David V. Hicks on the Myths We Live By
We live in an increasingly secular age in which religious believers — particularly Christians — are accused of believing in myths, meaning false stories. But are religious myths really false? Moreover, do modernists have their own myths by which they live? And why do humans create myths and what societal purposes do they serve, anyway?
The classical educator and Orthodox Christian David V. Hicks has thought deeply about these questions, which he explores in a fascinating new book: The Stones Cry Out: Reflections on the Myths We Live By. In the known universe, only man quests for both “meaning” and “truth.” Hicks notes that myths are our primary means of pursuing these dual human exceptionalist pursuits. The myths about which he writes are not just religious stories, or even metaphors conjured to teach important life lessons. Rather, they are and always have been the lifeblood of human culture, whether arising out of religious faith or our contemporary secular myths emanating from “science,” and “reason.”
Hicks graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Princeton, was a Rhodes Scholar, and read philosophy at Oxford. After serving in the Navy, he became a classical educator and school master. Hicks has co-translated classical Roman literature and authored the volume, Norms and Nobility: A Treatise on Education, for he received an American Library Association award in education.
Hicks lives with his wife on a ranch in Montana where they are deeply engaged in helping to build a new Orthodox Monastery.
Related Resources
- The Stones Cry Out! | Amazon
- Norms and Nobility: A Treatise on Education | Amazon
- Board Vice Chairman David V. Hicks: Classical Education Pioneer and Author | TASIS Portugal