Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. -Psalm 119:105-

Phillip Melanchthon, author of the Augsburg Confession, is known as the Preceptor of Germany. His sixteenth century influence on education in Germany is still felt today. As a Renaissance humanist, he believed that the study of language was central to learning. In particular he believed in reading old books not only for the beauty of their language but also for the wisdom they contained.

In recent years, more than a few voices have observed that the western world has been losing its language. In her book, Losing Our Language, Sandra Stotsky notes, "The decline in the difficulty level of the selections used to teach children how to read has not been a steady one over the course of [last] century. But there is no mistaking the direction of the movement." Though the reasons for this decline are legion, one of the causal culprits is known as preposterism.

Preposterous, the more familiar adjectival form, describes something that is absurd or contrary to reason. The noun form, preposterism, is similar in meaning but a little closer to the Latin roots-pre (before) and post (behind or after)-it is the belief that worthy ends can be attained without worthy beginnings. We preposterize (the verb form) when we think we can accomplish a goal without doing the necessary preliminary work to develop the skills and learn the art needed to achieve that goal. It is trying to build a house without possessing skills with tools, knowledge of building materials, or concepts of construction design. Put in a school context, Andrew Nikiforuk gives this example of preposterism: "Flouting the alphabet-eschewing the struggle of sounding things out. [This] may have freed children's spirits and given bohemian reign to self-expression, but it has not created people who read books and cherish the power of words."[i]

Like Renaissance humanists, classical educators today still believe that language is at the center of all learning. And if we have lost our language, it is our duty to recover it and restore it for the next generation. We must regain that common faith in the power of reading as central to western civilization and, more importantly, to knowing divine truth. With Melanchthon we tautologously assert, "Without an understanding of language, one cannot read the Old and New Testaments." And that would simply be unacceptable.

Pastor William Heine

Headmaster, MLS

Memorial Lutheran Church and School