transparency, but something positive, self-consistent, and inexhaustible."
Further proof of C.S. Lewis's respect for older great books is that this piece is now part of the forward for a great, old writing by Athanasius. Lewis admits that when he first read Athanasius's The Incarnation, it change the way he thought entirely about Jesus and the Church. It would do us all well at this point to track down some old writings of George McDonald and Athanasius, and read some of the older Great Books that can help change the way we see the world we live in and be more diligent in being faithful in that new world.

Petrarch's Sonnets and Shorter Poems....The David Slavitt Translation

2012-01-26T06:31:00.001-08:00

Once again, David Slavitt has provided a fine translation of an important Italian treasure. Petrarch's Sonnets and Shorter Poems is well worth the time and expense. Slavitt offers a preface with a few thoughts about Petrarch and some words on Slavitt's own rationale for translating as he does. Petrarch is recognized as one of the greatest and most diverse poetic voices of the Renaissance. The reader is able to enjoy the terrestrial and divine delights explored in meter. As a way of helping us think through human experiences, Petrarch reflects the Christian Humanistic impulse that this world is where God temporarily placed us to live, and live we should.

Exploring mainly human love and primarily the sorrows of that heartfelt impulse, Petrarch is a master of both form and content. Here are some select lines:
Ambition tempts you, and you try and fail,
and reap bitter remorse instead of fame
for having chased a dream of the world's delight. (1)

Love found me unarmed and helpless; he
saw that my eyes were an easy way to my heart
(those passageways that so easily fill with tears). (3)

Avarice and excessive indolence in
our comfy beds have turned our natures bad,
corrupting them and making us a sad
mockery of what we could have been...
Philosophy wonders about, naked and poor,
while practical men seek comforts that gold buys. (7)

Petrarch often communicates his deep feelings for Laura, but in this stanza we see his feelings and response to her in the most beautiful of terms,
From her come loving thoughts on the kind that lead
to noble and virtuous actions that one would
associate with grace. She makes me good,…" (13)
and When I have turned my eyes toward my Lady's face
I am blinded as if by the shine the light so bright
that broad daylight is dazzled into night
and I have no sense either of time or place. (18)

However, there are also moments of true darkness in the poems of Petrarch,
"You can be my friend
and save me – and yourselves as well, for you
are mortal meat that must any income to
the nothingness, which may be
not so far off,
if you could only see
through all our tears the blackness's vivid burning. (14)

There are certain poems by Petrarch that I understand not only in terms of the words, but of the reality and the truth that stand behind the words because of the experiences of my life and the love for my wife, Tina.
That wispy idea of beauty we all adore
made of wind and shadows will never appear
in a single body – or rarely, it can cohere
as it did in her one time and then no more.
Nature begrudges us such gifts when the rest
are poor, but to demonstrate that it can be done
she lavished all her riches upon one,
the nonpareil, the paragon, the best. (315)

Petrarch also captures the essence of the truth that sometimes the greatest teachings of pain can make us wise,
But as Nature gave you wings,
she gave me eyes
that I could use to observe what caused me pain
not merely sharp but shameful to explain
(but only from its teaching do we grow wise). (320)
There are also some poetic lines reflecting a devotion to God that rivals the great Dante:
A number of these poems are rich in theological and devotional import,
This life's delusions cannot hold me here.
I know them all and long since have learned
where true happiness lies, and I have turned
toward Heaven from which the light is bright and clear. (322)

Love stabs in heals, but I have escaped his grip
and have found in an easy freedom from his wiles,
though not through any virtue or scholarship.
The lord in heaven has put an end to my trials,
and his peace is the object of the trip
I shall conclude after a few more miles. (326)

You can see all my defects, Heavenly King,
and can mend my soul,
in tatters now and frayed.
Having been indifferent and having strayed,
your mercy is the hope to which I cling. (327)

Petrarch poetically and clearly states what his overall intention is--that he longed to be as skilled as the poetic masters of ancient days, in hopes to give proper literary homage to Laura.
She deserves at least a Homer or divine
Orpheus, or perhaps the Mantuan bard
to celebrate her grace as she walks on earth. (164)

Having read and enjoyed the masterpieces of Homer and Virgil, Petrarch can requiescat in pace that he is indeed in their company. The good news is that there are Classical Christian schools across the nation that read, copy, imitate, and study the masterpieces of poetry. Following the Great Tradition of the Medieval and Renaissance academy, in the discipline of imitating the best, students developing the skills of copia should look at masterful translations of the poetic giants and strive to imitate. The practice of imitating the best in a range of translations will assuredly provide richer form and content for all students.

Simone Weil's Enchanting "Reflections on the Right Use of School Studies"

2012-01-26T06:31:00.000-08:00

Imagine a modern educational tract, or possibly a speech on the ends of education, beginning with the assertion that the goal of all learning is to love God. Most of us cannot imagine such an assertion. Within the deeply secularized institution of modern American learning, there is really less hostility toward God and more of common place apathy.
For those of us that cannot imagine a view of education with God at the beginning, middle, and end, we have to look to a different time. Simone Weil (1909-1943) offers such a view of education.
Among the many redeeming qualities of this brief piece is the main theme that is present throughout the entire essay--Weil's contention that we must develop the
"faculty of attention." She wonderfully asserts that if we love God, we should learn to like all subjects. In other words, our love for God will prompt our love for all of reality and all learning of reality.
For Simone Weil, prayer and studies are intertwined as they relate to the theme of attention. Weil believes there is great value in exercising attention. It appears to me that by the term attention, Weil means consideration or deep awareness. She says, "Never in any case whatever is a genuine effort of the attention wasted."
One great point in this piece by Weil is, "quite apart from explicit religious belief, every time that a human being succeeds in making an effort of attention with the sole idea of increasing his grasp of truth, he acquires a greater aptitude for grasping it, even if his effort produces no visible fruit."
As with other writers in the Great Tradition that address the sense of authentic learning, a matter of virtue is of the utmost importance. For Weil, "a far more precious treasure than all academic progress" is the virtue of humility.
There are a number of insights within this brief work that are simply striking. One thing Weil says that is rare among thinkers, even within the field of Classical Christian education, is the notion of joy as it relates to learning. "The intelligence only grows and bears fruit in joy. The joy of learning is as indispensable in study as breathing is in running. Where it is lacking is that there are no real students, but only poor caricatures of apprentices who, at the end of their apprenticeship, will not even have a trade." One could easily add that the atmosphere of joy would certainly be more conducive to not only the learning of intellectual matters, but the learning of spiritual matters.
In addition to defining attention within the essay, Weil actually gives advice for what one should do as an instructor when attention is waning. She also encourages schools to provide unique exercises of a thought nature that can be, and should be, seen within a sacramental sense. Weil says, we have a duty toward children to make this method of devotion to attention a top priority. Related to this is the thought, "Happy then are those who pass their adolescence and youth in developing this power of attention…Whoever goes through years of study without developing this attention within himself has lost a great treasure."
I will conclude this summary of Weil's essay with what is an appropriate summary of this entire writing, "Academic work is one of those fields containing a pearl so precious that it is worthwhile to sell all our possessions, keeping nothing for ourselves, in order to be able to acquire it." When was the last time you heard anyone, including academic leaders, speak of learning in such lofty terms?

A Christian Humanistic Reading of Ovid or Why Dante Is Our Virgil for The Metamorphoses

2012-01-25T07:52:00.000-08:00

For no other reason than Ovid's influence on Dante and Shakespeare, the Christian should read Ovid. How are we then to read this author? Beyond his well known and more often read Metamorphoses, there is his erotic poetry Amores, Ars Amatoria, and Remedia Amoris. Ovid's poems, letters, and remedies, most recently translated by David Slavitt are certainly not for the novice. These poems are often polite, humorous, and could be seen as a "How To Manual" for wooing a would-be lover and even a manual on how to "fall out of love." These works of "lighthearted amatori advice" had most severe consequences in a time of Augustus's moral reforms and ultimately led to Ovid being exiled.
One possible way to get more out of these works, in addition to a few laughs and a few moments of enjoying the beautiful use of language, is to do a kind of reading in reverse. For example, Ovid suggests that one can "fall out of love" by highlighting negative qualities and dwelling on those features. A reverse practice might be, that in order to stay in love, one ought to highlight wonderful qualities of one's beloved.
Metamorphoses deals with transformation and eroticism. This work should be thought of as a grand foundation writing in the Western world that provides the reader with humorous moments and insights into the nature of transformation. Ovid wrote in a tone and style reflecting detachment. These writings span the spectrum from heartrending romantic love to some examples of sexual perversion.
Even Ovid, in his own defense claimed (while in exile) that his poems were not read as he intended. Regardless, Ovid died in exile and the powers of that day did not think they had misread his love poems. Many today read Ovid in the spirit of base sensuality. Is it possible to read Ovid and gain some edifying insights into the human condition and enjoy the beauty of his poetic imagination and poetic expression?
One route might be a Christian allegorical reading of Ovid. A modern Christian could easily follow the example of Dante. As Christian readers, we are an interpretive community and, as with all camps, have our biases and presumptions. We should admit that up front and then jump in with care.
What might this way of reading look like? Here is a brief example below:
In Canto twenty-four through twenty-six of the Inferno, Dante, following the form and content of Ovid, vividly demonstrates that the most horrific metamorphoses are those from peace, grace, and eternal joy toward evil and eternal damnation. The serpent of the garden is the most profound example of the transformation from angelic being to lowly serpent. Even more profound is the transformation from being human, the image bearing pinnacle of the creation of God, into anything less than human.

Some fine recent translations of Ovid's key works:
Love Poems, Letters, and Remedies by David Slavitt
The Metamorphoses translated by Stanley Lombardo
The Metamorphoses translated by Charles Martin
Tales From Ovid by Ted Hughes

Edward Gibbon's Decline and Fall Of the Roman Empire

2012-01-25T07:50:00.000-08:00

I would like to begin by encouraging everyone to read, as a way of corrective to Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Christopher Dawson's essay, "Edward Gibbon and the Fall of Rome." Contrary to Gibbon, Dawson recognized that, in the history of the the Western world, there is no more momentous occurrence than the spread of Christianity. It is this event which gives social and political meaning to the division of history into B.C. and A.D.
Adler, in his introduction to the Gibbon's reading, argues that the replacement of paganism by Christendom represents a profound, perhaps the most profound, change in the moral and spiritual character of western life as it revolutionized society and human life.
It certainly seems very intentional that Adler begins his reflections of Gibbon's writing in this manner particularly because he points out Gibbon's general skepticism. Adler also recognizes that it is an unfair and indeed an unwise procedure to speak in any summary manner about such a work of such a massive scale. With a work so large in scope, by reading just a few chapters of that work could easily lead to misreadings. Adler selected the portion he did because he points out that the Roman emperors during the first 200 years of Christianity are worth understanding. Adler, also encourages the readers who are reading Gibbon's massive work to read the works of history by Tacitus and Livy. I believe that Adler did this as additional corrective to Gibbon.
It is indeed striking to realize that from 180 A.D. to 323 A.D. there were twenty-five emperors. Adler makes it pretty clear that Gibbon's attitude towards Christianity is indeed less than friendly and objective. However, Adler states that Gibbon does not hide this bias (154).
Some questions that Adler encourages us to consider as we make our way through this work.
1) How does the rise of Christianity relate to the decline and fall of the Roman Empire?
2) Is Gibbon a determinist in his view of history?
3) Does Gibbon seem to think that history moves in a pattern that is unchangeable according to laws of its own nature so that it accomplishes its own end?
4) What were the strengths and weaknesses of the Christian religion?

Life of the Mind as Vocation in a Mindless Age....Sertillanges's The Intellectual Life

2012-01-24T07:42:00.000-08:00

When I tell people that have little or nothing to do with the academy of which I am a Professor, I usually get the same look. While it is not the same look I imagine one would get if they declared they worked with those inflicted with leprosy, it is close. I have even had a few honest folks say, "well, what's it like working with a bunch of egg-heads all the time?" They are even more surprised when I tell them that many in the academy care nothing about learning and education. The truth is, and I have said this before in several settings, the Christian intellectual is doubly marginalized. The academy cares little for Christian intellectuals, and the church cares as little for Christian intellectuals.
So what is one who is desiring to honor God with the life of the mind to do? First, know what you are getting yourself into before you start down that path. The Intellectual Life by A.G. Sertillanges is a fine guide. While it was published in 1920, it is filled with much instruction on these matters. This book, as with others of this nature, was influenced by Thomas Aquinas's "Letter to Brother John." Before James Schall in his book, The Life of the Mind, Os Guinness in his book The Call, and Mark Noll's recent Jesus Christ and the Life of the Mind, Sertillanges points out that the vocation of the intellectual life can and should be seen as a calling. He says this of vocation, "vocation is not fulfilled by vague reading and a few scattered writings. It requires penetration and continuity and methodical effort…"
As with all great masterpieces, there are often passages that beg for analysis and extended reflection and mediation. The Intellectual Life is such a work, and what follows is such a passage. "The life of study is austere and imposes grave obligations. It pays, it pays richly; but it exacts an initial outlay that few are capable of. The athletes of the mind, like those of the playing field, must be prepared for privations, long training, a sometimes superhuman tenacity. We must give ourselves from the heart, if truth is to give itself to us." I remember reading Adler also speaking about the demands of an intellectual life borrowing the language of sports. The problem is that in a culture that has become cultic about sports, this metaphor makes no sense. The notion of students giving such attention to the mind with the fervor as many do to a game is just silly.
Sertillanges highlights a key point often forgotten when it comes to searching for one's location. Finding real pleasure in what one does may be a large part of finding ultimate fulfillment in location. He would have us to seriously consider the ends and the means of our vocations. Among the many insightful points within this work, one that stands at the top of the list is a proper definition of scientia that the author gives. "Science in the broad meaning of the word, scientia, is knowledge through causes; but actively, as to its attainment, it is a creation by causes. We must recognize and adopt the causes of knowledge, then provide them, and not defer attention to the foundations of our building…"
As with other great works through the ages that address the life of the mind, this work, The Intellectual Life, encourages us to take care and redeem the days, strengths, and vigor of our intelligence. Any and all who are able ought to encourage students to be diligent in the life of the mind. "Lectures, reading, choice of companions, the proper proportion of work and rest, of solitude and activity, of general culture and specialization, the spirit of study, the art of picking out and utilizing data gained, some provisional output" are all of extreme importance.
Sertillanges in key places in this work emphasizes something that few people recognize the value of as it relates to the intellectual life. He lifts up the value of the will. As if one is willing, then much can be accomplished. If one has not the will, then what is to follow? What true education is and learning God's wisdom, according to this author, is that it creates within us a humble spirit and drive for wisdom and it turns our hearts and our minds toward what is first and foremost, and then our hearts and minds toward the supreme and of what is ultimate.

“On Mathematical Method” Alfred North Whitehead....Gateway to The Great Books Vol. 9 Mathematics

2012-01-24T07:41:00.000-08:00

I have expressed in other blogs I've done on Math, that if I had a teacher like Whitehead, that is one who not only gave me the mechanics of "doing math," but also, the "what is the meaning of this," it is likely that this blog would be entitled, "Confessions of a Christian Mathematician." I was almost giddy when I read from the great Alfred North Whitehead, “But it is equally an error to confine attention to technical processes, excluding consideration of general ideas” (51).
Well, maybe, just maybe, there are future mathematicians being encouraged with the meaning of math and not merely the "how to" of math. Among the many treats in this short piece, Whitehead does what few moderns do today when comparing our mathematical and scientific position with future generations. He graciously and humbly affirms that, “There is no reason to believe that they were more stupid than we are” (62). What a surprise. The norm when reading math and science today is the chronological snobbery that belittles and berates anyone not currently a practitioner with all the presuppositions of moderns.
The ultimate value of "doing math" historically is to learn along side of those who were often first rate philosophers and theologians as they were exploring the meaning of math. Can you imagine a child, who learns the formulas and procedures, with the ideas of why and how, through the lens that affirms the good, the true, and the beautiful?

