The Great Books are texts of western civilization that have made significant impacts on our culture. They are the original works of the greatest minds, both ancient and modern. Typically studied chronologically, the great books explore the workings of the world, consider the realities of the human person, and culminate in a contemplation of the greatest mysteries of God Himself. Some Ancient texts include Homer, Greek plays, as well as the Bible, early Church fathers such as St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, Dante's Divine Comedy, Beowulf. Modern texts are from Machiavelli, Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Jean Jacques Rousseau, and Immanuel Kant, to name only a few.
We study these Great Books, under the light of the teachings of the Church, and they can open up the truth about reality. We learn to discrern the truth, how to separate it from error, and how to defend it.