Christian Paideia (Vol. 1)

This first volume traces the development of Christian education from its classical Greek and Roman origins to its transformation within the early Church. Beginning with pagan paideia, the book examines how early Christians engaged the inherited educational systems of antiquity and adapted them for the service of the Gospel.

One of the great achievements of the Church Fathers was their careful discernment of the pre-Christian intellectual tradition. Rather than rejecting classical education outright, they established principles for evaluating, purifying, and integrating it into Christian formation. This process led to the articulation of the seven liberal arts of the trivium and quadrivium as the foundation for higher studies in philosophy and theology.

The volume demonstrates that the Fathers did far more than preserve classical learning. By ordering Greek paideia toward truth, virtue, and the knowledge of God, they elevated it to purposes and forms of development beyond what Greek and Roman culture had envisioned. In doing so, they laid the intellectual groundwork for Christian civilization and for the Church’s enduring approach to education.