With the inauguration in the rear view, times don’t appear to be any less political, and they don’t seem to be changing any time soon. The world is ripe for reformation or revolution, and that is a dangerous line. Radicals are all around from both sides of the isle and neither know how to communicate to the other. One insists upon logic while the other insists upon emotion. What is the way forward?
The true answer is that only Christ can save the situation. As a Calvinist, the responsibility to change hearts is not on me. My duty is faithfulness. Faithfulness to Christ and to show His love through the evangel, the gospel. This is our work.
The question though is how to do this? How does one engage a people who insists on only logic or emotion while there is so much more to the world?
The start is a liberal arts education steeped in the classics with Christ’s thumb firmly planted everywhere. What is a liberal arts education though? Traditionally, it was the education for free men, hence “liberal”. It stems from “liberty” which my favorite definition of liberty is freedom under law. We are free to do what we want as long as it doesn’t violate a law. This definition comes from John Locke who was a major influence on the founding fathers. A liberal arts education is the education that a man needs in order to be and stay free. This is especially needed today. Both sides would like to convince a man to their side when they are both wrong. It takes a person to know both sides of the argument to know that though. For example, Trump wants to do the ERS and get rid of the IRS. Great. These are the same ugly stepsister who is just wearing a different dress. These systems will both tax the people. Why trade one tax for another one? I have yet to hear a republican explain that one to me.
Tracing ideas through history is a vital importance to engaging the culture today. Short-sighted is the man who has not walked through history. Textbooks don’t count. Why listen to someone who wasn’t there when you could talk to someone who was? This is one reason why I try to not lecture in class. I want the books to speak for themselves. I want the student to engage with them first and then with me. Archimedes is a classical genius. I’m not. This is why I love old books so much. I love to climb into the mind of dead geniuses to see how they thought. Interestingly, most of them are crazy, but that is half the fun. The Great Books of the Western World are great for a reason. They are all a part of The Great Conversation which is how man has understood the world since the beginning. Reading through The Great Books chronologically, you can see ideas rise and fall throughout history. The same thoughts keep popping up like a giant spiral. There really is nothing new under the sun.
This is the type of education that we are offering at ECS. If you want to equip your student to engage the culture and keep their soul, this might be the school for you.
Our info night a less than a week away.
Details are in the video.
Hope to see you there.