The Great Tradition
Classic Readings on What It Means to Be an Educated Human Being
by Richard M. Gamble
reviewed by Eighth Day Books
Feast of St John the Russian of Evia
Anno Domini 2020, May 27
by Richard M. Gamble
reviewed by Eighth Day Books
Feast of St John the Russian of Evia
Anno Domini 2020, May 27
The Great Tradition: Classic Readings on What It Means to Be an Educated Human Being
edited by Richard M. Gamble
Any teacher, parent, or student intent on cultivating an educational philosophy immune to changing fashions and technologies needs this anthology. Editor Richard Gamble brings together seminal writings on liberal arts education in the hopes of inspiring “modern misfits” to “follow the trail of an older, more noble, and continual conversation about what it means to be an educated human being.” Spanning twenty-four centuries, the texts represent a legacy that begins in pagan Greece and Alexandria and draws wisdom from the Eastern and Western Church, Catholics, Protestants, Jews, and agnostics, without trying to offer any ecumenical synthesis. The common ground is respect for liberal learning (“helping the soul love what it ought to love, to know itself and its maker”) and a rejection of the utilitarian ideal that dominates mainstream education. Each writer is introduced with a brief biography and references to encourage further reading. Roughly a third of the 80 excepts are drawn from classical and late antiquity (Plato, Seneca, Philo, Basil the Great); a third from the Middle Ages to the Enlightenment (Aquinas, Erasmus, Luther, Calvin, Milton); and the final third adds modern voices (Burke, C. S. Lewis, Eliot, Weil, Christopher Dawson).
669 pp. paper $20.00
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The Sisters of Sophia will gather on the Commemoration of the Great Martyr Theodore, Anno Domini 2026, February 17. Rachel Garton will present The Battlefield of Compassion: Florence Nightingale, Clara Barton, and St Verena . Sisters of Sophia When Every third Tuesday Where The Ladder 2836 E Douglas, Wichita Parking available behind Eighth Day Books Schedule Food, drink, and fellowship at 6:30pm Eighth Day Convocation & Lecture at 7:20pm Membership Required? No, but do consider joining the community! Learn more and join here !
The Hall of Men will gather Thursday evening on the commemoration of St Meletius, Archbishop of Antioch, Anno Domini 2026, February 12. David Beutel will present on St. John Henry Newman. St. John Henry Newman (21 February 1801 – 11 August 1890) was an English Catholic theologian, academic, philosopher, historian, writer, and poet. He was previously an Anglican priest, and after his conversion to Catholicism, became a cardinal. Newman's beatification was proclaimed by Pope Benedict XVI on 19 September 2010 during his visit to the United Kingdom. His canonization was officially approved by Pope Francis on 12 February 2019, and took place on 13 October 2019. Come and jo in us for the first toast of 2026 at the Hall of Men! If you haven’t seen a Catholic listen to the life story of John Wesley; if you haven’t watched a Protestant learn about Evagrius of Pontus; and if you haven’t seen Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant men sit around a table together and talk theology until midnight . . . then you need to come to the Hall of Men. When The commemoration of St Meletius, Archbishop of Antioch, Anno Domini 2026, February 12. Where The Ladder at 2836 E. Douglas, Wichita, KS 67214 Schedule Doors Open at 7 pm Food is served at 7:30pm Eighth Day Convocation at 8:30pm Presentation and toast by Derek Hale immediately following Convocation. Membership Required? No, but do consider joining the community! Learn more and join today here .
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