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This is a continuation of Part A, found here. God bless us, one and all!

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Our First Christmas Special, and it comes in two parts, so listen to both!

Poem: “Descent” by Luci Shaw

Please Note: We got excited making this episode, so be sure to listen to both parts! We had to split it in half so it would fit on our porch.

Statement of the Whole: What does it mean for the educational enterprise that God became a man?  This is way too deep a question for one short podcast, but Steve and Jason spend half an hour talking about it anyway.  It all speaks to our desire for Christ to be at the center of everything, including our classroom.

This is less an outline and more a running collection of our thoughts, but roughly we cover…

1. Our desire for Christ to be at the center of our classrooms.
2. Truth incarnate – what does the incarnation mean in education?
   1. The logos – the unifying principle of the universe
   2. The puzzle image, the box picture, etc.
   3. Bringing facts into associated meaning
3. Athanasius’ quote: “The Lord did not come to make a display. He came to heal and to teach suffering men. For one who wanted to make a display the thing would have been just to appear and dazzle the beholders. But for Him Who came to heal and to teach the way was not merely to dwell here, but to put Himself at the disposal of those who needed Him, and to be manifested according as they could bear it, not vitiating the value of the Divine appearing by exceeding their capacity to receive it.” ― St. Athanasius, On the Incarnation
4. Christ is moving from what is to what ought to be, so our classroom should reflect this as well
5. Steve suggests reading the short story from JRR Tolkien, Leaf by Niggle

God Bless you and your’s, and Merry Christmas to all…

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How does the discussion of “The One and the Many” inform education?

Poem: Cosmetics, By Owen Barfield

Statement of the Whole:  Long ago, the Greeks began a discussion of how the One and the Many work together and fight each other in human relations.  Education, by working within community, enters this discussion.  In this episode we define the issue and apply it to the classroom endeavor.

1. Defining the issue
   1. The onecan be a separate whole, or it can be the sum of things in their analytic or synthetic wholeness; that is, it can be a transcendent one, which is the ground of all being, or it can be an immanent one.
   2. The manyrefers to the particularity or individuality of things
   3. So the issue is if the universe is full of a multitude of beings, is the truth concerning them inherent in their individuality, or is it in their basic oneness?[i]
   4. How this issue is answered tends to lead toward the poles of Realism and Nominalism.
   5. In education, Realism and Nominalism both highly affect many aspects of education: how it is done, why it is done, how it is assessed, etc.
      1. Are the needs of the many, the students, more important than the needs of the one, the school, class, society?
      2. Is a lesson more about reaching unity, agreement, or individuality?
   6. Those who emphasize “the One” (Realists)
      1. Emphasize ideals
      2. Call students to something higher than themselves
      3. Call students outside themselves to some Form
   7. Those who emphasize “the Many”
      1. Emphasize particulars, experience, and individuality
      2. Want students to express their own thoughts, creativity
      3. Like things “outside the box”
   8. Finding a middle ground?
      1. Is the Trinity involved here? Unity and Individuality perfected
      2. Might this be a case of antithesis where both are true and provide a healthy tension?
      3. Examining how this question either builds or tears down civility
   9. Practical implications and examples
      1. How much of education is group and how much individual?
      2. What are my goals in teaching a student
         1. Bringing them to know themselves
         2. Bringing them into harmony with things outside themselves

[i] Rushdoony, R.J. “Philosophy: The Problem of the One and the Many.” Philosophy: The Problem of the One and the Many, Chalcedon, 24 Apr. 2017, chalcedon.edu/resources/articles/philosophy-the-problem-of-the-one-and-the-many.