- Tom Garfield, Logos School Superintendent. For more on Classical Education see Tom’s book, Dear Parents: Communicating the Christian & Classical Vision to Families.
———

He knew this place. Yes, of course, it was the church sanctuary and he was in his regular seat. Everything was as it always was each Sunday morning. The pianist was finishing the pre-sermon hymn with a flourish, and he knew it was time to approach the pulpit, Bible in hand. But he seemed strangely disturbed. His eyes felt very tired, and he seemed generally disheveled. Rather than the typical light joke or two to get things rolling, he plunged right in. His tone was low and somber…

“Good morning, my friends. I am sorry to appear before you in this state, but I had a rather sleepless night, pondering just how I was going to say to you what I must.”

This caused the entire congregation to virtually jerk up to a much higher degree of attentiveness. Looks of confusion and concern flickered among the members like so much heat lightening. He paused, he had anticipated just this reaction. Then, taking a shaky breath, he continued…

“Today, I won’t be continuing our series on “Helping Hurting Hearts Heal With Heavenly Humor.” In fact, I’m not sure I will be able to get back to that theme soon at all…” Another pause. Low murmurs were audible among the hard-of-hearing members. Great consternation was certainly setting in.

“Well, to come to the point, not long ago I was asked by a good friend of mine, who is also a pastor, to speak on Christian education at his church’s annual Father-Daughter Banquet. I don’t know why my friend asked me to do this; you all know I try to avoid applying Scripture to areas in which Christians may hold different opinions or may find upsetting. But he did, and I owed him a favor, so I did some research. For a change, I thought I would just try sticking to the Bible, rather than referring to our church’s national newsletter.”

A quiet gasp of amazement escaped from the pianist. The pastor turned his head. “I understand. And it only gets worse…” He shuddered and took a deep breath for the final plunge.

“My dear friends, for years I thought God had little to say about how we practically educate our children. I sincerely thought our Sunday School and other wonderful youth programs were enough. I was sincerely wrong. Not that our programs were all that bad; I was wrong about what God said. Last night I read and read, all night, and I discovered, among other things, that the Bible clearly says… oh my… that parents are responsible for the education of children. Not only that, but that parents are commanded by God Himself to make sure their children are exposed to the Word of God, His creation, and His thoughts almost 24 hours a day. Do you realize what this means?!”His voice thundered up to the ceiling beams. Every eye and ear were open to their fullest…

READ MORE

- Tom Garfield
———

“You blind guides, you who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel.” Jesus Christ (Matthew 23:24)

Since I am going to apply a principle from the above verse in a way some may find objectionable, I desire to convince you from the start that I really did read and understand the context. Jesus uses this jibe smack dab in the middle of soundly and emphatically denouncing some of the Pharisees’ and Jewish teachers’ practices and beliefs. Put simply, our Lord was not in favor of “majoring on the minors”, when it comes to seeking a right standing before the Almighty God. Tithing from every food item was fine and even appropriate, but not at the expense of neglecting true, spiritual worship. These “blind guides” had missed the big picture!

In using the proverb of gnats and camels, Jesus was vividly illustrating the foolishness of convoluted priorities. We all recognize extreme forms of priorities out of whack: a bumper sticker I recently saw stated, “My wife, maybe my dog, but never my gun!”. ( I wondered if he still had his wife.) Even allowing a hard-core interpretation of the second amendment, most Christians would agree that the marriage covenant pulls rank even on the United States Constitution. The guy in the pickup (of course!) obviously had his priorities thoroughly confused.

Unfortunately, confused priorities also make themselves apparent in Christian education. For example, too many Christian schools take great pains to ensure their dress codes are keeping every bizarre fashion trend at bay by the application of nitpicking policies, and yet they frequently allow “Christian” teachers to gossip, teach from a humanistic worldview, and discipline in an unbiblical manner. I will never forget a so-called Christian school I visited that was a disaster almost from top to bottom. This was brought home to me in spades when the administrator told me that when she heard I was coming to look at their school, she was tempted to “put more God-words in the hallways.” Mercy! Talk about missing the big picture.

Parents also do their share of gnat-straining and camel-gulping. From my experience, it has been a consistent pattern that Christian parents will hold Christian schools and staffs to a very severe accountability in every aspect of the school’s program. This is right and good, though sometimes a bit uncomfortable. It’s not always enjoyable to be under a microscope. Nevertheless, parents have that authority and their scrutiny keeps us on our toes. Yet, parents I would have considered hard-nosed about their children’s education, based on their concerns while at Logos, suddenly become docile if their children transfer to the public sector. Even when faced with what I would consider flagrant undermining of their rights as parents, these same people seem to quietly acquiesce to the powers-that-be and too often their children suffer for it.

