Machiavelli states that man is a combination of a fox and a lion. He explains that man has the cunningness of a fox and the prowess of a lion. He considers that this is man’s true nature and if used accordingly will bring success. He affirms, “Therefore, it is necessary to be a fox to discover the snares and a lion to terrify the wolves” (Machiavelli, 84). He explains that one needs to be like a fox to discover the plots against them and to be able to outsmart one’s enemies. One should be like a lion in order to have one’s enemies fear them. In Chapter XVIII of The Prince, Machiavelli goes into great detail explaining why it is better to be feared than loved. He concludes that to be feared like a lion a person can control others through their fear. He believes that love and devotion can change and therefore are uncontrollable. One can not control how much someone loves them; however, one can control how much someone fears them (78). Furthermore, he reasons that one should be as cunning as a fox and trick others into thinking that he do have love, compassion, faith, and religion. He concludes that others are more easily tricked if they think you have compassion and love for them (86). Machiavelli brilliantly shows through example after example of how acting like a fox or a lion can bring power, wealth, and control. However, the question can be asked, is this our true nature? Are these the things that bring and happiness?

Thomas Aquinas discerns that man not only has an animal part, but also an angelic spirit which is essentially our soul, our likeness to God. It is the part that allows us to give love and compassion. Thomas asserts that man is half “corporeal organ”, animal, and half angelic intellect, a soul (Aquinas, Pt.1, Q. 85, Art. 1). He declares that we have corporeal body that is the form of our angelic soul creating a half corporeal and half angelic form. He goes on to further explain this by stating that our “phantasm”, spiritual soul/form, exists in “corporeal organs”. He deems that we do have an angelic part that supplies us with an intellect that allows us to reason and thinks about consequences which ultimately will bring us closer to God (Pt. 1 Q. 85, Art. 2). He believes that we are complete when we use not only the animal part, but also the angelic part. It is only when we use both that we can feel complete joy and bring happiness to others. Thomas speaks about the importance of doing good deeds for others. It is in this manner that we find joy in the contentment of others (Pt. I-II, Q. 4, Art. 8). Thomas concludes that loving God is enough to bring happiness to the soul, but if there was a neighbor there, love of him would result in perfect love of God thus bringing true happiness (Pt. I-II, Q. 4, Art. 8). Thomas speaks of our likeness to God. He explains that we are not identical, but are made in His image in as much as we come from Him (Pt.1, Q. 4, Art. 3). Thomas speaks of humans trying to imitate God, but because God is perfect they fall short. It is in that desire to be like God in his goodness that brings us pure joy when we achieve it.

Although Machiavelli skillfully demonstrates how one has the characteristics of both a fox and a lion, Thomas reminds us of our likeness to God. Machiavelli advises people how they should use one another, lie to one another, and trick one another for ones own personal gain. Even thou this may bring success in one’s status and personal gain is there true joy? Thomas answers that question quite simply by reminding us of our likeness to God, and that our desire to do good is innate; we can not separate from it. When we do good deeds we are at our happiest. Our true nature is not only our human qualities, but also an angelic qualities, our likeness to God.

By Dr. James S. Taylor

A new movie being released this last month of Advent is called, “The Darkest Hour”. The national release date? December 25, Christmas day.

This is not a mere coincidence. Producers and marketers of films always know what they are doing. It doesn’t matter that the film is about aliens disintegrating animals and human beings in Moscow, Russia, and elsewhere. The title of the film and the emphasized release date — “Christmaaas Daaay!” (as the deep voiced announcer proclaims), is enough to perceive the intent.

Am I judging the motives of the promoters of this film? Without hesitation. There’s no hidden conspiracy here. There was a time not too long ago that all non-Christians would avoid such an obvious collision of secular ideas and Christian beliefs from a general regard for Christian sensitivities as well as fear of backlash from the Church leadership. Today, no reaction. Singer-songwriter, Don McLean, prophetically wrote, in 1971 in “American Pie”:

… not a word was spoken,
The church bells all were broken.

