Category: Education
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“Homer is Like Sirens… His Myths are Not There for Fun”
Bishop Eustathius of Thessalonica (1115-1195) wrote a long, Greek commentary on the Iliad, which he introduced with this commendation of Homer. He thinks everybody should read Homer, but his strategy seems to be making the poet seem deep, dark, and dangerous: Homer is like Sirens. Perhaps it would be best if you kept clear of him…
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Head Held High: A Glimpse into the Heart of Education
A student gave me a beautiful reminder of the heart of a liberal arts education last semester. And it wasn’t because she got good grades. In fact, her grades were pretty poor. Having done the vast majority of the work for the semester, she found herself buried in commitments at the end of term, and…
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In Defense of ‘Ramona’ and Other Children’s Classics
I teach classics for a living. As a result, my kids overhear conversations and snippets of conversations about Homer, Dante, Shakespeare and a host of others. But that’s not all they hear, for as someone devoted to the classics, I share this love with them in a steady diet of children’s classics by Beverly Cleary,…
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The Cost of Freedom – Robert George, Cornel West, and Rick Warren
April 30, 2015 7:30 pm Biola University Buy tickets or register for the livestream. How can societies preserve freedom for all people when we are beset by serious and substantial disagreements over what shape freedom should take? What kinds of virtues do we need as a people to preserve the common good? What kinds of…
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Biola–An Inoculation Against Intellectual Engagement?
In a recent book (following C.S. Lewis, we might call it the “Green Book”), the acknowledgments read as follows: “Ignoring the guidance of my fundamentalist Christian community by making Karl Barth the focus of my doctoral studies was one of the most pivotal decisions of my young adult life. After being inoculated to intellectual engagement…
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Davenant Latin Institute
The Davenant Trust, the organization that sponsors creative resourcement projects “to revitalize contemporary Reformed and evangelical discourse,” has launched a major new undertaking: the Davenant Latin Institute. Readers of the Scriptorium may remember Davenant for its sponsorship of The Future of Protestantism event at Biola. They are also behind a number of other initiatives, including…
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God, Science & The Big Questions
The Torrey Honors Institute recently partnered with Biola’s Apologetics department to host a discussion on God, science and the big questions between J. P. Moreland, William Lane Craig, and John Lennox, moderated by Hugh Hewitt. Enjoy this discussion. The minds are keen, the wits sharp, and the ideas vibrant. From Biola University: Join us for this…
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Torrey Christmas Card, Interpreted
This year for our Christmas card, the faculty and staff of the Torrey Honors Institute chose a winter theme. This sent us all to our closets and garages to find coats, scarves, and hats that don’t get much use here in Southern California. One of our art students, Katya Austin, gave us some instructions and…
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“The Intelligence Can Only be Led by Desire.” (Simone Weil)
I love to argue with Simone Weil (1909-1943)’s essay “Reflections on the Right Use of School Studies with a View to the Love of God.” Then again, I love to argue with Simone Weil. Her writings always have something in them that catches me and lures me in –but then I find that I can’t…
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The Abundant Style of Erasmus
I had heard that Erasmus of Rotterdam (1466-1536) wrote a book showing hundreds of ways to say “thanks for your letter,” so I went and looked it up, just to see what one of the Renaissance’s prime movers was thinking when he did that. The book in question –originally published as De duplici copia verborum…
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Faithful Remembering: A Baccalaureate Reflection
I had the pleasure of speaking last week at Biola University’s Baccalaureate service. Graduating seniors and their friends and families gathered for a worship service, and I offered them them the following words for reflection: As we gather tonight, I hope to help you reflect on what it might mean for you to remember this…
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A Graduation Speech for the Torrey Honors Institute
On Friday, we watched as the Class of 2014 in the Torrey Honors Institute graduated. Most of the students I have worked closely with in the last four years graduated, and I got the chance to speak to them. How do you give a graduation speech without turning into Polonius? In his parting words to…