Petrarch's On Religious Leisure

2012-01-21T13:35:00.000-08:00

When most think of the father of Christian Humanism, Petrarch, they tend to think of him in terms of his extraordinary skills as an essayist or poet. Few know that he wrote an extremely influential devotional book. Despite this reality, I have read anti-Petrarch tracts over the years blaming him for all sorts of evils. In truth, his life and works could parallel that of any number of other leaders during the Renaissance and Reformation. What is stunning is how few of his critics have actually read his works. What is more stunning is that this was true in his own day.
In his On Religious Leisure, we have a rare treat from any era. Petrarch, a first rate Renaissance humanist (in the historical sense of that term), deeply reflecting on Sacred Scripture and matters of the faith with the aid of the best tools of the studia humanitatis penned a devotional classic. This work is a model for aspiring Christian Humanists. Within this devotional masterpiece, Petrarch, adopts the medieval literary form of devotional literature which shows his humanistic impulse of imitating different forms to match the content.
This beautiful work as a whole is divided into three major parts essentially addressing the "enemies of the soul". First, demons. Second, the world, and the third part is the flesh. For any who has seriously read the writings of Petrarch, whether they be of a so-called religious or secular nature, it is clear that Augustine is of great influence on his soul. This writing demonstrates this in the most profound way. For critics who see a humanistic impulses in Petrarch's mind in opposition to traditional Christianity, this work could easily correct that falsehood. In this book, Petrarch speaks of God in terms that are decidedly Biblical. It is clear that a rationalistic or naturalistic notion of God is completely absent from this work.
There are too many places to note within this writing that demonstrate Petrarch's humility. Let me give just one, "Here now I mean to make good my intention and to express in writing what I was not able to do in person, if only my voice is strong enough, the voice of a sinful man who is tired, ignorant, and overwhelmed with care." (4)
The true genius of this work is found at moments of what would be called an extended meditation on particular words or phrases. One such example is his use of the term "take time". In addition to reflecting on this notion in reference to Aristotle, there is a good bit of Scripture where Petrarch connects the phrase of "take time" and all that it implies for living a faithful diligent life. Here is one quote that perfectly illustrates this point, "What am I doing? Is there any corner of the Scriptures anywhere which is not full of useful threats and admonitions, which is not full of consolations and cures for the soul? Therefore take time, my brothers, from these unseen plagues about which I have warned you above and about to speak further, and so that I may settle the matter once and for all, abstain from all matters in which the peril of your soul lies." (19)
Throughout this work Petrarch makes distinctions. Possibly the most important distinction is between true virtue and apparent virtue. It is simple enough to recognize from this work and other writings by Petrarch that he has not always been well represented. Contrary to the all too common misreading of Petrarch, one place of correction is when Petrarch discusses virtues. His reflection on virtues is clear that he sees virtues as a gift from God. One such instant is here, "They believe habit is created by repeating acts, as if either one act of virtue or the choice itself were within the power of humanity without the help of God." (137) In places in this work Petrarch gives God the entire credit for the possibility of even being virtuous. In other places he speaks about God as assisting or providing grace to those who are seeking to please God by living a more virtuous life in Christ. On this particular point, the most telling may indeed be this, "Into this way only his evils are his own, or if he wants to share his attributes with someone else, whatever virtue there is in a moral man belongs to God alone. This cannot belong, or be said to belong, to another because even exterior objects belong to God. " (140)
For Petrarch, "true virtue" is that which is authentically rooted deep within the human soul and manifests itself in consistent Christian conduct. False or inauthentic virtue would be that which is not rooted within the soul and/or that which does not manifest itself consistently in Christian conduct.
This work is filled with devotional gems from beginning to end. It is not uncommon to find on different pages insights into God's Holy Word that causes the reader to commit oneself to greater devotion. It is also common to see Petrarch referencing Cicero in part of a paragraph and God's Divine teaching in another part of the paragraph. However, he does this in a uniquely complementary manner.
There are times On Religious Leisure sounds more like a contemporary fundamentalist preacher than a brilliant Christian humanist of the Renaissance. One example is, "More pertinent to this endeavor, however, are humanity's sins, which have created all the problems and remaining plagues of the world, which are innumerable and limitless. If there were no sins, there would be no human misery, no disaster, no confusion, no death. Now, however, they are so great that they bring with them another evil even greater than the goads of our conscience…This is above every other evil: our sins make us unfaithful, lacking in belief, continually desperate, and, as if God did not care for human concerns, prone to all crime and shame." (56)
On the other hand, true to the Humanistic impulse of the Renaissance, Petrarch speaks in a more favorable manner of human nature as created by God, and of which even sin could not ruin all of God's glorious working. In other words, Petrarch and some of the Reformers would not have been on the same page regarding the power of sin to alter the nature God formed with Adam and Eve. It is worth noting that Petrarch's view of human nature, despite the power and destructive force of sin, is high because of God's common grace and the original human nature being crafted by a more powerful God.
In addition to numerous insights into Biblical passages, Petrarch also provides insight into countless Classical writings. One example is when he gives a brief meditation on Plato's Phaedro (94). Petrarch makes abundant references to Aristotle, Augustine, Cicero, Ambrose, and a range of other early Church Fathers, while he offers rich and insightful comments on Holy Writ.
While this work could not silence the critics, especially since in their ignorance their arrogance reigns supreme, it can offer an edifying devotional writing to those who seek spiritual reflection of a deeper nature. Be warned, this devotional writing is along the lines of The Imitation of Christ, not what one might find on the shelves of the local Christian bookstore. The would be prefect for anyone desiring to go to the deeper side of living the faith in Jesus Christ.

Wisdom, Wildlife and Words

2012-01-21T13:06:00.001-08:00

Do you know what world respected university affirms in its 1650 charter that it was established for “the education of the English and Indian youths of this country in knowledge and godliness…”? Answer: Harvard.

What famous American university founded by ministers in 1701 states in its charter that the trustees of the college must be ministers, and that “the purpose of the school was the instruction of youth in the arts and sciences, that they might be fitted for public employment, both in church and civil state...To the religious leaders central to this university, theology was the basis, security and test of arts and sciences…education and religion should be the basis and the chief fruits of the educational process…”? Answer: Yale.

Several scholarly volumes have chronicled the decline and failure of higher education. Is this decline a result of one of the many boogiemen we fear may take us over, or was it something much more subtle and subversive? My suspicion is that the usual foes that are mentioned are not our greatest threat. It seems that even the “best” universities and Christian schools that guard the gates against common threats eventually have the walls broached; or some spy makes his way in to cause collapse from within the camp. In truth, the real problem may be the slow and daily decline of Christians thinking seriously as Christians. It is a gradual and nearly unnoticeable failing of God’s people, who are supposed to be shaped by God’s Spirit through Sacred Scripture, but instead are being molded by worldly wisdom and the spirit of the ages. Did the drift begin with the Bible teachers, among the Biology faculty, or with the literary selections made by English faculty? Or did it begin with the historians’ studies as they lost sense of the big picture? Maybe the drift began when the many philosophies contrary to common sense became commonplace.

While many have written about the demise of education over the past generation, we should be less concerned with the soulless state university and more concerned with the mindless Christian academy. The Bible encourages us to glorify God in our thinking. This is what we refer to as Christian education. There may indeed be legitimate grounds for deep despair, but we, as followers of the Christ, should have real hope. Those in the Christian academy serve the one who gave new life to His murdered son; he can certainly give new live to the withered Christian mind.

Therefore, for a few moments, let us reason together. I am compelled to admonish the reader, the body, and the Christian academy. It is worth noting that even the Greek word, admonish, translated in both classical and New Testament Greek, can denote “to speak to the mind.”

Let us begin with a most peculiar passage in the Old Testament that describes the “wisest” man in the Old Testament.

1 Kings 4:29-34 (ESV) And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding beyond measure, and breadth of mind like the sand on the seashore, so that Solomon's wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all the people of the east and all the wisdom of Egypt. For he was wiser than all other men, wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol, and his fame was in all the surrounding nations. He also spoke 3,000 proverbs, and his songs were 1,005. He spoke of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of the wall. He spoke also of beasts, and of birds, and of reptiles, and of fish. And people of all nations came to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and from all the kings of the earth, who had heard of his wisdom.

Isn’t that strange? We might think that a devout, religious king would be busying his royal head with merely practical matters of managing his minions. In truth, Solomon stands as a model for all of us. You can be devout and be a thinker at the same time. You can be intensely concerned about the ways of God and a reflective ruler. Solomon’s knowledge and wisdom were interconnected and they should both be seen as a gift from God. In this passage, we see the king described as philosopher, poet, musician, and natural scientist.

In the new covenant, we even see that our brother, Stephen, made a unique reference to Moses as he stood before the Sanhedrin moments away from his mature death. Acts 7:22 (ESV) And Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was mighty in his words and deeds. While Moses was certainly wise in the ways of God, it is the reference to him being “instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians” that stands as a possible spur for us to attain all the wisdom of the ages and place it in the service of God.

We should recall that while Jesus used some “uneducated and untrained” fisherman to turn the world upside down, he also used the highly educated Luke and Paul to pen most of the New Testament

By way of a cautionary tale, even education can be taken to extreme. If we recall how others may perceive the highly educated, we may be moved to keep in mind that while the life of the mind is a noble way to serve God, others may not be able to properly appraise our learning. Acts 26:24-25 (ESV) And as he was saying these things in his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, "Paul, you are out of your mind; your great learning is driving you out of your mind." But Paul said, "I am not out of my mind, most excellent Festus, but I am speaking true and rational words.
Another key figure we meet in Acts is a Greek. We read in Acts 18:24 (ESV) that he was a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, competent in the Scriptures. No doubt that this eloquence developed while studying rhetoric, logic, and philosophy, and was placed in service as he grew in his competence of scripture.

All true knowledge ultimately finds its place in God. He is the author of all truth; therefore, all truth is God’s truth: from Biology to Bible, language to Liberal Arts, Math to Marketing, Chemistry to Calculus, Logic to Literary Criticism, Philosophy to Physical Fitness, English Literature to Economics, Criminal Justice to Computer science, and Psychology to Physics. Lest I attempt to include all that is in the university catalog, let me sum up this verbal see-saw by affirming that if Jesus is the Alpha and Omega, he is also Lord over disciplines ranging from Algebra to Zoology.

The very fact that God chose to reveal Himself through the written Word stands as the greatest evidence for this part of education. We need some knowledge of words and how they convey meaning, value, and truth.

We would be missing the foundational call to Christian education by one greater than Solomon if we ignore His teachings when He gave the greatest command. In Mark’s gospel we read, And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, "Which commandment is the most important of all?" Jesus answered, "The most important is, 'Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these." Mark 12:28-31 (ESV)

It should be our prayer that the Creator of all forgives us because we failed to make His thoughts our thoughts, and we have failed to make His ways our ways. If we beseech our Father, we can trust that He will enable us to take every thought captive for His eternal glory.

Is there a BEST English Bible? Possibly....

2012-01-21T13:06:00.000-08:00

Since the middle of the twentieth century there has been an explosion of translations of the Bible into English. Between 1952 and 1990 there were twenty-seven English versions of the entire Bible. Several have been added to this number since 1990. Many are excited about this ever-expanding number; others are contending that there may be some negative unintended consequences due to this development.

Most discussions and debates about the “best” translation of the Bible into modern English are rooted in misconceptions about the most reliable original manuscripts, varying philosophies of language, and various translation philosophies. The two main camps are the literal word-for-word, or the dynamic equivalent thought-for-thought.

Dr. Leland Ryken, Professor of English at Wheaton College, brings a unique and discerning perspective to this discussion. Due to his expertise as a Biblical literary critic, Ryken is highly qualified to enter this arena. He has written several helpful books that apply the discipline of literary analysis to the Scriptures. In this current book, Ryken places the discussion of the best English version of the Bible translation within a broader context. The majority of books written over the past few decades that examine English Bibles either take a historical approach by examining the development of the numerous versions, or a linguistic comparison of particular words, phrases or ideas from the original languages into English. Ryken poses different questions and examines the discussion from a broader cultural and literary perspective while providing exceptionally perceptive analysis.

One of the many keen observations within his work, Ryken explores the shift from the more literal KJV, RSV and NASB to the more parphasistic NIV and NLT. He questions the philosophy behind this shift and highlights the errors inherent with diverse translating philosophies. By placing questions of “thought” translations in a philosophical context (how does one have thoughts without words?) and literary context (are some ways of expressing an idea not better than others?), Ryken makes a tremendous contribution to an extremely important issue. Ryken offers persuasive evidence that there is a substantial difference between a translation of the Bible and an interpretation of the Bible.

Ryken’s book is distinctive when compared with others that evaluate and contrast various English versions. He examines matters such as effective diction, clarity, vividness, connotation, ambiguity, rhythm, and beauty. The sections of the book that explore these issues, as well as the all-important matter of style, are among the most important, but may also receive the greatest criticism. Since many believe that style is merely opinion and highly subjective, then the case for an elevated style (where appropriate in the original) will fall on deaf ears.

The book is not a tirade against the KJV for being archaic English or the NIV for being too tolerant by adding words where they are absent, or deleting words where they are present in the original. Ryken is laying the groundwork for dealing with the serious matter of having the best English Bible. Specifically regarding the KJV, Ryken praises the literary quality style of the KJV, while recognizing that it “has become culturally obsolete with its archaic language and deficient scholarship.”

At the heart of Ryken’s argument is the question of how modern readers can be confident that we have the best (that is most literal and most literary) Bible in English? Ryken does an exceptional job refuting many fallacies about Bible translations and the ideas that go behind them. Three sections are dedicated to refuting common fallacies of translation. He also does a marvelous job of establishing the criteria of what would be the best English Bible. Nearly half of the book is dedicated to exposing and refuting faulty ideas about the Bible in English and the other half provides many helpful suggestions toward solving these problems.

One flaw that some may levy against the book is that it is too repetitive. In truth, Ryken often repeats a point, but develops it within a different context, or toward a different end than previously pursued. Another possible flaw of Ryken’s work is that he seems hopeful about the possibilities of real change regarding this subject. If Ryken is correct, then Christendom is torn between the “if Peter and Paul used the KJV, it’s good enough for me” and the “I personally like the NIV because it speaks to me in language that is easy to understand.” If his assumptions are true, the problems are worse than the solutions he proposes. Simply put, if the church is filled with some who, on the one hand, are entrenched in the way of using a translation with 1611 English and others who, on the other hand, desire a microwave version of the Bible that is tasty and easy to digest, then we are far from having one Bible that is recognized as the best translation of the Word of God into today’s English.

Ryken’s book is a much-needed corrective to misguided translation theories that have contributed to a debasing, rather than an elevating, of the English language. Anyone with a college level education or someone well read and familiar with these issues would benefit from this book. It is well suited for a college level class on the History of the Bible in English, Bible as Literature, or a Hermeneutics class. It would also be great for a small group that would be interested in grappling with this truly important issue.

Those in the church should consider this final issue—if many modern Bible translations are written on an elementary school reading level, what happens to the maturing Christian who is desirous of a literal and literary translation written for the college graduate?

My Favorite Liberal Arts Professor and I Never Had Him for Class

2012-01-21T13:05:00.000-08:00

What prompted this blog is that not long ago, a professor I have tremendous respect for stated in an interview that there are few, if any great essayist alive and writing today. If I understood him correctly, I disagree. If I misunderstood him, I apologize. In either case, I wanted to write a blog (not an essay) about my favorite living Liberal Arts professor. There are some odd things about him being my favorite.
Professor Schall is Roman Catholic (actually Father Schall in the Jesuit order) and I am not. Professor Schall is a Professor of Political Science and yet a genius of Liberal Arts. I am a Professor of Great Books and when he writes of Great Books (it is obvious he has read many) he warns of the temptation of relativism. Mortimer Adler and others also warned of such things and they are right in their warnings. I have never heard a single lecture by Dr. Schall but have read over a thousand pages he has penned. In one essay he speaks about the mystery of people who have taught him and yet he has never met them. Dr. Schall is such a teacher for me. We did have one brief email exchange once about Great Books and in his gracious tone he told me to proceed with caution.
I have for several years now required some of my graduate students in a Great Books program I oversee to read select essays by Dr. Schall. I always get the same reaction. The students speak about how much they have learned in only a few pages of print. Dr. Schall moves from Scripture to Thomas Aquinas, to Peanuts (that is correct, Peanuts the comic strip), to discussions about metaphysics, science, the economy, and our muddled political milieu with the greatest of ease. My theory is that he is able to do this, because he has the wisdom that can come with the best of a Liberal Arts education.
In addition, to offering delightful insights on just about every page, Dr. Shall provides reading lists of books that have shaped the way he thinks. I suspect that he has read more books than many in our increasingly bookless society have seen. Dr. Schall writes with clarity, grace, wit, and wisdom. I hope I have learned much from him, and if I have then I thank him for being one of my best teachers, and he is indeed my favorite teacher I never had for a single class.

The books in the above picture are:

The Modern Age (grand insights into our dark moment)
On the Unseriousness of Human Affairs (for those needing clarity on why wasting time can be virtuous)
The Life of the Mind (for those with a mind looking for furniture to place in it)
Another Sort of Learning (for those who have yet to learn despite all their learning)
A Student's Guide to the Liberal Arts (for any and every student who will ever attend a modern university)
*The Classic Moment (not pictured, but will be purchased and read as soon as released)

Francis Bacon's The Sphinx: A Slanted Fable

2012-01-20T05:28:00.000-08:00

While Francis Bacon is a first rate intellect, he can also be seen as one of the enablers of our modern scientific madness. Adler says of this key Bacon work that, "The Sphinx is a fable. It is not always wise to say much about a fable. It should be read and pondered." In his introductory comments, Adler observes that at the heart of Bacon's fable is an exploration of the nature of science itself and human nature. Adler does ask one great question, "Is there not evidence that the one kind is much more difficult than the other?" In other words, Adler is making a great observation that human nature and the nature of science are profoundly intertwined and need to be considered together as they both have implications for one another.
There are two related questions that are also worth pondering as one reads the Francis Bacon fable on "The Sphinx." Adler asked, "to the nature of man, how much does the modern age know which Bacon did not? Or has it even forgotten some things that seemed clear and obvious to him?" My own sense is that neither Bacon nor much of the modern mind has a real clear understanding of either the nature of science or the nature of man.
Part of the reason I make such a bold assertion is found at the very beginning of the fable by Bacon. He describes the looks of the Sphinx that has claws of aggression. It seems that the modern world has forgotten how Christianity came to view the Griffin. If the moden mind was guided by the Griffin, we would certainly be in a better condition. It is worth noting that Bacon says, "the Sphinx is a killer." However, it is Oedipus in his wisdom, that slays the Sphinx. Here's one key quote from the story, "Science, being the wonder of the ignorant and unskillful, may not absurdly be called a monster." One could add, even to the knowledgeable and the most skilled, science could be thought of as a beast, apparently open to being tamed, but also ultimately beyond human control.
Bacon also says, "again the Sphinx proposes to men a variety of hard questions and riddles which she received from the Muses." One could say that modern practical science seems to have entirely lost this sense of mystery, awe, and wonder. One thing that Bacon says that is certainly not true is that, "For he who understands his subject is a master of his end; and every workman is king over his work." Bacon and other scientists seem to miss one of the most striking aspects of applied science. It is what the Amish clearly understand. It is the reality of the unintended consequences of our application. In other words, our tools often act back upon us in a manner we did not anticipate.
Even though this fable by a mind as grand as Bacon's is worth reading and pondering, it is the slant of the fable that is easily missed. While there is something of a warning tone in the fable, ultimately, Bacon celebrates in fictional form man's potential for reigning sovereign with science (theoretical and applied) as our slave. The reality of the lessons of history has demonstrated that it is often the master who is the slave.

The Other Side of the Keyhole: Russell Kirk's Ghost Stories

2012-01-19T19:53:00.000-08:00

During my years of teaching, I have frequently admonished students with this deeply held conviction. If you can find a cultural critic or essayist that you enjoy, and he or she also happens to write fiction—read it.

While Russell Kirk (1918-94) is best known as one of the founding fathers of post-World War II conservatism, a cultural critic, historian and political thinker, he has also been praised by the likes of Ray Bradbury, T.S. Eliot, and Madeleine L’Engle as a teller of ghostly tales.

Ancestral Shadows: An Anthology of Ghostly Tales is a collection of nineteen of Kirk's best “ghostly” tales from periodicals and anthologies published throughout his life. The average literary treat is approximately seventeen pages in length. A few of these tales delightfully exceed forty. These stories are a real intellectual pleasure by an accomplished scholar and man of letters. The intellectual virtues wonderfully blended with form and content are manifested within this fiction, which conveys the essence of the permanent things by means of the moral imagination.

If this is the reader’s first encounter with the thought of Russell Kirk, great assistance comes by way of the helpful introduction by Vigen Guroian. Guroian contends that “for a comprehensive understanding of Kirk’s conservative vision, a familiarity with his fiction is necessary, for it is here that Kirk’s rich imaginative mind vividly casts the drama of the soul’s struggle with good and evil in relation to a transcendent realm of meaning and purpose.”

After the introductory essay by Guroian, the reader may actually benefit by reading the concluding essay by Kirk. “A Cautionary Note on the Ghostly Tale” is an insightful addition in which Kirk muses over why he writes such stories. Kirk observes, “All important literature has some ethical end…and the tale of the preternatural — as written by George Macdonald, C. S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and other masters — can be an instrument for the recovery of moral order.”

