Inside and Outside Education: Christian and Classical Education in Byzantium

• In Event: Issues in Faith-Based Education

Abstract

This paper presentation will explore the twin pedagogical traditions that flourished in Byzantium (330-1453 AD). In particular, it concentrates on the last five centuries within the Byzantine context, concentrating on Constantinople, the imperial capital. The two pedagogical traditions that framed conceptions of schooling were at odds with each other, but each persisted. The inside tradition (έσοθεν παιδεία, esothen paideia) was catechetical; it concentrated upon cultivating virtue within the parameters of Orthodox Christianity. The outside tradition (έξοθεν παιδεία, exothen paideia) was humanistic; it was rooted in study of the classical Greek and Roman texts passed down from antiquity. These traditions were the twin pillars of Byzantine society, representing its Roman heritage and its Christian character.

Author

• Theodore Christou, Queen's University