Classical Christian education

Classical Christian education is an approach to learning which emphasizes biblical teachings and incorporates a teaching model from the classical education movement known as the Trivium, consisting of three parts: grammar, logic, and rhetoric.

According to Douglas Wilson, this method of instruction was developed by early Christians as part of the Seven Liberal Arts.^[1] Wilson's writings and the Logos School he founded have been cited as being influential in reviving the Trivium and fueling a modern educational movement, primarily among American Protestants.^[2][3][4]

The classical Christian education movement was launched by the publication in 1991 of a book entitled Recovering the Lost Tools of Learning by Doug Wilson.^[5]

The classical Christian education movement has also been influenced by Norms and Nobility by David V. Hicks^[6] as well as the CiRCE Institute, founded by Andrew Kern, which exists to promote classical Christian education. In 2016, Kevin Clark and Ravi Jain authored The Liberal Arts Tradition, published by Classical Academic Press which was later revised in 2019, with a foreword by Peter Kreeft.^[7] This work was widely endorsed as an essential explanation of the philosophy of classical Christian education by over 14 leaders within the movement, including John Frame, Andrew Kern, Phillip J. Donnelly (Baylor Honors College), and David Goodwin, President of the Association of Classical Christian Schools.^[7]

Classical Christian education is characterized by a reliance on classical works by authors such as Homer, Democritus, Sophocles, Plato, Plotinus, Josephus, Dante, Pythagoras and Shakespeare, and an integration of a Christian worldview into all subjects.^[8] In addition, classical Christian education exposes students to Western Civilization's history, art and culture, teaching Latin as early as the second grade and often offering several years of Greek.^[3]