Theology and the Liberal Arts
How do the liberal arts and the Gospel relate? If every good and perfect gift comes from God, that includes the liberal arts. So how might the different ways of learning be taken up into God’s economy? How do the more physical arts like building, hunting, drama, and clothes-making relate to more intellectual pursuits? How does the Bible connect with classical education? One of the greatest minds of the Middle Ages, Bonaventure, bent his mind to these questions and wrote a wonderful work called Retracing the Arts to Theology. Participants will be asked to read Bonaventure’s Retracing the Arts to Theology prior to the retreat. This text, along with the presentations, will form a basis for discussions about the relationship between theology and the liberal arts.
- Schedule: Thursday reception and dinner starting at 6:30 p.m.; Friday 9:00-5:00 and evening fellowship; Saturday 10:00 a.m. – early afternoon). On Friday evening there will be a reception; on Saturday there will be an optional excursion to the Getty Center Museum, especially to view its Medieval/Renaissance and its Medieval Manuscript collections.
- Leadership and Presenters: Dr. Williams is the Dean of Templeton Honors College at Eastern University near Philadelphia, PA, where he also serves as Associate Professor of Ethics & Liberal Studies. Before coming to Eastern, he was Lecturer in Theology and Christian Ethics at the University of Oxford and Director of “Oxford Conversations,” a collection of curated video interviews with leading Christian academics and scholars at Oxford. Earlier in his teaching career, he taught upper school humanities at the Cair Paravel School in Kansas. Dr. Williams is an expert in the philosophy of classical Christian education and an accomplished expositor of the great texts of classical Christian education. The retreat will be facilitated by Alcuin West Capter fellows Dr. Andrew Selby (Trinity Classical Academy and the Alcuin West Chapter Director), Dr. Keith Buhler (St. Andrew’s Academy and Azusa Pacific University), Shea Ramquist (Trinity Classical Academy), and Zach Weichbrodt (Trinity Classical Academy).
- Location: The Master’s University, 21726 Placerita Canyon Road, Santa Clarita, CA 91321
- Cost: $150 (includes Thursday dinner and Friday lunch). Space is limited, so please register today!
- Lodging: Participants should make their own lodging arrangements in proximity to the Master’s University.
- Questions: For more information, contact Andrew Selby at: aselby@
trinityclassicalacademy.com.
