The Vision of John Salisbury 1139 A.D.

The Metalogican on behalf of the Logos–Truth and Logic

gram-mar: the science of thinking, speaking and writing correctly

• First Art for the youngest of children
  • The right ordering of words, symbols and meaning
• The First Art for acquiring wisdom
  • The right ordering of virtues
• The First Nurse of the Letters [ aka Literature]
• The Mother/Arbiter of all Speech with precision, wisdom, and eloquence
• The Servant of every other academic discipline
• The Guide to every step toward Philosophy
• The Cradle which fosters and protects Philosophy
• The Index of Civilization
• The Distinction between Barbarianism and Civilization
• Supporter of the Courts, the Cathedral, and all Institutions of a civilization.

There it is.   I get it!   This explains why:

1. Although he never studied at the University of Oxford, by the end of Grammar School, William Shakespeare’s innate ability was furnished to become the world’s greatest wordsmith with a prolific command over words, language, logic, history, philosophy and theology at age 15-16.     

• As we witness the tragic unraveling of a western civilization stripped of its Logos, what is less obvious yet as consequential is the void left by the schooling in Grammar we [the Church] never had. The hollowed out core (Truth and Logic) of the modern age powerfully shapes our diminished notion that  grammar is little more than crossing T’s and dotting I’s;

• When, in fact, the medieval Grammar School, which held sway for centuries, entailed a worldview and an established place in the community, and a skill set far more extensive and comprehensive than ‘mere grammar’.