The world again has preferred “the darkest hour”, rather than the Light that has come into the world. The release date of this movie on Christmas day, the world’s “finest day” from the Christian perspective, when the Son, second Person of the Trinity, enters the world, is a small indication of a deliberate plan to pit the traditional day of Light of, “He [who] was the Light, the true one, which enlightens every man coming into the world,” and the secular world’s anemic sense of irony. Now, like the image used by Winston Churchill for World War II, “the gathering storm”, now there is another force to reckon with that cares nothing for religion and has a particular hatred for Christianity. This force, gaining global energy, will eventually fail, of course; however, in its self-destruction it will do much damage before its end arrives.

Regardless, it would be a mistake to give too much publicity to the sad and angry people, the poor and weak who appear rich and powerful of the world and their works. We return to celebrating the Light. Even the darkness in which Christianity begins, is transformed into the blessed covering with stars as Mary hastens to the cave in the cold night outside Bethlehem — the hour of Light had come. Then, thirty-three years later, Christianity appears to end on a bitter, dark Friday afternoon on Golgotha. The day ends, dark as hell in another cave, the tomb where Jesus’ body is laid.

Yet again, the night is nothing to fear; it simply is the divine cradle of darkness that holds and comforts the Light of Christ that, first, conquers the Ancestral Sin by the Cross, then conquers Hades and Death, the last enemy, as He emerges in the early morning sun of the Resurrection.

So the time of Advent is not one of just waiting for the birth of the Savior of mankind, but for embracing within the fullness of the Promise of Genesis that all, in some way suited perfectly to them, must pass through the darkness of the Cross, to conquer Death itself. This is to live with the eternal Light that has come into the world, a light so healing that all the darkest hours of human failure will never again dim its mysterious brilliance.

This, and nothing else, is the Good News: “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.” (Revelation 21:4 )

“It offers something entirely new to Catholic higher education: worldwide access to a relatively inexpensive, authentically Catholic, high-quality, liberal arts program…” the Newman Guide to Choosing a Catholic Colleges on the Angelicum Great Books Program

Great ideas are not the objects of knowledge, as used above. That is why the grasp of them is not conveyed by a telephone book, dictionary or even discreet articles in a general encyclopedia.  When we think about the matters of common human societal interest, we begin to connect the dots across the various disciplines or categories of knowledge and we begin to understand. As our understanding enlarges it also deepens – this opens the door to the acquisition of wisdom.

The study of the great books, books that contain the wisdom acquired by the most profound thinkers of  Western civilization, which is the most widespread and influential civilization on earth, takes students by leaps and bounds beyond what they could discover on their own, even over the course of several lifetimes. It allows us to stand on the shoulders of giants and thus to see far beyond our own limited horizons and prejudices. No other such shortcut to wisdom exists, unless one has the great good fortune of knowing genuinely wise mentors – few of whom are alive at any one time. But through their books we can communicate with the sages of the past, even going back to the origins of civilization. This is why we study the great books, and why they are the most important objects of study once one has acquired and somewhat perfected the liberal art of reading.

As we have amassed a comparatively rich life of material comfort, we have become poorer morally and intellectually because of the absence of great books in our educational systems and in our daily lives.  Mortimer Adler called the great books the backbone of authentic education – “the education that everybody ought to have, and that the best way to education in the West is through the greatest works the West has produced,” which in our view, is the best educational idea there is. That is why the founders and advisors of the Great Books Program consider great books the best instrument for education today.

It is not surprising that people unfamiliar with the Great Books do not appreciate their profound value for our society, and even oppose them in preference for other approaches, so we do not expect support or even interest from all quarters. However, we do believe this option should be made available worldwide for students who do appreciate their value.       –PSJC

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A taste of the wisdom of Socrates - the first philosopher

Employ your time in improving yourself by other men’s writings, so that you shall gain easily what others have labored hard for.  -Socrates

All men’s souls are immortal, but the souls of the righteous are immortal and divine.

