What Is Not Reviewed Is Forgotten
Christmas Recalls Our First Lesson of Theology
Now that yet another busy Christmas season has passed, how should the truths of Christmas continue to shape our lives? The celebration of Christmas recalls the fundamental fact of the Christian faith—God became man, Immanuel, “God with us.” Because we humans have limited time and limited attention spans, the historic church was wise to create seasons of remembrance. As students and teachers, we know the value of review and memory work: what is not reviewed is quickly forgotten.
Such wisdom extends beyond the church calendar into the life of the mind. To review is to work at remembering; and to fortify our memory is to be shaped by that which we then reflect upon. Theology itself begins not in idle speculation but in contemplation and recollection—in returning again and again to ruminate on what God has revealed about Himself. Thomas Aquinas (1224/5–1274) begins his short introductory work, the Compendium, with this particular remembrance:
To restore man, who had been laid low by sin, to the heights of divine glory, the Word of the eternal Father, though containing all things within His immensity, willed to become small. Thus He did, not by putting aside his greatness, but by taking to Himself our littleness” (Compendium, Chap. 1).
Here, Aquinas is not sharing a seasonal reflection on the meaning of Christmas; he’s actually reminding his students of theology’s proper starting point. Since theology is the “study of God,” it must begin with God’s revelation of himself in the God-man Jesus Christ. God, the eternal Creator of the cosmos, enters his creation as a microscopic embryo. Christmas isn’t an annual celebration to simply be remembered once a year; it’s the foundation of our faith to be recalled and ruminated frequently.
Kepler’s humanities classes aim to help students become more truly human, grounding them in knowledge and wisdom that will never become obsolete (unlike the latest flashy tech).
For a limited time (until President’s Day, February 16), take advantage of Kepler’s 10% Early Enrollment discount by using code EARLY2026 at checkout and give your child the tools and training to be fully human in a world distracted and deceived by the artificial!
Aquinas’s Compendium is unfinished–he died before he could complete it. It is a little book, with short chapters on the key themes of Christian theology. It is a helpful introduction to the thought of Aquinas, because there was nothing “little” about him. His nickname in school was the “dumb ox.”
Apparently he had a rather large head, didn’t talk much, and would have been a linebacker on the football team. But his teacher Albert the Great wasn’t fooled. The story is that when Albert heard the nickname he said, “You call him the dumb ox, but in his teaching he will one day produce such a bellowing that it will be heard throughout the world.” Events have proven Albert correct.
At Kepler Education, we are guided by a classical and medieval view of Truth. Truth is unified, reflecting God’s ultimate unity.
Thomas Aquinas is one of the most influential Christian theologians in history, best known for his Summa Theologiae (two thick volumes of small print in the classic Great Books collection). Although many readers with graduate degrees today might struggle to comprehend Aquinas, he wrote his Summa for beginning students in theology!
This clearly shows the advanced state of medieval theology, although it has been caricatured and stereotyped for centuries. The medievals pursued knowledge under the lordship of Christ. They believed that reason was a gift from God and should be used to the utmost to classify, clarify, and comprehend God’s world and God’s revelation. Whether or not we agree with them, we can learn from their example.
The medieval worldview stands in stark contrast to the modern and postmodern worldviews. In Modernity, thinkers tried to pursue Reason without God, while in Postmodernity, reason crumples and fragments into a million subjective pieces. There is no Truth–only interpretations of truth.
At Kepler Education, we are guided by a classical and medieval view of Truth. Truth is unified, reflecting God’s ultimate unity. But, since God is also Triune, there is a diversity in creation as well. All is not One, contrary to Eastern and pagan worldviews. At Kepler, we seek to teach and learn everything in submission to the Creator who became part of His creation.
In Kepler’s Old Western Culture–Christendom class, students read Aquinas’s Compendium, along with numerous other classic texts: the Rule of St. Benedict, Beowulf, Dante’s Divine Comedy, and selections from Anselm, Martin Luther, John Calvin, Edmund Spenser and more.
Old Western Culture classes are Integrated Humanities classes, and weave together texts that are theological, historical, philosophical, and literary. In this way, the course reflects God’s Triune Unity. The texts are diverse, but also unified because they reflect the pre-modern belief in the goodness and coherence of God’s creation. They affirm humanity’s privilege and responsibility to discern and appreciate the patterns of God’s truth manifested in creation and in our own creation imago dei (in God’s image).
Students watch recorded lectures from master teachers and scholars, read the assigned texts, and then meet weekly with the instructor to discuss the texts, seeking wisdom together. In this way, both teachers and students are participating in the “Great Conversation,” as we humbly seek to learn from our fathers and mothers in the faith.
In an increasingly chaotic world, where people who read are a minority, Kepler’s humanities classes prepare students to think deeply, express themselves clearly, and challenge each other humbly. They are trained and prepared to lead in whatever field or area God calls them to. They are trained to do what AI and robots can’t do–use God’s gift of reason to take dominion over the world He has placed us in. More importantly, through encounters with writers like Aquinas, they will be able to understand and articulate what makes people so important in a world that cannot define what a woman is. We are God’s creation, on whose behalf Christ “willed to become small.”
Early Enrollment is currently open. That means families can enjoy a 10% discount on all student courses through February 16th by using code EARLY2026 at checkout.
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