Douglas Wilson's A Case for Classical Christian Education

Douglas Wilson’s book, The Case for Classical Education, is a challenge to Christian educators, true, but also a challenge to Christians. He writes of the Paideia of God, (the title of another of his books), which is more then the education of children, but the “enculturation,” which is providing more than biblical stories or platitudes, but living, worshipping, working, and thus teaching the Christian life. This is required of the teachers, the administrators, the board, and the parents.

The classical Christian education trains children in the faith, but also the Western civilization in which Christianity prospered. Wilson’s plan, put into practice at Logos, the elementary school he founded, is more demanding than the average public school’s. It is not vacation Bible school. Wilson mentions some of the unusual subjects, (by today’s standards), like Latin, Greek, Hebrew languages. He also writes of how subjects that are not specifically religious or irreligious are a part of the holistic Christian education, such as mathematics and athletics. He lays out the overall plan of the Trivium: grammar, dialectic (or logic), and rhetoric, as they determine the subjects; grammar from first grade to junior high, dialectic until senior high, then rhetoric. Grammar gives children basic knowledge to accumulate, dialectic is the arrangement of this knowledge by its interconnectedness, and rhetoric is the expression of the student’s conclusions.
Also useful for any adults interested in specific texts that are taught, or who would like to have an idea of what a classical education includes, a list of twenty-five books that represent the Western canon is included. If you are interested in some classical training yourself, most of these books are available online for free.

The book is a well-reasoned explanation of why many parents have quit, or are ready to quit, the status quo among public schools. It’s not to make it easier for the children; it’s to have a higher standard of academics, and some standards of God’s in the school.

Is Literature Relevant?

I am reading a book by Rev. Douglas Wilson: A Call for Classical Christian Education. He has no hesitation in saying Christians should pull their children from public schools. For the Christian teacher in a public school, he has these words:
For Christian teachers in secular schools: “...he or she is either going to be constantly exasperated – or fired. If the teacher fails to reach those around him, he or she will be exasperated. If the teacher succeeds, he or she will be fired. All in all, those gifted in teaching should seek out classical Christian academies in which to teach – even if salary and retirement benefits are lower.”

I also read an article, "The Decline and Fall of Literature," by Andrew Delbanco, (linked to the blog title above) on the failure of English Departments at colleges. Some of the facts included were how the number of students that major in English in college and the number of PhD programs and students have decreased. It is not encouraging to someone who would consider teaching English. The article’s main thrust was that English departments have become “laughing stocks” of colleges across America because of the variety of things studied, which are really just items of pop culture, such as comic books, advertising, movies, pornography, etc. I would add their political slants and social experiments in the classroom have depleted the number of students interested.

In another essay, ”Dynamics of Scholarly and Essayistic Writing,” by Rainer Schulte, (Literature Interpretation Theory, 16: 389–395, 2005. Copyright # Taylor & Francis Inc,)I read the question: why aren’t scholarly journals read? He pointed out their obscurity, mainly in language. But these essays are also obscure in subject matter. They’re really only written for peers. Who is going to read “Jane Austen and the masturbating girl,” a miscellaneous essay I just picked off of the internet, except for other English scholars who think such things are important, and some Freudians who look for justification for their sexual obsession by supposing everyone else has the same?

Secular schools wouldn’t like it, nor allow it, but a moralistic approach to literature, the way to teach prior to the 20th century, taught about wisdom. Secular schools cannot teach wisdom, nor do they care to.* That is why students will doubt the relevance of literature. As much as academics may look down on churches, they could learn something from Bible study. It was Bible study that started my interest in literature, that complemented it, and then study of literature complemented Bible study. Bible study is about applying the Word.

*C.S. Lewis brought up a good point: teachers can’t give their students what they don’t have themselves. He was writing of expecting secular teachers to teach with the Christian perspective.