- Socrates

A system of morality which is based on relative emotional values is a mere illusion, a thoroughly vulgar conception which has nothing sound in it and nothing true. - Socrates

An honest man is always a child. -Socrates

As to marriage or celibacy, let a man take which course he will, he will be sure to repent.
-Socrates

Be as you wish to seem. -Socrates

Be slow to fall into friendship; but when thou art in, continue firm and constant. -Socrates

Beauty is a short-lived tyranny. -Socrates

Beauty is the bait which with delight allures man to enlarge his kind. -Socrates

Beware the barrenness of a busy life. -Socrates

By all means, marry. If you get a good wife, you’ll become happy; if you get a bad one, you’ll become a philosopher. -Socrates

Death may be the greatest of all human blessings. -Socrates

False words are not only evil in themselves, but they infect the soul with evil. -Socrates

From the deepest desires often come the deadliest hate. -Socrates

He is a man of courage who does not run away, but remains at his post and fights against the enemy. -Socrates

He is richest who is content with the least, for content is the wealth of nature. -Socrates 

Bethel University, located in St. Paul, MN, has agreed to accept 30 hours of Great Books Program credits towards  its bachelors’ degrees.

I’ve found that the more exposure I get to the different ideas from the online discussions about the Great Books reading, the easier it is to shuffle my mental rolodex cards and organize them. Even when I don’t add to the conversation I enjoy the listening. My father loved discussing all kinds of topics when he invited the base chaplains to the house for dinner, so the conversation was varied and lively.

Growing up I learned quickly how to keep the conversational ball moving and how to entertain when things slowed down, which is why I don’t mind putting a zipper on my lips once in a while. I particularly enjoyed your remarks on the lines about the wedding in the poem and found them moving. It’s pleasant to hear a man speak of marriage in this way. From someone else it might have sounded a little like a fairy tale, but it was beautiful. During the poetry discussion there is invariably a ‘ramble’ such as this that will act as a blessing on my heart. Is it any wonder that I’m enjoying class so much? My previous experiences with college classes have not been this pleasant.

Again, I thank you. Maria E.

The Internet is a valuable tool for seminarians, not only in their studies, but also in their pastoral ministries, says Benedict XVI.

The Pope affirmed this today when he received in audience members of the Congregation for Catholic Education, gathered in their plenary assembly.The Holy Father spoke with the council members and its president, Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski, about a variety of issues related to education, both for seminaries and for Catholic schools and universities.”The topics you are addressing in these days have education and formation as the common denominator,” he noted, “which today constitute one of the most urgent challenges that the Church and her institutions are called to address.”

Though urgent, the task of educating is getting ever more difficult, the Pontiff warned, because of the culture that “makes relativism its creed.” Thus, “it is considered dangerous to speak of truth,” he lamented. But, “to educate is an act of love.”

The Pontiff noted the congregation’s discussion on a draft document regarding the Internet and the formation of seminarians. While emphasizing the need for well-prepared educators in this field, he spoke of the benefits of the Internet for future priests.

“Because of its capacity to surmount distances and put people in mutual contact, the Internet presents great possibilities also for the Church and her mission,” he said. “With the necessary discernment for its intelligent and prudent use, it is an instrument that can serve not only for studies, but also for the pastoral action of future presbyters in different ecclesial fields, such as evangelization, missionary action, catechesis, educational projects, the management of institutes.”

Benedict XVI went on to discuss the importance of theology in relation to the other disciplines of education.”Blessed John Henry Newman spoke of the ‘circle of knowledge,’ to indicate that an interdependence exists between the different branches of knowledge; but God is he who has a relationship only with the totality of the real; consequently, to eliminate God means to break the circle of knowledge,” he said.

In this regard, the Holy Father stressed the importance of Catholic universities, with “their openness to the ‘totality’ of the human being.” He said they “can carry out a valuable work of promoting the unity of knowledge, orienting students and teachers to the Light of the world, ‘the true light that enlightens every man.’”

