Our
Purpose
The Anselm School exists to train students in loving the true, doing the good, and beholding the beautiful. These transcendentals are woven through a tapestry of literature, art, music, science, theology, history, mathematics, and the pursuit of knowledge. Ultimately, these three virtues find their fulfillment in Christ.
The Anselm School seeks to cultivate virtue and wisdom in the hearts and minds of the students— teaching them not what to think but how to think. In turn, we believe this is what it means to be human and live the good life: to live in light of being an image-bearer of Christ and pursuing rightly ordered loves.
“A truly Christian education is possible only when Christian conviction underlies not a part but all of the curriculum of the school.”
J. Gresham Machen
Our
Identity
In Omnibus Christus
Christ in All Things
One of the fundamental principles in approaching education from a Christian worldview is to understand Christ’s preeminence in all things (Colossians 1.) While it’s easy to find Christ in John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress or studying church history, we also firmly believe, through common grace, that all subjects and areas of study are under the authority and dominion of Christ’s kingdom. This means we do not prioritize the humanities over the sciences; rather, we see all subjects working together to bring a comprehensive view of creation order and what it means to be human in light the light of Christ.
Saint Anselm of Canterbury
c. 1033-1109
St. Anselm of Canterbury was chosen as our namesake for his commitment to theological inquiry and devotion to Christ's church. At the foundation of learning at The Anselm School is the understanding that we believe in a God who created and upholds the world according to his providence. It is not the case that faith is contrary to rational knowledge, but rather it is supra rational—beyond knowledge in some respects. Our faith does not cause us to abandon reason. Instead, we seek to align our knowledge and reason to our faith. We seek to engage in this endeavor—the same task Anselm sought out.
“For I do not seek to understand in order that I may believe, but I believe in order to understand. For this also I believe—that unless I believe I shall not understand.”
Proslogion, Anselm of Canterbury
Something That
Lasts
We are not interested in creating something new. We are not occupying ourselves with the latest educational fads; we are not tailoring learning to bend to state standards; and we are not interested in educational programs that satisfy the appetites of pragmatism. Rather, we are aimed at something higher—something eternal. We are solely committed to what is nourishing to our souls and edifying to our hearts and minds. Our souls last forever, therefore let us occupy ourselves with wisdom—from the fountain of all wisdom—that lasts forever.