The Old Western Culture Great Books List
Old Western Culture is a great books curriculum with a distinctly Christian “great books” reading list. It includes all the famous favorites you’ll recognize from series like the Britannica Great Books of the Western World, but also includes books that are often left out of modern editions for various reasons, most often because they are from the “Age of Faith.” We include more works from the early Church Fathers, Medieval period, and the Reformation. These are deeply influential and formative books on Western civilization, and worthy of inclusion in great books series. These books are part of our Christian and cultural inheritance, and … Continue Reading “The Old Western Culture Great Books List”
What do we mean by “Liberal Arts”?
[dropcap]A[/dropcap]s Christians recover classical Christian education, they are unearthing old treasures, once the possession of every educated man. Some of these treasures are words and descriptions–terms like “Trivium” and “Quadrivium,” “paideia,” and “liberal arts.” Of all these terms, “liberal arts” lays at the heart of what classical education is all about. So what did our forefathers mean by “liberal arts”? “Liberal” [dropcap]T[/dropcap]he word liberal has nothing to do with our modern use of the word in politics and culture. Liberal means “free,” and historically described the kind of education expected of a freeman–especially one in a position of leadership, like … Continue Reading “What do we mean by “Liberal Arts”?”
Augustine on the use of Rhetoric
Christians need to learn the tools of Rhetoric both to persuade and to gain wisdom and understanding of our times. “Since, then, the faculty of eloquence is available for both sides, and is of very great service in the enforcing either of wrong or right, why do not good men study to engage it on the side of truth, when bad men use it to obtain the triumph of wicked and worthless causes, and to further injustice and error?” —Augustine, On Christian Teaching (quoted in Fitting Words: Classical Rhetoric for the Christian Student by James B Nance).
Athenian reaction to defeat similar to US reaction to 9/11 terrorist attacks
In this excerpt from The Histories, part of the Old Western Culture series, a Great Books video course, Wes Callihan shows how the reactions that the Athenians had to a defeat is very similar to other reactions of democracies throughout history, and specifically similar to the reaction of the United States to the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11th, 2001. Thucydides wants us to make these parallels as he explains at the beginning of “The History of the Peloponnesian War.” YouTube version here.
74 Books I Read Aloud to my Children
I recently had the pleasure of listening to Andrew Pudewa, the director of the Institute for Excellence in Writing and a father of seven, speak at an education conference on the importance of reading aloud to your children. As he spoke, I recalled with delight the many hours I spent reading to my four children before they went to sleep. My eldest is about seven years older than the youngest. I would first read the Bible, making sure I at least turned the page every night. We read it all the way through, Genesis to Revelation, over and over again (once we finished … Continue Reading “74 Books I Read Aloud to my Children”
Could your child enter Harvard in 1869?
Harvard University adopted the following words, based on their mission statement, as part of their “Rules and Precepts” in 1646: Let every Student be plainly instructed, and earnestly pressed to consider well, the maine end of his life and studies is, to know God and Jesus Christ which is eternal life (John 17:3) and therefore to lay Christ in the bottome, as the only foundation of all sound knowledge and Learning. And seeing the Lord only giveth wisedome, Let every one seriously set himself by prayer in secret to seeke it of him (Prov. 2:3). Thoroughly dedicated to Scriptures as … Continue Reading “Could your child enter Harvard in 1869?”
Roman Speed Dating
Welcome to #ClassicalClickbait, incredible stories from antiquity that still astound us today! Follow the Classical Clickbait Twitter or Facebook for more #ClassicalClickbait! [dropcap]T[/dropcap]he first settlers of Rome—all men—were at a loss to find wives, and eventually turned to some rather desperate measures to make sure they each got a wife! Learn in this clip how they tricked the neighboring Sabine tribe into coming over for a feast, and then carried off the women to make them their wives! Eventually, the fathers and brothers of the wives attacked the Roman men to get the women back, but were in for a surprise from the women they … Continue Reading “Roman Speed Dating”
Interview with Andrew Pudewa on Classical Education
Daniel Foucachon interviews Andrew Pudewa from IEW (Institute for Excellence in Writing) at the CiRCE Institute summer conference in 2015 on the subject of Classical Education. Subjects covered: What are some of the greatest “Great Books”? How do we deal with feeling inadequate to give a classical education to our children? What are some good books to get started with a classical education? If you could dine with any three educators, who would they be? What advice (and resources) do you have for writers? Poetry, learning styles, memory, history of education in America, and more! YouTube version HERE. Bibliography Books … Continue Reading “Interview with Andrew Pudewa on Classical Education”
A glimpse at what we lost when we abandoned classical education
Mark Twain is attributed with the saying “Those who don’t read have no advantage over those who can’t.” We are now a couple generations away from our forefathers who abandoned classical education. We are now the generation that does not even know what it has lost. Wes Callihan gives a glimpse at the kind of richness we have lost in this excerpt from the Old Western Culture curriculum on the great books of Western civilization. If you don’t study the classics, you have no advantage over those who can’t. Roman Roads Media provides tools to help you accomplish this task! Get started today! … Continue Reading “A glimpse at what we lost when we abandoned classical education”
Cicero on Rhetoric: Ethos, Pathos, and Logos
Wesley Callihan tells the story of Cicero and Varres, and how Cicero used Rhetoric to convince his audience that Varres was wrong. We can see the three branches of good rhetoric: Ethos (appeal to authority), Pathos (appeal to emotion), Logos (appeal to reason). This excerpt is taken from The Historians, a unit from the Old Western Culture curriculum on the great books of Western Civilization. For a complete Rhetoric curriculum, where these ideas are taught in depth, see Fitting Words: Classical Rhetoric for the Christian Student. YouTube version