An Essay On The Christian Liberal Arts

An Essay on the Christian Liberal Arts | © Ray Easley Page 1
An Essay on the Christian Liberal Arts
By
Ray Easley, Ed. D.
Adjunct Online Professor | OKWU, NBC
March 2017
Introduction
In the early 1800s the young and bustling American nation had visions of westward expansion that
captured the imagination and energies of the adventuresome. New territories waited exploration. New
technologies promised to relieve the workers of heavy physical strain. Old ideologies from Europe were
called into question. Much of this questioning centered on the approaches to higher education.
In 1828, the faculty at Yale College debated whether they would continue to require college students
to take the “dead languages,” i.e., Greek and Hebrew. Or would they drop those requirements to make
room for the more “modern” functional and technological studies that would equip the pioneers for
westward expansion. The Yale Report of 1828 announced the college’s continued commitment to the
old classical liberal arts curriculum as being the only valid curriculum for training men. The report
concluded that liberal arts education gave the student valuable character formation, skill in systematic
thinking, and the ability for effective speaking.
Nearly two centuries later, we hear of similar debates occurring within the faculties of liberal arts
schools. The external forces in society such as business and industrial expectations, political pressure,
students’ interests, parents’ desires, professional changes exert considerable push and pull on the
curriculum and college programs. The debate often involves the questions of a core curriculum versus
specializations.
The debate in American higher education regarding liberal arts education calls for thoughtful reflection
on the past and a clear commitment to principles that can withstand the pressures and winds of change
that would seek to erode solid foundations. If asked to join this debate among educators, I would side
with the Yale faculty and argue for the value and significance of an appropriately integrated liberal
arts education that maintains a strong commitment to Scripture and theology. This essay sets forth
some of the ideas and concepts upon which I would base my arguments.
Purpose of Christian Liberal Arts
Liberal arts education originated in the Hellenistic culture under the tutelage of the Greek
philosophers. Their studies focused on educating the mind and conditioning the body so the person
could become a good citizen within the society. There was little concern for research and skills
development. When Christianity spread around the Mediterranean world, theologians and church
leaders began integrating a Christian worldview with the liberal arts (See the Appendix for a more
detailed overview of this history).
In Building the Christian Academy, Holmes summarized his study of seven educational episodes across
history and discovered four emphases that appeared in the various expressions of Christian liberal arts:
(1) The care of souls, (2) The unity of truth, (3) Contemplative learning, and (4) Usefulness of liberal
arts as preparation for service. Holmes found that from the time of Christian education in third century
Alexandria to the teaching of Augustine to the monastery and cathedral schools into the Reformation
and the Enlightenment, educators passionately sought the spiritual formation of their students. They
held that all truth was God’s truth. They taught subjects in ways that led the learners to worship and

adoration of the God of all Truth. Holmes concludes that “. . . confessional Christian colleges and
universities [today are] the closest approximation to that tradition, and affirms that we need to
reclaim for our day both the four traditional emphases and the theological foundations of Christian
learning” (Holmes, 2001, p. 2).
Christian liberal arts education offers our modern, fragmented, and technologically enchanted society
the opportunity to equip young women and men with an integrated educational experience that
sharpens their minds through critical thinking and deepens their values through exposure to the great
moral ideas of the past. A Christian liberal arts education also stirs students’ passion to become world
changers through studies of the notable men and women of history as well as instills a vision of what
God is doing in our world through the integration of biblical and theological within the academic
disciplines. In this vein of thought, Holmes identified six useful contributions that the Christian liberal
arts give to students and society:
1. “Breadth of learning gives access to the wealth of human learning and to the diversity of
human experience.
2. Transferable skills (verbal, analytic, quantitative, communication and social skills) are
applicable to any kind of work; they facilitate lifetime learning and job mobility.
3. Historical and conceptual contexts interrelate the particulars of experience and enable one to
uncover assumptions and underlying worldviews.
4. Engagement with moral values and social issues sensitizes and informs the conscience and
contributes to character development.
5. Aesthetic experience nurtures and refines the imagination and develops an appreciation of
beauty.
6. Holistic personal development—intellectual, cultural, moral, and spiritual—result” (Holmes,
2001, p. 109).
There are a number of strong Christian liberal arts colleges in America today that do, in fact, give their
students these life-changing contributions. What, then, are the end results of these contributions?
What changes do students experience? What are the behavioral goals of a Christian liberal arts
education as distinct from that of a secular university or professional school? I offer these five
outcomes as worthy ends of a good Christian liberal arts education.
To Know. Students will demonstrate an understanding of the basic facts, information, and concepts
related to Western civilization, English communication and literature, mathematical reasoning, natural
science, humanity, Bible and theology. Those concepts that form the infrastructure of who we are as a
nation and how we function in society will serve the student well upon graduation and entrance into
any form of life and work. A liberal arts education will enable the graduate to show competency with
the knowledge base of a selected academic major. This knowledge integrates the broad sweep of great
ideas to produce a graduate who is a knowledgeable person capable of continued learning and
functioning in a variety of contexts.
To Think. The liberal arts educated person processes facts, analyzes and evaluates concepts to draw
inferences. Critical thinking develops as the student interacts with the great ideas of history and
literature in the classroom and the informal dialogue sessions in the dorm lounge or college cafeteria.
God has gifted humanity with the incredible power of reason. The task of the liberal arts curriculum is
to give students an opportunity to develop reasoning skills. As Holmes stated, the students have gained
transferrable knowledge that allows them to move from one form of life activity or service to another
without extensive re-tooling. Many large corporations today are seeking young employees who can
think analytically and integratively even though they may lack a skill set required of a particular job.
The corporation can provide the training for that skill set if the person has intellectual competency for
learning and reflection. Liberal arts education helps produce that competency.

