By: Dr. Hal
Brunson, Headmaster
Covenant Christian Academy
Colleyville, TX.
What is a Classical, Christian Education?
The terms "classical" and "Christian" aptly describe Covenant Christian Academy's educational philosophy. By no means synonyms, the "classical" and "Christian" elements of our curriculum nonetheless synthesize beautifully to provide our students an excellent and unique college-preparatory education with a distinctively Christian worldview. The term "classical" denotes excellence- maximum performance and accomplishment- particularly in academic disciplines. Hence, a "classic" signifies some work of art, music, literature, or even technology which maximumly expresses profound intellectual insight, artistic creativity, and cultural influence, such as DaVinci's Mona Lisa, Shakespeare's Hamlet, Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, Newton's Principia, Pascal's Pensees, or Plato's Republic; maybe even Henry Ford's Model T. But a classical education means more than merely encountering classical thinkers, artists, scientists, and writers; it also includes a clearly defined system of how and when we study the classics; this derives form the trivium.
Originally defined as three
distinct academic disciplines- grammar, logic, and rhetoric- we have borrowed
these elements of the ancient trivium to create an artificial but effective
paradigm for systematic learning at appropriate developmental stages in
our students' lives. Thus our Grammar School (grades 1-4) concentrates
upon students' mastery of the "nuts and bolts" of learning,
the elemental facts of math, science, language, art, music, and history.
Our Logic School (grades 5-8) emphasizes clear and rational thinking within
the various academic disciplines, epitomized by an actual course in Logic
which we teach our eighth-graders. The consummation of our curriculum
is our Rhetoric School (grades 9-12), which aims to refine our students'
ability to listen and think clearly , and to speak and write eloquently
from an informed perspective, whether in math, science, or the humanities.
Beyond these elemental and structural benefits of a classical education,
classical learning also cultivates an appreciation of Western culture.
In the last quarter of the twentieth century, ivory-towered leftists have
launched an attack against Western culture, not only attempting to de-Westernize
the literary canon, but even to undermine the political, religious, and
moral foundations which have contributed to the rise and influence of
Western culture and the Judeo-Christian ethic which undergirds it. By
surveying the classics from the pre-Socratic era to modernity, our students
get a sweeping view of Western history, and thus a clear understanding
of how we came to be what we are. Such a panoramic vision of history is
vital to our students' understanding of the future, especially in view
of the political correctness, multi-culturalism, emerging globalism, and
anti-Western biases of the "new world order."
Perhaps we can illustrate our classical, Christian curriculum this way. What if you had a magical time-machine, and could travel to any point in world history, to any place, and to any person? What century would you choose? What shining city from the past? What great minds would you seek out? Would you be charmed by Homer's muse or Virgil's voice, and survey the grandeur of their epic visions by tracing the daring exploits of brave Odysseus and Aeneas as they sail the blue oceans and wage bloody war to establish the kingdoms of Greece and Rome? Would you march with Caesar's legions, or walk beneath the portico of the Acropolis and listen to Socrates, Plato, or Aristotle as they contemplate the great themes of Western Philosophy- justice, beauty, truth, love, and goodness? Or would you travel to 16th-century Florence, or perhaps to Rome, and momentarily recapture the splendor of the Renaissance? Would you stare at the sun through the kaleidoscopic prism of cathedral glass, or ponder the dark and disturbing architectural images of the gargoyle? Would you gaze over Da Vinci's shoulder as he scribbles the first primitive aircraft, gently curves the Mona Lisa's smile, or sketches the thirteen human forms that would become The Last Supper? Or perhaps you would visit the Piazza della Signoria and watch in wonder as Michelangelo's delicate but strong hands make David come to life from stone, or ascend Michelangelo's scaffold and recline with him beneath the Sistine Chapel dome as the history of Providence unfolds in splendid color and dynamic form. Would you descend with Dante into the nether regions of The Inferno, dark circle by dark circle, downward and downward still, fathoming the terrifying depths of human pride, prevarication, perversion, lust, greed, and envy until finally, in a moment of supreme poetic irony, you discover the devil frozen in ice.
