Augustine: Rejoicing in the Truth

Augustine, a Giant in the History of Education If one were to compile a short list of those who have had the greatest influence on education in the Greco-Roman, Judeo-Christian tradition, undoubtedly Augustine’s name would be near the top. St. Augustine of Hippo—an ardent seeker of truth and the author of Confessions, City of God, and On the Trinity—was the first Christian to offer a detailed account of the liberal arts and their proper place in a liberal education. Much of what we take to be the traditional understanding of classical education is due at least in part to his early synthesis. Indeed, the general plan of studies—beginning with the liberal arts and proceeding to the various disciplines and ultimately to philosophy and theology—was championed by Augustine and handed down through the Middle Ages to the modern period. This plan of studies remained the nearly universal standard for education in the West until well into the nineteenth century. In this book, Dr. Jeffrey S. Lehm