How ought reading be taught? Notice that the question asks “how ought” not “how can”. The question bears a subsequent inquiry: what should my students read? One technique I have grown increasing aware of is children sitting in small groups reading little paperback pamphlets about animals, the seasons, plants, and daily life bearing lots of […]
The Iliad, Homer tells us, is about the rage of Achilles and the will of Zeus, and about how these two interact with each other. Quoting Lattimore: Sing goddess the anger of Peleus son Achilleus And its devastation, which put pains thousandfold upon the Achaians, Hurled in their multitudes to the house of Hades strong
The mind rooted in faith operates differently from the mind rooted in doubt.* Doubt, interestingly, comes from the Latin “dubitas,” which can as easily be translated “fear.” In Elizabethan times, that correlary was not obscure, as you can see when you read, for example, Hamlet. A few years ago, Joss Whedon wrote a TV series
The classical tradition has been polluted by four streams of thought, each of which is ultimately rooted in conscious or unconscious antipathy to the human soul. Naturalism, which took its educational form as Utiliatrianism, is a rejection of anything transcendent. It arose in the 17th and 18th centuries out of the fear that somebody might
When the course of my life is run and I am tied to a stake or lying beneath my final shroud, it will be among my sweetest consolations to be able to say that I knew the man who wrote these words: My reason for concluding this discussion of the idea of a classical education
The Promise of Christian Education (so much less than it delivers) Read More »
We do well, it seems to me, to distinguish Greek education from Roman. The Roman’s were masters at making things last (like, for example, their empire). They weren’t necessarily very good at making things good. The Greeks were not so good at making things last, though this problem can be exagerrated since the pragmatic Roman
If knowledge sets you free, then the teacher is a servant. If knowledge is power, then the teacher is master.
The heart of the difference between classical and conventional education is not in curriculum or teaching methods, though those are affected. The heart of the issue is in goals and beliefs. Our practices often entangle us so much that we can’t get back to the things that matter most. The biggest difference is theological. Conventional
What is the Difference between Classical and Conventional Education? Read More »
It’s always an exploration but never a scientific experiment It’s both dialectical and dogmatic, but never tyrannical It feeds on tradition, but is always looking for deeper perceptions and new applications What is it?
Douglas Wilson is the Senior Pastor at Christ Church in Moscow, Idaho. He is happily married to his wife Nancy for 35 years and counting, has three kids and fifteeen grandchildren. He’s a prolific author and speaker and blogs over at Blog & Mablog. He also debated the late Christopher Hitchens in this documentary about
Words of Wisdom: Douglas Wilson on the State of Classical Education Read More »
“I don’t know how all this talk about truth, goodness, and beauty are going to get a kid into college.” I heard somewhere that a board member of a Christian classical school uttered these words. I chooose to regard them as apocryphal and thus to set them up as a dummy to respond to. Here’s
“Suddenly, right before their eyes, look, a potent marvel destined to shape the future!” The Aeneid, Book V. ll. 575-6 The funeral games for Anchises in book five of the Aeneid provide a necessary respite from the piercing drama and tragic end of Dido in book four—which concludes with the arresting imagery of Dido atop
The Flaming Arrow of Classical Education: Funeral Games in the Aeneid as Symbol and Hope Read More »
