Seeking Wisdom: A life beyond productivity
When forced to defend himself in court before the people of Athens, Socrates claimed “the unexamined life is not worth living.” A firm believer in the knowability of truth, truth that is transcendent and unchanging, Socrates sought to examine his life and his judgments of the true, the good, and the beautiful, never settling for mere opinion. Socrates understood philosophy to be the love of truth and a life committed to pursuing it. Thus, the liberal arts serve as a preparation for a life characterized not by mere productivity, but by a pursuit of that which is ultimately real, that which the human soul was made to know and longs to encounter.
While Plato and Socrates gave birth to the liberal arts tradition, it was the Christian and classical synthesis of the Middle Ages that brought the liberal arts to their fullest expression. Understanding man to be not simply a “thinking thing” (homo sapiens), but rather an image bearer who lives to worship his creator (homo adorans), the liberal arts became the necessary tools for pursuing the true, the good, and the beautiful, a pursuit which leads one ultimately to God, the source of all beauty, goodness, and truth.
To Love The Things God Loves
Thus, in the Christian and classical synthesis, the liberal arts tradition is grounded in piety, faithfulness which manifests itself in action, and governed by theology, the enduring vision of a creative God. In other words, the liberal arts tradition is grounded in the desire to cultivate a shared piety, namely the cardinal virtues of prudence, fortitude, temperance, and justice. However, these virtues are rightly formed only when they are animated by the theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity. Setting charity, or love, as the highest virtue, the virtue which gives life to all those below it, a liberal arts education becomes an exercise in the shaping of loves, a journey whose end (telos) is to love the things that God loves.
Moral Beauty and Eternal Purpose
The mission of The Habersham School can also be expressed as “equipping students to pursue moral beauty and eternal purpose in the modern world.” Grounded in piety and governed by theology, the Christian classical liberal arts tradition aids our students in the pursuit of moral beauty and eternal purpose by unifying their knowledge in God, who is the creator and sustainer of all things, and directing their knowledge to its true and proper end, worshipping and serving Christ. It is our desire that in pursuing such an education, our students will graduate as thoughtfully engaged, culturally aware, and community minded disciples of Christ who demonstrate a life well lived by integrating faith and practice.