Describing his own stories, Kirk notes, “The tales in this volume have retributive ghosts, malign magicians, blind angels, beneficent phantoms, conjuring witches, demonic possession, creatures of the twilight, divided selves. I present them to you unabashed. They may impart some arcane truths about good and evil; as Chesterton put it, all life is an allegory, we can understand it only in parable.”

Reminiscent of medieval morality plays where the drama is set on a cosmic stage, particular characters struggle with particular vices and virtues in places and time with eternal implications. While Kirk has favorably been compared to Edith Wharton, Ambrose Bierce, and Edgar Allen Poe, one can also see affinities to the style and atmosphere of Charles Williams and Flannery O'Connor.

In comparable fashion to Williams, Kirk often blurs the artificial lines we construct between this realm and the ultimately authentic world beyond this one. It is with a profound sense of mystery that Kirk’s stories unfold. Similar to MacDonald, Lewis, Williams, and O’Connor, Kirk’s fiction could easily be characterized as sacramental. In other words, there are everyday realities that serve as signs pointing to a transcendent reality often ignored or unnoticed. This reality can and does break into our experiences and move us through marginalized moments toward that which is definitive.

Kirk was a fabulous prose stylist, as anyone who has read his non-fiction could attest. His skill and imagination are demonstrated in these stories. The plots and settings are imaginative and varied while peopled with believable characters struggling with redemption.

Just as it is stated of Uncle Isaiah that he “left his brand on people”, it could be said of other characters that inhabit the literary and moral universe of Russell Kirk. Characters such as Raymond Thomas Montrose, Isaiah Kinnaird, Gerald Ogham, Cribben, Sarah Corr, Yolande, Frank Sarsfield, and Fork Causland tend to stay with the reader.

Encountering various compelling characters in Kirk’s fiction moves the reader to introspection. “A sargeant’s son, I was born in Spanish Town, Jamaica, and I am shiny black: nobody excels me in negritude. The barmaids of Pentecost Road say I have a ‘cute British accent.’ I believe in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; the resurrection of the dead; and the life everlasting. I am celibate, not quite forty years of age, and since my ordination chaste of body. I have survived Hawkhill a whole year.” The various encounters, trials, temptations, failures, and a graced victory, parallel those of the readers’ who may be open to the workings of the divine.

The reader also inhabits the terrain of places such as Low Watford, Balgrummo Lodging, Parish of Hawkhill, Anthonyville, and Tomarack House which, in turn, become part of the reader’s internal landscape.

Among the many enjoyable tales in this book, there are a few that are truly outstanding. A Long, Long Trail A-Winding and Watchers at the Straight Gate are two tales featuring the most unique central character, Frank Sarsfield. His life is multi-layered and emotionally moving. In The Invasion of the Church of the Holy Ghost, (closely resembling the spiritual atmosphere of certain Flannery O’Connor short stories), ghosts are agents of Satan. While this evil reality is not as powerful as God's “ghosts”, it can still work the master’s dark will. The Surly Sullen Bell is an effectively heartbreaking story of unfulfilled love unified within a disturbing plot. Balgrummo's Hell follows a traditional plot of the end to which greed leads.

In a cautionary tale for bibliophiles, What Shadows We Pursue describes how an excessive fixation on books (like anything else) can bring deceit and death. In Saviourgate, a distracted man moves beyond the normal temporal and spatial bounds to find genuine courage.

These stories are all placed within a moral universe where actions, words, and events have weighty import. Russell Kirk was an orthodox Catholic believer and affirmed belief in real good and diabolical evil, the presence of sin, a need for repentance, salvation, and judgment in both the here-and-now and the age to come.

The secular and sacred, holy and profane, temporal and eternal bleed into one another in Kirk’s ghost stories in an approach parallel to the novels of Charles Williams. Take as one example this description, “Shoddy little theaters for X-rated films (their marquees promising more than they can deliver, in competition with the living flesh next door or down the road); ‘adult’ bookshops for retarded adolescents and middle-aged illiterates; scantly stocked tiny ‘notion’ shops that are fronts for narcotic-peddling—these are the thriving enterprises of Pentecost Road, in this year of our Lord. The hideousness of it hurts as much as the depravity.”

Kirk writes in a captivating, entertaining, and engaging prose giving incarnation to his deeply held convictions. Signals of transcendence constantly break through even as the decline of mundane surrounding is described, “Fashionable suburbs, the automobile, and industrialization had turned the North End into a boneyard of defaced and degraded old houses.” Or in another scene, “There were more than two thousand people here in town and roundabout, a few years after the General built Tamarack House! But first the lumber industry gave out, and then the mines were exhausted, and the prison-break in 1915 scared many away forever. There were no passenger trains now, and they say the railway line will be pulled out altogether when the new freeway—they have just begun building to the east—is ready for traffic. But we still have the maples and the tamaracks, and there are ever so many raccoons and the opossums and squirrels for you to watch—and a lynx, I think, and an otter or two, and many deer.” This scene is evocative of author Wendell Berry with the key difference that it is set within a backdrop of a purgatorial environment.

Characterization is achieved through the normal means, but the language used by Kirk’s theological heritage is utilized, “‘I look upon you, sir,’ said Isaiah Kinnaird, ‘an an interesting phenomenon of social disintegration, a representative specimen of these depraved days.”

Kirk likens the ghostly tale to the “parable and fable” and comments that these stories “can be a means of expressing truths enchantingly.” So what is it that makes these “ghosts stories” so ghostly? In Kirk’s own words, describing the “ghosts stories” of others, “The better uncanny stories are underlain by a healthy concept of the character of evil.” These are not mere bump-in-the-night, goose bump, chills producing stories; rather these are tales that have the capacity to move the soul toward refection. Kirk does indeed accomplish the task of unblocking the “keyhole” and allows us to peer through to the other side.

Ray Bradbury's The Flying Machine as Cautionary Tale

2012-01-19T05:09:00.000-08:00

Some Literary theorists through the ages have spoken of the ability of stories to be both delightful and profitable. Bradbury's short stories are rich with truth and told in a delightful manner. Reading them aloud presents the ears with pleasure. Bradbury is a first rate wordsmith and master of metaphor. His short story, The Flying Machine is both delightful and instructive.
Certainly the story can be read in large part as a reflection of the human spirit exploring and seeking freedom. However, it would be a shame to miss the common Bradbury warning about the other side of the coin of innovation. Bradbury recognizes that with new technologies and inventions, something is lost. This is very clear in Dandelion Wine and Fahrenheit 451.
Read this story as both a celebration of human innovation and as a cautionary tale of human innovation. Here are some questions for reflection on a few key quotes, "....the people in his dominion were neither too happy nor too sad." Is this saying that they were, "just right" or that mediocrity had set in among the people? What is the reader to make of Emperor Yuan's fear? Some people mistakenly see him as a brutal dictator, but he is described as being fearful more than once. If the story is anti-technolgy, what does one do with the miniature mechanical garden? How does one interpret the ending of the story in light of the entire story?

The Ratio Studiorum as Partial Blueprint for Classical Christian Schools

2012-01-18T11:27:00.000-08:00

While the Classical Christian school movement continues to make amazing strides and garner the attention of many across the country, one practice the movement can have is that of constantly reevaluating its current composition and practice in light of its roots. Related to this is the need to know the roots. While many have read key modern works by authors, some aware of the primary sources, others not, it is imperative that Headmasters, board members, and teachers return to the original fountain.

One source that many non-Catholic schools are not even aware of , but has most assuredly shaped the roots of the movement is the Ratio Studiorum. Long before Dorothy Sayers penned the Lost Tools of Learning and others piggy-backed on some of her insights, the Jesuits authored a most important education document. Classical Christian schools with Protestant leanings, and certainly those committed to "mere Christianity" would benefit from the countless gems in this writing.
When reading the Ratio, we are not to see it as a required curriculum, but we really should see it more as giving details related to instruction, administration, the calendar of the year, specific classes, the library, and the various types of testing that go on through the learning year. It is of the greatest importance to see the stress placed on the overall vision of this document that we glorify God and love our neighbor through the educational process.
There are various rules throughout this work. There are rules for professors of Rhetoric, rules for teachers of Humanities, and even rules for the Scholastics. For example, as we look at the rules for the professors of rhetoric, eloquence is limited to oratory, style, and erudition. We are instructed to read Quintilian, Aristotle, and Cicero, but it is Cicero who we are to give the greatest attention regarding style.
Additionally, there is a good bit of instruction on reading the historians and poetry. Related to the overall learning experience, we should dedicate a great deal of attention to memory. There is also instruction on written work, on how we should imitate serious poets and orators, and how we can learn from one language to another. There is also emphasis placed on both studying oratory and poetry and properly interpreting poetry and oratory. This process will cultivate genuine thinking skills. Throughout the document, there are occasional references to yielding to proper authorities, respecting those authorities, and learning from those authorities.
This amazing educational writing does not shy away from specifically pointing out that great rhetoricians, historians, and poets should be studied. And these authors are taught not only because of their stature, but they are taught because of their form and content as being standard setting. The notion is that when learning, we should learn from the very best. In addition to memorization, there is also emphasis placed on recitation.
At one point the document reads, "during the first half–hour after lunch, let a poet and the catechism be recited from memory…" It is worth noting this takes place after lunch! I would add here for the modern academy, if one is hesitant to instruct a catechism, one could easily replace the catechism with select Sacred Scriptures or select Creeds. Throughout this educational masterpiece, there are insights on how best to provide instruction, even on how to grade papers. One of my favorite aspects of this writing is that it is the "master" who must be the model of all of these matters at all times if the student is to learn. All teachers should be "masters" of teaching. All teachers should also have mastered the subject and form of their disciplines. The world of the Ratio is a far distance from the modern educational factories.
Let me specifically quote from this document, and this alone is why we should read this piece for Classical Christian schools serious about true learning. "Let our scholastics strive especially to preserve purity of mind and right intention in their studies: seeking nothing further into these than Divine glory and the profit of souls; in their prayers let them frequently ask for grace that they may progress in learning and that they may at length become suitable,…to cultivate the vineyard of Christ our Lord by their example and their learning." One of my favorite items in this writing is that the "scholastics" is a term that was used for students. We should reclaim this term and refer to the students as "scholastics" and the teachers as "masters."
Without a doubt, this writing is among the most "practical" when it comes to instruction. There is even material on studying according to the direction of the headmaster or the superior. Attention is given to note taking, stress is placed upon both personal moderation and the moderation within studies. It is also worth noting that the student is strongly encouraged to participate in all sorts of fruitful academic related activities that will supplement their thinking. There are numerous exhortations to constantly take advantage of all opportunities for learning. Compare this to the modern academy and ask, to what end will these different philosophies of education take the "scholastics"?

The Most Humane Ray Bradbury

2012-01-11T14:18:00.000-08:00

I just ran across a fine essay (with a less than fine title) about Ray Bradbury in The American Conservative. Daniel J. Flynn understands some of the key humane themes in Bradbury's fiction. Flynn, notes regarding Martian Chronicles that Bradbury’s retro heaven meshes with his skepticism of progress, science, and technology. His life exhibits throwback tendencies; his fiction, all the more.
My favorite Flynn observation is what actually caused me to love the writings of Bradbury. "Ray Bradbury loves human beings, and his hatred of the digital devices that divide us from us stems from their dehumanizing influence."
Over the past few years people have asked me regarding my research of Bradbury, "is he anti-technology"? The short answer is "no." Bradbury, unlike most others, realizes that our human technologies act back upon us in unintended ways. Again, Flynn states, "Bradbury’s vision of the future germinated from what he saw in the postwar present: gadgeted distractions, screens separating humans from humans, televisions raising children, the vicarious life replacing life itself, leisure time becoming a waste of time. He sensed in which direction the world spun, and he didn’t want to go there. Alas, from Fahrenheit 451’s televised helicopter fugitive chase to the television-as-babysitter of “The Veldt” (1950), we live in the real world that his fiction had warned us about."
One point where I both agree and disagree with Flynn is regarding Fahrenheit 451. "The obvious reading of Fahrenheit 451 reveals a story about censorship...But the more subtle and important theme involves passive entertainment displacing the life of the mind. It is less about right-left than about smart-stupid." I believe that the more obvious reading of Fahrenheit 451 is about the death of the American mind and soul and the more obvious mis-reading is that the work is about censorship. It seems the mis-reading, may actually prove the thesis that the American mind and soul was buried sometime ago, but the zombies have not gotten the email.

I would add, that if one desires to move beyond the popular biographical version (with some inaccuracies) on the life of Ray Bradbury, the definitive biography is currently being written by Dr. Jonathan Eller. Eller's Becoming Ray Bradbury provides a depth and texture that popular biographies lack. Additionally, Drs. Eller and Toupounce are assembling a multi-volume, critical edition, chronological compilation of Bradbury's stories with the first volume already published.

Mathematics in Life and Thought.....Reading from Gateway to the Great Books

2012-01-10T15:16:00.000-08:00

As with the other readings in this series, all students (and most math teachers) would benefit from the philosophy that is present. While there are some occasional items that are dated, the readings are extremely beneficial, especially in terms of qualitative reflection-an item sorely lacking in much theoretical mathematics that calls for application of theories without full comprehension.

Within Mathematics, in Life and Thought by Andrew Russell Forsyth, there is much for enjoyment and reflection. In contrast to the emphasis on "practical results" of some modern mathematics, Forsyth, says, “If utility should come, well and good: but we need trouble no more about immediate utility as an aim than the Greeks troubled about the utility of their conic sections or Newton troubled about the utility of the gravitation theory” (46). In the same line of thinking Forsyth states, “Ever since man has attempted to acquire ordered knowledge, the science that deals with number and deals with form has been pursued for its own sake because, thereby, the human spirit can find unending satisfaction and unending occupation. And the creations of mathematical science have been the glory of the nations” (45). No doubt, some ancient mathematicians would take issue with the term "creations" as opposed to "discoveries." This is a key, but rare distinction.

Forsyth is in the majority of mathematical camp that asserts “Mathematics as a pure science of progressive knowledge” (45). It is on this basis that he and others speak well of Newton and yet recognize a move past Newton. “The Newtonian theory is still alive sufficiently to provide man with a working hypothesis of the natural universe in which he lives” (44). PBS did a series some years ago on Newton that should be required viewing. While there was some chronological snobbery hoisted against Newton, much of the series was respectful and insightful.

Juan Luis Vives Shows Us The Aim of Studies and the Scholar's World

2012-01-04T10:40:00.000-08:00

Juan Luis Vives (1492-1549) was part of what we now call the "humanist revival" during the Renaissance. He, among others, exalted the role of grammar and rhetoric in education. Like others before him, Vives placed a special emphasis on the usefulness of education. But by usefulness, Vives did not mean what we mean in the modern schools. Rather, he meant that education should spend time cultivating wisdom and being of service to the world at large.
Vives saw the connection between various studies, a loss that has terribly crippled the modern academy. "We must study all branches of knowledge." Additionally he said that, "the student will be always desirous of learning, and will never suppose that he has already reached the highest point of learning. Seneca has said very incisively: that many men want a taint to true learning, if they did not believe that they had already obtained to it." This is one example among many, that shows that Vives wanted students to embody humility. It is also likely the reason why he encouraged students to begin all their studies with prayer following the example of many of the great Christian students through the ages.
Vives also encouraged students to remember bodily health, avoid arrogance, live the Christian faith, and recognize that wisdom is the key to all of learning and life. As a matter of fact, it can be seen in his writings that he believes that wisdom and humility are to reign supreme. "The wise man directions himself to the contemplation of that holy and divine wisdom."
It is worth noting that Vives when writing of rhetoric or erudition, pointed out that it involved four factors. These factors according to Vives are, "natural capacity, judgment, memory, and application." Vives even gave credit to God for these related to rhetoric. Also, Vives gives a profound insight where he says, "I maintain that with Cicero himself, that I should prefer the words of wisdom, inelegantly expressed, rather than foolish fluency."
A good portion of Vives writings focuses on such things as riches and power as they are related to learning. He encourages all students to "first philosophize" and then become rich. He also gives quite a bit of instruction on how some seek glory with their learning contending this is not wise. He points out that fame is a shallow and fleeting motivation for education. In some of the most wonderful terms, he gives the proper motivation or ultimate goal for learning. "This then is the fruit of all studies; this is the goal. Having acquired our knowledge, we must turn it to usefulness, and employ it for the common good."
As with many Renaissance thinkers, Vives took seriously what it means to be human. He recognized that we human beings do need encouragement, but he directs students to seek praise in the right places. "More wretched still, if I were to buy people's good word in exchange for such an excellent and holy reward, and preferred to be praised by mortal men rather than by the immortal God; by fools, rather than by Wisdom Itself. Oh how we fish with a golden hook, for merely foul eels!"
In addition to writing to students or about students, Vives also wrote to Scholars about scholarship. He makes the case that real wisdom and eloquence is saying fitting words in the finest manner at the most fruitful time. He severely criticized those who debased scholarship by hypocrisy. Great is the era of learning, but better is that era of true education that has deeds that complement learning is at the heart of his message for scholars. "Learned men should show themselves gentle, affable, self – controlled, unvanquished by depraved desires, and should demonstrate how much wisdom can accomplish in the human mind, when it has the sovereignty; and what a great distance there is between the wise man and the fool."
When Vives provides specific instructions on teaching, he encourages the teacher to imitate Jesus in form and content. "And in teaching, what master shall we rather imitate than Christ himself who the father sent from heaven to teach the human race." As a Christian humanist, Vives wrote most eloquently about why the learning of that time was called humanistic. In essence it is that education that makes us fully human. He recognized that all of this learning (as he described it) has its source in God and can make us good human beings.

Jesus THE Philosopher.....Thank You Peter Kreeft

2012-01-03T21:33:00.001-08:00

For me it was the article by Dallas Willard, Jesus the Logician, that improved the way I saw Jesus. Like so many, I mainly saw Jesus as a "spiritual" figure, and much of my life I was certainly gnostic. I am grateful for the authors that I have read that emphasized the incarnation and took very seriously that God became human. In truth, most Christians struggle with either emphasizing the humanity or the divinity of Jesus. Historical Christianity sees either extreme as herasy.
Peter Kreeft's The Philosophy of Jesus is a fantastic book on several levels. While it esteems the philosophy of Jesus, Kreeft stresses that the philosophy of Jesus is so intertwined with his humanity and divinity. Jesus was truly the greatest philosopher who ever lived. A look at the table of contents shows vintage Kreeft. You will note both the traditional categories and the unique look Kreeft offers.
Who is this book for?

How was Jesus a philosopher?

What are the four great questions of philosophy?

