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In the beginning Ouranos and Gaia bore twelve children of portent. These mighty ones were known as the Titans. Atlas was one of the mighty Titans, or elder gods, as they are sometimes called. Kronos, the youngest Titan overthrew his cowardly father and married Rhea, his sister. But Kronos soon became as suspicious of his children as Ouranos had been before. Zeus, the son of Kronos, led eleven other gods, known as the Olympian gods, in a revolt against the Titans. The Titans were defeated and given various punishments in Tartarus. Because Kronos was too old to fight, Atlas led the Titans in storming heaven. Thus he was given an extreme punishment for his acts. Atlas was given the duty of bearing the world upon his back and shoulders.
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Atlas
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Many view these ancient myths as irrelevant flights of human fancy and superstition. Particularly in the modern era, scientism and rationalism have deformed humanity and stolen the beauty of myth from us. The Scriptures teach that people are the stories they remember and tell. Stories are what we once were, and stories are what we want to become.
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The gospel is the Christian myth, it is the story of God's Word embracing the flesh of humanity in Jesus, his battles with the Dragon and his offspring, his being nailed to a tree, and after tasting death, being raised to a new and glorified life. That story, our myth, occurred in the real world in real history; it transforms history, and it will transform the world. J. R. R. Tolkien described Christianity as "true myth", having a keen insight into the nature of stories and language. Because God is telling the story of history, men cannot help but tell stories that fit into that epic tale. Jesus Christ is the plot, climax, and resolution of God’s story. We hope to embody the loveliness of the gospel myth in our education.
Atlas also pictures the serious task before boys as they grow into men. Boys are called to grow into men who lead and take responsibility. They must be warriors wherever they go and in whatever they are called to be. They must see in some sense the state of the world as their responsibility. But this responsibility is only hopeful if we see Atlas as a shadowy type of our Lord. For it was truly Christ who bore the world upon his back on the Cross, and though Atlas suffered for his own deeds, it was Christ who suffered for ours. And it is He who still bears the world in perfect sovereignty.
Finally and perhaps most importantly, Atlas also portrays the global and international implications of Christian education grounded in Christian worship. Historically the education of nobility has included world travel, but this was always seen as a symbolic world conquest. It is our duty as Christians to take hold of the earth and subdue it in the beauty of holiness. We have been sent by our Lord into the world to baptize the nations and command them to worship their Maker. And as Jericho fell to the fearful shouts of joyful worship, the nations will be subdued as we learn to rejoice with trembling. May our boys lead in the conquest of this world as they learn to worship the Triune God.
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