Developing an Understanding of Education
First, a definition of education will be put forward, it will then be modified and enriched to define Christian education, upon which each element of the definition will be assessed.
The simplest definition of education can be understood as “human formation” whether done well or poorly. Humans are continually being formed by various influences intentionally and unintentionally. But to develop an understanding of education as human formation, let’s start with a positive and intentional working definition: “Education is the cultivation of wisdom and virtue by nourishing the soul on truth, goodness, and beauty.”[1] Similar definitions are common in classical education circles, which typically have a high view of man and of his ability to pursue truth. The hope is for students to know true things, do good things, and love beautiful things; what a task! Notice how this definition addresses the intellect, affections, and volition. An educational philosophy which intends to shape students must understand humans to be knowers, doers, and lovers.
To the point of formation. The definition put forth has a number of presuppositions (which will be addressed below). Presuppositions and the methods of education which follow them are shaped by a particular view of the world and a desire to perpetuate that vision. The proposed definition is one of cultivation or formation, and affirms James K.A. Smith’s explanation without reservation:
“… education is not primarily a heady project concerned with providing information; rather, education is most fundamentally a matter of formation, a task of shaping and creating a certain kind of people. What makes them a distinctive kind of people is what they love or desire—what they envision as “the good life” or the ideal picture of human flourishing. An education, then, is a constellation of practices, rituals, and routine that inculcates a particular vision of the good life by inscribing or infusing that vision into the heart (the gut) by means of material, embodied practices.”[2]
If education is a task of forming the intellect, habits, and desires of a certain kind of people, as Smith notes, then where does our proposed definition leave us? It is narrowed to a kind of people which affirm objective reality, man’s unique ability to understand such a reality, and the importance of intellect, habits, and desires. Many groups of people could claim such things, with their own nuanced understandings various religious and secular humanists might function under the proposed definition. To form a Christian kind of people, education must be more particular in its definition.
Understanding education as forming a distinctive kind of people with a particular view of life, Christian Education may be more narrowly defined as the cultivation of wisdom and virtue by nourishing the soul on truth, goodness, and beauty, so that, the image of God might be restored in the student, and so that, in Christ they are better able to know, glorify, and enjoy God forever.[3] This definition breathes life into the meaning and purpose of “wisdom”, “virtue”, “truth”, “goodness”, and “beauty” by being understood within the confessional context of orthodox Christianity. Let us now be clear as to what each part of the definition of education means.
Wisdom: The ancient philosophers speak much of knowledge and the love of wisdom (philosophia). Influenced by the works of Plato, many have described wisdom with various emphases such as epistemic humility, an accumulation of knowledge, having justified beliefs, and even living according to the nature of the divine.[4] Philosopher Joseph Pieper sees that the non-Christian is able to love wisdom in the sense that even though it comes down from divine revelation, it still, “lies in the fact that philosophy begins by considering visible, concrete things and the realities of experience; begins from the bottom, questioning things that are met with in everyday life, that always seem more wonderful to those who are searching for wisdom.”[5] The Christian might describe this as God’s common grace toward un-believers in permitting them to observe His natural revelation. Dr. John David Trentham provides a helpful definition of “knowing” which may be seen as wisdom for the unbeliever, “The intentional, personal pursuit of meaningful principles, implications, and commitments that guide one’s way of life.”[6] Such a definition suggests the formation of intellectual and ethical maturity.
What has been said of wisdom is affirmed and elevated in the definition of Christian education. In the book of Proverbs, wisdom can be understood as “the skill of living within the created moral order of God.”[7] Because divine order permeates the whole of creation, there is no legitimate division between sacred and secular spheres of life; therefore, “Fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 9:10; Psalm 111:10).[8] The truest form of wisdom cannot be obtained apart from the God of the Bible. Trentham’s definition of knowing is also strengthened when tied to the Christian faith. Labeled “virtuous Christian knowing”, Trentham describes that knowing virtuously is knowing excellently and “when we qualify virtuous knowing as ‘Christian,’ we are appealing to a pursuit of excellent knowing according to a confessional identity and ethic that is prescribed by biblical truth and ultimately rooted in the gospel of Christ.”[9] The “wisdom” in the definition of Christian education is elevated and deepened because it begins with the fear of the LORD, is subject to special revelation, and is lived out excellently in light of the gospel of Truth Himself.
Virtue: Implied from the writings of Plato, Cicero, the Apostle Paul, Augustine, and a plethora of great thinkers of the past, virtue may generally be understood as living life well, living life excellently, or in Augustine’s more affectionate understanding, rightly ordering one’s loves. What is considered well, excellent, or rightly ordered is dependent on one’s understanding of wisdom and its’ source. There are many virtues and vices but what are called the “Cardinal Virtues” have been espoused by all great thinkers in the western tradition, they are the hinge on which all other virtues hang. These cardinal virtues include: prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance. The virtuous life then, would be considered one lived prudently, justly, courageously, and with self-control.
