By Isabelle Ruff | Intern
It’s right there in the name: Great Texts is great. The study encourages students to ask difficult questions about the nature of God, humanity and the world with the hope that they will not just reflect, but actually change the way they think and act.
Quick disclaimer: An extensive study of Great Texts is not for everyone. For instance, STEM majors should not be forced to minor in Great Texts, because their strengths and passions lie in another area. Requiring those who don’t excel in reading or writing to study a reading- and writing-heavy field takes away from the beauty of Great Texts.
However, there are benefits to taking at least one class in Great Texts. Similar to how an overarching education in core classes prepares the mind for diverse abilities, a study of Great Texts shapes the soul. Instead of telling you what to learn, it shows you how to learn.
According to the Great Texts department website, “to gain wisdom about our condition — this is the reason to study Great Texts. In the Great Texts Program at Baylor, we read the greatest works composed by the greatest minds.” Great Texts is more than just old books; it is more than just another English class. It is a search for wisdom, reading the works of those who have been trusted for ages for their pursuit of the truth.
However, it goes beyond the works themselves, as they intrinsically invite the reader to apply the universal knowledge to their own beliefs and experiences.
Each person has an inherent desire to know themselves and to know truth. Proverbs 14:8 says, “The wisdom of the prudent is to discern his way.” Great Texts encourages this pursuit and guides students through the words of others who have asked the same difficult questions.
The ultimate question that is applicable to everyone is, “How do we live well?” Great Texts attempts to answer it.
“Several different disciplines are all coming together, and you get to see the cross-pollination of art and ideas,” Dr. Michael Foley, professor of patristics in the Great Texts department, said. “You’re getting to see so much all put together into this stew, and you are able to taste the best of what has been thought and said and written.”
No one is excluded from questioning how to live well, and Great Texts prepares you to answer. Pre-med students can study how to practice medicine ethically. Engineering majors can understand how people seek truth and desire to know how the world works. Philosophy students can combine stories with philosophical discourse to discover wisdom.
Great Texts invites all people of all interests to take their knowledge beyond a semester of tests and to put it in conversation with trusted voices of the past.
