Wisdom’s Weapons

“Be Thou My Vision,” Stanza 3: 

Be Thou my battle Shield, Sword for the fight;

Be Thou my Dignity, Thou my Delight;

Thou my soul’s Shelter, Thou my high Tower;

Raise Thou me heavenward, O Power of my power.

     Wisdom has a power that foolishness utterly lacks. 

     Wisdom is godly, it is truthful, it is persuasive, and it endures; whereas foolishness is demonic, deceptive, shallow, and evanescent. 

     But wisdom is also fragile – a rare and precious commodity that is always under attack by an implacable Enemy.  As such, it is worthy of protection -- and desperately needs it.  This is why courageous Christians, wielding Wisdom’s Weapons, must go to war to defend it.  But exactly what are these Weapons, and who are these Warriors?  Moreover, how is it that they have been trained to use these Weapons to such powerful effect?

     Stanza 3 of Paideia’s School Song enumerates the Weapons.  The list begins with two pieces of the Full Armor of God:  the Shield of Faith and the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.  It continues with the divine Dignity that inheres in a knowledge of the Truth and a life grounded in Goodness.  The Delight produced by the presence of Beauty follows next, and is quickly succeeded by God’s own promise to provide divine Shelter to His Warriors in their weariness and an impregnable fortress of protection when they are under the Enemy’s heaviest fire.  The culminating Weapon of Wisdom is the heavenward ascent powered not by any human effort or strength, but by the transcendent and irresistible Power of the Holy Spirit Himself.     

     These are the Weapons, and it is Paideia that produces the well-trained Warriors who are practiced in wielding them.  These well-equipped Warriors are your children, the next generation of Christian disciples, scholars, and citizens!  And Paideia’s model of classical Christian education is their Boot Camp and training ground.  No other educational method prioritizes the cultivation of Wisdom and Virtue through constant exposure to Truth, Goodness, and Beauty.  And no other model of education so single-mindedly and successfully trains students to use Wisdom’s Weapons to expose and vanquish foolishness.

     If you keep your students at Paideia throughout the 12 years of their education, they will graduate as Warriors so skilled in wielding the Weapons of Wisdom that they will be able to stand their ground for the Truth on the proving ground of the world.       

     Marne Kendrick, April 2026