A CLASSICAL PAIDEIA
Pronounced Pie-day-ah
Paideia is a Greek concept that has had a significant impact on the idea of education in the Christian world. Simply put, for the Greeks, paideia meant instruction. It was the manner of educating children in the true, the good, and the beautiful so that they would become noble and virtuous citizens. Children would have been instructed in areas such as sports, grammar, rhetoric, music, mathematics, geography, natural history (biology), and philosophy in order to help them develop intellect, virtue, and culture. This idea of education led to the trivium and quadrivium of the humanities and the liberal arts education, and would later influence the chivalry of medieval knights and the idea of the true gentleman.
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Like the concept of logos, paideia is a rich term that Jews and later, Christians adopted from the Greek world around them. Not only was it used for the education of the ideal citizen, but it was also used by the Jews as to how God instructs us in our faith. The book of Proverbs speaks of paideia in its opening verses:
“That men may know wisdom and paideia
understand words of insight,
receive paideia in wise dealing, righteousness, justice, and equity;
that prudence may be given to the simple,
knowledge and discretion to the youth -
the wise man also may hear and increase in learning,
and the man of understanding acquire skill,
to understand a proverb and a figure,
the words of the wise and their riddles.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;
fools despise wisdom and paideia.”
Prov.1:1-7
St. Paul also refers to the Jewish Law as the Paideia God gave the Israelites in order to prepare them for the coming of the Messiah. As God prepared the coming of the Christian world with the Logos, so He also prepared it with His Paideia. This instruction, being fulfilled in the New Law, is essential for the Christian life. St. Paul reminds us of the necessity of living according to and passing on the paideia of God when he exhorts parents to “bring up your children in the Paideia of the Lord” (Eph. 6:2). What a beautiful and noble task parents are given!
The Paideia Centre, and all of her programs, seeks to bring life to the concept of paideia, helping both children and adults grow to become the ideal citizen, fit for the court of Heaven. Through the true, the good, and the beautiful, we help form the intellect, nurture (nourish) virtue, and encourage a Catholic culture that delves into the great treasury of Tradition our Faith gives us. We desire that all those involved in The Paideia Centre put themselves under the Paideia of the Lord, allowing Him to instruct us through His Church and in our daily lives. Moreover, as we are all children of God, we strive to put ourselves under the guidance of Our Blessed Mother, whose paideia will bring us closer to her Son, for it is she who shows the Way.
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