The second point in some way springs from the first. We live in a world where 'new' and 'diverse' are buzzwords, instantly equated with superiority. And surely there are some interesting good ideas out there that perhaps we've never heard before; but have not some great thinkers and ideas come before the present age? Solomon enjoins us that "there is nothing new under the sun," and I believe that a classical approach, with its classical emphasis, is the best approach to help us benefit from truly the best ideas, instead of just the latest.
Scripture similarly commands us to consider the past, thus again demonstrating how a school that would be Christ-centered might also benefit by being classical. Jeremiah 6:16: "Thus says the LORD:"Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls. But they said, 'We will not walk in it.'" Has there ever been a generation more ignorant than ours of the truths and foundations upon which it was built? Has there ever been a people so in danger of forgetting the great things that once were common knowledge? Deut. 32:7 may apply: "Remember the days of old; consider the years of many generations; ask your father, and he will show you, your elders, and they will tell you." It has been said that those who fail to study history are doomed to repeat it.
The classical method calls us not only to the history of events but also to the history of ideas. And ideas have consequences. We must emphasize that ultimately we hold to the truth of the Bible as that ancient thing that must be remembered before all others. Even in light of this truth, though, there are concepts not specifically mentioned in the Bible that we would benefit from recalling.
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