Why a Classical Christian School and Not Something Else?

In my last post, I discussed the ethos of the school–the moving and living culture and the overall ‘feel’ of Pinnacle Classical Academy. There must be some things that we rally around, places where we all find commonality. They are the most basic building blocks of any culture. In order to build a culture that withstands the onslaught of the shifting thought of the current age, the people that make up that culture must find something with which they all deeply agree. The strength of that transcendental common thought is what will bind them together. There also must be a framework to which that commonality attaches, like sheetrock to studs. This is why the Christian faith has endured throughout history. This is why we hope to help build a school that will last longer than ourselves.

I mentioned in that last post how much of a challenge it is to ensure that we do not define ourselves by an analogy. While analogies are helpful at times, they can also be misused or misleading. Often, people will describe a Christian organization as a family, a church, or a charity. But those labels and analogies can undermine an organization’s purpose and design. At Pinnacle, we desire to be what we say we are: an academy. An academy is a place where education and a love of learning about God’s creation are paramount.

We are a Christian school. Being Christian means working hard in all things for the glory of God. We do not seek, however, to be rigorous simply for the sake of being rigorous. Rather, we desire to impart to the heart of the student the type of unique culture we have actually built, one that challenges the status quo (Semper Reformanda - Always Reforming!) but does not scoff at tradition, one that values each and every individual, and one that seeks the greatest good, namely, to serve God and fellow man. That is what we desire to equip our students to do well, not only inside but outside the school. 

We are also classical. I’m reminded of the quote from Thomas Sowell, “When you want to help people, you tell them the truth. When you want to help yourself, you tell them what they want to hear.” We want our students to be beacons of truth wherever they plant their feet. That’s often why I sometimes chuckle at students’ questions of “Why do I need to know ________?” They don’t fully understand the value of truth in all aspects of life, and that’s okay. They are in the process of growing and need guidance as they enter into the world. 

Questions like “Does truth exist? What is truth? Why does it matter?” are the questions of the classical greats: Aristotle, Socrates, Euclid, Augustine, etc. Those questions are also reflected in the literary Greats: Homer, Herodutus, Bunyan, and Lewis. G.K. Chesterton once said, “It’s the first effect of not believing in God that you lose your common sense.” When we as a culture were somewhat well-versed in these works, we had a common sense that has now become so uncommon. That common sense is being (purposefully) replaced with a sense of self-determined truth. Students are taught that so long as my truth doesn’t affect anyone else, then it must be true.

How can a society survive with such a notion? At Pinnacle, we don’t believe it can, not for long anyway. When a student wants to know why they need to know algebra, it is to know that there is truth, order, and logic in creation. Not only do these absolutes exist, but they also affect us. They reveal a Maker, a Creator. The same Maker who made algebra and geometry made them too. Algebra is a piece of sheetrock attached to the studs of absolute truth. We are in the construction business at Pinnacle, building strong houses to withstand the winds of the culture. Uh-oh, I had better stop, now I’m using analogies…