Christian schools, yes even Logos, have real “gnats”: problems that may frustrate parents in their desires for their children. These problems may even have camel-like proportions at times. So, if these cannot be eliminated in a constructive manner, whatever their size, the parents are totally justified in removing their children from that Christian school. Nowhere does the Bible endorse or encourage us to pretend gnats don’t bother us. However, it doesn’t follow that these parents should then take up camel-chugging by transferring their children to a totally unbiblical, God-hating school environment. Homeschooling would be at least a biblically consistent step, even if it would be difficult practically.

I pray I haven’t offended you with my application of our Lord’s principle. I also pray that more and more parents will not compromise the biblical standards God has placed before them for the education of their children. (And feel free to point out our gnats!)

VIEW PDF

– Tom Garfield
———

I considered entitling this column “State Accreditation – The Golden Cow of Education”, but upon reflection felt that that would be inappropriate and unkind. Cows get enough bad press as it is.

It is rare, when I interview new families, that one of the parents does not ask about our accreditation status with the state. It is also very common that they inquire about the certification requirements we place upon our teaching applicants. Understandable questions, given the conditioning to which we, as a culture, have been subject. We have been told, both directly and subliminally, that state accreditation is to education what the FDA stamp of approval is to food quality, i.e. the guarantee of rigorous scrutiny by knowledgeable experts. The only problem is that if the FDA’s stamp indicated the same “quality” in food that state accreditation does for schools, salmonella and hepatitis would be as common as the cold and we’d all resort to raising our own food. Not too surprisingly, many people have done just that in education; they’ve started their own schools!

The idea of holding educational institutions and their instructors accountable and ensuring they maintain high standards is very appropriate. However, at least two things need to be carefully considered:

1. WHO or WHAT is the superior and responsible agency to which the institution is accountable?

2. WHAT STANDARDS are used as the yardstick against which the institution is being measured?

It’s very disappointing to me to see so many Christians become schizophrenic (Latin – “split mind”) on this issue. On most other issues involving children and their training, most Christians resort immediately to the scriptures. To cut to the chase, the Bible clearly and without apology says parents are the primary educators (Deut. 6, Ephesians 6:1-4). They are the “WHO” to which any institution educating children must be accountable. The State has been given no biblical authority in education. Doesn’t it then follow that the “STANDARDS” are also up to the parents, within certain, specified biblical principles? For example, it is just as wrong for parents to disregard God’s command to thoroughly educate their children, as it is for the state to use force to ensure that parents do so.

If all this isn’t convincing enough, consider two other points – is state accreditation (a relatively new idea on the block, historically) consistently bequeathing us better and better educated citizens, or just the opposite? In other words, is state accreditation any type of guarantee of quality? Further, the actual accreditation process gives barely a nod to the academic performance of a school’s students. Instead, the process and tool itself majors on the physical plant and faculty numbers.

At Logos we not only believe we operate directly under the collective authority of our families (as prescribed and enforced by our school board), a large percentage of our staff is comprised of parents. The standards we hold all our staff members to, and the school at large, come from the Bible. Therefore, loving the children and modeling the Christian life to them are enforced standards. On a more administrative, but still significant level, as a school we sought and received accreditation from A.C.S.I. (the Association of Christian Schools, Intl.), of which we are also a member. Their standards, both for staff and the school, incorporate both biblical and strong academic standards for education.

In the end, the excellence of any education is discerned by the quality evidenced in the lives of the students, not by state-approved, meaningless certificates.

VIEW PDF

- Tom Garfield
—–

An advertisement I’ve once heard on the radio seems to epitomize the spirit of this age. It’s for some brand of beer and has as its theme “It doesn’t get any better than this!” What they mean by “this” is meeting your buddies at the local bar drinking lots of the named beer and eating large quantities of red meat, all the while ogling the ladies.

Not too many Christians I know would overtly subscribe to that life-style of philosophy. Yet over many years of talking with parents and students I’ve repeatedly heard variations on the following theme “I think he/she will probably do all right in the public schools.” Upon further discussion it usually turns out that “all right” means not becoming pregnant, addicted to drugs, or generally becoming a juvenile delinquent. Should a child from a Christian home survive in the public system without totally compromising his faith, he is considered a success. In other words we as parents can’t and don’t expect any more than that type of success. “It doesn’t get any better then this!”

