I have been reading much of James Jordan, mainly on his website at www.biblicalhorizons.com, and rereading Douglas Wilson's The Case for Classical Christian Education. As I have been blown-away by Jordan's commentary and convinced by Wilson's case, I've been mulling over Jordan's Trinity and Wilson's Trivium. It would seem that there is a connection/correspondence between them. The grammatical stage of the Trivium would be connected to the Father, who provides all the "grammatical" structures of the Old Testament. The dialectic stage of the Trivium would be connected to the Son from the Gospels who provides the "dialectic" of all the "grammatical" structures of the OT. And the rhetoric stage of the Trivium would be connected to the Spirit who shows the true meaning in the New Testament of all that has preceded in the Scriptures. I don't mean this is any strict sense, but the relation seems to work and make sense.

I recently bought the The Shorter Catechism, which I am going to try to memorize over the next three months. I'm greatly looking forward to diving into what basically amounts to a kids book! After that I plan on going over the Larger Catechism, and for the grand finale... The Westminster Confession of Faith! I'm just going to sit back and enjoy the ride.

In an effort to develop my writing skills and hopefully hone them to razor's edge (which will probably take many years of practice), I am going to attempt, in addition to writing general thoughts, ideas, and questions, to write an essay on each book that I read. I'm not exactly sure yet if that will take the form of a review, a summary, or a combination of the two, but whatever form it takes, I'm going to try to write to the best of my ability. Hey, maybe even one day I'll write a book!

I have been listening intently over the past months to George Grant's online Sunday School series on Revelation at micahmandate.org, which I highly recommend to everyone. I must say that I learn more from him in one 50 minute lecture than I do from most of the drivel out there that claims to be Christian. And no doubt most is written by very well-meaning followers of Jesus Christ, but the content often times isn't worth the paper that it's written on. The Left Behind series comes immediately to mind.

I am only beginning to see that there is a group of men out there who believe in nothing less than the total reformation of culture on a worldwide scale. Men like George Grant, Douglas Wilson, Peter Leithart, James Jordan, Steve Wilson, and others. They know, also, that this battle will extend far beyond them to their children and grandchildren, and to anyone who would dare count the cost and deem the cost worth it. It is not a quest for the faint-of-heart, for it requires nothing less than the total inculcation of an entire system of beliefs that seeks to encompass everything from aesthetics to Zeno, and that system requires another quest that leads to very throne of God where we would find grace and truth.

Marcie and Rachel, I hope that you your trip to Chicago was enjoyable and uneventful. It was strange not having you in class today.

I know that you must be at least a little anxious about your first day at a new school with new students and new teachers. Some of those students will be kind, while others will be downright mean. Pray for those who make fun of you, and don't harbor bitterness and fear in your heart. Remember, God is with you always, run after Him! Seek Him with all that you are! Love Him with all your strength, with all you soul, with all heart, and with all your mind! Worship Him with your bodies! Learn Hebrew and Greek and passionately study His Word, for in it you will see Jesus, and let it transform you through the quickening of the Holy Spirit! Devote yourselves to God and His kingdom! Don't forget that it took the death of God's Son to redeem you from the depths to which you had fallen--let that be your source of humility, but remember also that God's Son did not stay in the grave, but was raised from the dead to the very right hand of the Father, and He has risen you as well by His grace through faith and this not of yourselves--let that be your source of confidence. So, be strong and courageous! Standfast.

I am currently reading Douglas Wilson's The Case for Classical Christian Education, which I highly recommend to any student and/or parent. The basic premise is that the current government school system is a flop, and Bible-believing parents should get their students out of there pronto! The reason being that it amounts to sin to keep them there because children (especially) are to be brought up in the paideia of God, not the paideia of man.

Wilson's alternative to the government school system is the Classical Christian school. By "Classical," Wilson means: 1) the "methodology of the Trivium," and 2) the "heritage of Western civilization." By "Christian" he means the fundamental truth that Christ is Lord of ALL. There is no discipline that can be separated from Him, so all disciplines must be studied with Him at the center, for He is the Center to which all things tend.

He argues for the study of Latin. While I don't disagree with his argument, I think a stronger argument can be made for the study of Greek. The main point (which by iyself should be enough) of my argument being that if education is to be Christocentric, then it would also have to be Bibliocentric, and a Bible-centered curriculum would be best achieved by the study of Greek.

One of the most fascinating points that he makes is the correlation between the Latin Trivium (grammar, dialectic, and rhetoric) and the Wisdom Literature Trivium (knowledge, understanding, and wisdom). There is a very nice bijection between these two Trivium's.

Here are some book recommendations for learning Koine Greek, the dialect that the New Testament was written in:

1) The Basics of Biblical Greek, by William Mounce (probably the most commonly known)
2) Complete Vocabulary Guide to the Greek New Testament, by Warren Trenchard (a great source to learn and memorize vocab)
3) The Morphology of Biblical Greek, by William Mounce (a great resource to help identify all those morphological forms)
4) Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics, by Daniel Wallace (this is next on my list!)