To Be. There is a definite Christian paideia, i.e., a “culturing of the soul” that arises from Christian
liberal arts education. The interdisciplinary studies expose students to important value systems that
contribute to character formation. The student’s character experiences the impact of the lives of godly
and visionary men and women of the past. The chapel and discipleship programs help the young men
and women set on a course of life that reflects freedom from the guilt and power of sin as well as
growth in Christ-likeness. As the school follows this pursuit, it will be continuing in the long tradition of
schools who gave attention to the “care of souls.” The students who graduate should provide evidence
in becoming conformed to the will and likeness of Christ Jesus. The students have learned how to live
which is a far more important skill than how to make a living.
To Serve. Following the pattern first seen in the University of Berlin in medieval times, a liberal arts
education has evolved to include equipping the student for service in the world. This service is more
than merely earning a living, engaged in a career, making money. The student develops a Christian
worldview that is others-focused and Kingdom-oriented. The liberal arts graduate demonstrates a
passion for integrating his or her professional skills of accounting, writing, film production, Spanish,
chemistry, or education with service opportunities within the local or global church. This could be in a
tent-making ministry. It could be as a volunteering layperson or as a paid professional. Schools who
engender in their students a desire to be of service to the kingdom of God follow in the steps of earlier
schools who believed that liberal arts education was useful as preparation for service. Their students
want to make a difference in our world. They become world-changers.
To Worship. Historically, Christian education practiced what Holmes called contemplative learning.
This quality of education causes the student to turn a grateful heart toward God in adoration and awe.
A liberal arts education has successfully completed its mission when the students find themselves
drawn in wonder and praise to the God who is the source of all Truth and who sustains the universe
through the power of his Son, Jesus Christ.
In psychology, we see the intricate complexities of human nature and agonize over the brokenness that
sin has caused in the human race but rejoice in the reality of God’s grace that heals the painful mental
and social illnesses. In music and art, we hear and see harmony, proportional form and beauty that
underscore the creativity of God who chose to give his prized creation powers of artful expression that
reflect his own nature and that bring glory to him. In physics, we bow in adoration of the God who is so
immense and expansive that our most powerful telescopes grab only tiny glimpses of the worlds over
which God will eventually give redeemed humanity dominion. In mathematics, we discover the
consistent and unchanging mathematical laws, theorems, and equations and pause to contemplate a
God who is eternally the same, whose Word is unchanging, and whose laws will never fail.
Through an appropriate integration of the liberal arts disciplines, students develop a grasp of the
beauty and wonder of God’s creation. The Psalmist gave expression to this sense of worship: “O LORD,
our Lord, the majesty of your name fills the earth! Your glory is higher than the heavens. . . . When I
look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers-- the moon and the stars you have set in place--
what are mortals that you should think of us, mere humans that you should care for us? . . . You put
us in charge of everything you made, giving us authority over all things.” (Ps 8:1-4, 6, NLT). An
interdisciplinary study of truth related to God’s world produces wonder and worship.
Challenges for Today’s Christian Liberal Arts Institution
As I conclude this essay, I offer some observations about three challenges a Christian university or
college in America faces as it seeks to live out its commitment to the liberal arts:
Confessional Posture. In the opening paragraph of the preface to The Dying of the Light, James
Burtchaell notes that “countless colleges and universities in the history of the United States were
founded under some sort of Christian patronage. . .” (Burtchaell, 1998, ix). He shows how the founding