Obviously I believe it can and should be better than merely surviving. At our 1990 Eighth Grade Promotion ceremony one of our co-valedictorians was Bekah Wilson. In her speech Bekah spent a fair amount of time speaking of her gratefulness for the creation of Logos. She ended her talk by saying “Thank you, Papa!” to her father Doug Wilson, one of the founders of Logos School. That is the kind of success that the Bible promises to parents who follow God’s guidelines for raising children.

The measure of success I’m referring to here is not just academic. There is a significant difference in the teaching and content of what we consider academic work here at Logos, but that is a topic for another time. The moral development of a child can’t be measured in the same way academic growth can be and it is the moral development of a child that will make the biggest difference in the long-term. The fact that a student got an “A” in Algebra will not have the same effect in his life that an embracing of the command to love his neighbor will. Not many people would disagree with that statement but what do we really do? Consider how much time energy thought and money goes into most Sunday School programs which make up one or two hours of a child’s week. How many Sunday School teachers would be allowed to spend that time encouraging the kid, toward an unbiblical humanistic view of the world? Not many! But what about the 30+ hours a week that same child spends in a school setting? Why should we settle for “surviving” the time there and trust that the one “two hours of formal moral training” will be sufficient for training in godliness? Even coupled with whatever time of formal training is done at home this will not come close to the amount of time at school.

The children described in Proverbs who “rise up” and praise their parents receive a thorough, consistent, round-the-clock biblical training. Anything less will be insufficient. Our children can and should be “more than conquerors” in the world. That’s not just a vision we’re seeing real conquerors here. They’re growing stronger daily under the nurturing of their parents and teachers. A far cry indeed from merely “surviving”!

VIEW PDF

- Tom Garfield
——

No doubt the pastor thought he was taking a stand for righteousness. He hadn’t been allowed a full-fledged book burning, so he had to settle for renting a conference room at a Ramada Inn. There, with great zeal in front of a number of his parishners, he literally sliced and diced some Harry Potter books. The release of the second Harry Potter movie and its huge following had inspired this pastor to make his stand. Somewhat reminiscent of Carrie Nation taking an axe to a saloon back in the good ol’ temperance movement days. Whack, whack! That will show the devil we mean business!

And we Christians wonder why our culture has a hard time taking anything we say or do seriously. If that kind of action is supposed to be salt and light, the world need have no fear of experiencing sharp tastes or having to squint their eyes when we’re around.

When I read the article about this misguided and misguiding brother, I couldn’t help but wonder, “Where do the folks in that church send their kids to school?” Certainly that’s partly due to the fact that I live, breathe, and eat Logos, but it’s still a legitimate question. If such zeal is generated from the potential influence of a book series and a movie (ok, a long movie), how much more zeal must those folks have for how their children are educated five days a week, nine months a year, for thirteen years, or so! Is their zeal for righteousness exhibited consistently and proportionately in the kind of schooling their children receive? I don’t know and my cynical nature leads me to think while their children are banned from J.K. Rawlings, they are dipped to the eyeballs in John Dewey, all in the name of being salt and light.

We Christians frequently have a profound similarity to those Pharisees whom Jesus accused of “straining at gnats and swallowing camels.” We major on the minors and minor on the majors. Such is the imbalance that comes when we lose sight of grace and try to do religious works that have the appearance of godliness.

At this time of year another form of this foamy thinking manifests itself. Much in the same way the secularists abhor the talk, sight, or sound of Christ particularly at Christmas time, we Christians, especially in Christian schools, frequently vilify Santa Claus, as though he were the Saddam Hussein of celebrating Christmas. Sadly, many Christian high school grads don’t know the biblical reasons why Karl Marx’s ideas were so evil or how to logically refute the claims of Darwinism, but they sure know that Santa is anathema. And that often goes for almost anything else that has to do with fantasy and the realm of imagination. Both the secularists and these brothers share a similarity to Scrooge and the Grinch when it comes to truly celebrating our Lord’s advent.

