{"id":56966,"date":"2021-09-14T06:00:51","date_gmt":"2021-09-14T10:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/?p=56966"},"modified":"2021-09-06T16:10:21","modified_gmt":"2021-09-06T20:10:21","slug":"my-interview-on-education-with-world-magazine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2021\/09\/my-interview-on-education-with-world-magazine\/","title":{"rendered":"My Interview on Education with World Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Marvin Olasky, the editor of World Magazine<\/a>, was passing through a few weeks ago and stopped for a visit.\u00a0 We took him and his wife Susan to our famous local Mexican restaurant, and afterwards he recorded an interview me on the topic of education.<\/p>\n

The interview came out in the Back to School issue.\u00a0 I thought you might like to see it.<\/p>\n

Most notable, for me, is the accompanying picture.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think anyone has ever drawn me before.\u00a0 Having a portrait of myself is gratifying, yet unsettling, as if I have already taken my place with the dead white guys of the past.<\/p>\n

\n

Anyway, here are excerpts from the interview, entitled\u00a0Education without tribalism<\/a>, with the deck \u201cWhat parents should look (and listen) for at Christian schools and colleges\u201d:<\/p>\n

Gene Edward Veith is a scholar but not a scowler. He shows joy in his writing and did so in his teaching: He is professor emeritus of literature at Patrick Henry College, where he was a dean and provost. Before that he was a dean and professor at Concordia University in Wisconsin, and then WORLD\u2019s culture editor. He has written more than 20 books, including\u00a0Modern Fascism<\/em>,\u00a0Reading Between the Lines<\/em>,\u00a0State of the Arts: From Bezalel to Mapplethorpe<\/em>, and\u00a0Postmodern Times: A Christian Guide to Contemporary Thought and Culture.<\/em>\u00a0Here\u2019s an edited and tightened version of the interview we had at the Veith home in Blackwell, Okla.<\/p>\n

What should parents look for in a Christian school?\u00a0<\/strong>Two things: Christianity, of course. That\u2019s not always something you can take for granted. Secondly, a school that isn\u2019t just a place for socialization: It\u2019s a place to learn knowledge.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s say parents are aware of the decline of public schools and have decided to send their children to a Christian school. If several options exist, what should parents particularly look for?<\/strong>\u00a0I\u2019m excited by Christian classical education that emphasizes forming virtues and focuses on content, truth, objectivity, and a Christian worldview. A lot of schools are self-consciously cultivating that.<\/p>\n

What questions should a parent be sure to ask?\u00a0<\/strong>Ask about the reading list. What do the students read at different levels? If they are classic works, that\u2019s a good sign. If they read exclusively contemporary works with an obvious ideology behind them, not good. It\u2019s good to teach students about the world God has made and its history, so they don\u2019t think Christianity is a narrow thing we are walling off from the rest of reality. They should learn how Christianity is the bigger reality that embraces every area of knowledge. . . .<\/p>\n

As my wife and I drove into Blackwell, we saw signs about the many wrestling champions who grew up in this city. How important are sports in a Christian school?<\/strong>\u00a0Sports grow out of a classical education. Plato thought the highest part of a liberal education was gymnastics because that taught how the mind can control the body. Overemphasized sports can be a distraction, though. So here\u2019s the critical question: Are sports unconnected to learning, or part of a curriculum designed to develop the whole human being to the highest degree possible?<\/p>\n

How have we misdefined science?\u00a0<\/strong>There were three sciences. First, the natural sciences, the knowledge of the objective creation that God has made. That includes most of what we think of as physics, chemistry, and the like. There were the moral sciences, knowledge of human beings. History was a moral science: You could draw moral lessons from both the good and the bad. The third science was theological science, the knowledge of God, His revelation, the Christian faith. It\u2019s God who is the source of nature, human beings, language, mathematics. That\u2019s what gave everything its coherence.<\/p>\n

Have we wrongly defined \u201cpractical\u201d?\u00a0<\/strong>A lot of people, even Christians, when they talk about being practical, mean \u201cHow can I make money from this? How can my child get a job?\u201d But God\u2019s calling is not limited to what you do to make a living. Learning to become a good parent or a good spouse is probably more important than learning to be a good worker at a certain specialty that brings in a lot of income. Working and getting paid are important, but a comprehensive vision will look at other things too: What do you do in your leisure time? Do you waste it? Do you do harmful things with it? A full education is about how people actually live their lives.<\/p>\n

[Keep reading. . .]<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Illustration:\u00a0 Gene Edward Veith by Bruce Morser, World Magazine<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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