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Today is Saturday, June 8, and this is William Michael of the Classical Liberal Arts Academy. Recently, I posted a talk on understanding the Trinity. It was actually posted on Trinity Sunday, or shortly thereafter. I discussed the problems in modern society when it comes to discussing a Catholic doctrine like the Trinity. I explained how, for modern Catholics who don’t study scholastic philosophy, it’s almost impossible to comprehend the Catholic teaching because it was developed with the help of Aristotelian philosophy. In scholastic philosophy, where Aristotelian philosophy is studied and known, ideas are developed and defended using the ideas … Continue

The transcription below was provided by otter.ai and formatted by ChatGPT. When we look at the Gospels, one of the most interesting teachings is the parable of the prodigal son. In this parable, we meet a father with two sons. One son is relatively good, while the other seems to be evil. The evil son chooses to leave his father’s home to pursue his own pleasure. The good son stays home and continues to work with his father. If someone took a snapshot of that father’s life, they might say he raised one good son and one bad son. But … Continue

There are many reasons why men desire to reject Christianity. The most obvious reason is the moral responsibility that comes with it. To confess the truth of Christianity is to accept great moral responsibility.  To free oneself from that moral responsibility, one simply needs to pretend to reject Christianity. One of the principal means by which men reject Christianity is skepticism. Skepticism can be described as the refusal to accept any teaching unless the truth of that teaching has been demonstrated to be true. When asked to believe in the existence of God, the skeptic will respond that he cannot … Continue

All parents and teachers know the proverb, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” However, when it’s time to educate children, they all do exactly the opposite of what that proverb advises. Rather than teach students how to study, they try to give what needs to be studied. It never works. Yet, they never stop repeating the same fault they know will never work. Yes, we can force some kids to recite some math facts, or catechism answers or spelling words, but there … Continue

Modern education is driven by a public school culture that has existed since the late 1800s. We have all been raised with the image of the students seated in desks, facing a teacher who leads class activities and gives grades according to his/her own standards. The goal is the completion of minimum school standards that, again, have existed only since the late 1800s. School meets only 180 days per year, and from around 8am to 3pm. Much of the “school day” is spent in non-academic activities (lunch, study hall, recess, changing classes, etc.). Most of the student’s life, even during … Continue

In modern science classes, we will often learn about the theory of evolution. For example, in the Academy’s Biology textbook, we read: “The science of biology is very broad in scope because there is a tremendous diversity of life on Earth. The source of this diversity is evolution, the process of gradual change during which new species arise from older species. Evolutionary biologists study the evolution of living things in everything from the microscopic world to ecosystems.” As you read this passage, “evolution” doesn’t sound like a theory. It is, unfortunately, presented as if it is a proven fact, and … Continue