Jesus Christ, in words and actions, showed us who the real “bad guys” are: they aren’t the prostitutes, tax collectors, fantasy writers, or mythical figures. They aren’t even the political tyrants (Jesus certainly knew what the emperor was up to). No, He took off the gloves when it came to thumping the religious hypocrites, the priests (pastors) who were misusing their role as God-appointed shepherds of His people. He gave what-for to the lawyers and teachers who were lying to and cheating the people who trusted their counsel. Who are those people today? I mentioned a few above, you can probably fill in the blanks otherwise.

As we reflect (which Christmas should always cause us to do) on the incredible fact of Immanuel, may more Christians see our culture, their children, and their churches, the way Christ would have us see. May we know where the battle for righteousness really takes place and be more effective warriors there, not somewhere else. May we identify the real “bad guys” who would seduce us, lie to us, and rob us of our legacy – our children and their faith.

Have a blessed and uplifting Christmas celebration – read lots of great books, sing great songs, eat a lot of great food and worship our great God!

VIEW PDF

-Tom Garfield
———

The autumn morning was warm, very warm, especially inside the large pavilion. The people standing in line, dressed in their Sunday-best felt the heat, but found that the excitement and anticipation were stronger feelings. Besides, the line was moving quickly into the building and along the partitioned path toward the large, jovial man everyone had come to meet. The man himself, though fairly rotund, seemed to be impervious to the stifling heat in the room. He genuinely enjoyed seeing each person and briefly, but solidly shaking each hand. He met each person’s eyes and had a smile or word of welcome to share. Hundreds of people flowed by in a very short time. The security men decided to call it quits long before the kind gentleman was ready, and certainly before the many waiting to meet him were willing to leave. Just before the doors were closed, the last people in line moved forward. The shy little girl, who received a special smile, and her mother were followed by a man with a white handkerchief over his right hand.

William McKinley, president of the United States, cheerfully and warmly reached out his hand to the man with the handkerchief. Instead of extending friendship, Leon Czolgosz extended a revolver from under the white cloth and shoved it into McKinley’s stomach, pulling the trigger twice…

The above could have been summed up in the brief words “William McKinley was assassinated in September of 1901 by an anarchist.” And in many American history textbooks, if they mention McKinley at all, that sentence is about the amount of coverage they give such an historic event. They certainly won’t mention that McKinley was a very strong Christian man who quoted hymns as he died of infection. Or that he lovingly and diligently cared for his handicapped wife, even when campaigning for the presidency.

There isn’t room here to go into all the problems with how history is taught, revised, or not taught at all in many schools, private and government. Rather, I would like to share with you the excitement I have about the changes, the reviving, we have given our history program. These changes will probably be most obvious in our elementary grades. Over the past year, as per the school board’s directive, the curriculum committee reviewed the teaching of history throughout the entire school. This spurred a lot of thought, meetings, and work among the staff members. At the elementary level, we came up with the following basic changes to our history program:

1. In accordance with the classical philosophy, we will try to make history (and geography) more three-dimensional for the students, through the use of many biographies, historical novels, pictures, artifacts, models, drama, etc., and less reliance on the survey-style textbooks.

2. Also in line with the grammar stage of the students, we will try to use more repetition and recitation of the key, significant dates, events, and people in history. From grade to grade, these key facts will be repeated.

3. Each of the elementary grades will have the year broken into eight units of time, of four and a half weeks each, to study one area of history in some depth. For example, fifth graders will study the culture, people, and times of the Greeks during one unit. They will read about the Trojan War and Greek myths, see photos of the Parthenon, hear how to pronounce the names of the Greek heroes, and write their own myths, to name a few activities.

READ MORE

- Tom Garfield, Superintendent of Logos School

There are virtually countless joys associated with this job. But one of my greatest heartaches has come from witnessing, from time to time, a teenager flounder in search of direction. This hapless young person is usually a young lady, but I’ve seen young men in similar quandaries. Frequently, from my experience, two major areas of decision-making are often laid on these young peoples’ shoulders by their well-meaning parents. No doubt from the best of intentions, parents seem to often leave the following decisions to their high school-aged children:

1. Whether or not to continue in and graduate from Logos.

2. Issues related to getting to know (and care about) the opposite sex.

Regarding the first issue, going the distance at Logos, we have learned the hard way that retaining a student here who doesn’t want to be here is a real drag for everyone concerned. So, as part of our application process for new secondary students, we ask the student to write a statement addressing why the student wants to come to Logos. These statements are often very revealing. If the student basically says, “I’m coming because my parents say I have to!”, this trips off our mental warning lights, and chances are pretty good that student will not be part of the entering class in the fall.

