O
training and political indoctrination. The former ne of the questions I most often hear they unfortunately don't do well, and the latter they about classical education is how it relates unfortunately do very well. In one case, schools no to Christianity. The question comes longer have time for much literature or history because in various forms, usually something these studies take up time that could be used for like, "What is Christian about classical Christian vocational skills training. In the other, they no longer education?" Or, "How can I reconcile classical value Western civilization, and in many cases education with Christianity?" actively undermine it. In fact, when you don't say "classical Christian The main purpose of the old classical education was education" and explicity state that you mean to include to pass on our culture—its knowledge, its values, its Christianity, some Christian educators get nervous. Part ideals. This, said Russell Kirk, is what the humanities of the reason people have questions like this is because are for: "to teach human beings their true nature, their of a misunderstanding about what classical education is. dignity, and their rightful place in the scheme of things." This is partly due to the popular conception of The purpose was to learn, not how to become a welder classical education as being merely Dorothy Sayers' or an accountant or a computer programmer, but how to "method": the grammar stage, in which children like become a human being—which, incidentally, also makes to memorize, the dialectic stage, in which students you a better welder or accountant or programmer. begin to think analytically and are able to understand A culture is an accumulation logic, and the rhetoric stage, in of the knowledge and opinions, which students begin to think discussions and arguments, synthetically and imaginatively. agreements and disagreements, But w h at e ve r yo u t h i n k o f Dorothy Sayers' developmental Culture has to be passed on hopes and aspirations of past generations. It has to be actively mo de l , s h e n e ve r s a id t h at to each succeeding generation passed on to each succeeding her method was the sum and not only to ensure continuity, generation, not only to ensure substance of classical education. but to serve as a test of every continuity and stability, but to serve as a test of every practice and Passing on Western Civilization practice and policy, a check to policy, a check to every innovation. The reason we ask questions every innovation. about how we can "reconcile" Citizens and Philosophers the classical with the Christian According to Mortimer Adler, is that we think that there is an every human being is both a entity on one side of the cultural citizen and a philosopher. No ledger called "Christianity," and matter what else a person is—a father or a mother, a another entity on the other side called "classical" (which follower or a leader, a scientist or a farmer—everyone we think is Sayers' "method"), and we think they have is a citizen of a state or member of a society, and little to do with each other. In fact, Christian education everyone is a thinker. has always consisted of an organically integrated A citizen, says Jeffrey Hart (paraphrasing Eugen set of knowledge and skills that stands in no need Rosenstock-Huessy), "is a person who, if need be, of being reconciled. Both Sayers and her audience can re-create his civilization." But people have to would have assumed that education was the study of be trained to do such things. We are tempted to the accumulated knowledge and wisdom of Western think that our government institutions, our cultural civilization using the tools of the liberal arts. Sayers and institutions, and our societal norms will just continue every educator of her time would have acknowledged on autopilot. But this is not true. that the purpose of education was to pass on this body "If you leave a thing alone," said G. K. Chesterton, of knowledge, a body of knowledge which we call a "you leave it to a torrent of change": "culture." Her method was only a way to do this better. We are the products of an education system that If you leave a white fence post alone it will soon be no longer passes our civilization down to us. We are a black post. If you particularly want it to be white you all guinea pigs in a grand cultural experiment in must be always painting it again; that is, you must be always having a revolution. Briefly, if you want the old what the writer George Steiner has called "planned white post you must have a new white post. amnesia." For two or three generations now schools have abandoned the classical ideal of education and Our culture is in constant need of renewal, if gone on to what they consider better things—job not explicit defense—processes in which traditional
1-877-862-1097
What Is Western Civilization? 61 Cursive Penmanship