Dr. Bret Saunders
about the teacher
Dr. Saunders grew up the oldest of eight siblings in California and Idaho. Though he enjoyed tennis, baseball, and surfing, he favored reading fiction and translating Latin. He was blessed to drink deeply from the well of classical education at New Saint Andrews College and the University of Dallas—where fellowship and mentorship brought knowledge to life and where his circle of friends eventually included Homer, Plato, St. Augustine, Jane Austen, and Flannery O’Connor. After receiving his Ph.D, he taught humanities for eight years at John Witherspoon College in Rapid City, SD. His scholarly interests often integrate literature with biblical theology, and he has published in venues such as Touchstone, Cultural Encounters, and FORMA. He lives in Moscow, ID with his wife and three (soon to be four) children. And many books.
Teaching Philosophy
My teaching philosophy is that a teacher must love and know God, love and know the subject, and love and know the student. Education is not job training but paideia—the enculturation or formation of heart, soul, mind, and body (Eph. 6:4). Classical Christian paideia is as much about directing the heart as filling the mind—directing the heart through the various domains of creation to God. This points …