Thesis:
This paper argues that a classical education curriculum that combines the study of
theology with the study of the humanities and social sciences, can do an excellent job of helping
our students engage the culture while defining Evangelicalism's boundaries with respect both to
the philosophical and cultural trends in contemporary society and to other Christian traditions.
The Torrey Honors Institute represents such a program, and can point us toward a better
approach to theological education.
I do not intend in this paper, however, to offer a model for how to structure a seminary or
how to train ministers. Rather, I want to point out the strengths of combining the study of
theology with the study of the Western classics. Such a study could be one component in a
seminary education, although my experience with it is on the undergraduate side.
II. The innovative/revolutionary nature of Torrey classical education
A. Description of the Torrey program
The Torrey Honors Institute began at Biola University in the fall of 1996 under the
leadership of philosopher John Mark Reynolds. He was advised in this by Phillip R. Johnson of
the University of California, Berkeley, who in his work, Defeating Darwinism by Opening
Minds, identifies Torrey as a model for how to prepare students to confront cultural trends such
as naturalism and to make a case for theism: to be part of what he calls"the thin edge of the
wedge."
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Its growth has been rapid and impressive. From 30 students and one professor in 1996
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"I am encouraging educational institutions, particularly Christian colleges, to develop
special curricula designed to prepare students to meet the intellectual challenges of evolutionary