However, it is not among our newer secondary students that I usually see the anguished indecision mentioned above. It is more prevalent among the students we get to know the best, those that began with us in their kindergarten or first grade years. These students, for a number of reasons, often get to a point in their lives where they feel the “call of the wild”, and begin considering a transfer to the public schools. This restlessness, and it really manifests itself as such in the kids, typically hits at around the ninth grade year. Like the man who has seen the “greener grass” in his neighbor’s yard, these students no longer find satisfaction in their current conditions: Logos classes, teachers, even friends seem pretty lackluster compared to whatever lies beyond the rainbow. Enticements to these “richer” fields can come from the students’ own ideas of what will bring them satisfaction, or can also come from church friends already in the government schools. The draw to be with “everybody else” can be a powerful impulse at this age.

There is little, if anything, we at the school can do to help these teens decide whether to exit or not. In most cases, we would dearly love to see them stay and finish the course here. Yet, while they are on the horns of this dilemma they are almost different people. Relationships can become strained, and even academic performance can fall off. It can get to the point where, even though no formal decision has been made on their part, we know that parting is just a matter of time.

READ MORE

-Tom Garfield
———

Over the years I’ve been involved in Christian education, I’ve had the opportunity to talk with many individuals and groups. It’s always surprising to me when otherwise intelligent, informed people have solemnly repeated common misconceptions about Christian education that have no basis in fact. Yet, because it is easier to adopt someone else’s views than research the truth ourselves, the myths continue.

Let me repeat a few I regularly hear:

1. Christian schools have good discipline because good children go there. Following this logic, people are restored to health in hospitals because hospitals only admit patients who are already recovering. This myth assumes that the treatment, i.e. applied biblical discipline, in the Christian school has little to do with the resulting good behavior. As every parent knows that is absurd. Children are sinners; only through God’s grace and years of consistent, biblical training will children’s hearts and actions be changed for the better.

2. Christian schools have good academic results/scores because they only admit very intelligent students. Sounds like a variation on the theme above, doesn’t it? It is. Like the applied discipline above, it assumes that the time-tested (and in our case, the classical) teaching methods play no part in how well the students do academically, regardless of where they come from. Nevertheless, I hear this very often, especially from public school teachers and administrators. There is an a ironic twist to this myth. When Christian schools or Christian home schools do have academic problems, the same people accuse the involved teachers or a parents of incompetence. Any stick is good enough, it seems.

3. Christian education keeps Christian students from being “salt and light” in the public schools. I hear this most often from Christian parents of elementary-age students. Unfortunately, at the junior and senior high level, I hear Christian parents saying something different. At that point, the parents will often settle for their kids “surviving”. That means graduating without becoming a drug addict or pregnant or otherwise being seriously damaged by the system. Nowhere in all of Scripture are we, as parents, commanded or even encouraged to send our little ones out to be “missionaries” in an overwhelmingly evil environment. In fact, just the opposite is true; from Genesis to Ephesians we are commanded to train our children up in the Lord and His word . I’ve seen children at Logos who are real missionaries for Christ to their unsaved fellow students. The difference is that here those young missionaries are supported and taught by adults who share the same Lord. We may even train and nurture future, mature adult missionaries.

4. Christian education shields children from the raw, ugly facts of our society. Whoops. That isn’t a myth; it’s true. That is, we do shield, but we don’t lie. The children do learn the truth, both the ugly and the beautiful facts, as seen from God’s viewpoint and with His solution.

Thank you for examining these myths with me. I encourage and welcome your comments at any time, especially if you think I mythed the point.

VIEW PDF

- Tom Garfield

——–

Early in his ministry the Hebrew known as Saul could be found on a typical Sabbath in one of a number of Mediterranean synagogues, reasoning for Jesus as the Messiah and Lord. His apologetic came from a strong knowledge of the Scriptures, his own background as a Pharisee, and his trained skills in rhetoric. During those debates in the warm, moist climate, the listeners’ tempers often flared into red-hot anger and frustration. He endured more than one pain-filled stoning for his scriptural, well-reasoned attack on the Jewish misinterpretations and warping of the Law. His enemies were so incensed and jealous that they followed him from city to city, and even resorted to a frustrated ambush.

