As we continue to explore what classical education is, here’s our definition for it at Capstone:
“Classical education is the pursuit of wisdom through a cultivation of intellectual virtue and an encouragement of moral virtue by means of habits rooted in the historic scholastic practices of the Church and the West and by a rich and ordered course of study, grounded in the liberal arts; ascending through humane letters, mathematics, natural science, philosophy, and theology; and yielding informed self-rule and a well-ordered understanding of human nature, the cosmos, and God. It is aimed at the thoughts and desires of heart, soul, and mind (the whole person) for Christ and his Kingdom.”
In our ongoing exploration of our definition of classical education, we have explored the intellectual virtues, including wisdom, and this week we turn our attention to moral virtue, which classical education seeks to encourage in the lives of our students and one another. At Capstone, we are so focused upon the encouragement of moral virtue in our students that we have engraved seven moral virtues in Italian marble in Founders Hall, calling them the “Gryphon’s Weapons,” in hope that our Golden Gryphons will come to desire and pursue moral virtues because they are part of an ideal upon which they have set their identity. We believe that both types of virtue—intellectual and moral—are the end of a proper education, and it is to this end that a classical liberal arts education is aimed. Capstone was established to serve you in the shaping of your children toward intellectual and moral virtue.
The Gryphon’s weapons—charity, prudence, fortitude, temperance, integrity, reverence, and humility—have much in common with the four classical virtues developed by the Greek civilization and the three theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity (love), developed by the Biblical writers as carried along by the Spirit of God. When the founding faculty and staff gathered in August of 2022 to determine the moral virtues with which we would endow the Golden Gryphon, the moral virtues that we believed would best build a strong Christian culture were selected. We did not include hope and faith because we had so many concrete elements of school habit and curriculum that we felt would encourage these boldly. Instead, we chose those virtues that could suffer neglect if we did not call them out in the form of the Gryphon’s weapons. Our school virtues are not limited to those “weapons” but instead encompass all habits of character that reflect the goodness of the Triune God. In both 2022 and 2024 we explored these moral virtues in this Capstone First Things feature at length, one at a time. The listener can go find those articles in the First Things archive on our website.
At Capstone, our students will be introduced especially to the biblical and historic Christian analyses of moral virtue—their definition, their source, and their effects on the human condition. They will also explore Plato and Aristotle’s writings, which provide adept dissections of each virtue and its relationship to corresponding vices of either excess or deficiency in attributes of each virtue. For example, the virtue of fortitude or courage is considered by Aristotle to be the “golden mean” between the vices of foolhardiness and cowardice.
In addition to our intellectual discussion of the moral virtues spawned by great books, the Scriptures, and teacher-led seminars, and just as importantly—we engage our students in what we call Heart-Shaping Habits. We have a collection of official habits that we practice at school to train moral virtue, but we regularly introduce new habits in every context, whether athletics, arts, lunch, literature class, or the science lab, in order to train our hearts and even our instincts toward moral virtue. Aristotle believed that any excellence in a person will give rise to actions that are virtuous—the golden mean between two vices. In his view, an excellence must be maintained or it will atrophy and even disappear. The daily habits and liturgies of Capstone are intentionally designed to exercise and strengthen moral virtue. We find that when we get lazy or careless about our Heart-Shaping Habits, our attitudes and our very character start to atrophy as well. Indeed, it seems that our habits make or break our moral virtue.
The Christian understanding of human nature recognizes that mankind is hopefully corrupted apart from the grace of God. Left to our own nature, we are at home in our vice and not so much in our virtue. By knowing Christ, we come to be more at home in our virtue than in our vice. Like the apostle Paul explains in his struggle against sin in Romans 7, we learn to hate our vice. The Spirit of Christ changes our disposition toward virtue and vice. The Scriptures are replete with references to practicing virtue in order to become spiritually (morally) mature. Peter writes in 2 Peter 1:5-8, that we must make every effort to add virtue to ourselves in an ongoing process. In Romans 5 and Hebrews 12, Paul and the writer of Hebrews (possibly Paul) expound upon the connection between going through hard things, discipline, and suffering in having moral virtue strengthened in us. Becoming morally virtuous is an arduous process, but by cultivating the intellectual virtue to know the difference between virtue and vice, and by practicing habits that are morally virtuous in nature, we and our children become virtuous as our nature is changed by the grace of God at work in these practices.
We have mentioned grace and the Holy Spirit a few times in this conversation. At Capstone, we recognize that simply teaching young people the difference between folly and wisdom and the virtuous mean between two vices will not a wise and virtuous person make. Scripture teaches that there is none righteous (Rom. 3:10-12) and that even our greatest wisdom is foolishness next to the wisdom of God (1 Cor. 1:20). In fact, we are so bad at being morally virtuous, that Paul writes in Romans 4 that we must have righteousness credited to us by Jesus through faith because we cannot achieve moral virtue on our own. Wisdom also coms from God in his revelation in Scripture but also by his Spirit bestowing it as a gift to those to whom He chooses to give it. Every good and perfect gift is from above (James 1:17), and God makes the sun to shine on both the just and the unjust (Matt. 5:45), so even in his lost, unredeemed state, by God’s kindess, mankind is capable of much intellectual and moral virtue. However, it is only by the theological virtue of faith in Christ that we and our children will become completely wise and virtuous one day—as the destiny of every child of God in Christ is to be conformed to the image (wisdom and righteousness) of Christ (Rom. 8:29).
At Capstone, we readily acknowledge that our God is kind and generous to all as each pursues any true wisdom or good moral virtue. This can happen in any school context. However, we are deeply convicted that it is only through Christ that a student’s full potential for both intellectual and moral virtue will be realized. This is why we believe so firmly in our classical and Christian approach to education and why we hope you do too. As always, I’d love to have further discussion with you about these things. We always have much to learn from each other! Until next time, keep on pursuing the Good, the True, and the Beautiful to the glory of God and for the good of your neighbor!