Regardless of anyone's political persuasion, it is worth our time as Americans to consider that today's inauguration of President Obama was a prime example of the living legacy bequeathed us from the Classical cultures of ancient Greece and Rome. In her opening remarks at the ceremony, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-California) reminded us that "The world is watching today as our great democracy engages in this peaceful transition of power."
A peaceful transition of power.
How often has power peacefully changed hands in the history of the world? From tribes to city states to nation states, not to mention monarchies, oligarchies, and all manner of tyrannies as well, power has, more often than not, been transferred under violent and deadly circumstances.
Yet for all the vitriol and excoriating attacks during the campaign season, the American people cast their ballots, and the forty-fourth President of the United States took office today from the forty-third without one gun shot, without one body buried. Instead there was music, both soul and classical. There was music and there was prayer. And while some may not have liked the music or may have taken issue with the prayers, what no one can deny is that the seed of democracy, planted in Periclean Athens and developed in republican Rome, has flourished and produced its mature fruit in American soil.
We watched as an African-American citizen assumed the highest office in the land a mere forty years after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Has there been too much made of race in this election? Has there been a pandering to and exploitation of ethnicity? Perhaps. But the better question may be this. Will the daughter of a Pakistani girl whose school was destroyed yesterday by Taliban bombs rise to such a level in her country within a mere four decades?
Today we indeed witnessed a peaceful transition of power, and ours is certainly a great democracy. It is time once again to take our leaders at their words until such time as they may prove themselves false. It is time for us to exercise our kratos of the demos, our rule of the people, by involving ourselves in our own economy, yet another word of Greek origin that means literally the governance of one's own household. And it is time that we begin our prayers for God's guidance of those we have chosen to lead.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Monday, January 19, 2009
On Beauty and Truth
I have been reading The Ratzinger Report, the published interview from 1984 of then Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger who is now Pope Benedict XVI. While the following quotations come from his thoughts on liturgy, I could not help but be struck by how appropriate they are for Summit. As some of you know, the only thing I love more than reading such wonderful pieces is sharing and discussing them with friends.
"More and more clearly we discern the frightening impoverishment which takes place when people show beauty the door and devote themselves exclusively to 'utility.'" (p.128)
"[Christians] must make their Church into a place where beauty -- and hence truth -- is at home. Without this the world will become the first circle of hell." (p. 130)
Even Einstein observed that an elegant theory had a greater chance of being right. It would seem, then, that truth, goodness, and beauty are logically necessary causes of each other.
"More and more clearly we discern the frightening impoverishment which takes place when people show beauty the door and devote themselves exclusively to 'utility.'" (p.128)
"[Christians] must make their Church into a place where beauty -- and hence truth -- is at home. Without this the world will become the first circle of hell." (p. 130)
Even Einstein observed that an elegant theory had a greater chance of being right. It would seem, then, that truth, goodness, and beauty are logically necessary causes of each other.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Friday, January 2, 2009
What is a Classical and Christian School?
It is helpful to think of the phrase "Classical and Christian" as a brand name. Just as you can have many brands of automobiles, you can have many brands of schools. Most of us are familiar with public schools, which can also be known as state schools or government schools because they are funded and guided by the state. There are private schools, some of which are religious in nature, others of which are not. There are Montessori schools, reform schools, and gender-specific schools. And of course, there are Classical and Christian schools. And just as it is true that not all cars are the same, but certain brands outperform others, so it is with schools.So that returns us to our question...what does it mean for a school to carry the brand "Classical and Christian?" Let's start with the Christian part of these schools. The Bible is quite clear that the primary responsibility for the education of children rests with the parents God gave them. Consider these Deuteronomy 4:9, Deuteronomy 6:6-9, Proverbs 22:6, and Ephesians 6:4. Because of these commands from God, not to mention that He created everything that is, the only proper way to study anything is from a Christian perspective. Yes, that means there is a Christian way to approach math, a Christian way to approach literature and history, even a Christian way to approach physical education. The God Who has revealed Himself as One God, eternally existing in three Persons...Father, Son, and Holy Spirit...is the God Who created the universe. Therefore, He has something to say about everything from spelling and coloring to string theory and quantum mechanics.A Classical and Christian school takes this seriously. The CCS works with parents in helping them faithfully live out their God-given responsibilities.While there is daily worship in a CCS, it is not a mere add-on. It is not something to check off the agenda to qualify as a Christian school. Children are taught from Kindergarten on to understand their world from the perspective of the God Who created it. To pursue any area of study as if God is irrelevant is like constructing a school in which everyone pretends there are no such things as numbers. There would be no numbers in the books, no numbers on the clocks, no numbers on the classroom doors or the gym score board. Does that sound ludicrous? So is attempting to construct an educational system that says, "For the next six hours, we teachers and students will pretend that God does not exist." It is the goal of a CCS to develop help children and their parents develop the only worldview that is consistent and coherent...a Christian one.
