Kate Deddens has led classical seminars for students K-12 in almost all areas of academic study, and trained adults to teach with classical vision and pedagogy. She is a classical consultant who served as the National Program Advisor for Classical Conversations’ upper high school levels and currently works with Lutheran schools wishing to adopt or hone the classical Lutheran vision of education. She is a curriculum designer, author, and speaker published by Classical Conversations, the CiRCE Institute, The Imaginative Conservative, The Federalist, The Classical Lutheran Education Journal, and The Lutheran Witness, among others. She is co-author of Classical Conversations’ Classical Acts and Facts History and Artists and Composers Cards and served as advising editor or contributing author for selections of their signature publications such as Classical Christian Education Made Approachable, The Question, and The Conversation. Kate has been a speaker, trainer, and presenter at Classical Conversations' practicums, state homeschool conferences, the Lutheran Education Association, and the Consortium for Classical Lutheran Education conferences. Kate earned her bachelor’s degree in the Liberal Arts with classical trivium and quadrivium instruction through the Great Books Program at St. John’s College in Annapolis, MD, and holds a Master’s in Mental Health Counseling from Western Kentucky University.
The Christian intellectual tradition is rooted in the conviction that all truth is God’s truth and that the Logos – Christ – is the source and sustainer, indeed the ultimate goal, of all wisdom. From the early Church through the Reformation, Christian thinkers have sought to understand God, the world, and the human person in light of the Incarnation. Athanasius, in On the Incarnation, proclaims the wonder of the Word made flesh; Augustine, in his Confessions, echoes the Socratic insight that wisdom begins in humility as he cries, “I do not even know what I do not know”; Aquinas, in the Summa, orders the life of the mind toward God as First Cause and Final End; Thomas à Kempis, in The Imitation of Christ, calls the believer to a life of cruciform devotion; and Luther, in The Freedom of a Christian, articulates the paradox of Christian liberty: free in Christ, bound in love to the neighbor.
Through close reading of these texts, students will explore the attributes of God, the meaning of the Incarnation, the shape of Christian virtue, the struggle of the will, the life of devotion, and the freedom of faith. With a logocentric focus and liturgical classroom rhythms, students will keep a journal; craft and memorize a course catechesis drawn from each reading; make integrations and applications with other areas of academic study and with life; formulate opening questions and lead discussions; compare and contrast the readings; engage in Socratic dialogue; and intentionally draw out the significance of Lutheran doctrinal distinctives (such as Original Sin, Law and Gospel, the Two Kingdoms, the Theology of the Cross, Vocation, Stewardship, and the Ministerial Use of Reason).
An optional component will include written theses with instructor evaluation.
Students will gain deeper insight into the nature of humanity created imago Dei; the meaning of the Incarnation for Christian life and thought; the relationship between faith and reason; and the continuity and development of Christian theology from the early Church through the Reformation. They will also explore how these foundational works harmonize with, enrich, or challenge the distinctive doctrines of Lutheranism.
Course Resources: Athanasius – On the Incarnation; Augustine – Confessions; Aquinas – Summa (selections); Thomas a Kempis – Imitation of Christ; Luther – The Freedom of a Christian (translations and editions TBD).
Schedule: TBA
Tuition: $400/semester
Contact: k.deddens.rr@gmail.com
Restful Rigor Preceptorials 