The Future of STGB

Where this is all going and how you can help…

Dear friends of Study The Great Books,

Let me first offer my thanks to you. We have just today reached a total of 600 free subscribers! I can’t even tell you how encouraged I am by your support and positive feedback. Since I started this Substack last year it has grown not only in subscriptions but also in clarity of purpose. When I first started I really only had a vague goal of writing and sharing some of my thoughts with the hope of providing some encouragement to my fellow Christian book lovers and thinkers. Not long after getting started, though, it occurred to me that I could start making available to other teachers the same study guides and other materials which I have been developing for use in my own classroom. Given the overwhelmingly positive feedback I have received from doing so, I am made bold to go even further.

Something which I have been thinking about, for years now, is how valuable it would be to have a fully integrated classical Christian curriculum. By “fully integrated” I mean History, Literature, Logic, Composition, and Rhetoric curriculum which are all paced alongside one another and constantly in conference with one another. The study of primary source texts in History and Literature would serve as the base of the total curriculum and then the Logic, Composition, and Rhetoric curriculums would draw from those texts in order to construct their exercises (Students would be constantly reading Great Books and then writing about what they are reading, examining the arguments in what they are reading, and writing their own arguments based upon what they are reading). That which students would learn in each of their classes would be used across all of their other classes so as to provide constant practice and “cross-pollination” of those skills and ideas.

For the last 10 years I have been blessed to teach many different curriculums, from many different publishing houses. The Lord has opened doors for me to teach classes in History, Literature, Logic, Composition, Rhetoric, Bible, Apologetics, and even a bit of Latin. I have learned so much from those opportunities and texts and as I am now approaching the defense of my own doctoral dissertation (Lord willing this Summer) I believe that God has prepared me for something more. Such being the case, I am officially announcing what will be a multi-year ongoing project.

Study The Great Books is officially working towards the publication of a complete classical Christian humanities curriculum for 7-12th grade.

This curriculum will include:

• 6 years of primary source readings and study in History

• 6 years of primary source readings and study in Literature

• 3 years of classical writing training (via the Progymnasmata)

• 3 years of Formal Logic (7-9th grade)

• 3 years of Rhetoric (10-12th grade)

Behold! Our new logo:

This curriculum will be written with the following theological and cultural commitments:

1. Jesus Christ is the unconditional Lord over every square inch of the universe (which includes every discipline and subject matter which students study).

2. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through him. There is salvation by no other name.

3. The Bible is the infallible, inerrant, and authoritative word of God. It is sufficient for Christian faith and practice.

4. The ecumenical Creeds of Christendom are faithful summaries of Christian doctrine (Apostle’s Creed, Nicene Creed, Athanasian Creed, and Definition of Chalcedon).

5. The Reformed faith (as articulated in the Westminster Confession and Catechisms, as well as in the Three Forms of Unity) is broadly acknowledged as a reliable expression of Christian faith and useful for thinking about the doctrines of God’s word and the Christian life.

6. God has ordained the church and the family to be the primary building blocks of society. Men and women are equal in value, intelligence, in salvation, and many other respects. Even so, God has clearly stated that the church and family are to be led by godly Christian men and that the roles of men and women in the church and home differ in such a way as to glorify God.

7. God designed man, in his image, male and female. There are no other categories for sex or gender and God never makes mistakes so as to have created anyone in the wrong kind of body.

8. Human sexuality is a positive good, it was God’s idea, but it is ordained to be expressed and enjoyed only within the life-long covenant of holy matrimony which is between one man, one woman and God himself.

9. STGB rejects all theories of race, gender, or any other categories which fall under the broader idea of Marxist Critical Theory, as godless and counter to plain reason and biblical truth.

I am excited to announce that, as we launch into this new phase, God has providentially provided STGB with a phenomenal opportunity. The Association of Classical Christian Schools holds an annual conference known as Repairing the Ruins where each year classical Christian educators from all over the United States (and sometimes beyond) gather together for encouragement, training, and fellowship. This summer the conference is meeting in Pittsburgh, PA and Study The Great Books has been invited to have a booth in the exhibitors hall!

This will be a tremendous opportunity to gain support and to get the word out about the new STGB curriculum project( as well as what is already available through free and paid subscriptions to this Substack). STGB is becoming a useful source of material for teachers, both in the home and in the classroom, around the world. STGB is committed to making our material available right here as it is finished while we work toward eventually having print editions for sale. All subscribers will continue to have access to free online editions of the Great Books study guides (as well as logic, rhetoric, composition, etc., when they become available) and paid subscribers will continue to have the ability to download PDF editions with the extra material and helps they provide. Our time at Repairing the Ruins should provide a great boost in helping us become a known entity across the Classical Christian Education movement.

I am incredibly grateful that Caritas Christian Classical Academy, the school where I serve as the Upper School Dean and Humanities Instructor, has offered to pay for all of my travel expenses to and from the conference. Beyond that there are some costs which I have to account for in order to make this trip a real success. In order to be an exhibitor it is important that STGB is able to make a professional appearance. As such the following items need to be acquired:

• Professional Business Cards

• Professional Vinyl Banner

• Table Signs

• Table Runners

• Printed Materials (Curriculum samples and other information about STGB)

• I also am hoping to purchase a couple of embroidered polos for me to wear with our new logo.

The cost for all of the needed items amounts to about $400. If you would like to be a part of making this happen I would be very grateful. I trust the Lord’s hand is upon this and that he will provide my every need. If you have not upgraded to a paid subscription then doing so now would be one great way to join in supporting this long term project and to help with the immediate needs for this upcoming business trip. If you would like to make a larger donation, beyond the regular paid subscription, consider subscribing as a “Founding Member.” Although it is too early to give any specifics (because there is much I don’t know yet myself) it is my intention to give Founder level subscribers special offers and discounts on hard copy print curriculum when it becomes available and possibly even early access. You may also be asked to help test “Beta” versions of the curriculum and give feedback.

All of that being said, I want to be very clear about something. Even if you are not able to be a paid subscriber at this time, or maybe ever, I am thankful for you! If you are blessed by the material here then that blesses me. I ask you all to do the most important thing possible, that doesn’t cost a dime, and that is pray for me and STGB. Ask that God would give his aid to this endeavor so that it may take off and flourish. Ask him to support it so that it would make steady progress and remain faithful to the above stated theological and cultural commitments. Finally, ask that God would protect the work from worldly powers, and demonic forces which always try to interfere in kingdom advancing work.

Beyond your prayers, I ask that you please consider sharing the material and articles here on a regular basis with others. If you like it, share it. If you believe in what is happening here, help STGB become better known in your sphere of influence by regularly reposting articles and book studies on your social media feeds or by email to friends and family. Invite your friends and family to subscribe. Together we can help bring a comprehensive, biblically faithful, firmly classical curriculum to countless homes and schools around the world.

In Christ Alone,

Jacob Allee

Founder of Study The Great Books