of such institutions as Boston College, Dartmouth College, and Wake Forest University was intricately
connected to a Christian commitment. Today, these institutions and their peers have moved away from
their denominational affiliations and faith commitments. It is very difficult to maintain a Christian
orientation and pursue reputable academic stature—not impossible, just difficult.
The challenge comes as university leaders and faculty find their faith statement and/or denominational
affiliation confining or diminishing their respectability within the larger educational world. Because the
higher education community in the United States is a very diverse community, every school has its own
niche to fill. Christian liberal arts college and university leaders do right by standing tall and confident
in their theological distinctive. Thoughtful engagement of the Christian worldview with secular
worldviews deserves a place at the table of academic discussion. The world and the global church need
a strong Christian liberal arts college that is unashamedly and articulately Wesleyan in its confession.
Outcomes Measurement. Since the 1984 call for “outcomes assessment” issued by the final report of
the National Commission on Excellence in Education entitled “A Nation at Risk,” governmental
agencies, regional and national accrediting bodies have slowly but unrelentingly moved to requiring
measurement of student achievement. The regional accreditation associations have been pushing
colleges and universities to measure the goals expected of college graduates. The challenge for the
Christian liberal arts institution is to identify the desired outcomes (behaviors, skills, values,
commitments, knowledge) it wants every graduating senior to demonstrate. Once the outcomes have
been identified and announced, the institution must give clear and reliable evidence that those
outcomes are, in fact, being realized. While a very tough task, the process of developing an outcomes
or goals list and then monitoring its achievement will prove healthy for the institution. The endeavor
will give the institution the opportunity to provide a rich and integrated education couched in the
Wesleyan ethos that produces graduates who have a compelling passion and ability to make a lasting
impact on our world.
Diversity. Typically, liberal arts education has served the peoples of European descent—after all, that
is where liberal arts originated. Americans face a new challenge: our country is becoming increasingly
diverse in ethnic backgrounds. Some predict that within a few short decades, the Anglo-Americans will
be a minority. In fact, we are probably moving to a day when there will be no majority race in
America. Now is the time for Wesleyan-oriented liberal arts institutions to make serious advances in
reaching out to minority students. With the growing Hispanic population in American, what could be
done within the near term to reach out to potential young leaders in this minority group? What could
be done to provide a true Wesleyan environment for the African American young people who have the
potential for becoming world changers? I would speculate that some incredibly exciting programs might
be developed that would set the pace for excellence and success.
These challenges are not insurmountable! They merely call for careful research, thoughtful dialogue
and conversation, deliberate planning, and a deep-seated commitment to the vision that Christian
liberal arts does, in fact, really produce world-changers who are competent to tackle the problems
confronting a troubled world.

Appendix
Origin and Development of Liberal Arts
The following section provides a historical overview of where liberal arts came from. I offer it here as
background information to show that there is a rich and significant history to this mode of education.
Two Streams of Truth. Arising from antiquity, two ideological streams of truth have flowed together to
provide modern societies the foundation upon which to build the knowledge, skills, and character of
the next generation. The first stream came from the monotheistic Hebrew people who received truth
about the God Yahweh. When God revealed himself to Abraham in Ur of the Chaldees, he set forth the
possibility of faith that would be transformative and redemptive. In giving the Law to Moses at Sinai,
God provided the “teacher” who would show humanity the need for transformation and redemption.
God revealed himself to the Hebrew people as the Creator who brought all things into being by his
Word. Throughout their national history, they learned that God yearned for them to walk in fellowship
with him. They discovered their woeful inability to follow him because of their sinfulness and their
need of One who could redeem. In time, God revealed himself most fully in the Person of Jesus Christ
who through his self-sacrificing love brings humanity back to God in faith. In Christ, we have the full
revelation of God’s purpose for all people. As we embrace that revelation by faith, we find
redemption.
The second stream of truth came from the philosophical musings and explorations of the Greeks. In the
few centuries before Christ, Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle led the Hellenistic society in seeking to
understand the world and the best way to live a good life. Using their powers of reason which were
uninformed by God’s revelation to the Hebrews, the Greeks pondered the meaning of life and purposes
for which societies and people should strive. The outcome was a philosophical view of life. Little
wonder that upon hearing of the unusual teaching of Jesus in Palestine the Greeks would send an envoy
to Jerusalem to seek an audience with the philosopher from Nazareth!
The Greek’s philosophical understandings can be seen in their development of the “liberal arts,” a
sequence of study and formation for free people. The Greek society basically had two classes of
people: the free and the servants. Liberal arts shaped the free people through the sharpening of their
reasoning and skills of expression and analysis.
The term paideia comes out of this Greek educational culture and described the process of educating a
man so that he could become what his true nature intended him to be. David Kelsey wrote that paideia
was a “process of 'culturing' the soul, schooling as 'character formation.' . . . In ancient Athens, '
paideia' simply named an unself-conscious educational process through which young free males were
'formed' by those virtues they would need in order to function as responsible adult citizens" (Kelsey,
1993, p. 7). The goal was human perfection in body, spirit, and mind. Philosophical inquiry erected the
framework for this formational pursuit. Arthur Holmes explained that “God gave philosophy to the
Greeks just as he gave the law to the Jews as a Paidagogos [teacher or mentor] to bring them to Christ.
Philosophy attributes to this process in three ways: in seeking and contemplating the truth, in requiring
principled behavior, and in shaping good men” (Holmes, 2001, p. 17).
As a tool for paideia, seven liberal arts emerged as the path toward human perfection: grammar, logic
(or dialectic), rhetoric, arithmetic, music, geometry, and astronomy. The first three constituted the
Trivium. The remaining four made up the Quadrivium. The primary focus for the exercises involved
in the Trivium (grammar, logic, and rhetoric) was to develop the person’s ability to develop a clear

