Why Classical Education?
Posted On April 03, 2023
Written by Rev. Robert Ingram, program advisor for the Reformed Classical Education Minor
The church father Irenaeus famously stated, “The glory of God is man fully alive.” This quote has animated many of us in the Christian classical school movement because it succinctly combines the twin poles of what our education model seeks to provide.
The one pole is to faithfully communicate the character and redemptive purposes of God in Christ while ascribing glory to Him. This is why we often repeat the answer to the first question of the Westminster Shorter Catechism, “Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever.” The other pole is to embrace the biblical revelation of the imago Dei, which teaches that mankind is made in the image of God. Without this understanding of who we are, there is no prospect of human flourishing. Anthropology is, therefore, inextricably linked to theology. The foundation of Christian classical education is what John Calvin asserts in his opening words of The Institutes of the Christian Religion, “Nearly all the wisdom we possess, that is to say, true and sound wisdom, consists of two parts: the knowledge of God and of ourselves.”
Dr. R.C. Sproul often said with respect to these two poles that “the eclipse of God necessarily results in the eclipse of man.” That darkening shadow cloaking both God and man is increasingly becoming as black as night. Frightening for our culture, this death-like pallor of eclipse is being cast upon many students and schools. Progressive education, endemic in both the public and private secular educational environment, results in neither glory to God nor life to students. It exacerbates the alienation between God and our fallen, sinful condition. Far from making students fully alive, “they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened” (Rom. 1:21).
Christian classical education maintains Calvin’s delicately balanced equation regarding the knowledge of God and ourselves. It has withstood the historical test of time and faith, fulfilling Irenaeus’ quest of giving glory to God and the fulness of life to students. Within our darkening culture, this vision for education extols the transcendent virtues of the (ethically) good, the (philosophically and theologically) true, and the (aesthetically) beautiful. It is mindful of Augustine’s admonition to “plunder the Egyptians”—that is to say, to mine the very best of the wisdom of the ancient world and to marry it to a robust Christian faith and worldview. Maintaining wonderment and the love of learning facilitates the pursuit of knowledge and information in the classroom. Even more, it promotes the formation of students whose chief occupation is to please God. This approach to education recognizes that a life devoted to God constitutes true human flourishing. In summary, a Christian classical education affords students a decided advantage when it comes to learning the virtue of walking wisely “east of Eden” (Gen. 4:16).