Can an education be both classical and Christian? Many parents ask themselves this question every year, unknowingly echoing an age-old question. Tertullian, an early Church father, was perhaps the first to question whether these two ideas were compatible when he asked, "What has Athens to do with Jerusalem?" The Church fathers continued to wrestle with this question for centuries, with most concluding that all ideas held captive for Christ can be profitably used by Christians. Examining this ongoing conversation about classical Christian education will serve to answer many of our own questions today. We can then consider that our understanding of classical and Christian education today depends more on medieval religious schools than on Greek and Roman schools. Alexandria, Egypt, served as a center of learning in the centuries following World War II. conquests of Alexander the Great in the 4th century BC. Alexandria's famous library attracted many scholars, so it was a natural location for some of the early catechetical schools of the Church. Philo, a Greek Jew living in Alexandria, had already written numerous works demonstrating the unity of Greek philosophy and Judaism (The Great Tradition, 154). Clement of Alexandria (c. 150-215 AD) continued the conversation by demonstrating that the study of Greek philosophy was beneficial to Christians. He describes philosophy as a “preparatory science for Christianity” which leads man to contemplate wisdom and prepares his heart for the coming of Christ (169). Clement also concluded that philosophy prepares the mind to reason accurately about matters of faith and thus prevents the Christian from being deceived by false teaching. Clement also raised the rational...... middle of paper......defend their faith. In Challenges I through IV, theology training becomes more rigorous as students refine their biblical worldview by comparing Scripture to philosophy. Logic trains students to think clearly about contemporary issues and form compelling arguments about virtuous, biblical choices and actions. In a medieval school, teachers and students viewed theology as the master science that governed all branches of knowledge. In Classical Conversations, we seek to recover this understanding of theology by training students to seek God in chemistry, history, philosophy, and the fine arts. Older students will study logic to form careful arguments grounded in a biblical worldview and rhetoric to present these convincing arguments. The result of all this work will be a deeper understanding of the attributes of God and will result in echoes of praise..