Redeeming the Six Arts

<p><strong>Christ does not erase our cultural identities. He redeems them.</strong></p><p>As Classical Christian Education experiences a renewal in the West more and more Chinese Christians are eager to participate in it-but they face a dilemma. Contemporary resources on classical Christian education almost unanimously define it as a Western tradition rooted in Western languages Western literature and the seven liberal arts. Does this mean that Chinese classical Christian schools must also adopt a Western curriculum? Or might they draw from their own Eastern tradition one characterized not by men such as Plato Herodotus and Shakespeare but by Confucius Sima Qian and Li Bai?</p><p>In <em>Redeeming the Six Arts</em> Brent Pinkall argues that classical Christian education is not fundamentally a canon of fixed texts or subjects but rather an <em>approach</em> rooted in the Fifth Commandment: Honor thy father and thy mother. Insofar as our ancestors differ the languages literature and arts we study will also differ. Although Chinese Christians share the same spiritual fathers as their Western counterparts their earthly fathers are different and therefore their curriculum must reflect not only a shared Christian heritage but also a unique classical heritage.</p>