Or would the next century allure
you, the century which shook the foundations of Christendom, cast down
the Holy Roman Empire, and dethroned and decapitated apostate kings? Would
you listen for Luther's hammer upon the Wittenberg door, or stand boldly
beside the German Lion as he tells the worldly prince, "Here I stand"?
Would you strain your eyes in the flickering candlelight of Calvin's midnight
study, and watch in wonder as the bearded sage dips his iron pen, diamond-pointed,
into the ineradicable ink of the Great Reformation, and trace out the
recovery of sola gratia, sola scriptura, sola fide, sola Christos, and
soli deo gloria? Or perhaps you would sail with Calvin's heirs to Plymouth
Bay in quest of the shining city upon the hill.
Or how about a venture into the age of reason, scientific discovery, and
enlightenment? How thrilling to catch Newton's apple, and experience the
sudden wonder of profound discovery? How stupefying to witness Leibniz's
formulation of calculus, or to scope the shining heavens with Copernicus'
eye, and with a simple stroke of his pen, shake the stars, sun, moon,
and earth from their courses? Or perhaps you would choose to sit with
Jefferson on his veranda, as the Virginia gentleman condenses the abstract
political philosophy of Locke, Montesquieu, and Kant into a declaration
of concrete action. Would you be a Tory or a Whig, obey the God-ordained
magistrate and pay your taxes, or take up arms with the sons of liberty?
And would you willingly pay the high price of liberty and, if necessary,
die for the rights of those with whom you vehemently disagree- the Shakers'
heresy, Paine's agnosticism, Jefferson's Christ-less deism, or even the
atheist? And how would you solve this delightful dilemma? Would you lend
your ear to Mozart or Beethoven, Bach or Handel? Whose strings would stir
your spirit, whose horns awaken your soul to the majesty that is music?
Now thrust your time machine
into the 19th century, the Age of Romanticism, Industrial Revolution,
and unparalleled scientific upheaval. Eavesdrop at a quaint café
along the Champs Elysees as Monet, Renoir, and Van Gogh discuss the mysterious
interplay of light and color, function and form. Listen to the soft, impressionistic
tones of Claude Debussy's Prelude to the Afternoon of a Fawn. Ponder the
beauties of nature through Wordsworth's eye, your heart leaping up as
you gaze upon a the splendor of a rainbow or the dignified simplicity
of a solitary lass threshing golden grain. Listen to the opiate charms
of the Ancient Mariner's rime, or Byron's comparison of a woman's beauty
to the rolling spheres of a starry midnight. Retreat to the woods and
live deliberately with Thoreau; go fishing in the stream of time and learn
timeless lessons from the industrious ant, the morning mist, the lark's
song, and Walden's Pond in winter. And then, hear the soft voice of nature's
music when it dies, as monstrous machines growl with cacophonous roar,
their unnatural and hideous heads bobbing up and down like mad elephants,
and their grotesque snouts spewing black smoke into England's sapphire
sky, stripping the sun of its golden glory and clothing it in the grey
rags of greed. Weep as England's silver rivers turn strangely purple with
the poison of progress, bleeding from factories where pregnant women and
eight-year-old children work eighteen-hour days; hear the blare of the
brutal whistle that sends them into dark streets oozing with sewage, and
into 12x12 rooms where tuberculosis, incest, and alcoholism ravage the
souls of England's poor. Empathize with Dickens' tender soul as he caricatures
England's brutalized masses in such unforgettable characters as David
Copperfield and Stephen Blackpool, or stand quietly in the labyrinth of
the London library and witness the tears of a young Jewish intellectual
who had seen enough of capitalism's invisible hand; follow his fingers
page by page as he exhausts the annals of economic history and theory;
hear him whisper the words that would shake the nations- workers of the
world unite! Sail with Conrad down the winding Congo into the dark heart
of Africa, only to discover that it is a voyage into our own twisted hearts
of darkness. Shudder at Darwin's explanation of this tragic age- things
are as they are because the strong must necessarily rule the weak, and
the weak must adapt or die. Tremble at Nietzsche's matter-of-fact, soulless
declaration- God is dead.
