Milton on Education

“The end then of learning is to repair the ruins of our first parents by regaining to know God aright, and out of that knowledge to love him, to imitate him, to be like him, as we may the nearest by possessing our souls of true virtue, which being united to the heavenly grace of faith makes up the highest perfection.” John Milton, Of Education
Milton’s words are powerful. They presuppose something very important. They presuppose, in their very statement, that repair work has to be done. We can go through the litany of problems with modern education, but we don’t have to to see where Milton is coming from. You see, Milton does not locate the problem of education in the newest curricular fad, multicultural program, or pro-homosexual textbook selection. Milton locates the problem systemic in education exactly where it is, the fall. The goal of education, according to Milton, is to repair the ruins of the fall. To bring us back into wonderful, blissful communion with our heavenly Father and the glory of His only-begotten son, Christ, our Lord. Not that we reverse the fall through education, but that we seek to suppress it. We seek, through knowing God aright, through loving Him in knowledge, through imitation of His divine attributes, “to be like Him … by possessing our souls of true virtue.” That is the goal of a classical and Christian education.