Jesus' Metaphysics what is real

Jesus' Jewish metaphysics

Jesus' new name for God

The metaphysics of Love

The moral consequences of metaphysics

Sanctity is the key to ontology

The metaphysics of "I Am"
Jesus' epistemology (how do we know what is real?)
Jesus' anthropology (who are we who knows what is real?)
Jesus' ethics (what should we be to be more real?)
Jesus' personalism: seeing "Jesus only"
The overcoming of legalism
The refutation of relativism
The secret of moral success
Jesus and sex
Jesus and social ethics: solidarity
Jesus and politics: is He left or right?
Conclusion
There are way too many great quotes from this little book (162) to give a fair sampling. Looking back when I finished reading it, I discovered that there were not many pages that do not have a mark. This is a book that I am confident would be an intellectual and spiritual blessing for any Christian seeking greater insight into the philosophy of Jesus. I would also add that there are entire sections that would work well in a devotion, sermon, Bible lesson, or blog that would desire to yield insight into a topic rarely examined.

The Logos of Heraclitus.....So Much to Ponder

2011-12-31T14:04:00.000-08:00

Having read several of Eva Brann's books, I can say without exaggeration that she is among the most impressive contemporary scholarly readings. Among the qualities that make her so astute is that she is extraordinary at two things: she is a practiced close reader, and she has a range of knowledge that is generally limited to the polymath.

The consensus of Classical scholars is that Heraclitus looked within and it was there that he found the logos that was at the center of his meditations. It is this logos that is the ordering reality of the cosmos and all that is within the cosmos. The very term logos can be translated Logos, as word, reason, argument, and ratio. While the fragments of Heraclitus are a treat in their own right, Brann's analysis and conclusions are extremely helpful in connecting what is difficult to connect. The collected work of Heraclitus consists of 131 passages (fragments) that range in content and length.

A view of the table of contents below gives a real sense that Brann knows what she is doing in the way that she organizes her thoughts.

I. The Figure of Heraclitus

II. The Word logos

III. The Logos of Heraclitus

A. Logos and logos

B. The wise thing

C. The common

D. The discovery of Pythagoras

E. logoi and analogia

F. The New logos

G. The Ratio–Relation
H. The Heraclitean Application

I. The Milesian Predecessors

J. Heraclitus the First Physicist

K. Contentious Harmony

L. Elemental Transformations

M. Solvent Fire

N. The Multiform Logos

O. The Qualitative Metaphor

P. Oppositional Pairs

Q. Cosmic Antagonisms

R. Sensible Paradoxes

S. Father War

T. That Flux

U. The Being of Parmenides

IV The Afterlife of the Logos

V The Soul of Heraclitus

Postscript

While certain Classists contend that the fragments of Heraclitus are not likely to yield any insight when read as a whole, Brann proves otherwise. Her careful close reading of the Greek results in numerous glimpses into the philosophy of Heraclitus. For those within the Christian faith, the logos (John 1:1-14) is extreme important, and Brann's book does indeed enrich a Christian understanding of the profound historical, linguistic, and cultural background of this all important term.

Erasmus, Prince of the Christian Humanists and Forerunner of Christian Education

2011-12-30T22:47:00.000-08:00

I have never concealed, and actually have openly and passionately proclaimed, my admiration for Erasmus for as long as I have been aware of his writings. Of all the Renaissance reformers, I cannot understand how he is not as admired as Calvin and Luther. Erasmus, Prince of the Christian humanist and prolific author, was unequaled in intellect. Erasmus was indeed a great man "without a country" as he called for reformation in the Catholic Church but would not go as far as the Reformers outside of the Catholic Church.
Erasmus scholar, Craig R Thompson said that this of Erasmus, "in his lifetime no one did more to advance the intelligent study of classical languages and literature and explain their value for Christians." In his many writings, especially his Against the Barbarians, Erasmus defended what we now call humanistic education, but he was essentially giving proper esteem to Greek and Latin literature.
Erasmus believed that God was working in history to get all things ready for the benefit of the Christians, and Christians should do all that they can to take all of these ideas captive for the glory of Christ. "For the great and eternal Disposer, who is wisdom itself, establishes all things with consummate skill, differentiates them with beautiful play of interchange, and orders them with perfect rightness, so that each balances another in a marvelous way; nor does He allow anything to move at random in all the immense variety of the world." Erasmus believed and presented rather convincing arguments for God's working in human history for the good of His people. "One may understand that all things, whether hostile or heathen or in any other way far removed from him, must be drawn, even if they do not follow, even against their will, to the service of Christ...The best religion should be adorned and supported by the finest study...Everything in the pagan world that was valiantly done, brilliantly said, ingeniously thought, diligently transmitted, had been prepared by Christ for His society."
Within his masterful Against the Barbarians, he crafted a powerful case, not in terms of the vice of willful intellectual ignorance, but in terms of the sin of ingratitude. He proposed that it is ungracious and spiteful to not receive the gifts that God gives us and to not use them wisely. In positive terms, Erasmus was certain that there is no contradiction between the life of the mind and a soul committed to Christ. "If learning is added to his upright life, how much the power of his virtue will be increased, more brilliantly and more widely known as if a torch had been said before it!"
Erasmus responds to the critics of the Good Letters when he observes that some disdained the "invention of the heathen" and "imaginary fears," but the truth is that more than a few of the critics of the good letters are simply lazy. Part of the rhetorical power of Erasmus is that he will often present a positive alternative to the negative case previously made. "God, our parent, imparted to us, as seeds of fine skills, intellect, understanding, memory, and other gifts on the mind." Related to this point is that of Erasmus's many clever arguments calling for Christians to properly appraise the Liberal Arts. He says that "The Christian religion found Good Letters a valuable safeguard in times of stress."
Erasmus recognized that in order to refute the false authorities of his day he needed to bring forth some respected authorities. At the top of the list of authorities and highly respected by many in a Erasmus's day was none other than Augustine. Augustine encouraged us to study the Good Letters. Augustine urged learning of logic, rhetoric, physics, arithmetic, geometry, music, histories, knowledge of antiquities, grammar, dialect, and theology.
A most impressive Biblical image of how the Christian intellectual should handle the Classics is provided by an analogy to the Israelites leaving Egypt. "I wish I could give you the exact words of what follows, a charming passage about the household goods of the Egyptians, but nevertheless I will give a faithful account of it: we read in Exodus, he says, that when the Hebrews were secretly preparing to flee under their leader Moses from their servitude in Egypt, each took from his obliging neighbor all sorts of household goods, an immense amount of rings, clothes, and vessels, and having spoiled the Egyptians, they departed secretly. As we know that this flight, this fact, was done with the sanction of God, we may take it that there is a significance here: that divine providence was acting in consideration for the timidity of some people who would have been frightened to spoil the Egyptians, that is to take over the wisdom of the heathen, unless they had such an example of this very thing, such a commander, such a leader. To come out of Egypt is to leave behind even superstition and be converted to the Christian religion. To take away the wealth of Egypt is to transfer heathen literature to the adornment and use of our faith."
Erasmus concludes his persuasive argument by listing a number of those who "left Egypt"- Cyprian, Lactantius, Victorinus, Optatus, and Hilary. After reading this short masterpiece by Erasmus and recognizing that many have gone before us having fled Egyptian captivity, how can we not joyously follow them and call others to follow, to receive such a grand inheritance of many treasures?

The Classics: Alive and Well (if you know where to look)

2011-12-29T15:03:00.000-08:00

If you look in the right places, there really is much to be hopeful for regarding the Classics. Of course most public high schools are not reading the Classics, in large part because they are not reading. Most colleges are not reading the Classics because textbooks won the day decades ago, and the few that are giving attention to the Classics generally do so through the lens of perverse ideologies.
For more than a decade, I have seen the majority of Classical Christian schools, some Christian schools, and a handful of Christian colleges not only read, but greatly value the masterpieces of the Great Tradition. Here is a fantastic article making a fine case that if the Classics do not have a future, they should. Enjoy!

Bonaventure on Education With Eternal Implications

2011-12-26T07:32:00.000-08:00

While the bulk of Bonaventure's writings were commentaries on Scripture, devotional meditations, and sermons, he did address issues related to leadership and to learning. Bonaventure believed that leaders should be zealous for righteousness and justice. Leaders should also exemplify the fruit of the Spirit, in particular patience. Of course, spiritual leaders should be supremely devoted to God and should manifest wise discernement.
In Bonaventure's Journey of the Mind to God, he offers much for those driven to learn. What strikes the modern reader is the tremendous emphasis he places on prayer. Many a Headmaster and teacher would profit much to follow this example. Additionally, Christ is central to the learning experience throughout. The Christian leader, teacher, and student should be diligent in pursuing wisdom, peace, and love. Part of the genius of Bonaventure is the recognition that if humility is to permeate both the student and the learning process, then all learning is to be immersed in prayer and the recognition of God's ever present grace.
Part of the power of this writing is the model of prayerful learning that it represents. Bonaventure begins by praying to the God of all enlightenment to enlightenment. There is also the prayer for peace. For all those who are true "lovers of divine wisdom", Bonaventure says of all learning that Christ must be central or "Otherwise he may come to think that mere reading will suffice without fervor, speculation without devotion, investigation without admiration, observation without exultation, industry without piety, knowledge without love, understanding without humility, study without diving grace, the mirror without divinely inspired wisdom."
Amen and Amen.

Why Pagans Stole Christmas From Christians

2011-12-25T14:30:00.000-08:00

I had long suspected that it was akin to the ongoing modern myth that the Middle Ages believed in a flat earth. It did not make sense to me. The popular version that "Christians stole Christmas from pagans" simply did not add up for several reasons. Some of the reasons over the years made me chuckle, but I never objected because I did not know the historical facts as they unfolded.
I just ran across this fine article that attempts to set the record right. Calculating Christmas by Dr. Tighe makes a great deal of sense. For those of us who love it when the historical record is set straight, you will enjoy this article. For those of us who appreciate it when scholarship trumps popular falsehoods, you will be grateful.

Rhabanus Maurus on The Best Education

2011-12-25T11:51:00.000-08:00

Working both in the church and academy, I have often wished that some of the religious and academic leaders I had worked with had a basic knowledge of the Liberal Arts so that we could have a common vocabulary and common working knowledge to build upon for deeper and richer conversations and studies. It appears that Rhabanus Maurus (776-856 A.D.) had a similar desire.
In his "Education of the Clergy," Rhabanus reminded his readers that since God is the source of all truth and wisdom, then all truth and wisdom was to be embraced wherever it was found. Related to this conviction was that moral excellence and knowledge were to be intertwined.
With the Great Tradition was the conviction (rare today) that learning, humility and the fear of the Lord were to be related so that students did not over reach the limits of human knowledge and recognized that God was the source and end of true learning. Rhabanus provides much to contemplate as one aspires to think Christianly about education, especially that which is rooted in the seven liberal arts.
Rhabanus Maurus does what many Christian schools have drifted from and that is emphasizing the centrality of God's Divine Writ in all of learning. "The foundation, the content, and the perfection of all wisdom is Holy Scripture, which has taken its origin from that unchangeable and eternal Wisdom, which streams from the mouth of the Most High..." For Rhabanus, the Bible was more than a course and more than chapel a few hours a week. From his writings on the Liberal Arts, one can see that his knowledge of the Oracles of God was essentially informative.
Rhabanus briefly defines Grammar, Rhetoric, Dialectic, Arithmetic, Geometry, Music, and Astronomy. Anyone teaching in the Classical Christian School or leading a Classical Christian School would be both instructed and encouraged by the content of this writing. He wonderfully meditates on these disciplines and "took them captive for Christ." Rhabanus affirms in simple and eloquent terms something rarely heard about the liberal arts,"The seven liberal arts of the philosophers, Christians should learn for their utility and advantage." It is a common recurrence to read among these learned Christian authors how practical, useful, and valuable a liberal education is for spiritual and temporal life.

John Chrysostom Provides Wisdom on The Soul as City

2011-12-24T08:05:00.000-08:00

John Chrysostom (345-407 A.D. ) is most often thought of as a first rate theologian and preacher of Sacred Scripture. In addition, he reflected on the nature of education and the best way for parents to prepare the souls of their children for education. The three writings that we should meditate on for his insights on these matters are "Against the Detractors of Monastic Life" and "Address on Vainglory".

The moral purpose of education for John was of the utmost importance, as a result of this conviction he emphasized the moral quality of stories. John also placed a great deal of stress on the essential role of the best models for imitation as children learn most profoundly by what they see and hear from the example of people. The notion that virtues are best caught, not taught is echoed in John. He urges parents to banish evildoers from the city of the child's soul and prevent the evildoers from rising up.

It is the metaphor of the soul as a city that is most illuminating in "Address on Vainglory". With rhetorical flare and theological formation, John describes the gates are the eyes, tongue, ears, nose and sense of touch and these gates are to be guarded with the greatest of care as through them our ideas are corrupted or properly formed. John Chrysostom gives a wonderful explication of this metaphor and much can be gained from thinking through this metaphor.

In Classical form and content, John urges all to be guided by wisdom so that the appetitive and despotic parts of the soul may be properly ordered. As with the consensus of the Great Tradition, wisdom is at the beginning, middle, and end of authentic education. "Let us go to the master principle which keeps everything under control. To what do I allude? I mean wisdom. Here great labor is required to render the child sagacious and banish all folly. This is the great and wondrous function of philosophy, that God may be known, and all the treasure laid up in Heaven, and Hell and the kingdom of the other world."

Imagine if the Academy was governed by such guiding principles and practices. As all leaders are called to author policies and procedures, the benefits of being shaped by the Great Tradition would be of value for here and now and for the ages of the ages. While accrediting bodies are steeped in bureaucratic jargon that determines the priorities of all academic institutions, Christian institutions should carefully couch the language of their institutions in the wise words of John Chrysostom.

Basil the Great Instructs Us on the Best Way to Learn From the Pagans

2011-12-23T10:34:00.000-08:00

In the history of education, it is common to chronicle the plight of institutions that started as one thing but became something very different. These institutions fail both the ancestors and inheritors. Wisdom stands as a witness of how to avoid this, and yet there are other social and ideological factors that silence wisdom. I know of a number of schools that have extremely conservative roots and emphasize "sound doctrine" and "conservative faith," and as a result have a very ridged hiring policy to maintain faculty "orthodoxy." At the same time these institutions have altered the "academy ethos" by admitting disproportionately high numbers of students that receive not the "pearls" the faculty are providing. The students' appetites are more grounded in the worldly.
Imagine Basil the Great making administrative decisions today in the modern academy. At Basil's funeral, none other than Gregory Nazianzen delivered a eulogy that should become the job description of all Headmasters and Academic Deans. Here are just a few words spoken at the death of this grand academic leader, "prudent, respectful to all, imbued with learning, equal in ability and application, excellent in Rhetoric, Grammar, Logic, Astronomy, Geometry, Arithmetic, and Philosophy, and he was supremely compassionate."
In reality, Basil was striving to assist those under his charge in navigating the potentially treacherous waters of "pagan learning" while remaining people of faith. He was seeking how one can wisely be in the world, but not of the world. Basil often drew attention to the truly "useful" and on being wise in making the distinction of what matters and what does not matter. Of course, worldly minded people have a very different view of priorities than those who are spiritually minded.
Basil recognized the right kind of Liberal education by becoming "accustomed to seeing the reflection of the sun in water, so we shall then direct our eyes to the light itself." For Basil, Liberal studies can count toward eternity and can parallel God's truths, and may actually assist the pilgrim toward the proper, ultimate end. According to Basil, "truth is the fruit of the soul" and should be abundant in the life of the believer.
As other great leaders, Basil sought to stay on the proper course in part of looking to the right models and keeping them ever before us. Moses and Daniel learned "worldly wisdom" and yet remained faithful to God. A key here is on avoiding evil words as they lead to evil deeds. Basil especially stresses that one ought not to "imitate the orators in the art of lying."
Basil also constantly reminds his audience of the central place of virtue and virtuous deeds. I strongly suspect that Basil might be a spectacular failure in the modern academy because his wisdom would not work. On the other hand, his approach to education might be the rarest in the modern world and would certainly be a sterling success in terms of the divine economy.

Giambattista Vico On Humanistic Education.....Classical Christian Education Old School

2011-12-22T17:45:00.000-08:00

Not all is always bad in the generally bleak post-human, anti-humane Humanities landscape. There are occasional signs of life and glimmers of hope. In recent years the name of Giambattista Vico (1668-1744) has resurfaced, especially among some social scientists and humanists who have looked to previous eras for some possibile guidance. Vico is indeed a voice worth listening to for a number of reasons, and a voice those in Classical Christian education should also give a hearing to for some good reasons.

Following the lead of the Renaissance educators, Vico affirmed the connection between paideia and humanitas. Vico was Professor of Rhetoric (Latin Eloquence) at the University of Naples. In a number of his writings, he argues for humane education rooted in "practical wisdom" or prudentia accomplished with due diligence. Vico's criticisms of Descartes' ideas have proven to gain increasing respect over the years. Vico's definition of "science" or scienza challenged Cartesian assumptions and would for Christian intellectuals be worth examining in light of modern discussions and debates about the very definition of science. Vico, unique to his time, called for the Aristotelian connection of rhetoric with logic, thereby reconnecting rhetoric to topics as their core. Vico's resistance to the rhetorical theory and practice of his day (and sadly our own) is that it had an artificial disconnection from sensus communis of humans.
Vico announced once to students that they were "born for wisdom" and yet warned them that the love of wisdom is confronted with numerous obstacles. As with other great Christian thinkers challenged by the Delphi oracle, "know thyself," Vico asserts it as the center of the sphere of all of the liberal arts and liberal learning.

On the Study Methods of Our Time is a fine book that explicates the way that Vico was distinct from his time and it does make me wonder how different science and the humanities had gone if Vico or Pascal had won the day. Vico's On Humanistic Education would be the book to read if you desire to get an understanding of Vico's philosophy of education and the benefits for all those in Classical Christian schools.

"The Gift" Ray Bradbury Short Story is Perfect Seasonal Read

2011-12-22T09:26:00.000-08:00

She simply asked, "so have you ever read Bradbury's The Gift"? Honestly, I had not and worse, I had never even heard if it. It was not long after that question before I made it my goal to find and read this story. This was a few years ago and since that time I have read Bradbury's The Gift around Christmas time repeatedly and I also read Colossians 1:15-19.

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

I encourage you to read both and be moved to gratitude for the gifts that surround us all.

The Didascalicon of Hugh of St. Victor....Classical Christian Education Old School

2011-12-21T21:44:00.000-08:00

The majority of those involved in Classical Christian education have heard of Dorothy Sayer's Lost Tools of Learning, or maybe even read something by those who comment on her essay, but how many have read upstream of Sayers and read the books that so shaped her essay?

