Rev. Brennick Christiansen
Pastor Christiansen is a husband and the father of six children. He is pastor at Messiah Lutheran Church and teacher at Messiah Lutheran Classical Academy. He is excited to return to his alma mater for this summer's conference. He is pursuing doctoral studies in the Institute of Philosophic Studies at the University of Dallas, where he earned his M.A. in classical education.
Not Trivial: A Disputation On Whether Music or Astronomy is the Capstone of the Quadrivium
What is the order of the quadrivial arts? And why does it matter? Is it arithmetic, geometry, music, then astronomy? Or is it geometry, arithmetic, astronomy, then music? If the trivial subjects provide the tools of language for learning and discussing great ideas, then what do the quadrivial tools of mathematics provide? The oversimplification of the quadrivium as analysis of number in space and time seems to miss this mark entirely, nearly making these arts into sciences. Music is often misconstrued as the scientific production of sounds together (performance). Astronomy has been hijacked nearly entirely by modern science (observation). What makes these liberal arts, not mechanical arts and sciences, in the minds of thinkers like Socrates, Boethius, Dante Alighieri, Johannes Kepler, or Martin Luther? The quadrivial arts endow the appropriate mental faculty (tool) for leisurely enrichment in things like philosophy (the True), politics (the Good), and poetry (the Beautiful). For some, pursuing these ends was an attempt to complement the reception of God's gifts of daily bread and to increase a love of learning God's creation. Theology is the capstone of learning. How we order the quadrivium (or the trivium!) makes a confession about the purpose of the liberal arts, and likewise also about the purpose of the tools we choose to complement Holy Scripture.