Now accelerate your time machine into the twentieth century. See the crimson
specter of communism engulf the third world, and the triumph of atheism,
existentialism, and nihilism in Europe. Inhale the mustard gas and anthrax
spores, feel the thunder of Panzer divisions moving the earth beneath
your feet, and shade your eyes to the Blitzkrieg's lightning. Smell the
burning flesh. Trace America's rise to world domination at the cost of
two Armageddons. Marvel at Einstein's genius, and watch in horrible anticipation
as the mushroom blooms upon the horizon of terrorism in the twenty-first
century.
But you do not need Orwell's time machine to take this journey; our classical, Christian education is in fact just such a time machine. This wondrous expedition into the past is exactly what we do at CCA. What an amazing gift to give your child! By studying the classics, our students encounter the most influential thinkers, artists, and writers of history- face to face, and mind to mind- and thus come to an understanding Western history and culture. At CCA, we do not read about the classics; in literature and history, we read the classics; in art we see the classics; in music we listen to the classics; and in math and science we learn to apply classical theory to practical learning. In our humanities classes, we organize our curriculum chronologically so that students read the classics as an ordered, historical narrative, and thus navigate the rising and falling tides of culture as it is shaped by great thinkers. To the extent we are able, we also organize our curriculum interdisciplinarily, so that our students understand how philosophy, literature, art, science, and politics, like tributaries to a great river, converge at watershed moments in human history. Studying the classics informs our students as to why things were as they were, and more importantly, why things are as they are. Our students thus understand the foundations of Western culture through the Greco-Roman philosophers and poets; they understand why the Dark Ages are so-called; they grasp the true meaning of the Renaissance as an age in which learning is reborn, and how, subsequently, individualism triumphs over institutionalism; they understand why the Age of Reason is an age of Scientific Enlightenment, political revolution, and ultimately skepticism, and why modernity has yielded to humanistic "isms" which have effectively unraveled the fabric of Western culture.
But we do not explore the classics merely to understand the history of Western culture; we study the classics as a basis to make value judgements. The classics are touchstones of excellence, so that by studying the classics students learn how to think with aesthetic discernment and discrimination and thus make qualitative judgements about what is bad or worse, better or best. In other words, studying the classics cultivates taste. But much more than this- by filtering the classics through the grid of God's Word, we impart to our students a Christian world view which equips them to make moral judgements, not merely about the basic questions of right and wrong, but also about profound ideas which, in the modern world more often than not, directly clash with Christianity.
Thus understood, our curriculum is not only a time machine, but also a kind of intellectual hospital or zoo. What parent would send his child into a disease-infested city without inoculation? Yet most Christian schools quarantine their students by slamming the door to a dangerous and hostile culture. But we know that, sooner or later, the door must be opened and the vulnerable child emerge. By studying the classics, the vast majority of which are non-Christian, we thus inoculate our students to the outside world and its dangerous diseases- atheism, existentialism, Marxism, Darwinism, Nihilism, humanism, and all the other "isms" that threaten, not just the health, but the very life of Christianity. Metaphorically speaking, "It's a jungle out there!" But our curriculum "cages the beast" so that when our students safari into adulthood, they will not only recognize the serpent and the lion but also have the weapons to defeat them and thus protect themselves and their posterity.
Most Christian schools choose
their curriculum based upon whether or not it has a "Christian"
publisher. But our criteria are different; we do not ask, who is the publisher,
but rather what is the best curriculum? What curriculum best develops
a child's ability to listen, speak, read, and write? What curriculum best
prepares the student for college? What curriculum will make our students
well informed Christians? What curriculum best prepares our students to
thoughtfully challenge the humanistic professor or the pagan professional?
What curriculum best insures that our students will be moored securely
to the harbor of Truth when the wild winds and waves of culture roar and
blow? What makes a curriculum "Christian" is not the "curriculum"
but rather the Christian. Thus, our classical, Christian curriculum will
be taught by godly men and women. But more importantly, our curriculum
will be taught by thinking Christians whose vibrant faith in Jesus Christ,
and whose passion for lifetime learning, will permeate our hallways, classrooms,
athletic fields, and academic disciplines, thus bringing every thought
in captivity to Christ. And perhaps most importantly for parents, our
classical, Christian curriculum will prepare our students to meet the
world head on, and to boldly engage and impact their culture for the glory
of God.
For more information e-mail pyoung@christianschooladmin.com
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