Classical Christian education employs the language arts (Trivium: grammar, logic, rhetoric) and the mathematical arts (Quadrivium: astronomy, arithmetic, music, geometry) in the pursuit of educating whole persons – mind, body, and soul. These arts are not simply subjects, but are as they are called – arts. That is, they are principles and methods of learning. The end goal of this education is that students become wise and virtuous. The cardinal virtues are prudence, justice, temperance, and fortitude, while the theological virtues are faith, hope, and love/charity. Wisdom, in short, entails an ordered life, both in thought and deed, according to the transcendent order of God (Truth, Goodness, and Beauty) and the order He has established in creation. From this we get the idea of ordered loves – teaching students to love what is lovely.

This is achieved, at least in part, through the study of the Great Books. The Great Books, of which the Bible is a part, are deemed great because of their contributions to civilization, the important and perennial questions or ideas they address, and their conversation with those who came before. The Great Ideas articulated in these Great Books – ideas such as truth, goodness, beauty, one and many, justice, love, law, and God – are learned by the students by means of Socratic and mimetic teaching. Socratic questioning invites students to define terms, make judgments, and argue using reason. We see here the importance of logic, as the three acts of the mind are apprehension, judgment, and reason. Mimetic teaching uses models or paradigms of excellence (arete) for students to mimic. Narration (telling back), songs, chants, and copying sections from great works of literature are examples of mimetic teaching. Narration is especially important because it includes all three arts of the Trivium through selecting, defining, categorizing, ordering, elaborating, and persuading. In short, narration aides students in the refinement of thought, language, and speech. The idea of impressionable youth learning through mimesis is especially articulated by Plato and Aristotle.

What sets classical Christian education apart from mere classical education is its commitment to the Bible as the authoritative word of God and to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. It also emphasizes Jesus as the Logos of the cosmos; that is, Christ is the ordering Reason of the cosmos (cosmos itself means a well-ordered whole), holding all things together by the word of His power. Jesus Himself employed the Socratic and mimetic methods of teaching. The Socratic method is evidenced in His routine questioning to get people to think about things like justice and goodness (Matt. 12:10-11; 22:20-21; Mk. 10:18). The mimetic method is evidenced in the fact that He saw Himself as an example for His disciples to follow (Lk. 6:40). It can therefore be said that Jesus taught classically. Classical Christian education is therefore an approach to education that teaches Christ and teaches like Christ.

In summary, classical Christian education is grounded in the liberal arts of the Trivium and Quadrivium, concentrated in the Great Books and Great Ideas, committed to the authoritatively wise word of God, centered on Jesus as the Divine Logos of the cosmos, and concerned with making students wise and virtuous. Students are seen as people with souls, made in the image of God, not biological cogs to be fit into the workforce machine. They therefore learn to order their loves, loving God above all else.