Classical education is oriented towards the wisdom of contemplation, and because of this, such education opens students up to the possibility of living a wonderful life. It is precisely that we might live life to the full that the Lord came. The life giving quality of classical education is born in the culture of life and civilization of love the blood of Christ once made possible and still makes possible today. It is a kind of education in which human dignity, truth and virtue are integrated to prepare someone for the search for God and in finding Him, to cleave to Him. Through this kind of education we learn like St. Bernard that no matter how much we find Him, there is always more to be sought and in cleaving to Him there is always more to find. Because it so well equipped students for this journey of life, a classical approach to education at one time well served not only Catholic colleges and universities but even elementary schools and high schools as culture enriching institutions. More often than not, whenever classical education was wholesale abandonned, not only the Catholic identity of the institution but also the cultural enrichment it once provided to the broader society was also diminished. What would happen if this kind of education were ever rediscovered?
I am not sure why this approach to education was abandoned to the extent it has been, but any genuine renewal of the Church in America will require an examination of conscience in this regard. Archbishop Chaput suggests that the Catholic witness to the wider culture has been "bleached out" in part because of a growing sense of insecurity in the face of scientific skepticism. Perhaps Catholic educators still find themselves compelled by thinkers like Robert Merton who looked on contemplation as anachronistic and even dangerous for society. Ironically, the spirit of scientific investigation itself should have caused us to question whether contemplation really is as opposed to science and progress as he and many others suggested, and still suggest. Why did we not apply a little skepticism to such skepticism? Why did we not inquire into the biases and assumptions standing under such doubt?
As people of faith, we are too passive in the conversations taking place in the public square. In failing to question the questioners, we allow doubt and ignorance to rob not only us but our children of the rich patrimony our civilization has cultivated. The wisdom of contemplation, to which all good education opens, is worth promoting and in fact vitally needed in the face of the dehumanizing forces unrestrained in our society. The human mind is so great and vast that, besides scientific thought, it stands to reason our intelligence is also ordered to the enjoyment of other kinds of knowledge. There are certain things that science limited to the observation of merely measurable data cannot know and unfathomable mysteries that no verifiable hypothesis can explain away. Indeed, a man has not yet lived if he has never tasted those deeper levels of knowledge which touch what is most noble, true and beautiful about our humanity.
Given the current state of our culture, do we not as educators and people of prayer have a responsibility to reconsider the rich synthesis of knowledge sketched out by great intellectuals like Jacques Maritain or Dietrich von Hildebrand? Rather than narrow-minded doubt, such thinkers not only beautifully magnified the scope of human knowledge, the scope of the truth in which human dignity is rooted, but in contemplating the light of truth they also discovered the living secret to which human wonder is open, a secret so relevant in the face of the dying culture of these dark days. Even now, especially now, when so many are looking for a word of hope, through classical education and contemplation, universities and other educational communities can still help lead students into the discovery that the wonder of life is what makes life wonderful.
I am not sure why this approach to education was abandoned to the extent it has been, but any genuine renewal of the Church in America will require an examination of conscience in this regard. Archbishop Chaput suggests that the Catholic witness to the wider culture has been "bleached out" in part because of a growing sense of insecurity in the face of scientific skepticism. Perhaps Catholic educators still find themselves compelled by thinkers like Robert Merton who looked on contemplation as anachronistic and even dangerous for society. Ironically, the spirit of scientific investigation itself should have caused us to question whether contemplation really is as opposed to science and progress as he and many others suggested, and still suggest. Why did we not apply a little skepticism to such skepticism? Why did we not inquire into the biases and assumptions standing under such doubt?
As people of faith, we are too passive in the conversations taking place in the public square. In failing to question the questioners, we allow doubt and ignorance to rob not only us but our children of the rich patrimony our civilization has cultivated. The wisdom of contemplation, to which all good education opens, is worth promoting and in fact vitally needed in the face of the dehumanizing forces unrestrained in our society. The human mind is so great and vast that, besides scientific thought, it stands to reason our intelligence is also ordered to the enjoyment of other kinds of knowledge. There are certain things that science limited to the observation of merely measurable data cannot know and unfathomable mysteries that no verifiable hypothesis can explain away. Indeed, a man has not yet lived if he has never tasted those deeper levels of knowledge which touch what is most noble, true and beautiful about our humanity.
Given the current state of our culture, do we not as educators and people of prayer have a responsibility to reconsider the rich synthesis of knowledge sketched out by great intellectuals like Jacques Maritain or Dietrich von Hildebrand? Rather than narrow-minded doubt, such thinkers not only beautifully magnified the scope of human knowledge, the scope of the truth in which human dignity is rooted, but in contemplating the light of truth they also discovered the living secret to which human wonder is open, a secret so relevant in the face of the dying culture of these dark days. Even now, especially now, when so many are looking for a word of hope, through classical education and contemplation, universities and other educational communities can still help lead students into the discovery that the wonder of life is what makes life wonderful.
Thank you for the post. You will like this story, if you haven't heard it yet: http://www.stjeromes.org/stjeromeschool/classical_education.htm
ReplyDeleteYou might appreciate this as well: http://jpgacademy.org/index.cfm?load=page&page=2
ReplyDeleteI thank you too for your post. God bless you and your family.
www.classicalliberalarts.com check it out!
ReplyDeleteHere's my question: Why is it that contemplation & mystical experience & much at all about prayer are virtually absent from church faith formation classes (my own as a child and my children's)- except as exotic Biblical examples? There is no way to combat the narrow-minded scientific definition of "knowledge" without confronting it directly with the viability of other kinds of knowledge. And there is little chance of convincing someone of the viability of mystical knowledge unless they see that they have experienced the tiniest taste of it. My kids' books list what we believe, but the kids ask "how do we know...?" It seems to me that answering the question "how do we know" ought to be at the forefront of any religious education class for any age beyond kindergarten. And the answer needs to involve simple, common examples of natural contemplation. I did not know that classical education had contemplation as its goal. And now you can't even find mention of contemplation in a religious ed class!
ReplyDeleteThank you for the post, Dr. Lilles.
ReplyDelete@Tanya Interesting question - "Why is it that contemplation & mystical experience & much at all about prayer are virtually absent from church faith formation classes.."
It seems today that many speak about contemplation while very few live it. Some offer workshops on 'contemplation'. The true contemplative is one of witness. Sadly too many today are more concerned about their voice rather than the voice of God. They dismiss the invitation or call to personal holiness that leads the way into authentic contemplative prayer which eventually involves desert time!
There's a difference between meditation and contemplation. Meditation is where one goes to God, ie. ponders God and His Word. Contemplation is where God comes to the soul, ie. draws the soul to Himself. Contemplation is not something one can just decide to enter into. It is a gift from God where one is led by God's grace through the trials and tribulations of life into His divine love. Authentic witnesses of such a life may be few today, simply because too many talk the talk instead of walking the walk. The true contemplative is led interiorly and learns that in the gradual process of dying to self, he/she experiences the sweetest of divine love which strengthens and sustains the soul as the journey unfolds.