Great Books Tutorials
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If
you could
take only ten books to a deserted island on which you were to be
marooned
for the rest of your life, what would they be? As Mortimer Adler says,
this is no game--we are all in precisely that position. We are simply
unable
to read all the books there are; therefore, we had better choose well.
Some books exercise our minds by their rigor and move our spirits by
their
beauty with every reading, some books help us communicate with our
culture
because they have been a common element in education for centuries,
some
books aid our understanding of the physical world by a clear exposition
of careful observations by powerful minds, but only a very few books do
any of these things well. And as C. S. Lewis says, old books give us a
radically different perspective on life and our assumptions, and no
modern
books can do this at all, no matter how good they are.
As Christians, we understand that ours is an historical faith, one that originated, developed, and grew in certain times at certain places. To study and understand the long stream of history and thought, and to comprehend our place in that stream, is to increase our appreciation of our cultural inheritance, our ability to use wisely and build faithfully upon that inheritance, and our ability to understand and respond to God's work in history.
The conclusion we may draw from all of this is that the old books are best, and the best of the old books are the best of all. That is why we read the Great Books.
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The
first
year covers the great works of the ancient Greeks (about 800 - 300
B.C.), the second year
those
of the ancient Romans (about 100 B.C. - A.D. 500), the third year those
of Christendom (the "Middle Ages", about A.D. 500-1500), and the fourth
year those of the early modern era (about 1500-1900). The
students will be expected to read the assignments carefully, to
participate
fully
in discussions, to write essays based on the reading, and to have the
required
editions of the books.
Great Books I is best suited for students who are about fourteen years old. Students must begin with GBT1 unless special arrangements are made.
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To see the complete 4-year
list
of readings, go to the Schola
Bookstore and look at the Great Books required books lists.