Hallowed Halls the Christian Story of the University the Fear of the Lord Is the Beginning of Knowledge
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Issue 139 •• Hallowed halls The Christian story of the university The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. Proverbs 1:7a, NRSV Third in our faith and flourishing series CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTION Medieval uni- versity students attend class in Bohemia— probably at the University of Prague. lecturing has changed very little in over a millennium! Unlike many other universi- ties you’ll soon read about, where theology headed the curriculum, the University of Bologna did not teach theology or the lib- eral arts until the 1300s. Students at Bologna officially ran the school at first. They took up a collection to give a financial gift to their instructors because, as the school’s history notes, “at that time science, as a gift of God, could not be sold.” Eventually these gifts devel- oped into regular salaries. DO NOT ATTACK THE DEAN The University of St Andrews in Scot- land grew from a papal schism. In the fifteenth century, Scottish students who wished to pursue higher education attended the Uni- versity of Paris (in Scotland’s historic ally, France), Did you know? rather than Oxford or Cambridge (in Scotland’s his- toric enemy, England). But the Western Schism—in THIS ISSUE SHARES MANY STORIES ABOUT which French cardinals and the Scottish church sup- COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES TRYING TO PUR- ported rival popes—made this impossible. Scottish SUE HUMAN FLOURISHING. HERE ARE A FEW churchmen incorporated a new university in 1411, finally obtaining a charter from beleaguered Pope TO START YOU OFF. Benedict XIII in 1413. When the charter arrived, peo- EDIA M ple set celebratory bonfires. SCIENCE CANNOT BE SOLD The early days of the university were tempestu- The earliest recorded attempts at something like a mod- ous, between town-and-gown fights and the turmoil ern university occurred in Bologna, Italy. In the late of the Protestant Reformation. Its school history notes, 1080s, a scholar named Irenius (c. 1050–c. 1125) gathered “In 1470, several masters and students were expelled AGES / [CC BY 4.0] WIKI IM students for instruction in Roman law. He read the law for attacking the Dean with bows and arrows. In 1544 E EDIA M O M code aloud and added his own “glosses” while the stu- the university banned beards, the carrying of weap- C dents dutifully took notes—proof that some university ons, gambling and football [soccer].” At its founding —Well 4.0] WIKI St Andrews was a center of humanist SA scholarship, and, after Scotland became 1828 Protestant in 1560, it became a flagship NGRAVING, school for the new movement. KARE / [CC BY- E C A P .— C GODLESS COLLEGE, FAMOUS DUEL One of Great Britain’s first completely sec- 14 ular colleges, University College London, ONDON COLORED L was founded in direct contrast to Oxford RIPT DETAIL, and Cambridge, which only allowed C COLLEGE, Anglicans to graduate. English educational Y IA MANUS reformer Thomas Arnold (1795–1842)— M NIVERSIT whose approach to character building U , M IGHA BURYING THE HATCHET The University of H AS London (left) now combines two former M HO T rivals: University College and King’s College. MEDIEVAL CLASS, BOHE Christian History CHRISTIAN STUDY This 13th-c. edition (below) of Conso- lation of Philosophy by Boethius shows the liberal arts as a ladder leading to philosophical truth. CHRISTIAN FORMATION Dartmouth (above, in 1834), like many US Ivy League schools, was originally founded to train clergy (see pp. 39–41). (see pp. 43–45). In response in 1905, the state legislature EDIA passed “An Act to Prohibit White and Colored Persons M from Attending the Same School”—specifically aimed AIN] WIKI at Berea, which was convicted and fined $1,000. Berea M was forced to open the Lincoln Institute several hours DO C LI B away to educate Black students. U P President and Congregational minister William Goodell Frost (1854–1938) announced a change of focus eipzig—[ L to poverty-stricken communities in eastern Kentucky; he is, in fact, credited with coining the concept of EDIA LIOTHEK M B “Appalachia” as a cultural region. Not until 1950 could would influence generations of English schoolchil- Black students again attend Berea. C H AIN] WIKI dren—called it “that godless college in Gower street.” M O D King’s College London directly opposed University C NIVERSITATS BI LI U B College: though King’s admitted non-Anglican stu- U P 1230 . / [ dents, it also had mandatory chapel and doctrinal C Y R, 3 requirements for professors. The Duke of Wellington, ALLER , F. G prime minister at the time and supporter of Catholic 1253 S rights, even fought a duel with