We have the mandate; so why do we hate it so much?
Well, the enterprise can be tricky, and quite frankly, it can be mind-boggling. But we will be amazed how quickly the overwhelming task becomes much easier– simply by learning definitions to a few key words, recognizing names of people, separating and system-izing ideas into separate categories. What a difference that makes! And we find out, we don’t have to know and do it all.
Actually we are after habits of the mind and a basic orientation in how to part the ideological waters. If we say we care about Truth with a capital T, we don’t really have a choice. We choose whether to give our teenage minds the tools with which to do this kind of work.
We really have no choice.
Colossians 2: 8 “See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and empty philosophy…”
II Corinthians 10:5 ….” and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ”
So we move ahead with —the Great Books in one hand and, …..the Bible in the other.
But wait still…. one more… yes… another foundational orientation before we really get into The Great Conversation:
We must understand our endeavor by: knowing that the nature of Ideology— Ideas Have a LIFE:
- they have an origin ( within time and place)
- they have influence,
- they have adherents, and they have detractors,
- they take on a good or bad, right or wrong nature,
- they have consequences, or they can bear fruit.
- they have a lifespan
- Good ideas will last eternally, others will die.
And ultimately– we’ll be led to believe– many ideas began in the Mind of God. But which ones?
This is the business at hand; we’ll be examining the development of ideas as they have developed on planet earth down through the corridor of time. We will try to find, “whose idea is it? When did this come up? Who is living within that ideological camp? etc.
Ecclesiastes tells us ‘there is nothing new under the sun’. As we walk along, we’ll discover that most ideas have already been thought up; we just have younger and newer people coming along to discover them.
But I am curious: Have Human beings– in any era– ever attempted to change genders? and insist that men can become women and have babies? I would surmise.. now.. that one is a totally NEW concept… but then again… we might be surprised.
We are getting closer and will soon move into the enterprise of The Great Conversation of the Ages starting the week of January 20.. with Aristotle and his Nicomachean Ethics. Stay Tuned! We are after …..
A Well-Trained Mind through the Silent Revolution of Classical Christian Education.
Consider the veracity of the following quote:
“Small people talk about people; great people discuss the world of ideas.”
Is it true?
The Great Conversation taken Captive 