Headmasters, faculty, and board members of Classical Christian schools would benefit tremendously by reading some of these works, and I would encourage the first one to be the masterpiece by Hugh of St Victor, his The Didascalicon.

In the modern world, and sadly by extension even in the Classical Christian school, Philosophy has inherited a terrible reputation. While all that is not undeserved, true Philosophy as articulated by minds such as Hugh, should be at the core of all Classical Christian schools. "Again, philosophy is the art of arts and the discipline of disciplines." (61) St. Victor clearly defined philosophy in a manner very different than the way most modern philosophers when he says, "philosophy is the discipline which investigates comprehensively the ideas of all things, human and divine." (51)

When was the last time you read an article or book about education that argued the two key realities of education is contemplation of truth and practice of virtue? (54) For Hugh, wisdom is a kind of moderator over all human actions (51) and wisdom's ultimate goal is to help the individual "know thyself." (46)
In addition to speaking about the new details of true education, Hugh of St. Victor offers much advice regarding types of students, (133, 134) and the various interferences all students face when attempting to study. (126 127) For the Christian intellectual concerned about true education, The Didascalicon of Hugh of St. Victor also offers a good bit of help when thinking about the central place of Scripture when studying the liberal arts and within genuine liberal learning.

Authority and Tradition: Another Strength of the Classical Christian School

2011-12-21T12:15:00.000-08:00

Years ago in a masterful analysis of a major cultural crisis, that is the crisis of cultural authority, Os Guinness, in his The American Hour: A Time of Reckoning and The Once and Future Role Of Religion warned, and it appears that the warning has gone largely unheeded. In every area of American cultural and social life, authority has been replaced by "who says" and "all opinions are equal." Few realize how devastating this is for cultural and social order.
Education has also suffered all sorts of adversity over recent decades, and the only hope is a proper understanding of the nature of authority and reason in the educational process. However, if you were to ask hundreds of "educational experts" one could imagine that few, if any, would ever touch on the foundational issue of authority.
Josef Pieper, wrote wisely about much, including authority and tradition said, "Accepting tradition is the basic structure belief, i.e., relying on someone else. This amounts to saying that we cannot think of tradition without authority. During the entire Middle Ages, 'authority' was the name for tradition. Auctoritas and ratio were the technical terms for the two possible arguments used to establish proofs in a scholastic discussion, that is, by an appeal either to tradition or to reason." (Josef Pieper's Tradition:Concept and Claim, 23)
In most of modern education, the authority is either an illusion or shifting across different posers pushing for power. All of us who love and value education can stand as resistance fighters and properly yield to proper authority and embrace the traditions that embody authentic authority.

Alcuin, Headmaster....The Wisdom of Our Models

2011-12-20T10:12:00.000-08:00

The brilliant cultural historian, Christopher Dawson, provides a powerful glimpse into both the nature of early Christian Humanism, and the all important role Alcuin served in the birth of what most of us know as Classical Christian education. “The spirit of Christian humanism finds expression in Alcuin’s own letters to Charles the Great: ‘If your intentions are carried out,’ he writes, ‘it may be that a new Athens will arise in France, and an Athens fairer than the old, for our Athens, ennobled by the teaching of Christ, will surpass the wisdom of the Academy. The old Athens had only the teachings of Plato to instruct it, yet even so it flourished by the seven liberal arts. But our Athens will be enriched by the gift of the Holy Spirit and will, therefore surpass all the dignity of earthly wisdom’.”

Among the greatest educational reformers of all time, Alcuin of York (735-804 A.D.) must stand at the top of the list. In truth, cultural historians have long recognized that the Renaissance is in large part indebted to the Carolingian Renaissance spearheaded by Alcuin. In addition to riding commentaries on sacred Scripture, poems, moral documents, biographies, and textbooks on grammar, he authored very important works that stand as the foundation of classical Christian education. At one point Alcuin said, "I was brought up and taught, to preside over the treasures of wisdom." In addition to speaking about God's Holy Word, he is clearly referencing the greatest of classical literature.
Here is an extended quotation from Alcuin, and may all Headmasters of all Classical Christian schools embrace and practice these wonderful words from a model Headmaster, "May the light of learning remain among you….Teach children the learning of books in the way of God", that they may become worthy successors and your honors and intercessors for you… He who does not sow neither shall he reap, and he who does not learn cannot teach. And such a place without teachers shall not, or hardly, be saved. It is a great work of charity to feed the poor with food for the body, but a greater to fill the hungry soul with spiritual learning. As a careful shepherd provides the best pasture for his flocks, so a good teacher should with all his zeal provide for his subjects the pasture of eternal life. For the increase of the flock is the glory of the shepherd, and the multitude of learned men is the safety of the world."

Cassiodorus: The Liberal Arts and Praising the Lord

2011-12-19T08:40:00.000-08:00

"For learning taken from the ancients in the midst of praising the Lord is not considered tasteless boasting." Cassidorous

Church historian Peter Brown says this of the program of Humane studies implemented by Cassiodorus (485-585 A.D.), "like a newly formed planetary system, Latin culture as a whole was supposed to spin in orbit around the vast sun of the Word of God."
The great Cassiodours did place an emphasis on memorizing the classics, but added, "happy indeed is the mind that has stored such a mysterious treasure in the depths of memory, with gods help; but much happier the mind that knows the ways of understanding from its energetic investigation."
Cassidorus also stresses the health of the body, while delving into studies. Among the many unique contributions Cassidorous made to Liberal learning, he says one very important thing about prayer and its relationship to studies, "Therefore, pray to God, the source of all that is useful; read; I pray, constantly; go over the material diligently; for frequent and intense meditation is the mother of understanding."
As with many other Christian writers who have spoken about the place of humility within Liberal learning, this author says something very important about wisdom and learning, "Still, let us learned that knowledge is not found in letters alone, but that 'God gives complete wisdom' to everyone according to his will, I Corinthians 12:11."
After providing a Christian intellectuals "hall of fame," Cassidorous, makes a point about liberal arts where he adds this "let us imitate these men and let us carefully but without hesitation, hasten to read both kinds of teaching if we can – for who would dare to hesitate with the example of so many such men before? – With the full knowledge, as have often been said already "that the Lord can give good and true wisdom."
If there ever was any doubt as to where these authors placed the ultimate and greatest stress, it is on God's inspired Word "from time to time we gain from secular letters commendable knowledge of some matters, but from Divine law we gain eternal life."

Manifesto of the Communist Party, The Occupiers and The Big Picture

2011-12-18T21:05:00.000-08:00

Of all of the readings in volume one in The Great Ideas Program, by Mortimer Adler, An Introduction to the Great Books Toward a Liberal Education, possibly the one that many would be more likely to skip and yet should read now is the Manifesto of the Communist Party by Marx and Engels. You might ask why? Some state that communism is dead, so why bother. In truth, communism as an economic reality exists in other parts of the world, but the fundamental ideas of communism are strong in sectors of the United States of America. You may be surprised to find out that some of the most outspoken advocates of communism teach across this land at American universities where they are ironically paid through the fruit of the capitalist system to teach communism.
Adler begins with a quote from GK Chesterton who once said, "For a General about to fight an enemy, it is important to know the enemy's numbers, but still more important to know the enemy's philosophy." Based on that quote alone one can tell that Adler took very seriously the potential place that communism might ultimately have in the United States. (175) The Communist Manifesto is easy in some ways to read, but difficult to understand the full implications of the work.
Adler also adds that we maybe surprised to learn that capitalism as it exists in the United States and Great Britain today has been profoundly affected by the program set forth in The Communist Manifesto and that our understanding of contemporary capitalism requires us to understand the socialism or communism which existed in Russia and China. There have been some changes in both Russia and China and yet again one need not look any further than the Wall Street protesters of the fall of 2011 to see implications of communism and socialism.
The Communist Manifesto was written in 1847 and published the following year. Adler also talks about how a manifesto was soon partly outdated. Adler carefully works through the text for various threads within this important manifesto. There is a historical strain, a prophetic strain, a moral strain, and a revolutionary strain. (178) Taking notes of these strains is the key to understanding the philosophy of history present when the manifesto was composed and initially read.
While it is clear that Mortimer Adler did not advocate Communism, he does a very fine job of describing the contours of this philosophy. He talks about the pattern of class struggle in human history, he makes an emphasis on a point about justice that is found within communism and this manifesto. Additionally, he describes how Marxism warned about the exploitation of the laborer. (181) There are some points that Adler makes throughout the rest of this introduction that are well worth questioning. It is also worth noting how many of the items that are found on page 182 are present within the United States of America today. Here are just a few:

A heavy progressive or graduated income tax is in effect almost everywhere.
The third proposal for abolition of rights of inheritance is partially realized with inheritance taxes which diminish the power of passing on wealth through inheritance.
The fifth proposal calling for national Bank and centralization of credit in the hands of the state has not been put into effect in United States.

In his own reflections of The Communist Manifesto, Mortimer Adler wonders about the eminent future. (182) A key question Adler asked that is certainly well worth thinking about in our moment is what position do Marx and Engels take with regard to property? Another of the most brilliant questions that Mortimer Adler asked of this writing is what might Marx and Engels have said if they could have the possibility of the abolition of all private capital thereby making the state the only capitalist. Essentially, the capital would result in the most concentrated form of ownership and management of the instruments of production mainly by the bureaucrats who run the state.
The Communist Manifesto predicted the collapse of capitalism as a result of the ever widening gap between overproduction and under consumption. Why has this prediction not come true? What happened in the development of capitalism which would have made the prediction come true? What did not happen which the manifesto could not anticipate and falsely anticipated? One important concluding point that Adler makes is that Marx and Engels did not expect that in the course of 100 years since 1848, the real wages of labor would steadily rise and that a widely diffuse purchasing power would be created to sustain the market for the increasing quantities of consumable goods which capitalism is able to produce. (187)
Adler does not conclude with assertions, but with questions. What are the specific changes we have introduced into our capitalist economy which have so far succeeded in preventing the collapse of capitalism that the Communist Manifesto predicted? To what extent are the changes we have introduced in line with the ten specific measures proposed by Marx and Engels for the gradual overthrow of capitalism? Is capitalism thus being overthrown or strengthened?

A Fine Christmas Tale....The Invention of Lefse

2011-12-14T13:40:00.000-08:00

So it is that time of year when the "seasonal" reader is bombarded with lots of maudlin Christmas tales with the main objective of giving that warm, sappy feeling. It is always refreshing when a rare story comes along that gives a window into another time and place and gives the reader a reason to appreciate the simple gifts of life.
Talented author, Larry Woiwode offers a story revealing the innocent longings of a precious child, the heartbreaking realities of life and the spirit of due diligence, Through out the reader is given numerous morsels of goodness and beauty.
This lovely little book would be perfect Christmas reading to be read aloud for the whole family. It would remind older hearers of harder times, and possibly teach the younger listeners that Christmas is about much more than the longed for technological acquisition.

Dante's Divine Comedy....The Definitive Guide

2011-12-08T21:24:00.000-08:00

Every time I teach or read Dante's Divine Comedy, I grow in the conviction that this Medieval masterpiece can do two things. First, its very existence could destroy the pervasive myth of an ignorant Middle Ages. Ignorance of the Middle Ages in this country is astonishing. Second, with a careful reading, and the right guide (we all need a Virgil when going through this Classic) these three works could easily stand as a Liberal Arts education.
What other works of literature contain rich words about history, literature, religion, philosophy, music, geometry, and astronomy and all in astounding poetic form? While I enjoy the translation of Anthony Esolen more than the Jean Hollander translation, the notes by Robert Hollander are gems. His scholarship is what it looks like when you live with and love Dante's literary treasure. So, if you desire the liberal arts education few have, and if you desire to see how brilliant some were in the "Dark Ages," then get these three volumes and grow.

Why We Sometimes Hate and Fear Truth

2011-12-07T18:30:00.000-08:00

I am halfway through James V. Schall's newest book entitled The Modern Age. As always, page after page is rich with insights and engagement with the Great Books and the great authors. There was one section that struck me as so profound and potentially helpful to others, I wanted to share it in this brief blog.
This too is a philosophical problem, I think, though, with revelation , it has deeper ramifications. The answer was in part already in Aristotle. Aristotle suggested that if we do not want to follow a moral reasoning based on truth, we will concoct another "truth" or syllogism that will allow us to do what we want. We usually foresee the implications of our ideas on our actions. But if we do not choose to do what is right, we will still need another argument that justifies our chosen action that lacks some objective component of what is good. We act rationally, that is, we give reasons, even when we sin. So not only are we "afraid" of the demands of truth, we act against truth because it just does not allow us to do what we want. "Running from the truth" is a common thing in human existence. It is never an indifferent act but one that realizes at least vaguely what one ought to do (The Modern Age, 55).
If Schall is right, and I strongly believe that he is, then our interaction with truth is not merely a mind thing, it is most often a will thing. This goes a long way in explaining why so many, so often would rather lapse into relativism or lift up all sorts of evasive questions to avoid knowing and living the truth.

Ten Books that Changed The Way I Think...(the next five)

2011-12-06T19:11:00.000-08:00

Beyond the Great Books and the Bible, there have been a handful of books that have changed the way I think. These are unique books that help me see things in an unconventional way.
I am confident that this book will affect you the same way it did me. This feast of the mind will serve up many treats that provide thoughts on rituals and artifacts of our meals. After reading Rituals of Dinner by Margaret Visser you will never eat a meal the same way.
While I, like many others, read the classic The Christian Mind by Harry Blamires, it was a book yet to be written that better provides a powerful analysis of Christian anti-intellectualism. The writings of Os Guinness are all worth reading, but his Fit Bodies Fat Minds: Why Evangelicals Don't Think and What to Do About It gives a history and all the reasons that so many American Christians disdain the intellectual life. One can only hope that many are reading this work, but if Guinness is right, then it is not likely.
Related to the the problem of anti-intellectualism is a problem of worldliness. A possible remedy of worldliness is a rich devotional life, and the one devotional work that positively influenced my life was The Imitation of Christ by Thomas A Kempis. This beautiful masterpiece ruined me for almost all modern devotional literature. As it did Erasmus, this devotional masterpiece changed me. It changed my devotion toward Jesus and my desire to be more like Him.
There is an old notion that if you had extensive knowledge and understanding of any one subject that it would open up a world of understanding. Henry Petroski's, The Pencil: A History of Design and Circumstance is a wonderful example of such a notion. This book not only gives a history of one of the most important technological innovations in human history, the reader also receives an education about wood, lead, design, and manufacturing.
Among of the works of dystopian literature, I personally believe that Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 is a masterpiece that is not read well by enough people. It is a work rich with humane themes and incredible insight into the modern social, moral, intellectual, and spiritual landscape. There is also a good bit of truthful commentary on reading and the importance of reading.
I hope you all find these books as helpful and enriching as I have. I would love to receive your lists of ten (or more) books that changed the way you think. As my wife, the librarian, often says to her children when they check out books, I say now to you, "happy reading."

Fahrenheit 451 is Now an E-book....Begin the Elegy?

2011-11-30T08:39:00.000-08:00

While I have several paperback and hardback editions of Fahrenheit 451, I will (this my surprise some of my readers) also be getting the e-book version. Here is a great article from NPR about this happening. The truth is that the paperback is currently less expensive than the $9.99 e-book version and it is ironic that the most read book ever that deals with book burning is going into this form. However, if someone reads F451 in any form it has the potential to help them to "burn right".
If you are also going to get an e-version of this book or any other book, I would encourage you to read a marvelous book by Sven Birkirts The Gutenberg Elegies as he gives some tremendous insights into the downside of our e-moment. The fact is that The Gutenberg Elegies is a perfect parallel read with Fahrenheit 451.

Ten Books that Changed The Way I Think...(the first five)

2011-11-28T19:15:00.000-08:00

Not long ago I read a post that someone did about the ten books that had the greatest influence on the author of the blog, and that blog got me thinking. While those of us who love reading all have favorite books, it seems that a category such as "books that changed the way I think" is extremely important.
Here is a very brief synopsis of the ten books that changed that way I think. Those who know me may actually use this list as ten books they will never read, but I hope in this blog to give a word of gratitude to ten books that are now a part of my internal landscape.
We often do not think about the space that we inhabit, but Looking Around: A Journey Through Architecture by Witold Rybczynski changed all that for me. After reading this book, I started seeing malls, contemporary church buildings, houses, and parks in very different ways. I also started seeing how space effects those who inhabit that space.
Most Christians are introduced to hermeneutics at some point. I can remember being told about a literary approach to the Sacred Scriptures to emphasize the literary qualities of the Bible. Since the majority of God's Word is either narrative or poetry, it came to make tremendous sense to me that this approach had grand value. The book that changed the way I think about this is Leland Ryken's Words of Delight: A Literary Approach to the Bible. This way of reading the Bible enhanced not only my love of Holy Writ, it also helped me see the aesthetic richness that was present.
For a number of years I would read anything by Jacques Ellul I could get may hands on, but the book by Ellul that changed the way I think about money is Jacques Ellul's Money and Power. Combining a unique blend of sociological and theological analysis to the reality of money is brilliant. Ellul enabled me to see beyond economic theories and ideologues to the fact that in our culture money has sacred import. The insights into the nature and meaning of money are numerous, but possibly none as provocative as the assertion that the only way to prove that money does not have a sacred hold on you is to give it away.
Neil Postman's Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology is not as well known as his Amusing Ourselves to Death, but it should be because this work covers more territory. Postman asks questions and offers insights into the nature and workings of technology that few others consider. He challenges the false view that technology is "neutral" by exploring the fact of that all tools have an "ideological bias" and this bias erases all neutrality. There are other apprehensions into the truth of the ways and whys of technology and a number of warnings.
Popular culture is the air that most of us breath, and we rarely consider what we take into our lungs. The best book that I have ever read about popular culture is the one by Christian thinker, Ken Myers. His All God's Children and Blue Suede Shoes: Christians and Popular Culture is so rich with insightful analysis into the workings of popular culture any summary is a gross understatement. One point is clear from this book. Christians are frequently overly concerned about ideas when all the time they ignore the ways that the culture they inhabit daily shapes their ideas, values, and worldview in the most subtle of ways. Consider how it is that a popular culture that insists that faster is better may cripple the cultivation of patience in the life of the Christian.
More later.....

