Classical Pedagogy – New Aberdeen College

What Happened When I Abandoned CCE

Ryan Smith — Tue, 17 Feb 2026 02:51:05 +0000

Based on actual events shared with Dr. Ryan Smith. I did the “classical Christian thing” in high school. I already read Homer, Shakespeare, and Dickens. I wanted “regular school,” a state university, like all the other kids. During my freshman year at the university, I was surprised how easy classes were. My English class required short essays that talked about “what I think about such-and…

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Latin, or Greek? Does It Matter?

Carter Ehnis — Mon, 16 Feb 2026 20:34:07 +0000

I have recently re-encountered the argument that classical Christian educators should focus their years of language classes on Greek rather than Latin. This view primarily arises because parents and educators want their students to read the New Testament in its original language. Proponents of this view suppose that, if we are to spend all this time on learning a “dead language…

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Reading Athanasius, On the Incarnation

Matt Marino — Tue, 10 Feb 2026 02:10:45 +0000

Image: Athanasius trampling down Heresy; Santa Maria Sopra Minerva Basilica in Rome The name Athanasius is symbolic of the victory over Arianism1 in the generation of the Council of Nicaea. His tombstone read, “Athanasius Contra Mundum,” which means, “Athanasius Against the World.” He would be exiled five times by four emperors, three of whom professed to be Christians. Clearly…

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Latin Immersion Camp

Carter Ehnis — Mon, 02 Feb 2026 16:59:56 +0000

REGISTER NOW! It’s time for Latin Camp. The Ancient Language Institute is moving from the internet to the physical world, in partnership with New Aberdeen College. Come join us in July 2026, for a 5-day Latin Immersion Camp, led by some of ALI’s great Latin teachers. We will be reading, speaking, laughing, praying, and writing in Latin at Resurrection Presbyterian Church (OPC) in…

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Theology’s Central Role in Classical Education

Matt Marino — Tue, 27 Jan 2026 22:39:06 +0000

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Astronomy in the Quadrivium

Gabriel Williams — Wed, 17 Dec 2025 14:41:27 +0000

The Crown of the Mathematical Arts Within the Western tradition, the goal of education has never been the transmission of marketable skills. Rather, it has been understood as a formative path for training the mind and shaping the soul. Education, in this view, is not utilitarian but teleological—ordered toward wisdom and virtue. For this reason, the seven liberal arts…

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Paradise Lost: The Christian Epic

Ryan Smith — Mon, 27 Oct 2025 23:04:41 +0000

Each year, New Aberdeen students pore over a single work of literature from the classical Christian tradition. This fall, they are becoming well acquainted with John Milton’s Paradise Lost: Of Man’s First Disobedience, and the Fruit Of that Forbidden Tree, whose mortal tast(e) Brought Death into the World, and all our woe, With loss of Eden, till one greater Man…

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How to Think, or What to Think?

Ryan Smith — Fri, 24 Oct 2025 16:37:56 +0000

This quip in classical education does not accurately express the educational goals. According to many of its proponents, classical education teaches students “how to think, not what to think.” This axiom juxtaposes the tendency in modern education to indoctrinate students into an ideology without offering them time-tested tools to interact with ideas on their own. The impulse to embrace…

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Science in Classical Christian Education

Gabriel Williams — Fri, 28 Feb 2025 15:53:25 +0000

By Dr. Gabriel Williams When most people think of classical education, they think of the original seven liberal arts: grammar, logic, rhetoric (i.e., the trivium), arithmetic, music, geometry, and astronomy (i.e., the quadrivium). For this reason, many believe that classical education has an inherent bias toward the humanities and against the natural sciences. However, as I will argue…

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Ministry Preparation at New Aberdeen

Ryan Smith — Sat, 25 Jan 2025 17:29:35 +0000

As the college’s Steering Committee (now Board of Directors) considered what to name the institution, we looked to the past for an institution that matched our goals. The University of Aberdeen in Scotland is an institution that was founded in 1495 to prepare students for medicine, canon law, the arts, and theology — disciplines that we strongly want to celebrate. The University of Aberdeen…

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