Home
/
RELIGION & LIBERTY ONLINE
/
Classical high school students say this attribute defines the West
Classical high school students say this attribute defines the West
Jul 3, 2025 4:38 AM

Josh Herring teaches history at a secular, classical academy – but as with all teachers, sometimes he learns valuable lessons from his students. As high school students at theThales Academyprogress from studying ancient cultures to modernity, they invariably tell him they are struck by one principle that sets the Judeo-Christian West apart from previous civilizations. In a new essay for Religion & Liberty Transatlantic, Herringwrites:

In ninth and tenth grades, students study the ancient and classical world. They track the development of different polytheistic practices (Egyptian, Mesopotamian, Greek), the practices of human sacrifice (Hittite, Phoenician), and the low view of humanity in the ancient Near East. In most mythologies, humanity is created either as a slave race to enable divine leisure, or as a by-product of a war between gods; in the Babylonian Enuma Elish mankind is a slave race enabling divine laziness.

Studying the Hebrews as the first monotheistic people establishes a contrast. The Hebrew self-conception begins with Adam and Eve made in the divine image, and even though they fall from a state of perfect grace, that divine dignity remains, eventually flowering into a law code Jesus of Nazareth summarized as requiring men to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength” and to “love your neighbour as yourself.” For the Hebrews, humans are not sacrificial victims, slaves, or accidental players in a cosmic tragedy. Instead, in this conception, man is, according to Richard Weaver, “the center of a divine drama.” The Hebrews left no towering monoliths or ziggurats, but their development of a high view of human dignity made a lasting contribution to the Western tradition.

Without a single reference to theology, students who study classical history see an historic break between the West and every previous civilization. And, they say, respecting the human dignity of each person is the dividing line.

Moving from ancient Babylon to the modern era, Herring takes students – and his readers – through ancient Greece and Rome. Christian thinkers fused critical elements into a cohesive culture.

“Suddenly, the pieces fit together,” he writes. “This image-bearing yet fallen creature capable of rational thought contains such worth in the eyes his Creator that Christ came to redeem mankind from the rule of sin and death.”

A chorus of contemporary secular authors – most recently Douglas Murray, James Kirchick, and Rolf Peter Sieferle – have asked whether “European values” and “human rights” can survive without the philosophical and religious presuppositions in which they developed. The remedy, in part, Herring writes, is to resume accurately teaching the classical roots of Western culture:

The West has long celebrated freedom, but that freedom did not develop in a vacuum. The ability of human beings from around the world to act freely in economic, religious, social, and political spheres grows out of key convictions that contribute to the rich tapestry of the Western tradition. It is not enough to celebrate freedoms without understanding how they developed. If we cut off the roots that nourish our concept of freedom, the tree of liberty will collapse.

You can read his full essay here.

mosaic of the creation of Adam in Monreale, Sicily.Rabe! This photo has been cropped. CC BY-SA 4.0.)

Comments
Welcome to mreligion comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
RELIGION & LIBERTY ONLINE
Verse of the Day
  Commentary on Today's Verse   Commentary on John 11:1-6   (Read John 11:1-6)   It is no new thing for those whom Christ loves, to be sick; bodily distempers correct the corruption, and try the graces of God's people. He came not to preserve his people from these afflictions, but to save them from their sins, and from the wrath to come; however,...
Verse of the Day
  John 17:13 In-Context   11 I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power ofOr Father, keep them faithful toyour name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one.   12 While I was with them,...
Verse of the Day
  Hebrews 11:11 In-Context   9 By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise.   10 For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.   11 And by faith...
Verse of the Day
  Commentary on Today's Verse   Commentary on Hebrews 13:1-6   (Read Hebrews 13:1-6)   The design of Christ in giving himself for us, is, that he may purchase to himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works; and true religion is the strongest bond of friendship. Here are earnest exhortations to several Christian duties, especially contentment. The sin opposed to this grace and...
Verse of the Day
  Commentary on Today's Verse   Commentary on Titus 2:11-15   (Read Titus 2:11-15)   The doctrine of grace and salvation by the gospel, is for all ranks and conditions of men. It teaches to forsake sin; to have no more to do with it. An earthly, sensual conversation suits not a heavenly calling. It teaches to make conscience of that which is good....
Verse of the Day
  Commentary on Today's Verse   Chapter Contents   This is a hymn of praise suited to the times of the Messiah.   The song of praise in this chapter is suitable for the return of the outcasts of Israel from their long captivity, but it is especially suitable to the case of a sinner, when he first finds peace and joy in believing;...
Verse of the Day
  Isaiah 52:7 In-Context   5 And now what do I have here? declares the Lord. For my people have been taken away for nothing, and those who rule them mock,Dead Sea Scrolls and Vulgate; Masoretic Text wail declares the Lord. And all day long my name is constantly blasphemed.   6 Therefore my people will know my name; therefore in that...
Verse of the Day
  Amos 5:24 In-Context   22 Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Though you bring choice fellowship offerings, I will have no regard for them.   23 Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps.   24 But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness...
Verse of the Day
  Commentary on Today's Verse   Commentary on 1 John 2:18-23   (Read 1 John 2:18-23)   Every man is an antichrist, who denies the Person, or any of the offices of Christ; and in denying the Son, he denies the Father also, and has no part in his favour while he rejects his great salvation. Let this prophecy that seducers would rise in...
Verse of the Day
  Commentary on Today's Verse   Commentary on John 15:9-17   (Read John 15:9-17)   Those whom God loves as a Father, may despise the hatred of all the world. As the Father loved Christ, who was most worthy, so he loved his disciples, who were unworthy. All that love the Saviour should continue in their love to him, and take all occasions to...
Related Classification
Copyright 2023-2025 - www.mreligion.com All Rights Reserved