Why Classical Christian Education?

Classical education is another term for Liberal Arts, which comes from a 2,400 year tradition of teaching students how to think, and not just what to think, with an emphasis on virtue and wisdom. It is precisely this kind of education that has produced countless leaders, inventors, artists, and theologians throughout history.

Classical education through the Liberal Arts goes well beyond our commonplace understanding of a basic college degree. It is foundational to the way God designed us to learn. The Trivium (three paths) and the Quadrivium (four paths) comprise the foundation of all learning, with the Trivium focusing on the art (skill) of words and the Quadrivium the art (skill) of numbers. An individual who has mastery of words and mastery of numbers truly lays a foundation for lifelong learning. This became increasingly valuable to early Christians who found in Jesus the ultimate expression of truth, goodness, and beauty. 

Education is as much about formation, as it is about information. So a Christian education means approaching life differently. Relationships in the community are built on forgiveness, reconciliation, restitution, and edification – considering others more important than oneself. This means intentionally structuring the day, the classroom, and the homework, to help us become like the One we love and worship.

An education that neglects submersion in God’s Word can hardly be called Christian and it cannot prepare a child for life. Our students and instructors are students of the Bible. We read, sing, pray, and reason from the Word. The students’ identities are shaped by the story and the reality of the Gospel. The narrative of the Bible is the center and foundation for all disciplines, and every subject at Geneva Academy is taught in the light of God’s Word. So whatever we are reading or studying—Aristotle or Augustine, Dante or Darwin—we examine everything using the Bible as our guide and final authority.

We are told in the Gospel of Luke that the student will be like the teacher. This means that all education is discipleship. Since Christian education is discipleship in Christ, the teacher’s credentials need to be in order; which are: Love of God through Christ, Love of students in God’s image, and Love and knowledge the subject taught – under the authority of Christ. When these credentials are presents, the Christian classroom provides the right example for imitation.