Great Classics: Exposing the Emperor Even More
I covered this topic in my book and on various places on the Internet but I received this question via email this morning:
You give some great advice on how to find the living books but I noticed on your list that most of those books are not the classics. Is there another list where you include the Great Classics?
So I feel the need to shed more light on what I feel is a dangerous trend in homeschooling.
The Emperor is Naked
I need a megaphone! The emperor is as naked as a Jay bird. He is shower ready, wearing his birthday suit, streaking in the buff, buck naked, au natural.
There are no “new clothes” and the “Great Classics” is a just a list!
There is nothing special about the emperor’s clothes or the list. This list was developed by Mortimer J. Adler and Britannica Editors (created as a marketing tool to sell books to business men). Who are they? What are there standards? Why should I teach my children what they think is important?
Why do Christian homeschoolers avoid much of what is found in public education reading lists (Daddy has a Roommate, Edgar Allen Poe, Stephen King, etc.) yet jump on board the “Great Books” list?
Who is Mortimer J. Adler?
The founder of the “Great Books of the Western World” reading list considered himself a pagan when he wrote How to Think About God: A Guide for the 20th-Century Pagan
Ken Myers interviewed Adler after his book was published. Myers said, “During that interview, I asked him why he had never embraced the Christian faith himself. He explained that while he had been profoundly influenced by a number of Christian thinkers during his life, … there were moral—not intellectual—obstacles to his conversion. He didn’t explain any further.”
In 2000, Adler became a Roman Catholic (about 50 years after the Great Books list was published.)
What kind of author was Adler? Dwight MacDonald criticized Adler’s writing style by saying “Mr. Adler once wrote a book called How to Read a Book. He should now read a book called How to Write a Book.”
Was Adler a racist? In 1990 interview why his Great Books of the Western World list did not include any black authors, he simply said, “They didn’t write any good books.”
Robert Maynard Hutchins also helped with the list. What do we know about him? He is listed as most influential members of the school of secular perennialism.
God’s Standards
I will rely on God not a man like Alder or a book like “The Well Trained Mind” for what my children should put in their minds and hearts.
God gave us standards on how to judge what we put in our mind and hearts in Philippians 4:8:
Most of the books listed in the Great Books of the Western World (GBBWW) the were written by non-Christians, men like Aeschylus, Apollonius, Aquinas, Dewey, Euclid, Euripides, Freud, Hippocrates, Homer, Marx, Plato, Ptolemy, Muhammad (the Quran or Koran), Thoreau, etc.
Did I mention emperor is buck naked? Take a look at some of the books on the list here. Click through to see what the books are about.
Classics According to Heart of Wisdom
Heart of Wisdom’s suggested books lists include models of excellence or works of enduring cultural relevance and value, and do not include mythology nor books by the ancient Greek philosophers.
Free Choosing and Using Resources Booklet (31 pages PDF)
Includes Classics (my list) by Grade Level
