“Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!”

– Isaiah 5:20

In the Old Testament, man is given a ‘heart’ by which he might know God and see the truth by which he must live – yet, at the same time, the Fall darkens his mind. In Antiquity (thanks to the insights of Aristotle) it was believed that the mind was fit to ascertain the truth – yet there were rules of thought that, if ignored, meant you would believe what was false.

This course is a practical introduction to the Trivium,the three ‘arts of truth’ that Christians such as Augustine, Boethius, Thomas Aquinas, Isaac Watts, C.S. Lewis, Peter Kreeft, Norman Geisler, and many others have accepted to lay out for us the ‘laws of thought’ that we ignore at our peril.

The three components of the Trivium – Grammar, Logic, and Rhetoric – were once counted essentials of any proper education.

In Grammar students are taught not the structure of sentences (where their grammar training stopped) but the structure of texts, which conveys the larger meaning of what we read. Students are taught to read more accurately.

In Logic students are shown how to use ideas, define terms, and argue to a correct conclusion. They are also taught how to identify and defuse logical fallacies.

Finally, in Rhetoric students are introduced to the essential elements of speaking and debating publicly with greater effectiveness. Students are instructed in the moral substance of dialogue, the difference between saying what you think (or winning an argument) and seeking the truth.