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
Members (Patrons+) receive 10% discount, plus many other perks!
Exercise the virtue of patience, resist Amazon, and support Eighth Day Books. Give them a call at 1.800.841.2541 between 10 am and 8 pm CST Mon-Sat and engage in a conversation about books and ideas with a live human person who reads books and loves to discuss them. Or, if you insist, visit their website here.
Share this Post on Your Preferred Platform
An Ode to St. Brendan the Voyager
Materialism vs. Liturgical Life
The Faith of the Holy Myrrhbearing Women
Oxymorons and the Cross
Warrior, Shepherd, Penitent, and Type of Christ
The Church in the World
A reflection for Orthodox Great and Holy Friday
A reflection for Good Friday
The Character of the Early Church
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 !