Enroll Today in Father Fessio’s Theology  Online Classes! 

The History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides
From the Dialogues by Plato: Apology, Crito, Phaedo, Meno, Protagoras, Symposium
Aristotle’s Ethics and Politics
Plutarch’s Lives
Augustine’s Confessions
Dante’s Divine Comedy
Montaigne’s Essays
Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Lear, MacBeth, Othello
Locke’s Second Treatise on Civil Government
Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels
John Stuart Mill’s essays On Liberty and Representative Government
The Federalist Papers by Hamilton and Madison
Tolstoy’s War and Peace

Adler made a similarly reduced list of the 103 Great Ideas about which he had written so much:

Ideas about fundamental, over-arching human values:
Truth, Goodness, Beauty
Ideas about values men have sought and fought to maximize:
Liberty, Equality, Justice
Ideas that deal with problems of our society:
Law, Constitution, Government
Ideas indispensable to understanding ourselves and our place in the universe:
Man, God, Nature, World
Ideas involved in the successful conduct of our lives:
Love, Virtue, Happiness

Adler wrote that the educated person –a status not attainable until many years of study and reflection – besides reading great books and reflecting assiduously on the great ideas, also required discussing the books and ideas, and having years of enlarging experiences, including suffering, and travel.

-Patrick S.J. Carmack

Fundamental Theology: Revelation and Christology

This introductory course in theology consists in a careful reading of three texts. C.S. Lewis’ Miracles provides a philosophical propaedeutic to the theological understanding of Divine Revelation. It addresses the preliminary questions of whether Revelation is possible and what the criteria are for evaluating the Christian claim that God has revealed himself in Jesus Christ. The Second Vatican Council’s Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation (Dei Verbum) presents an authoritative expression of the Church’s self-understanding of Revelation and its relation to Scripture, Magisterium and Theological Tradition as that tradition was taught by great witnesses and scholars. G.K. Chesterton’s masterpiece The Everlasting Man offers a broad historical-theological overview of man’s place in nature and Christ’s place in history.

By Prakash Nair

The overwhelming majority of the nearly 76 million students in America’s schools and colleges spend most of the academic day in classrooms. That’s a problem because the classroom has been obsolete for several decades. That’s not just my opinion. It’s established science.

The debate over education reform has been going on for longer than anyone can remember. Relegated previously to arguments between policy wonks, questions about how we should reform our nation’s schools have now entered the public consciousness in a very real way. The global financial crisis and our economic woes have collided with increased mainstream coverage of our failing educational system. The Obama administration has joined the chorus of critics and rolled out numerous reform measures.

Lost in all this hand-wringing is the most visible symbol of a failed system: the classroom. Almost without exception, the reform efforts under way will preserve the classroom as our children’s primary place of learning deep into the 21st century. This is profoundly disturbing because staying with classroom-based schools could permanently sink our chances of rebuilding our economy and restoring our shrinking middle class to its glory days.

The classroom is a relic, left over from the Industrial Revolution, which required a large workforce with very basic skills. Classroom-based education lags far behind when measured against its ability to deliver the creative and agile workforce that the 21st century demands. This is already evidenced by our nation’s shortage of high-tech and other skilled workers—a trend that is projected to grow in coming years.

As the primary place for student learning, the classroom does not withstand the scrutiny of scientific research. Each student “constructs” knowledge based on his or her own past experiences. Because of this, the research demands a personalized education model to maximize individual student achievement. Classrooms, on the other hand, are based on the erroneous assumption that efficient delivery of content is the same as effective learning.
“The classroom is a relic, left over from the Industrial Revolution.”

Environmental scientists have published dozens of studies that show a close correlation between human productivity and space design. This research clearly demonstrates that students and teachers do better when they have variety, flexibility, and comfort in their environment—the very qualities that classrooms lack.