idea and communicate it persuasively. The Trivium was about interpreting ancient texts, formulating
and conveying ideas, constructing arguments, persuasion, and identifying and refuting error and
falsehood.
The primary intent of the exercises required in the Quadrivium (arithmetic, music, geometry, and
astronomy) was to show the orderliness of creation, to develop the ability to understand and interpret
this creation. The ancient philosophers saw an orderliness in creation that traversed all arenas of life.
The studies in the Quadrivium were not utilitarian focused, i.e., problem-solving, as we might use
these subjects today. Rather, one studied arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy for the purpose
of appreciating the world through understanding shapes, form, and beauty. The student learned
advanced reasoning skills through arithmetic. Geometry developed a sense of proportion and
relationship. Music calmed the soul of those who were distraught. Astronomy probed the questions of
why humans exist and what lies beyond this celestial world.
As the ancient and medieval worlds did not possess the modern technologies that we know today, this
two-part liberal arts education provided an adequate structure for equipping the new generations for
life and leadership. However, change was inevitable! With the dawn of the Renaissance and the
Enlightenment, European minds began probing the boundaries of human ability and reason. As the
universities began to appear in Berlin, Paris, and Bologne, the emphasis shifted from character and
personal formation (paideia) to research and service. This shift became most prominent at the
University of Berlin where wissenschaft, i.e., “science,” commanded the curriculum. It was the
systematic, disciplined critical research used in the university to solve problems for a society that was
emerging from the dark ages and the ravages of feudalism. "The overarching and organizing goal of the
university was to be research and teaching students how to do research; its goal was to be inquiry that
aims to master the truth about whatever subject is studied" (Kelsey, 1993, p. 13).
In the seventeenth century, Francis Bacon and the scientific revolution perpetuated this shift from
character formation to intellectual research with his use of empirical methodology for the discovery of
truth. The scientific method required the user to identify the problem, formulate a proposed answer to
that problem, gather and analyze data that relates to the problem, and then draw appropriate
conclusions based on the evidence observed as judged by one’s reasoning ability. In the schools, the
liberal arts began to be replaced with the mechanical arts. (Holmes, 2001, pgs. 70-82).
Across the decades, this development has given rise to the challenges Christian liberal arts colleges
face in America today. What should be at the heart of the curriculum? Should the students decide for
themselves what to study? Should a college’s academic program be market driven? Could there be an
appropriate blend between the liberal arts and professional or technological studies? How do we
resolve the pressure placed on the general education portion of the curriculum as the academic majors
seek to expand their requirements?
The best answers to these questions arise at the convergence of faith and reason. Both faith and reason
work together to produce the foundation for a good society. As education has evolved in the America,
it has been the integration of these two streams that has produced the most solid foundation for what,
how, and why to teach the next generation. Christian theologians brought their understanding of
biblical faith into dialogue with philosophical understandings. The result was Christian liberal arts.

References
Burtchaell, James T. (1998). The Dying of the Light, Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing
Company.
Chamberlain, Philip (1984). Class notes taken by this essayist during a doctoral course on Higher
Education in the U.S. offered at Indiana University.
Holmes, Arthur F. (2001). Building the Christian Academy, Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans
Publishing Company.
Kelsey, David H. (1993). Between Athens and Berlin: The Theological Debate, Grand Rapids, MI:
William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.
The Yale Report of 1828. http://collegiateway.org/reading/yale-report-1828/

An Essay On The Christian Liberal Arts

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

Similar to An Essay On The Christian Liberal Arts

Similar to An Essay On The Christian Liberal Arts (20)

More from Leonard Goudy

More from Leonard Goudy (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

An Essay On The Christian Liberal Arts