Augustine's Confessions....Speaking from the Heart Old school

2011-11-27T19:38:00.000-08:00

Mortimer Adler begins his reflection on Augustine's Confessions with these words, "Of all relationships, the one between a man and the God he loves is perhaps the most intimate." (87) One great question that Adler asked is "why, then, did St. Augustine put into a book feelings and thoughts which were all addressed to God." (87) Another question is "Can it be that he (Augustine) hopes for us to learn something about ourselves--the secret about ourselves which only God knows and we can learn only by examining ourselves as St. Augustine?" (88)
It is clear that Augustine of Hippo did not intend for the Confessions to be read much like modern tabloids that speak of such things that respectable people ought not to speak about publicly. Augustine's purpose was clearly to praise God. (89) If a major theme in this work is about man's relation to God, then it is emphasized that sin perverts that relationship. Sin for Augustine is more a matter of pride than anything else. (91)
In terms of sources, the reader early notes Augustine's reliance and dependence upon Cicero less in terms of content and more in terms of form. The problem with which Augustine here struggles is of course the very problem encountered when trying to interpret the book of Job.
How is it that there is evil in the world when God is good? This problem has historically been a demanding reality for believers and unbelievers. Early in his life, Augustine would have given a different answer than what is found within orthodox Christianity. Although God is good, He is not all powerful, and evil is an equal principle in the world. Of course in Augustine's Confessions, free will is seen as a cause of doing ill.
This masterpiece, does present the open reader with several questions and problems. Drawing from Book VII, Adler asks, "For man is made by God; and if man does evil through willing evil, is not God responsible for this evil? For why did God make man of such an evil nature that man wills evil?" (93)
Adler asserts, from Augustine that "evil comes in the world from free will which turns to something that is less good in preference to a greater good." (93)
Some of Adler’s helpful interpretive questions are:
1. To whom is the book addressed? For whom is it written?
2. Why is the book addressed to God?
3. Is it written for God?
4. Who converts Augustine?
5. If all this was God's doing, why did God delay so long?
6. Why were there all the hesitations, false starts, and torments of Augustine?
7. Why did Augustine consider the pear theft so serious?
8. Was a really serious sin involved in this theft, or is Augustine simply being morally over-fastidious?
9. What would be a sin committed not for the sake of sinning?
10. Does this passage directly throw light on the sin of Adam?
11. Do you agree with the contention that there is no principal of evil in the world, but only lesser goods?
12. Does it seem correct that everything is good?
13. Can dirt, disease, poverty, pain, crime, brutality, be interpreted as merely lesser goods?
14. In what sense is pain a good?
15. In what sense is disease a good?
16. Is everything that is, is good, how can there be degrees of goodness or degrees of badness?
17. Is there such a thing as a greater and lesser degree of being; i.e., are some things more perfect beings than others?

Translations:

St. Augustine. Confessions. Henry Chadwick

Confessions. F.J. Sheed

The Wisdom of Liberal Arts and Wise Use of Technological Tools

2011-11-23T09:49:00.000-08:00

Like most colleges and universities, where I currently teach, there has been a push of recent years to get the liberal arts caught up with technological innovations. Here is a common article showing the all too common disconnect. I would like to suggest that the best of the liberal arts tradition can indeed benefit from some of the modern technological tools, but the wisdom of the liberal arts reminds us all that all tools have an ideological bias and all tools have limits.
I remember several years ago the claim was being made that in the near future all students would have a laptop and the nation would see test scores soar for all students. We all know that even with tremendous technological innovation and inventions, as a nation we are lagging.
In practice, if you give a tool that many see is a toy to a child, then it is likely that the child will play with the toy. It will, in practice, require wise teaching and instruction as to how to get the best use of the tool as tool and not tool as toy. The solution is to take the wisdom found within the Great Tradition and connect that wisdom to a wise appropriation of the tools. One can easily imagine that there are schools and universities that have struck a fitting relationship between the liberal arts and contemporary tools of learning.

Wisdom and Eloquence: A Christian Paradigm for Classical Learning

2011-11-15T18:53:00.000-08:00

Sometimes it is easy to forget that the modern Classical Christian school movement is not much older than thirty years. During that time, hundreds of thousands have been educated and their lives shaped by an educational model steeped in the Christian heritage and deeply infused with Christian conviction.

Among all the books of the past several years that engage the Liberal Arts of the Great Tradition, probably few others have been more informed by the central place that wisdom and eloquence play within the Medieval schools. In truth, from John of Salisbury's The Metalogicon: A Twelfth Century Defense of the Verbal and Logical Arts of the Trivium to Hugh of St. Victor's The Didascalicon and Martianus Capella's The Seven Liberal Arts and even Giambattista Vico's On Humanistic Education, the case for the temporal and eternal value of a liberal arts education has been made. Modern authors such as Douglas Wilson, Robert Littlejohn, Charles Evans, and Stratford Caldecott assist us the most when they assimilate the giants of the past and direct us toward application in the present.

The reason that I would place Wisdom and Eloquence: A Christian Paradigm of Classical Learning high on the must read for all lovers of Classical education is because the authors are conversant with both the key authors of the past centuries and very aware of relevant issues facing Classical Christian schools in the post-modern world.

This book deals with issues such as traditions, mission statements, student deportment, admission process, endowment, curricular priorities, strategic objectives and plans of implementation, budgets, and school community relationships.

Additionally, while the authors cover common terrain, they provide numerous insights into the trivium and quadrivium about embracing the best of the past while reaching into the present. Having taught the Liberal Arts, through the Great Books, on the college level for more than the past decade, I completely echo their pleas and directions in the appendices on "a message to parents," "a historical apologetic for the liberal arts," and "the aligned community."

It is my personal hope to see God continue to bless a movement that is essentially striving to glorify Him and His kingdom through education. He has been gracious to provide giants of the past centuries that thought long and hard about what it means to be educated, and He continues to provide those standing on the shoulders of giants who offer tools and resources to schools that provide a model of genuine learning in a wasteland of demotic nescience.

Beauty for Truth's Sake: On the Re-enchantment of Education

2011-11-14T17:29:00.000-08:00

Among the many fine resources available for Classical Christian Schools, here is another truly helpful book. This work does what few others in recent years have attempted to do, and that is address a possible theoretical and practical connection between the trivium and quadrivium. Caldecott attempts to bridge the horrific modernist gap between the Sciences and Liberal Arts.

Caldecott's prose style is a treat of its own. This work issues a clarion call for returning to the best of the liberal arts tradition. Caldecott takes the reader back to the roots within the Pythagoreans and draws the lines up to the establishment in the Medieval Cathedral schools. Few in the post-modern world would have imagined an educational renaissance rooted in the middle ages, but that is exactly what is happening with many Classical Christian schools.

Most readers familiar with the Classical Christian school model of the trivium and quadrivium are keenly indebted to Dorothy Sayers and then a host of most recent writers who have explored and applied the trivium to this moment. Caldecott (and others) noted that Sayers brilliantly defended the trivium but neglected the quadrivium. Caldecott proposes a modification and application of the quadrivium by doing what Neil Postman said of all education. Postman argued that disciplines have a history and should be taught historically. Uniquely for Caldecott, what most profoundly unites the trivium and the quadrivium is beauty. Caldecott presents his case within the rich consensus of the Great Tradition that beauty is not "in the eye of the beholder" rather, beauty is a harmonious ordering reality. Caldecott astutely quotes Socrates, "The object of education is to teach us to love what is beautiful."

This work would be a marvelous precursor to C.S. Lewis's The Discarded Image. You can tell that Lewis and Caldecott breath the same fresh Medieval air. For any Classical Christian school that is seeking a blueprint for bringing back what modernity wrongfully divided, this book is a fantastic starting place.

Graphic Novel: Ray Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes

2011-11-06T20:00:00.000-08:00

With reservations, I admit that I really did like a number of elements of the graphic novel portraying Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, and I will admit that I really wanted to like this graphic novel also, but it just did not happen. On a positive note, I was first struck by the decision of the illustrator or publisher to go with black and white as these colors worked well for visual interpretation.

However, there are a number of key places where the graphic illustrator missed the fullness and richness of this amazing Bradbury work.

In fact, the single greatest deficiency is where the image fails the word. The rich power of metaphors are totally missing in this visual representation.

Within this visual interpretation, at least three elements are clearly read into the work, including a portrayal of one literary work which was not even in print within the secondary literary world of Something Wicked This Way Comes. To say it in the simplest terms, there are parts that are just plain ugly and poorly done. While the black and white works on a symbolic level, the novel is filled with constant references to colors, tones, and shades that are absent from the black and white graphic novel. I will be reviewing the graphic novel The Martian Chronicles in the future and hope that it is more in line with the ironic, but visually powerful Fahrenheit 451.

Why The Modern Academy Would Kill Socrates

2011-11-03T18:29:00.000-07:00

Despite decades of "critical thinking," the anecdotal and statistical evidence is that Americans in general, and Christians in particular, have an aversion for thinking. In a recent article, the evidence is that many, if not most students, simply do not want to think. In truth, the students are merely mirroring the broader culture and the entire university ethos. The article highlights the essence of the Socratic method and why most fear and disdain it by saying that "It is an interpretive discussion of a piece of text during which the professor says very little...the professor chooses a rich piece of text and plans an interpretive question as he opens the discussion...in general, it is a guided dialogue."
It surprises my Freshmen when I tell them that the modern university is among the most anti-intellectual places on the earth. Think in Socratic terms. The university is that place where lots of people are certain that they know lots of things. This certainty is a formula for disaster. Usually by the half-way point through their Junior year, they believe me. After a few semesters of sneers and jeers from fellow students and not a few faculty, they long for a community of thinkers.
Again, one need not despair. While most schools put the phrase "critical thinking" in the course syllabus and then pride themselves with T/F, fill in blank, and multiple choice tests all the time dodging numerous opportunities of genuine thinking, there are schools, classes, professors, assignments, and examines where questions force the students to think through the issues and ideas. There are a few places where a few students are actually conversing with one another, their professors, Great Books and Great Ideas. Happily, those who yield to the Socratic way are changed. There is no going back once you have experienced true learning.

Homer's Iliad: A New Translation, An Old Translation and The Glory of this Masterpiece

2011-11-01T19:47:00.000-07:00

Like many other lovers of the Great Books and the Great Tradition, I yield to the truth that Homer's epics are the magnificent profane fountain that gave birth to our imagination. Having tasted deeply from the sacred fountains that brought forth living waters, I am mostly in agreement with Glenn Arbery's assertion that "Of all the poems in the history of the West, actual scripture aside, but including The Divine Comedy, Paradise Lost, and all the devotional lyrics ever written, God loves the Iliad the most."
You have to read Homer and Arbery's essay to see if you agree. This blog is prompted by a fine new translation and a re-issuing of the "gold standard" of Homeric translations. Anthony Verity's Iliad is lyrical without being poetic and he does not even pretend to sustain the meter of the original. (xxix) The mark by which all other translations have been compared is Richmond Lattimore's Iliad. In truth, when read aloud, closely imitating the demanding dactylic hexameter and providing the "speed and rhythm analogous" of the original (67), it sings like the Muse. The noble power, force, and flow of Lattimore's translation crushes most others.
To be fair, most of the introductory material can be found in most introductions and is usually best read after one has read the work. Martin offers some helpful treatment of pace and scope of the literary world (43, 44), character speech (45), the art of the simile (47), and type scenes (49). Graziosi provides one insightful comment about the Muses (xv). Aside from what was just noted, the respective introductions written by Barbara Grazioso and Richard Martin (who also wrote the introduction for Stanley Lombardo's translation) add little to a reader's experience of the work.
I will confess that I tend to read poetry out loud to get the full enjoyment of the vocal and aural connection. I will also confess that I have used and partly appreciate what Lombardo does in his more paraphrastic translation. One finds when teaching such grand works to the modern mind, one goes to strange measures to get students to pay attention.
Beyond a fine translation of the Iliad, I would encourage all those who love reading accessible scholarship to have Eva Brann's Homeric Moments: Clues to Delight in Reading the Odyssey and the Iliad. While more attention is dedicated to careful reading of the Odyssey, Brann so exemplifies what careful reading looks like that she is a superlative guide.

Now, for the really serious reader who wants to take that major step toward reading Homer in the original, a great place to begin is Homeric Greek: A Book for Beginners by Clyde Pharr, A Lexicon of Homeric Dialectic by Richard John Cunliffe, and A Homeric Dictionary by Georg Autenrieth.

The NEA "Big Read" As a Sign of Literary and Civic Hope

2011-10-26T14:30:00.000-07:00

This past September 26th -29th, my wife Tina and I were in Helena, MT. I had been invited to be part of the National Endowment for the Arts, The Big Read. Beyond the extraordinary enjoyment of creation, we both were encouraged at the high level of literary and civic engagement found in this city. We interacted with several hundred people in various settings including small public libraries, a few school libraries, and the main Lewis and Clark library branch.
The people were most engaging and highly enthusiastic. Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 was the book that approximately 3000 people were reading and discussing over a month long period. There were all sorts of events planned for the month including community led discussions, art exhibits, new works of poetry and other creative ways of encountering this modern masterpiece.
While I hope that I encouraged many to rethink the meaning of this literary work, my wife and I also were reminded what happens when the right people are in the right place at the right time and are all striving for excellence. The staff were fantastic and the ethos that they put into place was stunning. All over the library there were signs and symbols highlighting The Big Read. My favorite is of the picture on this blog. Within the library there was a large doll house display, and as we got closer and admired the beauty and detail of the doll house, we discovered that even the inhabitants of this little world were part of "The Big Read."
So, while many are bemoaning the death of reading, know that there are people in towns all over the country reading, thinking, and conversing about important books. Despair not and search out a "Big Read" near you.

Resurrection of the Classics?

2011-10-15T19:25:00.000-07:00

My close colleague recently wrote a marvelous blog in response to an important article on The Death of the Classics. While I generally agree with the content of the article, and I completely affirm what my colleague says, I would like to bring in a different historical perspective. Shortly after the Roman empire collapsed, it was Christendom that collected, copied, and studied what we now call the classics.
In truth, there is some evidence that as the American empire is in decline, some institutions in line with Christendom are stepping forward again to repeat history. It is now the time for Christendom to treasure what has been discarded in the educational institutions of this nation. In a recent conversation with someone excited about the Great Books, this gentleman declared in the boldest and clearest terms the value of the Great Books. He said, "the Great Books contain the essence of our intellectual and spiritual heritage, and studying them directly is an immediate encounter with that heritage." He added, "the value of directly studying them is of immense intellectual value."
I would add that while the barbarians tear down the gates and rattle their swords, we should calmly and graciously engage the richest of what has been written by humans through the ages. While many run after the most recent educational trend down another dead end avenue, we should house those communities of character where we read, and in a sound Christian manner reflect on the good, the true, and the beautiful.
While there is some evidence that the classics are dead throughout most of our society, the classics are doing well in the Classical Christian schools, a few Christian colleges and universities, and countless homes of those who have long properly appraised the importance of holding on to the roots of our culture. So, if the classics are dead, we can anticipate a resurrection in the future. Our national culture is indeed dwelling long in a dark Friday afternoon, but Christendom is moving toward Sunday.

Liberal Arts, Worldly Wealth, and Eternal Riches

2011-10-03T21:02:00.000-07:00

Every now and then an article will appear on the internet that makes an observation that connects the here-and-now value of a true liberal arts education with the added transcendent implications of such an education.
One can only hope that there are many seeking and finding such an education in institutions of higher learning scattered across this globe.

Cancel My Appoint With Freud, I've Rescheduled With Epictetus

2011-09-10T22:03:00.000-07:00

Some would argue that Philosophical counseling has been around as long as Philosophers and those seeking their advice. In the modern world, Freud and others of his ilk won the day in a most triumphant manner, and we do not seem the better for this turn of events.
The story on this is not finished. Since the 1980's Philosophical Counseling has been making some real head way. Here is a fine article giving some key names and events of recent years to show the positive headway that Philosophical Counseling is making. While there are critics and detractors, the truth is that there is much wisdom in the philosophical tradition and one can well imagine much good that could occur if more people sought this wisdom.
For any of us who has known someone who has gone through "modern therapy" to discover that the problem is with "everyone else" and "blame is found everywhere" except within the one (aka "the victim") who also happens to be paying the bills of the therapist--we hope that the call for personal responsibility and the exaltation of virtue can be heard in some counseling sessions.

The Fragmented Wisdom of Heraclitus....

2011-09-03T22:04:00.000-07:00

     It is a wondrous turn of events how a conversation, a forthcoming book on Heraclitus by the magnificent Great Books scholar, Eva Brann, finding Fragments: The Collected Wisdom of Heraclitus, and my particular sitz im laben moved me to reread and rethink an important pre-Socratic philosopher.
     To begin, I find the cosmology, metaphysics, and some of the anthropology of Heraclitus muddled in places, ahead of his time in other places, and brilliantly insightful in yet other places. Truthfully, there are still some real nuggets of wisdom to be mined from his fragments. It is also noting that Dante did include him with the other virtuous pagans in limbo, and I am not sure I disagree with this decision. The influence of Heraclitus on later philosophers and intellectuals should cause us to occasionally re-examine this obscure weeping philosopher's contribution to thinking.
Here are a few select quotes with some questions and thoughts.
People dull their wits with gibberish,
and cannot use their ears and eyes. (p 5)
     One wonders if Heraclitus is not on to something profound here. Is it true that "gibberish" has an adverse effect on one's ability to reason? Does the mindless oral mumblings cause one to become deaf and blind to truth?
The eye, the ear,
the mind in action,
these I value. (p 9)
I would hope that all of us could nod in agreement with Heraclitus. In our time of the non-stop visual bombardment and the ever present aural assault, the mind has become mush.
Seekers of wisdom first
need sound intelligence. (p 33)
This one does cause me to wonder if he is right. How sound does one need to be intellectually to discover wisdom? We could speculate that wisdom would assist in becoming more intelligent. Possibly, this is a dialectical matter and the one assists the other.
To be even-minded
is the greatest virtue.
Wisdom is to speak
the truth and act
in keeping with its nature. (p 71)
Here Heraclitus may actually be helping us formulate a definition of wisdom. That "even-mindedness" seems rare in a time of polarization and extremes. Note also the manifestation of wisdom is in one's speech and action.
Stupidity is better
kept a secret
than displayed. (p 73)
I imagine that the expression "it is better to remain silent and thought a fool then to open one's mouth and remove all doubt" may have its roots in Heraclitus. This is indeed sound advice.
Dogs by this same logic, bark
at what they cannot understand. (p 81)
Heraclitus seems to have been a keen observer or listener as a number of his fragments recognize the all important connection between internal thoughts and external verbal expressions. As a dear friend of mine, who is well trained in the social sciences tells me, just listen long enough to people and you will have a very good sense of what is going on inside their heads.
Stupidity is doomed,
therefore, to cringe
at every syllable of wisdom. (p 81)
I so want to believe the essential truth asserted in this fragment. I only wish that this were clearly the case. However, most of us have been in a situation when wisdom and truth were (at least apparently and temporily) shouted down and silenced by the extremely loud and stunningly stupifying noise of a fool. I wonder if Heraclitus meant that ultimately "stupidity is doomed." It seems his faith in the "logos" was ultimate, and I would conclude that our faith in "The Logos" should be even more confident about the ultimate outcome in the battle between stupidity and wisdom.

