Going Deeper
Young Man Reading by Candlelight, 1600-1650, by Mathias Stohom
Welcome to the "Going Deeper" page. Here, it is my hope to provide a place to amass a collection of essays, articles, lectures, links, videos, and other informational resources that provide further helpful insight into Classical Christian education.
I am frequently on the lookout for helpful information for myself and my colleagues, and it came to me: "Why not provide this information to the parents of our students?" I therefore present this to you as a place where you can, at your leisure, come to and fro if you are interested in mining a little deeper into the big picture of Classical Christian Education.
On the homepage, you will notice that I have a pastiche of passages from Scripture from Genesis and Colossians chiefly centered on the foundational realities that:
1. All of Creation has been declared by God as "very good."
2. God created human beings in His Image and likeness and we have been given authority to have kingly dominion over His creation - to be Priests and Stewards of His world with him, under his Rule.
3. That Jesus Christ, the very Image of God, has begun to recast that Image around himself; therefore, we who are "in Christ" are being conformed more and more into His image.
Why these passages?
Well, one of the tenets of Classical Christian education is to see ALL fields of study as integrated, and rightly so! If God created all things very good and placed us, human beings, over his good creation, then (as I remind myself and the students) there is nothing in this beautiful world that lies beyond our reach. We are called to study and learn and grow and FLOURISH as people - to be truly human in the way that God designed us.
The Fall in Genesis 3, most sadly, brought about the fracture of the most important relationships that God designed. Chiefly, the relationship of humanity with God himself has been broken - he cast Adam and Eve from his presence. Second, interpersonal human relationships have been broken. Thirdly, the relationship between humanity and creation too has been broken, and this creation is said to be "groaning" under humanity's broken dominion (see Romans 8:18ff.). C.S. Lewis said in The Magician's Nephew, "And as Adam's race has done the harm, Adam's race shall help to heal it, " (pg.148, Harper Trophy edition).
In addition to all of creation being declared "very good," God has been working through history with his people, and now through his Church, to redeem the fallen, broken creation. The Bible speaks of this final goal as the "new creation" - a new heavens and new earth. Paul speaks of us believers as being new creations in Christ. Therefore, our lives are to be lived as new creation - the new humanity - bringing new creation with us wherever we find ourselves, not least in our educational institutions. It begs the question, "What does it look like to live new creation in school? How do we educate children (and ourselves!) to live in light of God's future?"
What if our vision of redemption was as vast and deep as encompassing all of creation? What if we saw ourselves, the redeemed humanity, redeeming the fractured culture around us one step at a time? What we do here at Covenant Classical School and at other schools like it is a part of this grand story of God's moving and working in this world.
Shakespeare said, "All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players..." (From As You Like It). The world is a stage and we are actors, but we are not mere actors and actresses. To extend the metaphor to education: We do not learn our lines only to speak proud words to the world and flaunt knowledge, for knowledge puffs up. We learn our lines - better, we align ourselves - in the grand story that God has been unfolding through history and take up our roles as his new creations (2 Corinthians 5:17ff.) in a world that is waiting for its final redemption (Rev. 21-22) - when all will be well again. In the meantime, we learn and grow and go "further up and farther in" what God has been doing and is doing in the midst of his people.
A note: All of what I post here are books, articles, or other media that I have found beneficial one way or another. We may or may not agree with everything here; however, we do have a lot we can learn. I have found these to be helpful planks along the classical and liberal arts Christian bridge to stand on in order to challenge, encourage, and perhaps test our worldviews and (hopefully) bring growth. If you find any of these stones helpful - great! Use them to do a little educational landscaping. If not, toss them in the creek! :)
I am frequently on the lookout for helpful information for myself and my colleagues, and it came to me: "Why not provide this information to the parents of our students?" I therefore present this to you as a place where you can, at your leisure, come to and fro if you are interested in mining a little deeper into the big picture of Classical Christian Education.
On the homepage, you will notice that I have a pastiche of passages from Scripture from Genesis and Colossians chiefly centered on the foundational realities that:
1. All of Creation has been declared by God as "very good."
2. God created human beings in His Image and likeness and we have been given authority to have kingly dominion over His creation - to be Priests and Stewards of His world with him, under his Rule.
3. That Jesus Christ, the very Image of God, has begun to recast that Image around himself; therefore, we who are "in Christ" are being conformed more and more into His image.
Why these passages?
Well, one of the tenets of Classical Christian education is to see ALL fields of study as integrated, and rightly so! If God created all things very good and placed us, human beings, over his good creation, then (as I remind myself and the students) there is nothing in this beautiful world that lies beyond our reach. We are called to study and learn and grow and FLOURISH as people - to be truly human in the way that God designed us.
The Fall in Genesis 3, most sadly, brought about the fracture of the most important relationships that God designed. Chiefly, the relationship of humanity with God himself has been broken - he cast Adam and Eve from his presence. Second, interpersonal human relationships have been broken. Thirdly, the relationship between humanity and creation too has been broken, and this creation is said to be "groaning" under humanity's broken dominion (see Romans 8:18ff.). C.S. Lewis said in The Magician's Nephew, "And as Adam's race has done the harm, Adam's race shall help to heal it, " (pg.148, Harper Trophy edition).
In addition to all of creation being declared "very good," God has been working through history with his people, and now through his Church, to redeem the fallen, broken creation. The Bible speaks of this final goal as the "new creation" - a new heavens and new earth. Paul speaks of us believers as being new creations in Christ. Therefore, our lives are to be lived as new creation - the new humanity - bringing new creation with us wherever we find ourselves, not least in our educational institutions. It begs the question, "What does it look like to live new creation in school? How do we educate children (and ourselves!) to live in light of God's future?"
What if our vision of redemption was as vast and deep as encompassing all of creation? What if we saw ourselves, the redeemed humanity, redeeming the fractured culture around us one step at a time? What we do here at Covenant Classical School and at other schools like it is a part of this grand story of God's moving and working in this world.
Shakespeare said, "All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players..." (From As You Like It). The world is a stage and we are actors, but we are not mere actors and actresses. To extend the metaphor to education: We do not learn our lines only to speak proud words to the world and flaunt knowledge, for knowledge puffs up. We learn our lines - better, we align ourselves - in the grand story that God has been unfolding through history and take up our roles as his new creations (2 Corinthians 5:17ff.) in a world that is waiting for its final redemption (Rev. 21-22) - when all will be well again. In the meantime, we learn and grow and go "further up and farther in" what God has been doing and is doing in the midst of his people.
A note: All of what I post here are books, articles, or other media that I have found beneficial one way or another. We may or may not agree with everything here; however, we do have a lot we can learn. I have found these to be helpful planks along the classical and liberal arts Christian bridge to stand on in order to challenge, encourage, and perhaps test our worldviews and (hopefully) bring growth. If you find any of these stones helpful - great! Use them to do a little educational landscaping. If not, toss them in the creek! :)