The life of Christ and the writings of Paul brought about the addition of the three theological virtues: faith, hope, and love (1 Cor. 13:13; 1 Thess. 1:3).[10] For the Christian faith grounds virtuous living in God’s revealed will, and with the influence of Christianity in the Roman Empire (Eastern and Western) the four cardinal virtues were tied to a biblical ethic. It is worth noting that virtuous living not only entails putting on a virtue but also putting off the corresponding vice, as modeled in Paul’s description of putting off the old self and putting on the new self, being created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness (Eph. 4:22-24). Virtues may be categorized as intellectual, physical, or spiritual (theological), all are to be cultivated in order to better know, glorify, and enjoy God. But the theological virtues are of a higher order, they inform, strengthen, and uphold all other virtues. For above all, faith, hope, and love abide, but the greatest of these is love.
Truth, Goodness, and Beauty: Truth, goodness, and beauty are three transcendent qualities. Truth is that which conforms to reality, it reveals reality to the human mind. Goodness indicates the moral significance or excellence of a person or thing. Beauty is anchored in and draws man toward the true and the good. These three transcendentals find their origin in God. He exists eternally as absolute Truth, Goodness, and Beauty. As Christians conform themselves to and cultivate a taste for these qualities in Theology, Mathematics, Natural Science, Literature, etc., they develop a longing for their Creator. Put more succinctly by Stephen R. Turley, “In short, the Christian vision of Truth, Goodness, and Beauty is an invitation, a divine call, to awaken the fullness of our humanity as the entire cosmos is incorporated into the transformative life, death, and resurrection of Christ.”[11] It is the educator’s hope that God would use such longings to draw his students into a union with Jesus Christ.
So that the image of God might be restored in the student, and so that, in Christ, he is better able to know, glorify, and enjoy God forever: This portion of the definition of Christian education is what distinguishes it from the first definition and fills each previous word with a superior meaning. The greatest pagan thinkers were very much concerned with wisdom and virtue but none of them were concerned with knowing, glorifying, and enjoying the one true God, this is uniquely Judeo-Christian. The hope that “the image of God might be restored in them” is the desire that students may become more fully human as they become more like Jesus Christ. “In Christ” implies that Christian learning includes the work of the Spirit which unites us to Christ, and that we are only able to fulfill the aim of knowing, glorifying, and enjoying God because of our union with Christ the mediator. “To know, glorify, and enjoy God” reflects biblical wisdom and discipleship which entail use of the head, hands, and heart. It is no small thing that the historic three transcendentals of truth, goodness, and beauty relate to man’s intellectual, volitional, and affectional nature. Nor is it a coincidence that the transcendentals and human nature correspond to the Christian calling to be knowers, doers, and lovers of the Word.
K-12 Education in the Classical Christian Tradition
In reality, modern Christian schools typically don’t use the language stated above when describing their philosophy of education unless they are a traditional parochial school who resisted the influence of secular progressivism or a classical Christian school. The language was used above because it is how many Christian educators spoke until John Dewey’s progressive experiment became influential in the early 20th century. Below is a working definition specifically for K-12 Classical Christian Education :
Classical Christian education is the cultivation of biblical wisdom and virtue by nourishing the soul on truth, goodness, and beauty, so that, the image of God might be restored in the student, and so that, in Christ they are better able to know, glorify, and enjoy God forever. This is done through teaching students piety, gymnastics, music, the liberal arts, and the natural, humane, philosophical, and theological sciences as they engage the great works of Western civilization.
The curricular elements unique to this definition of classical Christian education will be addressed on the Curriculum and Practice page.[12]
Notes:
[1] Circe Institute, “Definitions of Terms,” accessed May 18, 2020, https://www.circeinstitute.org/resources-what-classical-education/definitions-terms.
[2] James K.A. Smith, Desiring the Kingdom: Worship, Worldview, and Cultural Formation (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2009), 26.
[3] Using language from the Circe Institute’s “Definition of Terms”.
[4] Josef Pieper, “Philosophical Act,” in Leisure: The Basis of Culture, (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2009), 128.
[5] Ibid., 130.
[6] John David Trentham, “On Knowing,” unpublished class notes for 45400 (The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Spring Semester, 2020).
[7] Daniel J. Estes, Hear, My Son: Teaching and learning in Proverbs 1-9 (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2003), 43.
[8] Ibid., 25.
[9] John David Trentham, “On Virtuous ‘Christian’ Knowing,” unpublished class notes for 45400 (The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Spring Semester, 2020).
[10] By “addition”, it is meant as pertaining to western influence. Certainly all seven virtues can be found in the Old Testament but the influence was limited to the Hebrew people. Starting with Plato’s Republic we can see western pagans affirming the four cardinal virtues. It is not until the spread of Christianity that the Scriptures -including the OT- influence western society as a whole, and the primary virtues are numbered as seven.
[11] Stephen R. Turley, Awakening Wonder: A Guide to Truth, Goodness, and Beauty (Camp Hill, PA: Classical Academic Press, 2014), 48.
[12] This definition acknowledges the importance of piety, gymnastics, and music from an early age as Kevin Clark and Ravi Scott Jain elaborate on in their work, The Liberal Arts Tradition: A Philosophy of Christian Classical Education (Camp Hill, PA: Classical Academic Press, 2019).
The Classical Christian Tradition 