But the Roman citizen known as Paul was called also to the Gentile Greeks to bring them the Gospel of Jesus the Christ. His methods? Persuasive argument, reasoned debate, knowledge of the Greek and Roman laws and culture, logic, grace-filled wit, and godly love. He spoke a variety of classical and Hebrew dialects. At times he was soft-spoken, at others his voice thundered for attention, but rarely was he a “silent witness” to the authority and Gospel of his Lord. And he did indeed learn, as the Lord foretold, “how much he must suffer for My Name’s sake.”

Paul was a fascinating compilation of traits and training. He became the apostle to the Gentiles through God’s direct appointment. God prepared Paul for his life’s work through an intense classical, scriptural education. Paul had had his own zealous plans for using that education – specifically the crushing of the new Christian religion – but the Lord used it to bring countless others into the kingdom of God. His skills in writing persuasively were used to pen most of the New Testament, evidencing a profound knowledge of both the Old Testament writings and the history of the vast Roman culture. He seemed to write as much from inside a Roman prison as from outside of one. But his knowledge and application of their laws about citizens not only saved him from one unjust beating, he even evoked an apology from the local Roman authorities for illegally imprisoning him at one point.

A classical, Christ-centered education is not an oxymoron. The integration of the two can be a powerful weapon for the Kingdom, as is clearly seen from Paul’s life. Paul knew his spiritual, as well as his historical roots, which included times and peoples beyond the Jewish race. He was wise enough to see that, even though he was thankful to be a Jew.

Sadly, some American Christian educators make the mistake of thinking Christianity and even all good education started in 1776, in Philadelphia (a Greek name). One group of otherwise well-intentioned Christian educators recently published an article in response to Dorothy Sayer’s The Lost Tools of Learning and the growing classical education reformation in general. The article stated: “We never lost our tools – they’re not medieval; they’re Biblical and governmental. And they’re uniquely American.” They also asked: “Why look to medieval Europe for classical education when the pinnacle of classical education was reached in our own nation with a Biblical and governmental mission two centuries ago? The tools of learning are not “lost.” They’re not medieval, they’re Biblical and governmental.” (Emphasis mine.)

READ MORE

- Tom Garfield
———

“Is there anything which one might say, ‘See this, it is new’? Already it has existed for ages which were before us. There is no remembrance of earlier things; and also of the later things which will occur, there will be for them no remembrance among those who will come later still.” Ecclesiastes 1:10-11

“The century is turning soon. America is in the throes of a great technological revolution, the like of which has never been seen on earth. Our military can stand up to the best any other country has to offer. In fact, if push comes to shove (as it looks like it might in another part of the world where a dictator is throwing his weight around), we are read and able to show him what’s what. Our standard of living has never been higher. The economy is strong, though many complain anyway. The great thinkers of our time are urging us to make even more progressive changes in education to prepare our students for the coming new millennium, with the cry that the world is changing so fast and profoundly that only new ideas and teaching will help our children cope in this new world… of the 20th century. After all, this is the 1890s!”

Sounds very familiar, doesn’t it? One hundred years ago this month our country did indeed match the description above. Instead of Saddam, though, it was the Spanish dictator in Cuba we were bothered by. In fact, President McKinley requested, and Congress granted, a declaration of war against Spain at about this time. The war in Cuba was to have profound consequences for the United States (and the world) in the coming century. For one thing, it battle-hardened our greatest 20th century president – Theodore Roosevelt. (But that’s another story.)

We are hearing, reading, watching the same kind of endless verbiage one hundred years later. “The century is turning, the century is turning! We must warn the people!” But if the Bible is to be believed, King Solomon was the first to essentially coin the phrase, “Been there, done that!”

However, please note that not only does he say that there is nothing really new under the sun, he also says that people will always forget what went before, i.e. not know or understand history. In other words, Solomon also says there is nothing really “old” under the sun either. We can and should study and learn from “earlier things,” and teach our children not to despise the learning of lessons from history.

In Donald Kagan’s excellent book, On the Origins of War, he compares with great insight the incredible similarities between the Peloponnesian War and World War I, as well as other wars of antiquity with “modern” wars. True, there is a lot of technical difference between the swords and shields of the Greek battles and the Precision Guided Munitions (PGMs) and satellite tracking used in the recent Gulf War. Nevertheless, Solomon still speaks truly. Technology, particularly the computer, is one of the gods of this age and culture. But like all false gods, its worship does not, nor can it redeem or sanctify its disciples. Our nature remains Adamic, and therefore in need of the Second Adam’s nature.

READ MORE