At this point in the lecture, someone always raises his or her hand and declares: “But the open classroom experiment of the ’70s was a dismal failure!” Let me reassure you that I’m not talking about simply substituting open areas for classrooms. I’m talking about a way to design schools that closely follows instructional needs. This new model does not dispense with direct or large-group instruction. Instead, it provides opportunities for traditional teaching to seamlessly connect with many other modes of learning. Simply put, it is form following function, not function (unsuccessfully) following form.

Let’s look at how the development of a new or renovated school project might evolve if we did it right. We would open discussions with our education stakeholders, who include students, teachers, parents, administrators, community residents, business leaders, higher education partners, and elected officials. From these discussions, we would develop a set of key principles for design.

The following is a fairly universal list of education design principles for tomorrow’s schools, though it would be tailored to the needs of particular communities: (1) personalized; (2) safe and secure; (3) inquiry-based; (4) student-directed; (5) collaborative; (6) interdisciplinary; (7) rigorous and hands-on; (8) embodying a culture of excellence and high expectations; (9) environmentally conscious; (10) offering strong connections to the local community and business; (11) globally networked; and (12) setting the stage for lifelong learning.

In designing a school for tomorrow, such underlying principles should drive the discussion. They would allow us to address questions around how students should learn, where they should learn, and with whom should they learn. We may discover that we need teachers to work in teams, that parents and community volunteers are available to help, that businesses will offer off-site training, that community organizations will permit the use of their recreational, cultural, and sporting facilities. We may conclude that it makes no sense to break down the school day into fixed “periods,” and that state standards can be better met via interdisciplinary and real-world projects.

Yes, we will need enclosed spaces for direct instruction, but perhaps these could be adjacent to a visible and supervisable common space for teamwork, independent study, and Internet-based research. Arts, science and technology, and performance could be integrated in ways that would be impossible in a traditional, classroom-dominated school layout. Before we know it, we would have created a true 21st-century school.

But the process described above is not how we design our schools today, because we still think that yesterday’s classroom equals tomorrow’s school. Perhaps some would define “success” as students’ ability to perform well on a standardized test, rather than their developing skills to navigate a fast-changing world. Under that limited definition, classrooms tend to do fairly well, but classroom-based schools would do poorly in comparison with educationally driven designs for true 21st-century learning. Does this mean that effective education is impossible in schools with classrooms? Of course not. Good teachers work hard to overcome the limitations of classroom-based schools, and many succeed in spite of the odds.

So where does this leave us? What happens to the hundreds of billions of dollars of capital investment locked up in what can best be described as “dysfunctional” educational infrastructure? This is where the good news comes in. There is evidence that even the most rigidly “old paradigm” school facilities can be converted with modest investments of funds into effective places for teaching and learning.

These initiatives would not necessarily get rid of classrooms, but instead redesign and refurbish them to operate as “learning studios” and “learning suites” alongside common areas reclaimed from hallways that vastly expand available space and allow better teaching and learning. In many parts of the country, limited classroom space can be significantly expanded by utilizing adjacent open areas while simultaneously improving daylight, access to fresh air, and connections to nature.

Those who are intrigued or skeptical about the notion of education beyond classrooms may want to start their own research with some of the thought leaders in this arena. The School of Environmental Science in Apple Valley, Minn.; the Minnesota New Country School in Henderson, Minn.; the High School for Recording Arts in St. Paul, Minn.; Forest Park Elementary School in Middletown, R.I.; Duke School in Durham, N.C.; Learning Gate Community School in Lutz, Fla.; Hellerup School in Copenhagen, Denmark; Wooranna Park Primary School in Victoria, Australia; Australian Science and Mathematics School in Adelaide, Australia; and Discovery 1 School in Christchurch, New Zealand, are just a few great non-classroom-based examples of schools. (In the interests of full disclosure, I need to note that my firm—and I personally—worked on several of these school-design projects.)

Let’s hope that scientific evidence, along with the economic imperative for change, will set us on a new path—one in which we break down the metaphorical and real walls that keep our children trapped in boxes. To get there, we first need to free ourselves from the mental box that limits our thinking about the real meaning and purpose of education.