G. K. Chesterton (1874-1936) was an influential Roman Catholic writer and apologist known for the Father Brown mysteries, Orthodoxy, and The Everlasting Man. He interacted with other notable figures such as Dorothy Sayers, C. S. Lewis, and Agatha Christie, and his writing is marked by biting wit, keen insights, and a right perception of reality. In his book Heretics, a collection of essays from 1905 examining the debated ideas of the day, Chesterton devotes a portion of an essay to showing the importance of defining goodness before groundlessly defending liberty, progress, and education for their own sakes. Though written over a hundred years ago, his words still ring true—here is a quote from Chesterton, which concludes with the point regarding education:
Every one of the popular modern phrases and ideals is a dodge in order to shirk the problem of what is good. We are fond of talking about “liberty”; that, as we talk of it, is a dodge to avoid discussing what is good. We are fond of talking about “progress”; that is a dodge to avoid discussing what is good. We are fond of talking about “education”; that is a dodge to avoid discussing what is good. The modern man says, “Let us leave all these arbitrary standards and embrace liberty.” This is, logically rendered, “Let us not decide what is good, but let it be considered good not to decide it.” He says, “Away with your old moral formulae; I am for progress.” This, logically stated, means, “Let us not settle what is good; but let us settle whether we are getting more of it.” He says, “Neither in religion nor morality, my friend, lie the hopes of the race, but in education.” This, clearly expressed, means, “We cannot decide what is good, but let us give it to our children.” (“On the Negative Spirit,” from Heretics)
Before education starts, what is good must be completely certain. Giving children an education without knowing first what goodness is can only produce disaster, as seen all around in the fruits of godless education. At Mount Hope, there is no doubt concerning what goodness is—God is goodness and it is good to fill children’s minds with God’s truth. To reverse the closing opinion from Chesterton’s rather hopeless modern man, “We can know what is good, and we can give it to our children.” In other words, God has revealed goodness to us in His Word and this grounds every aspect of the education that the students at Mount Hope receive.
In Christ,
Miss Engwall
