The curious names in the title of this article are of four of the nine "Muses". These Muses were "goddesses" whom the Greeks believed inspired poetry (i.e. literature) having to do with, respectively, Adventure (Epic), Comedy, Tragedy, and Romance (Love). I do not believe in them as deities, but am using them in a metaphoric warning that some Christians may be suppressing expression of an aspect of the "image of God", creativity, which God created in mankind, through their wrongly applied good intentions.

These Christians view classic literature as being, "the wisdom of the world". In saying this, they have in mind 1 Corinthians 1:19-21 and 1 Corinthians 2:6, which state that the world’s wisdom will be destroyed, undone, and made ineffectual. They contend that Christians should not bother with ideas or literature that are not "Christian". But is this what God, speaking through Paul, had in mind? There are things in the life and writings of Paul that indicate that this isn’t really the case. Acts 17:18-33 is an account of Paul witnessing to a group of Athenian intellectuals. Paul refers to Greek culture in a couple of the points in his speech, including quoting, in verses 27 and 28, two Greek poets, Aratus and Cleanthes. In Paul’s letter instructing Titus about his ministry to the people of Crete, Paul quotes a statement by a Cretan "prophet", Epimenides, regarding Cretan culture. Thus, Paul’s life and ministry contradict the idea that he was instructing Christians to ignore the ideas and literature of their culture. In his ministry, Paul made use of correct, familiar ideas from his culture’s literature when those ideas helped listeners and readers "connect" with Christian truth or accomplish Christian ministry. To do this, Paul had to be familiar with the literature of his culture.

Though expounding these verses in 1 Corinthians is outside of the scope of this article, I’m not saying that the verses are meaningless. Briefly, I believe that the verses mean that by using a criminal execution (Jesus’ death) and lowly, despised (by the upper and intellectual classes) people to bring and preach salvation to the world, God acted, and still acts, contrary to the "wisdom", prejudices, and pride of the world. People who choose to cling to the world’s "wisdom" will truly find it destroyed, undone, and worthless.

Paul’s actions and writings provide Christians generally, and Christian Homeschoolers particularly, with useful guidelines for approaching culture and literature. One other passage that is particularly helpful in this context is Philippians 4:8. This is the familiar passage in which Christians are instructed to focus on things that are true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, of good report, virtuous, and praiseworthy. This passage needs to be applied wisely, too, as some might contend that this verse limits Christians to Christian ideas and literature. But to say this merely perpetuates a false Christian-secular dualism. God doesn’t live in that box, and neither should Christians. If one wants to think on things – e.g. literature – that reflect these qualities only and purely, then even "Christian" literature would have to be excluded. "Christian" literature, being of man’s inspiration, is not absolutely true and right, while God’s Word is, being inspired by God. Christians aren’t called to be isolated from the world – John 17:14-16 – since this is incompatible with preaching the Gospel in the world and living life in general. God wants Christians to reflect on the excellences cited in Philippians 4:8, wherever they are found, and be able to discern between what is excellent and what is not.

Preaching the Gospel requires engaging the culture of one’s audience. Except for missionaries, this is usually one’s own culture. If Christians preaching the Gospel fail to be culturally intelligible or cannot answer hearers’ questions (which are informed by their culture), it will be almost as if those Christians were preaching the Gospel in a language not understood by the hearers.

A culture expresses itself in various ways, one expression being its literature. In literature, members of a culture discuss and express their culture’s heritage, current ideas, greatnesses, problems, and questions. Knowing those ideas will help Christians express the Gospel in ways that capture the interest of people, helping them to see the strengths and problems of their society from a higher (God’s) perspective. By understanding their culture, Christians can show people God’s answers to their questions and problems (which are rooted in their culture). Through reading and studying literature, Christians may perceive and come to understand the ideas that move people in their culture, and in turn, compare and contrast those ideas with God’s Word (even having an understanding of wrong ideas is necessary - 2 Corinthians 2:11). Obviously, the truth of God’s Word is not culturally dependent, but understanding one’s culture will increase the effectiveness of one’s Christian witness within that culture. Doing this will also drive Christians to God’s Word for a better understanding of their own faith and how it applies in their daily life.

Why classics, since they aren’t the product of current culture? Classic literature, even Roman and Greek mythology, have contributed to forming our current society. Understanding where a society has been and the events and ideas that got it to where it is will help Christians better understand their culture. Classic literature is usually more suitable for students (this is about homeschooling, remember?) than current literature. Classics are usually better written, which will help the student develop a taste for excellence. Classics also frequently are written from a Christian point of view, or acknowledge many Christian values. Many classics focus on noble qualities (for the reader to cultivate and emulate) or display the consequences of ignoble qualities (for the reader to consider how to avoid). Sadly, much modern "literature" is written from an amoral or immoral point of view, and substitute lurid violence and sexual promiscuity for quality writing. In other words, such books suffer both from a lack of good qualities (Philippians 4:8) and a superfluity of things that are wrong, dishonorable, and impure. Understanding that one’s culture has moral problems doesn’t require swimming in a moral sewer.

Understanding their culture will also enable some Christians to engage their culture in a different, but important way. These are the Christians who have the calling, the desire, and the talents to confront their culture’s ideas through literature that expresses Christian ideas and shows how they apply in daily life. Such people are sorely needed in today’s world.

In the homeschooling context, teaching one’s children to engage their culture in their Christian witness should include educating them in literature. By teaching children to think about the ideas and structure underlying a good story – being careful not to kill the enjoyment of the story – it prepares them to understand their culture (for Christian witness) and to see how literature could be used to change people and their culture.