Reading Cicero's "On Old Age" At Any and Every Age

2011-08-23T18:23:00.000-07:00

Among the many readings that Dr. James Schall recommends, he places special emphasis on the value of reading Cicero's "On Old Age." Schall suggests that this should be read "preferably before old age." Starting this year, I am having my Great Books Honors students read this work and discuss it. We have already had a most enjoyable and fruitful conversation. Mind you that I am blessed to have fourteen, 18 year old Christian students who have actually read this work and genuinely desire to read such works and think through them together.

I asked them to consider the possible value of reading this work while being "so far from old age." The response was instant and verified the students had not only read it, they were engaged with the rich truths present. Even when Cicero speaks of that out dated notion of "character" (319), the students seemed particularly engaged.

As we moved beyond interpretation to actual application there were several fine suggestions of living out Cicero's assertion that the best preparation for old age is "culture and the active exercise of the virtues"(320). One of the dignified and courteous members commented that Cicero recognizes that preparation for old age is now. Cicero would be pleased.

These wonderful students did struggle with the notion of a "quiet, pure, and cultivated life" (321). Sadly, they recognize that the bulk of college life, including Freshmen orientation, tends toward the end of the spectrum of the loud, the prurient, and the spectacle. Some of these students will begin living the cultivated life despite college.

In a culture such as our's, it is hard to imagine Cicero's exhortation that "the great affairs of life are not performed by physical strength, or activity, or nimbleness of body, but by deliberation, character, expression of opinion" (323) actually being heard by college students. As I looked at the first three weeks of classes and saw "the busyness with which student services busy students" it occurs to me that God would urge them to follow His example. Even the busyness He imposes on humanity is inherently rhythmic and moderate. Leisure time for deliberation is yet to be placed in the schedule!

These delightful students noted the how Biblical Cicero sounded with the words, "You should use what you have, and whatever you may chance to be doing, do it with all your might" (325) Ecclesiastes 9:10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might, for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going and Colossians 3:23 Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men. It was not missed on their young but sound minds that Cicero, Solomon, and Paul may be talking about a similar idea, but they are talking a very different talk.
Of course there was some rich conversation (again, Cicero would be pleased) about the nature of nature in Cicero's essay and the distinctions between Cicero's view of death and that of a Christian living out hope in the resurrection of Christ. While there was acknowledgment that Cicero's view of pleasures (at times) sounds more like a fundamentalist, there are many things he says that can be redeemed as one aspires to "think Christianly" about these giants who came before us and did the ground work of the Great Tradition.

To Love the Lord, Our Strength....the Abbreviated Psalter of the Venerable Bede

2011-08-21T22:03:00.000-07:00

One of the greatest pleasures of having a personal library that has out grown a few rooms is the experience of going through the shelves to discover a book purchased and previously read, but forgotten. I remember the joy of reading Bede's abbreviated Psalter the first time a few years back, but it was a hurried joy. Over the past recent months, I have read through it several times and have purposed in my heart to eventually memorize it. Different people memorize scripture for a range of motivations. I have been moved to memorize this work because it is both profitable and delightful.
Describing his own life, the most bookish Bede, indeed the words of a Christian humanist, said that he "always found delight in learning, teaching and writing." (7) For many in the monastic life, the central purpose of the Opus Dei (the work of God) "was to praise God for the gift of life." (9) This abbreviated Psalter enabled the one devoted to honoring God to fully internalize God's Word and live faithfully the sacred scripture and to make it repeatedly through the "essence" of the Psalms. These abbreviations were "crafted for personal prayer, meditation, and reflection, the booklet consists of extracts carefully chosen from each of the Psalms to represent their essence."
Bede's abbreviation of Psalm 17 strikes at the heart of why I so treasure this little book, why I hope to memorize it, and the hoped for end of reading and meditating upon it daily, "I will love you, Lord, my strength."

Golden Opportunity for Christian Liberal Arts Universities....If There Are Any Left!

2011-08-20T21:30:00.000-07:00

Being a passionate lover of Thinking Christianly about the Liberal Arts, I am always taken with articles describing the decline and/or demise of Liberal Arts learning at Behemoth and Secular State U (Gooooooo Nihilists!). With a pretty gloomy report over the past forty some years one is rarely surprised any longer. On a positive note, I still hold out hope for the marginalized and socially alienated Christian Liberal Arts Universities and colleges. Sadly, many of these schools have also sold their souls to the spirit of the age. However, there is hope. People should seek diligently (Institutions with great professors) before paying for an education that is third rate or one that undermines the good, the true and the beautiful.

The Case for Christian Humanism.....Twenty Years Later

2011-07-29T20:26:00.000-07:00

While there have not been many books of recent decades that stand as a solid articulation of Christian Humanism that are worth reading. The Case for Christian Humanism is one that is twenty years old this year and is still of great value. Most books about Christian Humanism tend toward the humanistic and not the Christian. Franklin and Shaw have a fine volume that gives insight into the nature and promise of Christian Humanism. There is a leaning toward the left throughout this work, but numerous insights and the key issues are explored. Historically and theologically informed, the authors make a convincing case "that Christian humanism was once the mainstream of Western thought." (4) This will undoubtedly surprise many within Christendom and all humanists of the atheistic bent. Certainly, this and many other facts and truths will come as a shock to those critical of and yet ignorant of Christian Humanism.

Among the many strengths of this rich study is a rather lengthy exercise in getting at the definition of Christian Humanism. This alone distinguishes this work from others exploring similar issues. In truth, from a logical and rhetorical perspective, this is where the book stands apart from most other books of this nature. Few works spend much time on defining key terms and this is essential to making a sound argument. Additionally, the authors have mined Scripture for the contours of Christian Humanism.

The authors also examine the central role that worship has within a Christian humanistic frame of thinking and living. One dated section of the book is about living in the machine age. Someone reading this work may want to skim this section, but then read Neil Postman's Technolopy: The Surrender of Culture to Technology or Jacques Ellul's The Technological Bluff. It is my hope that someone within the next several years writes an updated and expanded case for Christian Humanism that has more solid roots within traditional Christian faith and calls for a robust Christian Humanism in an increasingly anti-humanistic social order and Christian-lite church.

Hold For a Bit Longer on the Funeral for Liberal Arts Education

2011-07-26T01:51:00.000-07:00

While there have been those of recent years who have declared the end of Liberal Arts education, someone should tell the ones offering a eulogy that there is still life. Some have longed for the end of the Great Tradition of Liberal learning because they are ideologically motivated, and dealing with sound logic just messes up their bad philosophy and weak ideas.
Here is a fantastic article giving evidence that a liberal arts education helps cultivate "critical thinking, writing, and presentation skills." Many in the modern world do not know that this used to be called the trivium with logic, grammar, and rhetoric. Well, well, the more things change the more they remain the same. The knowledge and skills associated with a traditional liberal arts education are relevant, practical, and still in high demand in our current market because the timeless is always timely.
However, on a really crazy note, most college students and administrators, not knowing the above fact, tend to seek and offer degrees of specialization. What typically happens is that these students graduate with their specialized degrees and then find that they have "specialized themselves into a corner." Within a few years, they are unsatisfied in their professions and then are required to seek additional specialized education or specialized training.
Anyone who has read this blog for any length of time understands why I believe (like Adler, Kirk, and others) that everyone who attends college should get a true education that liberates from specialization and enables one to listen, speak, write, and reason beyond mere technique toward manifested wisdom and eloquence.

Mini-Great Books Curriculum and Why We Should Be Thankful to Os Guinness

2011-07-14T21:27:00.000-07:00

     While published some years ago, I recently finished a most intellectually edifying series edited by the always insightful Christian sociologist, Os Guinness. This series would be an excellent resource for any Christian serious about “thinking Christianly” about morality, government, money and philanthropy, and the meaning of it all. These six books read with Invitation to the Classics also edited by Os Guinness would be an education in their own right.
     These books were produced by the Trinity Forum and represent a unique curricula. The six books are an impressive collection of readings from the Great Books and other classic texts. In a meaningful manner they address the great questions of what it means to be fully human and live the fullest human life. The forum says this about this important collection, “Drawing upon the best of the humanities, they provide access to the great thinkers of history on the great questions of life in an accessible, engaging manner.”

Here is a brief description of each volume (using words from the Trinity website):

     The Journey: Our Quest for Faith and Meaning offers a series of readings that chart a thinking person's road to faith. Developed for those searching for answers to life's deepest questions, this work investigates explanations from three differing perspectives: secularism, Eastern philosophy, and Christianity.
     Entrepreneurs of Life: Faith and the Venture of Purposeful Living explores the powerful human desire for purpose and significance, and serves as a fascinating guide through the annals of Western tradition to examine what calling is and how each of us can choose to respond.
     When No One Sees: The Importance of Character in an Age of Image offers a series of readings that help us explore, in very practical ways, the issues that surround character—the reality of the core of our being, who and what we are when no one else sees.
     Steering Through Chaos: Vice and Virtue in an Age of Moral Confusion offers reflections from some of the finest thinkers of history on the deepest struggles of the human heart: Tolstoy on avarice, Nathaniel Hawthorne on envy, the Roman philosopher Seneca on anger, D.H. Lawrence on lust.
     Doing Well and Doing Good: Money, Giving, and Caring is truly a one of a kind book that examines what it means to live in an economically free Society and offers rich insight and application, helps us explore the questions that surround money, giving, volunteerism, and philanthropy.
     The Great Experiment: Faith and Freedom in the American Republic is written first for all who seek to understand the genius of the American experiment and the Framers' understanding of how it may be sustained, and for all those who have an interest in the continuing vitality of American leadership in the world.
     Books like these are in conversation with the Great Books, and books like these encourage great conversations and ultimately call the reader to live a life according to the the good, the true, and the beautiful.

Meditation on the Sun and the Gifts of Fleeting Life

2011-07-07T16:52:00.000-07:00

Recently just going through the summer solstice, that day when the Earth's axis is most inclined towards the sun and is at its maximum tilt of 23° 26'. For me in Alabama, it is the longest day of light and therefore the longest day of summer. What a treat!

In addition, my always thoughtful wife gave me a ring that reads Sol omnibus lucet. For you Latin lovers you know that is translated The sun shines upon us all. While the origin of this quotes is from the less than edifying Satyricon by Petronius, when I look at it, I am reminded of a Biblical truth that is found in Matthew 5:45 where Jesus says of God that, “he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.”

The gift of the glorious sun given by the giver of all good and perfect gifts will one day burn out or explode, according to differing physicists. In either case, we have the day to enjoy the sun. Remember, Solomon's admonish Light is sweet, and it is pleasant for the eyes to see the sun (Ecclesiastes 11:7).
Remember also the words of Francis of Assisi,

Praised be You my Lord with all Your creatures,
especially Sir Brother Sun,
Who is the day through whom You give us light.
And he is beautiful and radiant with great splendour,
Of You Most High, he bears the likeness.

On Celebrating the Terrestrial Part of our Dual Citizenship

2011-07-03T14:29:00.000-07:00

For those who know me well, this blog may seem a bit out of character. In truth, like all of you, I am still growing intellectually and spiritually. As a Christian Humanist, I have come under conviction that the extreme anti-American views held by some Christians lack charity, gratitude and wisdom. On the other hand, the nationalistic hyper-patriotic sentiment held by others tends toward idolatry. So, as is often the case, the middle way is the best way.
This marvelous reader book was assembled to address issues of "central attitudes, sensibilities, and concerns..." of what it means to be a citizen in the nation of America (xviii).
The short introduction (12 pages), is extremely engaging and spells out in clear and genuine manner the motivation of the editors. You know you are in for a fine study when there are approximately twenty-five questions in the introduction and you are told that each subsequent reading has an introduction and questions "designed to make for a more active and discerning reading" (xxiii).
The six major divisions of the book are as follows:
1. National Identity: Why Should It Matter?
2. The American Creed
3. The American Character: Individuals Free and Equal
4. Toward a More Robust Citizenery: The Virtues of Civic Life
5. The Goals of Civic Life
6. Making One Out of Many
Readers of this type can be extremely helpful in providing numerous insights into the consciousness and habits of many Americans. actually, works of this nature can be more helpful in understanding a subject than a 781 page exposition on the same topic. This reader is predicated on the notion that stories can engage the imagination and even inspire us to action. The authors say that they put this work together "in the spirit of wisdom seeking rather than wisdom delivering" (xxiii).
While many of the idea, ideals, and virtues explored in this reader parallel much of the Christian faith, there are points where Christians would remind themselves of their dual citizenship status and remember who our Lord is and to whom we give ultimate allegiance.
I propose that Christians are better citizens of the heavenly regime by being wiser and more grateful in the current order where they dwell, unless we are ever called to violate our primary citizenship. Reading Luke-Acts is most helpful on living faithfully with this dual status.
On an education level, this reader is perfect for high school and college classes where civics (rights and responsibilities of citizens) is examined, and would be ideal for an academic context shaped by Christian conviction to provide a richer, more fertile soil for the truths of this work to take root.
In addition, there is a website that provides additional materials related to the book. While I think that the editors of this work are much more optimistic than many of us are, there is much good that could come from critically reading, reflectively discussing, and selectively living the many truths found within these pages.

Living in and through the Great Books....Now, not later!

2011-06-30T11:57:00.000-07:00

Despite the economy and despite the greatest push since the Roman empire for a utilitarian outlook on all of life, I am more convinced than ever that the best education is a Liberal Arts education and that the best way to get the best Liberal Arts education is through the Great Books. I have been leading discussions on the Great Books for the better part of twelve years. Sharing Great Books with elementary school children and soon to be doctoral students.
After years of receiving educational data through various means, I completely agree with the following quote from Mortimer Adler, All genuine learning is active, not passive. It involves the use of the mind, not just memory. It is a process of discovery, in which the student is the main agent, not the teacher…The more there is questioning and discussion, the more enlivened the class hour and the better the understanding of the subject being taught.
I am blessed to be part of a program of genuine higher learning that believes what C.S. Lewis affirmed in his sermon Learning in War-Time, "If we let ourselves, we shall always be waiting for some distraction or other to end before we can really get down to our work. The only people who achieve much are those who want knowledge so badly that they seek it while the conditions are still unfavorable. Favorable conditions never come."
Here is a video presentation describing what we do within our programs. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions (rwoods@faulkner.edu).

The Vice of Toleration

2011-06-23T22:31:00.000-07:00

It is a good practice to go back and read books that are wise and helped shape your thinking at a point in your past. Good books can provide fresh vision to changing times and even for you as a changed reader. I recently made my way back through two books that examine the idea and social practice of tolerance. The one book (When Tolerance Is No Virtue,1993) is a spectacular sociological examination of the ways that some people call for and coerce toleration in social settings. The other book (The Long Truce, 2001) is a first rate exploration of the philosophical roots and the history of the ways some people call for and coerce toleration, especially with ideological agendas in mind.
Conyers makes a sophisticated case that what happened historically is that the idea of toleration has been morphed from a noble, ancient and universal belief grounded in common humanity and humility toward a socially constructed agenda that shapes public policy to manipulate unknowing diverse populations.
Gaede, from a sociological view, recognizes that toleration, when moved to the logical and practical conclusion, will allow without hindrance all cultures, behavior, and ideas to endure without repugnance of other peoples. Both authors make the case in different ways that what actually happens is that behavior nearly universally condemned will eventually be tolerated and then embraced by the masses.
So it might look something like this: imagine a behavior that in the 1960's nearly all Americans deemed immoral. As time progresses, a subgroup considers this behavior a great good. This group by means of sociological propaganda (think movies, music, and television) and political power (think lots of disposable income and political manipulation) is able to get the masses to no longer condemn the behavior. Move further down the line historically. It will eventually come to be that anyone that questions or criticizes said behavior will be branded "intolerant," and of now of all the various behaviors, "intolerance" will simply not be tolerated!

The reader could easily imagine any number of behaviors, beliefs, and attitudes once considered a vice will now be protected under the bold socially constructed banner of tolerance. Gaede and Conyers seem to have been prophetic and at this moment. We can only imagine that if the prophets of old were alive today they would be executed in the public square for all of their intolerance of the idols near and far that we construct. The only thing a righteous person can do is to strive for civility and oppose what ought to be opposed, tolerate what ought to be tolerated, and reject the vice of intolerant toleration.

Going Through the Gateway to the Great Books.....A Helpful Tool from Mortimer Adler

2011-06-22T11:31:00.000-07:00

If you live long enough and if you interact with people in the academy, you are likely to hear people express how much they wished that they had read more of the Great Books when they had the chance. In truth, many are never given the formal opportunity, so they must do what Dr. James Schall calls "another sort of learning." The wonderful news is that Mortimer Adler did much in his life to provide the tools that can assist anyone with the willpower and desire to get an education better than provided by most American universities.
Many people are intimidated by the multi-volume Great Books of the Western World, so here is a suggestion. Begin with the Gateway to the Great Books. These books can be easily acquired on amazon or ebay and even in pdf form on the www.
If someone told you that you could have a 10 volume set that includes primary source readings with short, insightful introductions, and that included in this set was a way of connecting these readings to the longer and admittedly more difficult Great Books, what would you think? Adler and his cohort of lovers of the western intellectual tradition did just that with this set.
The first volume in the series is a treasure by itself. Volume one is the Introduction and Syntopical Guide. The chapters and sections are as follows:
I. The Ways—and Whys—of Reading
II Human Imagination

III. Human Society

IV. Science and Mathematics

V. Philosophy

VI. The Endless Journey

Syntopical Guide

Appendix-A Plan of Graded Reading
Mortimer Adler is a most learned guide to the "outstanding creations of the human mind" (1) of a "certain magnitude" (1) that have the "inexhaustible power to elevate all of us" (2) calling for our "interest, humility, fidelity and patience" (4, 11). While some have misrepresented Adler as only exalting the Great Books that no one can or will read, the truth is that Adler wrote of works that were also "Entertaining books (that) invite and sustain our attention, delighting us at the same time that they profit us" (3, 4, 5) and by often educating us.
It is common within Adler's writings that he offers numerous tips in being a better reader.
Among many key points he shows by asking the right questions (5) and reading works rich with answering common human questions (6) we benefit tremendously. Adler models what he encourages in terms of syntopical reading by placing the various readings in "conversation" with one another in his overviews of the various disciplines.
When so many students from elementary school through doctoral studies are reading textbooks, and sources about the sources that make reference to other sources, Adler did a great deal in his life to move students (and others) ad fontes.

A Very Fine Book on Reading....Thank You Professor Jacobs!

