Mighty Muskox

Dr. Taylor Marshall is an interesting fellow. I first encountered him, as it were, through his book The Crucified Rabbi. This proved to be but the first installment of an excellent trilogy on the origins of Catholicism, both Jewish and Greco-Roman, with a volume on St. Paul cleverly bridging those two worlds. After this I found his blog, Canterbury Tales, and began following the exploits of this Episcopalian priest turned Catholic college dean. Though I believe that his Calvinist roots peek through once in a while, in demeanor if not in theology, Dr. Marshall has shockingly boundless energy and all the zeal of a convert. He's made the news recently for launching the Troop of St. George, an orthodox Catholic alternative to the Boy Scouts of America. While I haven't signed up for that, I have gotten on board with his latest remarkable project.

Imagine classical higher education in philosophy and theology available to all, not simply accessible but also affordable. That is the dream of The New Saint Thomas Institute, which launched at 9:00 a.m. Central time this morning. The New Saint Thomas Institute is an online school with a tuition of $40 a month -- which works out to earning a two-year accredited Masters degree for less than a grand. That's insane. Wonderfully insane! Granted, they don't have the Masters program up and running yet, but they just launched half an hour ago. The first 500 folks to sign up gain Charter Member status for life, which translates to a tuition of $20 for the first month and $25 thereafter, forever. As Dr. Marshall recently pointed out, that's roughly the cost of a weekly pumpkin latte. While I don't know how quickly spots are filling up, I do know that several thousand were signed up to be notified of the opening of registration. And I made the cut; I'm in! If it's not my cup of tea, I can get a full refund within the first 21 days. But I suspect that this will be well worth the price of admission.

So there you have it. I'm officially a Mighty Muskox. And who knows? In a few years I might just have a Masters in Thomism. That would be fantastic.