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Posts tagged as “Great Books”

Homeschooling and the American Founders

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How to Retrieve the Education of the Founding Fathers

By Daniel Foucachon, Roman Roads Press

“Dad had enough gall to be divided into three parts,” opens one of America’s beloved tales, Cheaper by the Dozen, published in 1948. To the audience of the day, this colorful description would evoke a commonplace pun from the ubiquitously read Julius Caesar’s Gallic Wars, which opens “All Gaul is divided into three parts” (or Gallia est omnis divisa in partes tres as the Latin student would have had to translate).

The chances are, neither you nor your children have read Julius Caesar and his famous Gallic Wars. However, your grandparents very likely did, and nearly every educated (certainly college educated) American for hundreds of years before that. What changed, and why does it matter?

Great Books of Christianity: Reformation and Enlightenment

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by ThinkingWest

In our third installment of the Great Books of Christianity, we explore the works hailing from one of the most tumultuous times in Christian history: the Reformation. As new forms of Christianity spread throughout the West, theologians on all sides sharpened their pens and duked it out on parchment. The theological battles that raged forever changed the way the West would worship. 

So let’s take a look at the most important Christian works of the Reformation and Enlightenment, covering the years 1500-1800.

Great Books of Christianity: The Medieval Period

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by ThinkingWest

Christianity is no stranger to the great books of the West and stands out among the great books as the inspiration for many of the foundational works of philosophy, literature, and science. Thus, there are a subset of great books in the West that aim to study Christianity itself. The Medieval period (~600 AD – 1500 AD) is perhaps the richest time period for Christian writings, as it was during this period that Christianity grew from a fledgling religion only recently tolerated by Roman rule into the most dominating power Europe has ever seen. The Christian rise in Europe is special in many ways, in that (perhaps for the first and only time) a religious power displaced tribes and nations in the hierarchy of power.

Though many might (perhaps mistakenly) call the early part of this period the “Dark Ages”, many illuminating writings emerged for the consumption of Christians  or their curious acquaintances. Ranging from neck-deep philosophical treatises on theology to practical guides to prayer, the great books of Christianity of the Medieval period built on the foundations laid by early doctors of the Church. The Medieval writers then strove to dig deeper, look higher, and paint with more colorful strokes the Christian picture that, quite literally, would inspire the art and imagination of later Christian generations. Here are those Medieval works of Christian genius belonging to the “great books of Christianity”.

Great Books of Christianity: The Early Church

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by ThinkingWest

Perhaps no other topic has been written about in the West more than Christianity. In the past 2,000 years, tomes on the faith have been written by kings, monks, prophets, and laymen alike. One might conclude that no other faith has inspired, and been inspired by, great literature quite like Christianity. Therefore, in our next series of articles, we aim to highlight the most prolific literature of Christianity. These works were written to lead and inspire the faithful through practical application of teachings or by theological and philosophical exploration of Christianity’s mysteries. In this first installment, we will focus on the years 0-600 A.D. to investigate the earliest Christian works. 

Let’s explore the most important works of the early church. 

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