2011-06-14T22:48:00.000-07:00

Readers of all levels and types all need help at some point in the adventures of readings. Sometimes the assistance comes in the form of encouragement and sometimes in the guise of insightful instruction. The new book by Dr. Alan Jacobs is a book that is both a running encouragement and is rich with instructional insights on how to be a better reader.

Of all the motivations given, Jacobs places one above all others and that is “read at whim,” (15, 33, 41) and related to this makes the case for reading for pleasure and delight (10, 23). Additionally, Jacobs notes the real value of marking books well (61, 64) and rereading books (16, 128-129).

There are treats throughout this book, especially for the bibliovore. A fine tip is what Jacobs calls “reading upstream” (43-50). This is akin to ad fonts of the Renaissance Christian Humanists. It is a call to read what the authors read and the works that influenced them. In a few places Jacobs gives different admonitions, such as the need for “deep attention” (105) with some works and the value of “skimming well” (111) with others.

Numerous insights into the nature of reading the Great Books or classics are throughout (23) and most important is that these are more demanding works that both require more patience and may assist in the cultivation of more patience. Anecdotes and illustrations from brain research (29, 103) to the indescribable “magic” of reading (34) abound in this fine little volume.

My only minor disagreement with Jacobs is his read of Adler’s How to Read a Book (3, 43, 97-103). It struck me that more than once Jacobs even sounds like Adler, especially when he describes what reading difficult books can do for us (50). Like Adler and Kreeft, Jacobs calls us to be an active reader who respectfully questions what is being read (55, 56, 65).

Jacobs is a superlative guide because it is clear that he loves reading and is passionate about assisting others with reading. This passion translates well into ongoing enabling encouragement. Alan Jacobs manifests a marvelous blend of being gracious, wise, humble, (54) and highly competent as a helper. Whether he is talking about reading on a Kindle, (63-67) discussing his favorite books, or showing his own indebtedness to Hugh of St. Victor, (90-97) Jacobs is Virgilian in his faithfulness to all of us who journey in the bookish worlds we inhabit and inhabit us.

In this corner Joseph Epstein....This does not look good for Stanley Fish in the other corner

2011-06-14T21:52:00.000-07:00

Sometimes book reviews look more like boxing matches. This review is just such a match! I have read books by and pieces about Stanley Fish, and just don't get how he has so much attention. Possibly it is due to fact that we live in an age drawn to the spectacle. I have read books by Epstein and pieces about him, and I have great respect for Joseph Epstein. Much of it is that when I read Epstein, I sense that his demeanor and writings are informed by wisdom and with Fish I sense his entire vision is informed by Fish.

Mortimer Adler on Education

2011-06-13T14:02:00.000-07:00

Since we started the Great Books Honors College and now the related Great Books graduate programs, the influence of Mortimer Adler is obvious. Of course, I have had to deal with the critics and objections to such programs. The most common and recurring are that such programs are elitist, impractical, and too difficult for the average to really understand.

While I imagine that the deaf and blind critics of Adler would be shocked to discover that Adler was certainly not an elitist, highly practical, and put forth tremendous effort for the common person to acquire the finest education from the Great Books by be part of the the "great conversation", Adler always pushed for the importance on the assets of Liberal education for everyone and he argues persuasively that it contributes—a good mind,…and a good mind is useful. He continues that the direct product of liberal education is a good mind, well disciplined in its processes of inquiring and judging, knowing and understanding, and well furnished with knowledge, well cultivated by ideas.

In light of all that is insane and inane in the name of modern education, Adler could go a long way in helping us find the way out of our ideological and methodological caves. For those who already dwell in the full light of learning, Adler is a grand guide on everything from how to read a book to setting up a classroom for authentic learning.
Might I suggest that we move away from educational trends that change every fifteen minutes and toward reading and living with The Great Books of the Western World. We are assisted tremendously by Adler's help with The Gateway to the Great Books and his The Great Ideas Program. I could well imagine the wise leader using these resources to develop an extraordinary curriculum.

Christopher Dawson Vindicated....Religion Gives Birth to Civilization

2011-06-02T20:31:00.000-07:00

Cultural historian, Christopher Dawson, long argued in his many writings that religion is central to culture, and that it is impossible to understand any civilization without a close and respectful examination of the essential role religion plays within the formation and continuation of human civilization.

A recent story in the National Geographic may cause atheists and "cultured despisers of religion" to lose a little sleep. It may also cause some standard assumptions in most textbooks that start with culture giving birth to religion to be adjusted.

Göbekli Tepe is where history about the interplay between religion and culture is being rewritten. One key paragraph highlights the significance, Archaeologists are still excavating Göbekli Tepe and debating its meaning. What they do know is that the site is the most significant in a volley of unexpected findings that have overturned earlier ideas about our species' deep past. Just 20 years ago most researchers believed they knew the time, place, and rough sequence of the Neolithic Revolution—the critical transition that resulted in the birth of agriculture, taking Homo sapiens from scattered groups of hunter-gatherers to farming villages and from there to technologically sophisticated societies with great temples and towers and kings and priests who directed the labor of their subjects and recorded their feats in written form. But in recent years multiple new discoveries, Göbekli Tepe preeminent among them, have begun forcing archaeologists to reconsider.

After you read this article, make sure you purchase and read Dawson's Religion and the Rise of Western Culture which demonstrates that the Christian religion was a dominate maker and shaper of Western civilization and Enquiries into Religion and Culture for greater insight into what is at stake when the essential role religion has in human civilization and culture is ignored.

A Sociological Philosopher....No, Really

2011-05-30T20:30:00.000-07:00

Dr. Christian Smith is an advocate of critical realism. Those within the Humanities have long embraced and promoted this truthful approach. Critical realism is essentially the view that generally our human sense experience can and does accurately apprehend external objects, properties, and events. However, this does not occur apart from the embodied, social human being. Therefore, all human existence (including our thinking about all human existence) can and must be evaluated critically.
While Dr. Smith has done research and writing in the area of Sociology of Religion and has a book coming out in August, The Bible Made Impossible: Why Biblicism is Not a Truly Evangelical Reading of Scripture that looks to be a challenge to any thinking Christian who has not thought about the sociological of our hermeneutics.
The book I want to consider here is his newest, What is a Person: Rethinking Humanity Social Life, and Moral Good from the Person Up. You know you are in for a real intellectual feast when Smith throws down the gauntlet on the dismal condition of reductionistic Social Science by proposing a definition of the human reminiscent of Wendell Berry's expansive definition of mind in Life is a Miracle: An Essay Against Modern Superstition.
Christian Smith early declares that "it is worth acknowledging upfront that matters such the nature of human personhood are not only complicated but also in many ways ultimately mysterious We will not be able to dissect personhood as we dissect frogs or represent it with statistical equations the way we do certain physical forces and processes. What we are addressing is not an 'it' but rather a thou, a you, an I." (20) Even though this work demonstrates keen sociological insights, he is also impressive of his use of philosophical observations as he turns his critical realism on Sociology as an academic discipline and a way of looking at the world. I highly recommend this work as it represents a throw back to when Sociology was informed by its predecessor and close cousin Philosophy.

On Hawking an Incredible Shrinking Cosmos

2011-05-19T19:35:00.000-07:00

Sometimes surfing the net has its advantages. Recently I ran across two uniquely related online articles. One about the intellectual genius Galileo, whose life is characterized by extraordinary intellectual depth and breadth, and the other about Stephen Hawking, whose mind and world have collapsed into a black box smaller than Darwin's. It is truly mind boggling how this modern cosmologists (Chesterton warns of those people who try to get the cosmos into their heads) has become a commentator on Philosophy, Theology, and now (indirectly) the Literary genre of Fairy stories.
I'm also reminded of the words of the great Max Planck, a true giant of modern physics and considered the father of quantum mechanics, "Scientists have learned that the starting point of their investigations does not lie solely in the perceptions of the senses, and that science cannot exist without some small portion of metaphysics. Modern physics impresses us particularly with the truth of the old doctrine which teaches that there are realities existing apart from our sense perceptions, and that there are problems and conflicts where these realities are of greater value for us than the richest treasures of the world of experience."
After you read these two articles, ask yourself this question: will the history of science give greater honor to a mathematical genius, such as Galileo who was also a musician, artist, writer, philosopher, gadgeteer, observer, draughtsman and craftsman or to a cosmologist who published a few popular "scientific" books, appeared on the Simpsons as a cartoon, and took up attacking, late in his life, something he knows nothing about?
Beyond what many critics are increasingly asking about the monetary motive of Hawking when he speaks of things he knows not, we should also question that if the fool says in his heart that there is no God, what is the measure of folly of the one who as a good scientist arrogantly declares heaven (beyond our sense perception) to be a fairytale? The saddest part of this whole situation is that a once noble scientist has become the Lady Gaga of physics.

C.S. Lewis and Virgil's Aeneid

2011-05-14T20:47:00.000-07:00

Most people who have heard of C.S. Lewis either know of him as the great Christian apologist, or as beloved author of The Chronicles of Narnia and other works of fiction. Fewer know of Lewis the first rate scholar. The book, C.S. Lewis's Lost Aeneid will be a welcomed edition to both admirers of Lewis and lovers of Virgil's Aeneid.

The first thirty-three pages consist of an introduction explaining how this volume came to be published and aspects of Lewis the scholar. Lewis had a "life-long love for the Aeneid" (xii, 6).

There are a number of insights found within the introduction. For example, we find Lewis's philosophy of translation which can be summarized in these words. "To be true to the 'meaning' of a great work, we should be true to its language" (28). In addition, there are several related points about Lewis's philosophy of translation (15, 16, 17, 29). The reader also finds an important description of the terms humanist and humanism (23).

Scholars have argued and debated the central humane themes of this significant literary masterpiece, and Lewis had some of his own convictions based on years of reading and admiring this work. Lewis proposed that the "great theme of the Aeneid is, at a more general level, in exploration of human transitions..." (12)

This book is not however a full translation of Virgil's Aeneid. It is a translation of only all of book 1, much of book 2, and much of 6 with quotes, and fragmentary notes and translations from the rest of the Aeneid. In addition, wherever there is a Lewis translation on the right page, there is the Latin text on the left.

See below just the opening and closing of Virgil's Aeneid for comparison of Lewis's translation with the marvelous recent translation by Classicist Sarah Ruden, who incidentally gives a mixed, but nonetheless helpful review of this new Lewis writing in Books and Culture.

From the Sarah Ruden translation (Bk. 1. 1-6),

Arms and a man I sing, the first from Troy,

A fated exile to Lavinian shores

In Italy. On land and sea, divine will--

And Juno's unforgetting rage--harassed him.

War racked him too, until he set his city

And gods in Latium. There his Latin race rose,

With Albian patriarchs, and Rome's high walls.

From the C.S. Lewis translation (Bk. 1.1-7),

Of arms and of the exile I must sing, of yore

Guided by fate from Troy to the Lavinian shore

And Italy. Much travailed upon land and sea

By powers in heaven fro angry Juno's sake was he,

And proved in war; still endeavoring in our soil to place

His gods and build a city, when the Latin race

Comes, and the Alban fathers and the walls of Rome.

Bk. 12.951, 952 His enemy's body soon grew cold and helpless,

While the indignant soul flew down to Hades. (Ruden)

Bk. 12. 952 When Turnus was killed, his vita "fled, full of resentment, to the shadows". (Lewis)

If you have not read Virgil's Aeneid, this would be a fine occasion to get both Ruden's translation and Lewis's work and read them together. If you have read Virgil in translation or the original Latin, Lewis's work is an enriching experience. I can assure the reader that this will be a fruitful endeavor.

Our Christian Obligation to Be Intelligent

2011-05-10T17:45:00.000-07:00

How and why we need to make certain that of all the things we do and are engaged in at college and graduate studies that we need to make the acquisition of wisdom the top priority, even above socializing and getting an “education”

Or
Why It Is a Sin to Be Willfully Stupid

If you were asked what would be a spiritual priority within our particular age, it is likely that the answer would be among the common one’s given. The warning against materialism, immorality, or any of the seven deadly sins is often given. If wise people were questioned on this same issue, might they propose that being intelligent should actually be the top spiritual goal.

Historically, there is a tendency among some to hold the position that somehow being intelligent was contrary to the spiritual. The view is that intelligence is fallen, sinful, and antithetical to reality of the highest and most spiritual nature. Possibly some are motivated by a misinformed or rather unintelligent way of misreading select Bible verses. Possibly some are driven by sloth because being intellectually sound is extremely demanding and requires continuous rigorous attention.

I actually had one poor fellow tell me some years ago that everyone he knew who was educated and intelligent was also a rather bad person. I asked him if he knew any uneducated folk who were evil and his eyes glazed over with the look of a machine that just had the switch flipped into the off position. While I am sure he mentally checked out, I then asked him if he too drew the conclusion that people are good merely because they are uneducated?

I even met a person once who claimed that she desired to not be too intelligent because she thought that the devil was extremely intelligent and that being too smart tends toward the diabolical. I shared with her that historically there were times Satan is portrayed as an ass (dumb mule) since he is stupid on a comically cosmic scale.

The truth is that there is really no inherent or essential battle between the intellect and spiritual reality. No intelligent person would try to make the case that intelligence is a precursor to goodness any more than asserting that being cleaver always leads to mischief. The Christian is called to love God with all of one’s heart, soul, strength, and mind. Being ignorant of what is, is not only not virtuous, it tends toward the sinful. People will excuse some seriously stupid ideas and behavior as long as the intentions were well placed. This is equally wrongheaded. Now is the time for all followers of Christ Jesus to repent and start thinking in an age that has deified mindlessness.

Teaching Delightful Math to 9th -12th Graders in a Delightful Manner

2011-04-27T18:59:00.000-07:00

Both Solomon (Ecclesiastes 12:10) and Aristotle (Poetics) recognized a relationship between learning and delight. While not all learning is DELIGHTFUL, it does make sense that if one could couple the natural desire to know with delight, then the learning experience could be much more enriching and engaging.

I wish that I had come across the following books when I was younger. My love of mathematics would have been heightened. All three books are by the creative Lillian R. Lieber (1886-1986). I could easily imagine that an engaging, informative, and ennobling curriculum could be designed around these books. The books are:

The author intentionally used short sentences “to facilitate rapid reading” which helps especially when she marvelously blends mathematics with philosophy, social criticism, or religion. While most authors err with hyper-specialization, Lieber shows finesse rare among academics, especially the “hard-science” folks.

Of course, there are items here and there that any reader may take issue with, but the look (charming and often helpful illustrations by Hugh Gray Lieber) and the subject make for a most delightful set of books on an often dead-dull-dry subject.

Religious Humanism: The Generally Good, the Timidly True, and the Basically Beautiful

2011-04-26T13:22:00.000-07:00

     Occasionally, a friend or a reader of this blog will send me something related to Humanism. I am always appreciative. Here is an intriguing article about Religious Humanism. After reading it, I was reminded of Paul's words to the Athenian philosophers, "I perceive that you are most religious." I was also reminded of G.K. Chesterton's notion that if one does not stand for something ,then one will fall for anything. Well, almost anything. It seems that the version of Religious Humanism in this article is open to and liberal toward anything and everything except traditional mere Christianity. I was surprised how much of what the proponents of this version of humanism advocate parallels Christian Humanism. There were, however, key differences. And it is often the differences that make all the difference.
     Similar is the fact that on a genetic level humans share much of the genetic code with dolphins and apes, but it is the difference that makes all the difference. I was struck about the tremendous devotion to human life and the natural order in this article. For the Christian Humanist, human life is a divinely designed and created reality and the natural order is seen as creation that we humans are called to enjoy. The Christian Humanist asserts that we extraordinary humans, bearing the image of God, are entrusted with the gift of creation to properly treasure.
          The reason the Christian Humanist does not share the same view of human nature as the Religious Humanist is multilevel. Traditionally, the Christian Humanist see what is human through the lens of the incarnation. The incarnation declares that humans are worthy of saving, but implicit to this truth is the truth that they need to be saved. The incarnation declares that matter does matter, but it is not all that matters.  Aspiring to "know thyself," the Christian Humanist has seen the dark recesses in their own hearts and tends to read the daily news and both of these practices will disuade the Christian Humanist to deify humans as Religious Humanists tend to do. We humans have got to worship someone or something and if it is not that which is worthy of worship (the triune God), or that which can bear the weight of worship (God and His transcednent order), then we will turn to worship the natural order and/or human beings. Neither nature or humans are worthy of worship and neither nature or humans can bear the weight of worship.

A Call for Reform in PhD Programs....Partly Right and Partly Wrong

2011-04-26T08:59:00.000-07:00

Here is an important issue. Over the past several years there has been a growing call to kill, scrap, or completely over haul the current PhD system in the United States. I agree with a good bit of the critics. There appears to be too many specialized, and yet unemployed, PhD's roaming the countryside. In addition,
Here is a good example of what many are calling for and why they are calling for it. While I agree with the criticism of the overspecialization, the problems with much of the modern PhD program does not have rotten roots in the Medieval world, but rather in the German Enlightenment world.
The call, in the article, for greater interdisciplinary work, and collaboration across academic lines for the greater good of humanity makes sense to me. That is why we have a doctoral program modeled after the Medieval and then later British system.

The Real Meaning and Value of a Liberal Arts Education and Saving Our Cultures

2011-04-19T18:25:00.000-07:00

   Yes, it is cultures in the title, and I am proposing that a true Liberal Arts education can help us save our cultures. By cultures I am referring to the most impressive and insightful book by John W. O'Malley, The Four Cultures of the West. Couple that book with a most extraordinary article by David Lyle Jeffrey The Pearl of Great Wisdom: The Deep and Abiding Biblical Roots of Western Liberal Education and we are on the path to the nature of our cultures and the ways of saving them.  The truth is that the Liberal Arts that could help save our cultures need saving. My strong suspicion is that if the Liberal Arts are saved, it will be by Classical Christian Schools and Home school families. A few years ago I would have held out hope that select universities under the banner of Christ would have helped. That day has passed due to a misguided sense of priorities inherited from the dominate American culture. Priorities of consumption and pragmatism have become triumphant. While it was an older occurrence that Behemoth University lost its way decades ago, the Christian University was bound to eventually catch up, since much of what it did was ape the worldly institutions.
   On a most positive note, I have a sense that while some academic institutes are in decline, we are seeing a Renaissance among Classical Christian schools and Home schoolers. We are probably just a few years away from seeing the birth of Classical Christian Universities. I am hopeful.
   As particular people, even outside of institutions, we can all get a quality Liberal Arts education. Start with the article and book mentioned in this article. Then start a Great Books reading program or take classes that offer a Great Books curriculum. Another helper is found in James Schall. His Another Sort of Learning is delightful and instructive.