By Jason Modar

Many folks do not understand the purpose of education. This is due, in part, to ignorance of the term paideia. I first heard the term effortlessly soar from the tongue of Douglas Wilson at the 2019 ACCS conference. The term was foreign to me―it is Greek, after all―but its meaning captivated my wonder. Pastor Wilson explained that paideia, though a term loaded with meaning beyond what a single English word could capture, simply meant enculturation. When a people take up the task of paideia, they endeavor to pass on their culture to the next generation. 

To the ancient Greeks and Romans, paideia was everything. They were highly motivated to bequeath their precious history, customs, and traditions to their children. The Apostle Paul must have sniffed this ethos in the air when he penned his epistle to the Ephesians. In Ephesians 6:4, Paul exhorts Ephesian fathers to “bring [their children] up in the training and instruction of the Lord.” The Greek term translated “training” is paideia.

Paul burdened the Ephesians with a daunting task. “Pass on Christian culture to your children” was difficult enough in 1st-century Rome. No such Christian paideia yet existed. Yet, in spite of the overwhelming odds, our spiritual ancestors built, sustained, and passed on a robust Christian culture that eventually conquered Rome and all of the Western world. We continue this noble task, albeit in a different capacity. We are more in the business now of repairing the ruins left by effete evanjellyfish, prideful progressives, and fanatical feminists, but this is the campaign we inherited.

Naturally, we should inquire as to what Christian culture ought to look like. If a key component of educating our children involves teaching them to build and sustain a culture, what exactly should we teach them? Make it a point to show up for Sunday school over the next several weeks and you’ll find out.