The Goal of Education: Peripheral Vision
Dr. Roy Atwood, in an article called Recovering Peripheral Vision, speaks first of the failure of the current academia of this age as they seek practical jobs and vocational training while mocking the “useless” liberal arts. He then talks about the real goal of education, which is to see both broadly (or peripherally) and how one thing connects to another. It turns out that these are the skills we end up actually using, even if usefulness was not the point! Dr. Roy Atwood is one of the founders of New Saint Andrews College and served as its President from 2004-2014. He currently serves as … Continue Reading “The Goal of Education: Peripheral Vision”
Socrates Searched for Jesus | by Steven Hunter
In Plato’s Meno, Socrates and Meno were conversing about the meaning of virtue and how one obtained it. Meno believed that virtue was relative to a person’s age, sex, and station in life (e.g. slave or free). He, then, posited that virtue was the ability to govern humanity, believing that justice was a virtue. As the conversation progressed, the meaning changed several times, but the turn came when the talk of obtaining virtue began to revolve around if one could learn virtue. Socrates asked But if the good are not by nature good, are they made good by instruction? Based … Continue Reading “Socrates Searched for Jesus | by Steven Hunter”
The Greatest Roman | By Wes Callihan
Vergil’s Aeneid, the epic poem which tells the story of the wanderings of Aeneas on his way to becoming the founder of Rome, is propaganda. But such a statement would not have bothered Vergil a bit. “Propaganda” in Latin simply means “things which ought to be propagated,” and Vergil certainly believed that the values espoused in his story needed to be spread about a bit. Aeneas was the ultimate Roman, primarily because he revered the gods. “Pious Aeneas” is the epithet used of him throughout the poem, and if anyone missed the point, they were asleep during the reading. Aeneas modeled for … Continue Reading “The Greatest Roman | By Wes Callihan”
John Chrysostom on the temptations to both rich and poor
St. John Chrysostom talks about the temptations to both rich and poor. He points out that while the sins of the rich tend to be obvious, the sins of the poor are just as egregious, and are not as evident. Chrysostom was the archbishop of Constantinople in the late 300s AD, and is a very influential Church Father, often quoted by Reformers like John Calvin who appreciated his pastoral teaching. This is from a collection of his homilies called On Living Simply: The Golden Voice of John Chrysostom. Students of Old Western Culture will learn about Chrysostom in Romans: Nicene Christianity.
Cincinnatus and George Washington
Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus was a Roman farmer in the 5th century B.C. Because Rome was in dire need of a leader to fight off invaders, the Roman Senate asked Cincinnatus to be “Dictator” for a term of six months. The Roman Senate was worried that the person they chose as dictator might not return the power to the Senate when the time was up. But the reason they chose Cincinnatus was that he was known to be a man of virtue, who had proven himself as a consul. After two weeks, he had taken care of the situation with their … Continue Reading “Cincinnatus and George Washington”
St. John Chrysostom on Redistribution of Wealth
St. John Chrysostom’s comments on whether we should be looking to the government (princes and kings) to redistribute wealth. Taken from On Living Simply, Sermon XLIII.