Gunter 1

Courtney Gunter

Dr. Schuchardt

Core 101-7

9 November 2017

Liberal Arts/Vocational Essay

In its most basic description, the liberal arts are the way to get the most out of an

education. Liberal, meaning “free,” is the opposite of the servile, “slave,” arts. They consist

of two parts, the trivium and the quadrivium. The trivium consists of the three language-

based disciplines, while the quadrivium is concerned with the four number-based areas of

study. The trivium consists of Grammar, Logic, and Rhetoric. Grammar deals with letter;

logic with words; rhetoric with sentences. The liberal arts are cumulative, progressive, and

integrative. Next, the quadrivium consists of Mathematics, Geometry, Music, and

Astronomy. Simply put, mathematics is the study of numbers. Geometry is the study of

number in space. Music is the study of number in time. Finally, astronomy is the study of

number in space and time (motion). Again, the liberal arts are cumulative, progressive, and

integrative.

According to C.S. Lewis’s “Learning in Wartime,” learning is a natural part of life;

we should glorify God through our learning. In sum, we should continue to learn in

wartime; we should always continue to learn. A liberal arts education can ultimately bring

glory to God. As Christians, we are enslaved to Christ; however, enslavement to Christ

results in freedom from the world. In Christ, we are free to disregard the world’s opinions.

Jesus Christ came to bring freedom in the Spirit—not physical. This spiritual freedom can

be seen through the novel Silence. The persecuted Japanese church experiences no freedom

by worldly standards. Contrariwise, they are able to experience freedom in spirit because of
 Gunter 2

Christ. The liberal arts are a way to explore our freedom found in Christ. We are able to

explore various academic disciplines in order to discover how we can best glorify God.

A Christian liberal arts education might shape my current and future vocation

because I am able to sample a variety of disciplines. Currently, my vocation is to be a

student. I am able to do that simply by studying to the best of my ability. I can use my

vocation as a student to glorify God. A Christian liberal arts education might shape my

future vocation by teaching me to be a “life-long” learner. It is my desire to never stop

leaning. I do not want to stop leaning when my formal education ends. Therefore, my

Christian liberal arts education helps me achieve this goal my providing a firm foundation.

Dr. Read Schuchardt describes this in “On Pedagogical Elegance:” “The reason it produced

in you the effect of becoming a lifelong learner was that it taught you the secret of the

universe: that nothing is outside the scope of the interconnectedness of all things. And if

nothing was irrelevant, then nothing was boring. If you had a liberal arts education, then by

studying just seven subjects you were now suddenly interested in all of them. You went to

graduate school. You became a student of life. You didn't care about grades, you cared

about knowledge.” In sum, a liberal arts education has the potential to create in me a life-

long leaner; I want to use this to glorify God in whatever my future vocation may be.