In our journey of liberal learning, we will, both students and teachers, find ourselves in the presence of the goodness of truth and the beauty of being. We will linger there in that presence, contemplating, knowing that this goodness of truth and this beauty of being is a reflection of the One who is Being [...]
When trying to understand Scripture, we need to establish an analysis of concrete terms. But if we aren’t careful, we just might explain away the beauty of descriptive language in the Bible. Saint Augustine of Hippo encountered the same issue, and not just among his youngest students. In humanities coursework, we often train students to [...]
No work of Christian theology has left such an impact on the world and biblical interpretation and understanding as St. Augustine’s “City of God.” We who read the Bible do so, often unknowingly, through the eyes of the bishop of Hippo. In 410 A.D., the city of Rome was sacked by the Visigoths. Rome was [...]
The Great Tradition patiently endures, ready to speak on its own behalf, ready to challenge narrow prejudices, ready to examine those with the courage to be interrogated by it, ready to teach those who are willing to be made unfit for the modern world. The Great Tradition: Classic Readings on What It Means to Be [...]
Anna Julia Cooper passionately defended classical education during the Reconstruction Era when the dilemma of how to educate former slaves arose. Cooper, a former slave herself, preached the virtue of classics and their necessary vitality to the soul. Anna Julia Cooper Why would a Black American female ex-slave revere the wisdom of dead [...]
Metaphor should not be approached as some “thing,” but as a transformative power, the invisible process by which “things” come into being. Using metaphor, even very simple language and very common-place images can be brought into new, unique constellations. Contrary to the sundry definitions of metaphor proffered by many school teachers and dictionaries, metaphor is [...]
What is the focus of a Catholic vision of renewal for education? Rather than “classical,” our focus should be on the Christian tradition following the Church’s own educational vision. The goal should be to teach from a Catholic worldview, rooted within the great Catholic heritage of thought and culture. Words Made Flesh: The Sacramental Mission [...]
Throughout his works, Irving Babbitt addressed the continuing decline of the humanistic imagination, humanism constituting a tradition that had produced a leadership class of ladies and gentlemen. His educational theory was aimed at producing an elite, humanistic aristocracy that would lead responsibly and ethically. When Literature and the American College, Irving Babbitt’s critique of the [...]
The intellectual virtues are not enough. Christendom’s rich Catholic culture must continue to be born anew each day from prayer and the liturgy, be constantly ordered to the sacraments, and continue to develop in accord with the Church’s two thousand years of experience in forming its people. On July 1, 2024, Dr. George Harne took [...]
“Brethren, what shall we do?” (Acts 2: 37) Such was the response of “devout men from every nation under heaven” (Acts 2:5) to St. Peter’s Pentecost Discourse. The Holy Scriptures tell us that “that they were cut to the heart” (Acts 2:37). St. Peter had proclaimed to them the truth of the Redemptive Incarnation with [...]
I would like to take this opportunity to propose what I call “The 2 Ism Rule”: In any piece of academic writing, especially those written for the media or popular magazines, writers are allowed a maximum of no more than two “ism” words. Screenshot I read recently that a dean at Harvard University suggested [...]
William F. Buckley did not resist the ideas of collectivism as successfully as he thought. Instead, he chose to aim for winning a contemporary battle rather than defending the Permanent Things. Conservatives today would do well to guard against falling into the same trap. William F. Buckley’s God and Man at Yale is one of [...]
The most prevalent of all human ills are these two: a man’s discontent with the work he does and the necessity of having to kill time. Both these ills can be, in part, cured by liberal education. In support of this thesis, that liberal education is to be understood in terms of leisure, I should [...]
If we fail to inspire this next generation to pursue that which is True, Good, and Beautiful, I shudder to think at the consequences. Groupthink will destroy all that we hold dear. We want our students to polish their reason and to prepare to guide and navigate their chariots along the track of life. It [...]