When capitalized, the word "Classical" refers to the language and culture of ancient Greece and Rome. You can major in Classics or Classical Studies at the university. Of course, you often hear people refer to classic literature, classic cars, even classic rock 'n' roll, so what exactly does this term mean in the title of a Classical and Christian school? In part, it carries with it the connotations of that which has to do with ancient Greece and Rome. A Classical and Christian school, for example, typically teaches Latin from an early age. There is an emphasis on understanding the Greco-Roman culture because it was into this world that Jesus was born, and within this world that Christianity first flourished. This world also provided the foundations for Western civilization in its language, architecture, laws, art, and literature.There is much more, however, to the word "Classical" in a CCS. It also refers to the structure of the education, one that draws its inspiration from the Medieval Trivium and fits amazingly well with the natural cognitive development of children.The first stage of the Trivium is the grammar stage and corresponds to what Dorothy Sayers called in her essay "The Lost Tools of Learning" the poll-parrot stage. Young children like to memorize things. They naturally enjoy rhythms and rhymes. In his poem "Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot," Alexander Pope once wrote:
As yet a child, nor yet a fool to fame,
I lisp'd in numbers, for the numbers came.
Here "numbers" refers to poetic meter. If you don't think children enjoy meter, try listening to children who have watched Barney even once. They know the songs because of their heavy rhythms, which make them memorable. At the grammar stage, children learn the grammar of the different subjects. In other words, they learn the basics. They learn the grammar of history...that there are dates and places and people of importance. They learn the grammar of mathematics...that there are numbers and these can be added, subtracted, multiplied, and divided.The second stage is the logic stage. Anyone who has dealt with a pre-teen or early teen knows that young people of this age have a natural talent for arguing. The logic stage teaches children how to argue well. Rather than becoming argumentative, children learn to argue their position, to spot weaknesses in an argument, and to make that argument stronger.The final stage of the Trivium is the rhetoric stage. You may think that rhetoric is simply about public speaking, and that is the word's original sense, but used here it takes on a broader meaning. This is the stage, approximately high school, where students begin to synthesize what they have learned and to present that information to others. Clear communication is key, and a valuable skill for any occupation or relationship in which the child will find himself as an adult.In summary, a Classical and Christian education is one that explores the wisdom of the past, in the light of the One Who is the truth, Jesus Christ, to enable children to fulfill their God-given purposes for the future.
When capitalized, the word "Classical" refers to the language and culture of ancient Greece and Rome. You can major in Classics or Classical Studies at the university. Of course, you often hear people refer to classic literature, classic cars, even classic rock 'n' roll, so what exactly does this term mean in the title of a Classical and Christian school? In part, it carries with it the connotations of that which has to do with ancient Greece and Rome. A Classical and Christian school, for example, typically teaches Latin from an early age. There is an emphasis on understanding the Greco-Roman culture because it was into this world that Jesus was born, and within this world that Christianity first flourished. This world also provided the foundations for Western civilization in its language, architecture, laws, art, and literature.There is much more, however, to the word "Classical" in a CCS. It also refers to the structure of the education, one that draws its inspiration from the Medieval Trivium and fits amazingly well with the natural cognitive development of children.The first stage of the Trivium is the grammar stage and corresponds to what Dorothy Sayers called in her essay "The Lost Tools of Learning" the poll-parrot stage. Young children like to memorize things. They naturally enjoy rhythms and rhymes. In his poem "Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot," Alexander Pope once wrote:
As yet a child, nor yet a fool to fame,
I lisp'd in numbers, for the numbers came.
Here "numbers" refers to poetic meter. If you don't think children enjoy meter, try listening to children who have watched Barney even once. They know the songs because of their heavy rhythms, which make them memorable. At the grammar stage, children learn the grammar of the different subjects. In other words, they learn the basics. They learn the grammar of history...that there are dates and places and people of importance. They learn the grammar of mathematics...that there are numbers and these can be added, subtracted, multiplied, and divided.The second stage is the logic stage. Anyone who has dealt with a pre-teen or early teen knows that young people of this age have a natural talent for arguing. The logic stage teaches children how to argue well. Rather than becoming argumentative, children learn to argue their position, to spot weaknesses in an argument, and to make that argument stronger.The final stage of the Trivium is the rhetoric stage. You may think that rhetoric is simply about public speaking, and that is the word's original sense, but used here it takes on a broader meaning. This is the stage, approximately high school, where students begin to synthesize what they have learned and to present that information to others. Clear communication is key, and a valuable skill for any occupation or relationship in which the child will find himself as an adult.In summary, a Classical and Christian education is one that explores the wisdom of the past, in the light of the One Who is the truth, Jesus Christ, to enable children to fulfill their God-given purposes for the future.
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