The Portrait of a Graduate series aims to publish pieces by recent graduates of classical Christian schools. Not only do we hope to encourage these students in future writing endeavors by publishing their pieces, but we also hope that the excellence shown in these pieces serves as a small portrait of what classical Christian schools hope their students will be able to do with a … Continue reading Coby Dolloff (Portrait of a Graduate Series)
Six years ago, Justin Timberlake starred in one of his first leading roles in a major motion picture, In Time. This movie tells the story of a young man in a futuristic world that has figured out how to use time as a currency. All humans stop aging at 25 but have a clock that counts down to the time of their death. Instead of … Continue reading In Time
A nexus is a series of connections linking two or more things. These notes are dedicated to linking us to great content elsewhere out on the web. Ancient Future Education Great short video presentation by Davies Owens on Classical Christian education. Davies gives a brief summation of education the last 100 years, explains how it has affected us, and then details how classical Christian education … Continue reading Nexus Notes–June 16, 2017
Faithful education at a classical Christian school is a topic of great significance, particularly with the growing number of students in classical Christian education. I have suggested in the previous posts in this series that faithful education in this discipline requires an emphasis on formation that nonetheless takes seriously the importance of communicating information that helps students in this formative process. Second, I proposed that … Continue reading Trudging Joyfully Towards a Future Kingdom (King, Kingdom, and Kingdom People Series #9)
The final area for discussion is joy. Of the many valuable insights from Alexander Schmemann in his book For the Life of the World, one of the most pointed and significant discussions is on joy. Schmemann suggests that “from its very beginning Christianity has been the proclamation of joy, of the only possible joy on earth[…]Without the proclamation of this joy Christianity is incomprehensible. It … Continue reading Joy (King, Kingdom, and Kingdom People Series #8)
The first three areas (“Formation vs. Information,” “The Value of History,” and “The Good, the True, and the Beautiful”) discussed foundational aspects of education and the approach of the educator. We must focus on formation in addition to information, we should utilize history and the old books to build up stock responses and help correct errors of our day, and we should point students to … Continue reading Imagination (King, Kingdom, and Kingdom People Series #7)
The phrase, the good, the true, and the beautiful, has become something of a motto in classical Christian education. The phrase, rightly understood, has much to commend itself and serves as a helpful reminder for Christian educators. Not only do we aim to teach students to see the good, the true, and the beautiful in the world, but desire for them to learn to create … Continue reading The True, the Good, and the Beautiful (King, Kingdom, and Kingdom People Series #6)
One of the more dangerous lies we can believe in our day is that time inevitably leads to progress. This idea that our present day is smarter, wiser, and more advanced than previous cultures simply on the basis that we have come after them has been termed “chronological snobbery.” Lewis was once accused by a friend of chronological snobbery, and he obviously learned his lesson … Continue reading The Value of History (King, Kingdom, and Kingdom People Series #5)
The balance between traditional worldview approaches focused on knowledge and James K. A. Smith’s proposal of counter-liturgies is likely nowhere more significant than in a discussion of the purpose and telos of a classical Christian education. Do we, as classical Christian educators, put our emphasis on the information to be taught to the students or the formation wrought in the students? I would argue that … Continue reading Formation and Information (King, Kingdom, and Kingdom People Series #4)
Change The World For The Better “This is the way that liberal education prepares young people to meet the world: by presenting for their consideration the deepest human thinking about living well, and by giving them a training ground for putting their considered beliefs about living well into practice. Four years of this work allows them to hit the ground running when they land in … Continue reading Nexus Notes–June 2, 2017
King, Kingdom, and Kingdom People Series #1 King, Kingdom, and Kingdom People Series #2 As a professor of Christian worldview at a classical Christian high school, it would seem obvious that I integrate faith with learning and teach from a Christian worldview. However, this is where speaking of faithful education is more accurate and more helpful than the integration of faith and learning. The integration … Continue reading Faithful Education in a Classical Christian School (King, Kingdom, and Kingdom People Series #3)
In my previous post I considered how many Christian institutions have begun to speak of an integration of faith and learning, and agreed with Mark Noll that “evangelicals should be among the most active, most serious, and most open-minded advocates of general human learning.”[1] Speaking of a faithful education, although not saying less than the integration of faith and learning, does suggest more. If “all … Continue reading New Eyes and New Heart (King, Kingdom, and Kingdom People Series #2)
The Classical Thistle 