Trinitas Blog

Students, what is the chief end of Man? “Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.” An elementary review, perhaps, but a foundational principle and reminder nonetheless. Now, who can tell me what is the chief end of education? 

Turning to origins, ‘educare’ in Latin translates, ‘to train or to mold.’ This calls to mind how God created man–not the Westminster catechism answer this time but practically–He molded or formed him from the dust and declared him ‘good.’ After unlawfully partaking of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, however, man no longer appealed to God as the sole source of Truth; man began to do what was right in his own eyes, as if he were omniscient, and not God. Measured in biblical chapters, it takes no time at all for the devastating effects of God “giving us over” to our deceitful hearts to manifest–just ask poor Abel.

The following is adapted from an address delivered at the Annual Parent-Board Forum by Pastor Jon Mark Olesky on September 9, 2024, at Trinitas Christian School.

Parents interested in bringing their children to Trinitas Christian School are often asked “What do you want for your children before you shoot them out into the world? What’s your greatest aim and desire for them as they move toward adulthood?” Questions like these and others like “Do my desires for my children align with God’s desires for my children? or “What is God’s will for my child’s life?” are worthwhile not only when beginning at Trinitas but also repeatedly as our children mature. As I hope we would all agree, helping our children do the will of God is the ultimate purpose of Christian parenting.

We continue our classical parents series this week, discussing how parents who choose a classical Christian education for their children are dedicated. The first week we established that classical parents have to be dedicated to going against the status quo in education because cCe is so different from the education most of us are most familiar with. Last week parent participation was the topic. Classical parents are dedicated to participating in their children’s education, and they are invited and encouraged to do just that in cCe schools. This week we will close out the series for now by discussing the most important of three ways classical parents are dedicated: they are dedicated to the role of the Scriptures in the education of their children.

Last week we started a series about classical parents. The word we used to describe parents who choose classical Christian education for their children is dedicated. In the first installment, we said classical parents are dedicated in at least three distinct ways, and we explored the first way: classical parents are dedicated in the way they buck the system, or go against the grain of modern, progressive education. This week we begin to get to the heart of classical parents as we discuss how they are dedicated to participating in their children’s education.

Classical Christian schools can come across as pretty odd to most folks. While Latin can still be found in other private and public schools, not many schools teach six years of it. (I know of one classical Christian school that teaches eleven years of Latin.) And good books can certainly be found in other private and public schools, but not very many will read Homer, Virgil, Plato, Augustine, Rousseau, and Nietzsche. Memory is part of learning no matter what kind of school one attends, but not many schools will memorize hundreds of lines of prose, poetry, and Scripture every year. So yes, classical Christian schools can come across as odd even if only because of differences like these.

The following is adapted from the Commencement Address delivered by Dr. Clifford Humphrey on May 17, 2024, at Trinitas Christian School.

Graduation, the word comes from the Latin verb graduari, meaning to take a gradus, a step. You have made it to the last step, the last rung on the ladder. It’s the end. It feels good, right? Like you can practically retire now and take it easy: this long race you’ve been running is over. But wait: this ceremony is also called commencement. What does that mean? Beginning. Why would we call this ceremony that? What might be beginning now?

When the time rolls around for us to talk to the teachers about how our kids have been doing at school, there are only two things we really want to hear: 1) they have been obedient, and 2) they have been cheerful about it. Don’t get me wrong—we love to hear that they are excelling academically or making great improvement in a particular subject. It is just that we care a lot more about how they are behaving at school than we do about what grades they are getting.

There are a few reasons for this. The first and most important is obviously that it honors God. A great education is a gift. But it is a gift that comes with a corresponding gift for sanctification.

I often find myself urging Christian parents to consider Deuteronomy 6:4-9 as a guiding principle for how they educate their children. One common objection to this assertion goes like this: We send our children to non-Christian schools so they can be salt and light to the lost children and teachers. If that’s what you think, I suggest what you’re doing is more like sending your lambs to slaughter.