What does the word “rhetoric” mean to you? Most people associate “rhetoric” with words that are big, showy, or empty, fake, and manipulative. Why would we want to teach our children how to use words to manipulate people? As an online teacher at Kepler Education who teaches Rhetoric, I’d like to submit that rhetoric is inescapable. We are surrounded by rhetoric. It’s not a question of whether our students are going to learn rhetoric–it’s a …
Author: Gregory Soderberg
In the midst of the global COVID-19 crisis, there are many features of our modern life that we take for granted. Toilet paper, meat, hand sanitizer … and hospitals. Although adequate medical care is still tragically absent in many countries throughout the world, a huge percentage of the world’s population can simply go to a hospital when they need medical attention. This fact is worth pausing over. For much of human history, it was not …
I’m really enjoying starting a year long study of Introductory Logic with a fantastic group of students at Kepler Education! But, you might wonder if we really need to study Logic? In his wonderful book, Socratic Logic, the eminent Christian philosopher Peter Kreeft gives several compelling reasons to study Logic. Here’s a sampling of the many good reasons that Kreeft provides: The question is not what you can do with logic, but what logic does …
This week, I experienced a bit of providence in my daily Bible reading. The Old Testament reading was from 1 Kings 12, where the new (and young) King Rehoboam asks for opinions about how he should establish his authority. Coming after his father, King Solomon, Rehoboam had big shoes to fill! The older councilors gave this advice: “If you will be a servant to this people today and serve them, and speak good words to …
In chaotic times, we search for direction. What do you do in the middle of a pandemic? Riots? Racial strife and wars? A collapsing economy? Christians have been through all of this before. This is one of the main reasons we should study history. We realize that, though our times are full of trials and tribulations, the Church has weathered cultural storms and upheaval before. We can learn from the past, in order to live …