the Earl of Winchelsea , M ORTRAIT over King’s refusal to limit students to Church of Eng- P land members! ATIONAL N — WHO CAN FLOURISH HERE? EDIA 1839 M Berea College in Kentucky is one of the few colleges in the United States to charge no tuition; every student receives a scholarship and enrolls in a work-study pro- DE CONSOLATIONE PHILOSOPHIAE IL ON CANVAS gram on campus. Founder and nondenominational O RTS, minister John Fee (1816–1901) explicitly began the school A RNOLD A in 1855 to educate men and women, Black and White, in ERAL ATHANIEL CURRIER / WIKI B AS N I L M the first coed and integrated college in the South. He HO T modeled his efforts on developments in Ohio at Oberlin ADDER OF L HILLIPS, P outh College— CHRISTIAN REFORM Thomas Arnold, headmaster of the AS M M famous Rugby boarding school, was concerned for the ART HO D T BOETHIUS, flourishing of schoolchildren and college students. Issue 139 1 How to Save Western CuLture ◆ HOW TO DESTROY ◆ SEX AND THE UNREAL CITY WESTERN CIVILIZATION e Demolition of the Western Mind Peter Kree Anthony Esolen A series of brilliant essays about many of the problems that With saber-like wit, Esolen leads us on a tour through the undermine our Western civilization, along with ways to ruins of our own Western world. is hilarious guide to a address them. In his witty, readable style, Kree implores us culture gone mad with sex and self-care minces no words to gather wisdom and preserve it, as the monks did in the and spares no egos. We the people of Unreal City are no Middle Ages. He o ers relevant philosophical precepts that better, and certainly no smarter, than our fathers. can be collected to guide us in the days ahead. But fear not. Esolen lights a torch and heads up the well- Kree emphasizes the most necessary thing to save our trod path back to our cleaner, kinder, truer homeland: Earth. civilization is to have children. e “unmentionable elephant Along the way, the author sings the songs of masters long in the room” is sex, properly understood. Religious liberty is forgotten—Shakespeare, Dante, Milton, the Evangelists— being attacked in the name of “sexual liberty”, i.e. abortion. and asks us to join in. He encourages us to ght back, with joy and con dence, with SUCP . Sewn So cover, $17.95 the one weapon that will win the future: children. " is work wins my 'book of the year' award for 2020!" HDWCP . Sewn So cover, $17.95 — Tracey Rowland, Ph.D., University of Notre Dame “Kreeft has produced many valuable books in his long career. is one, in its broad scope and incisive analysis, may be the best “Esolen is a prophet—the rare doctor who nails the diagnosis, of them all.” — Robert Royal, Author, A Deeper Vision: The exposes the false treatments that made the patient sicker, and ap- Catholic Intellectual Tradition in the 20th Century plies the lasting cure. Elegant sock-to-the-jaw prose!" — Patrick Co n, Author, e Contraception Deception “A pithy, o en very funny book, with a serious underlying purpose. Kree is a keen diagnostician of our moral and spiritual disorders. “De nitively deconstructs the Unreal City crumbling around us A book to be savored on many levels.” and leads us back into the joy of the only real city—the City of God. — Robert Reilly, Author, America on Trial: A Defense of the Founding A must read !” — Sue Ellen Browder, Author, Sex and the Catholic Feminist Related Title Related Title WESTERN CULTURE: Today & Tomorrow ADAM AND EVE AFTER THE PILL This ground-breaking book by Mary Joseph Ratzinger offers his keen in- Eberstadt examines the seismic social sights about the social and political chal- changes caused by the sexual revolution. lenges confronting modern Western It will change the way you view the para- societies. He prescribes a return to the doxical impact of the sexual revolution on truths taught by the God of the Bible as ideas, morals, and humanity itself. essential for restoring our culture. AEAPP . Sewn So cover, $16.95 WCTTP . Sewn So cover, $17.95 www.ignatius.com P.O. Box 1339, Ft. Collins, CO 80522 (800) 651-1531 Letters to the editor Readers respond to Christian History WHO GIVES WEALTH? I am perplexed that no article [in #137] made any reference PUBLISHING DESPITE A PANDEMIC to Deuteronomy 8:18 where God says (through Moses): Thank you so much that with all that is going on you “And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is still sent out a new issue. God bless you.—Deborah He who gives you power to get Dockett, Monrovia, CA wealth. .” (NKJV). This seems fundamental to Note: In issue #138, we neglected to mention #43, How We the issue at hand.—David Got Our Bible, in the list of related issues. Please check it out! Butler, Monrovia, CA Also in issue #138 we misidentified what is most probably a Wycliffite Bible on p.