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John Adams wrote to the Massachusetts Militia on October 11, 1798:
“Because we have no Government armed with Power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion, avarice, ambition and revenge or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goest through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”
In our ongoing exploration of our definition of classical Christian education, we have explored the cultivation of wisdom, both intellectual and moral virtue, the scholastic practices of the Church and the West, a rich ordered course of study, and in the last two episodes the two branches of the liberal arts: The Trivium and The Quadrivium. In this episode we turn our attention to the classical school aim of graduating informed, self-ruled young adults.
Let’s once again start with our definition of classical education:
“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.”
All humans will be ruled by someone or something. The classical Christian school aims toward graduates whose wisdom and virtue make them capable of noble self-rule as opposed to the rule of their sinful passions and any other form of spiritual despot. At its best, Classical Christian education yields young people who even if physically enslaved can do so in spiritual freedom, wielding a redemptive power that not even the worst captor can take from them. Self-rule is only possible for those who are properly formed by and ruled by the Spirit of God.
In the classical Christian school, we submit the content and methods of education to Christ so that our students come under the spiritual influence of Goodness, Truth, and Beauty as a matter of the typical course of each day. To educate is not merely to transmit information but to form whole persons—minds alive to truth, hearts inclined toward the Good, wills disciplined in virtue, and souls oriented toward the Source of all wisdom. We distinctively, rigorously, and with joyful conviction seek not just to inform but to form well-informed, self-ruling human beings, graduating citizens prepared to steward their responsibilities within the polity of America and, above all, to serve as faithful citizens of the Kingdom of God.
Only those with such dual citizenship are capable of maintaining a country governed by a constitution such as ours, and a classical Christian education produces such citizens. At its core, classical Christian education is a formation of wisdom and virtue, grounded in a coherent understanding of human nature, reality, and the divine. The mission at Capstone is not for mere personal achievement, but for the glory of God by the flourishing of community. The primary way that a Capstone graduate benefits the local community is through wise and virtuous civic engagement first through the family—the primary political unit of society—and then through the Church and local community. Citizens of God’s Kingdom, the Church, must be the most equipped for noble civic engagement and public discourse if the redemptive work of the Gospel is to shape the family, the local church, and the broader community. The liberal arts are indispensable because in subjection to Christ, they empower human beings to live the kind of free, self-ruled lives that can nurture and protect a democratic republic.
As we’ve established in the last three First Things, the distinct methods of the classical liberal arts are not antiquated relics in this mission but timeless means of training the mind and heart to think well, speak persuasively, and discern rightly. In the earliest stages of learning, grammar nurtures a rich foundation of facts, language, and memory; students absorb the building blocks of knowledge with joy and wonder. As they progress, logic deepens their capacity to analyze, compare, and reason, seeing not merely many facts, but the connections between them. Ultimately, rhetoric equips students to communicate with clarity, grace, and persuasive force, enabling them to participate responsibly in public discourse.
This progression is not merely academic but profoundly anthropological because it mirrors the way God made the human person to grow and mature. It shapes intellectual virtues in discernment, attentiveness, precision, and humility, which are essential to both thriving citizenship and faithful discipleship. In a world of fleeting information and fragmented understanding, the liberal arts confer mental dexterity and resilience. Students educated this way are not left vulnerable to the latest fad or political wind; they possess tools for lifelong learning and responsible judgment that transcend any particular era or ideology.
Because this education cultivates deep knowledge joined with moral and spiritual formation, it effectively prepares young men and women to fulfill the dual vocation of citizenship: responsible participation in the civic life of America and devoted service in the Kingdom of God. A well-informed, self-governing citizen is not merely competent in technical skills, but virtuous in character, capable of reasoning well about moral ends and contributing to the common good. In the American republic, where freedom depends on the virtue and judgment of the people themselves, such education is not a luxury but a necessity. As Hillsdale College’s mission echoes, the cultivation of intellectual, moral, and civic virtue forms the basis of a free and just society. It is for this reason that this classical Christian renewal, to which Capstone belongs, is one of the most compelling reasons to have hope for the future of America and most importantly for the future of the Church, which will outlast all kingdoms and against which even the gates of hell don’t stand a chance.
Until next time, keep on pursuing the Good, the True, and the Beautiful to the glory of God and the good of your neighbor!