The mathematical arts, also called the quadrivium and liberal arts of quantity or number, are arithmetic, geometry, harmony, and astronomy. Nicomachus tells us that arithmetic comes first, since “…the others logically presuppose it.” And “The universe seems to have been created using numbers. It is fitting, therefore, that numbers are harmoniously fitted together.” So understanding numbers is the first step to understanding the created world; general revelation.
I was sharing with a student recently about how the language arts, grammar, logic, and rhetoric, prepares us to read, comprehend, and discuss special revelation, while the mathematical arts prepare us to read, comprehend, and discuss general revelation. This is essential to understanding the importance of learning mathematics, but it’s also essential to being a created human being - something that we all are.
Speaking of general revelation, geometry is the most blatantly obvious art in creation because it is focused on understanding the earth. In geometry we study points, lines, shapes, and use them to make (as in create using materials, not ex nihil). Our human natures, as reflections of the one true creator, long to be makers. Aristotle ponders that the maker’s mind does not cause vision, but makes vision possible. By studying geometry we not only learn to make, but to see.
What happens when you make numbers move? Music! This is the most fascinating and mysterious truth for me. Understanding music theory and the movement of numbers as notes is child’s play compared to explaining why it works. I have no idea why it works, but I know that if I want to understand music, I must first ponder and explore the world of numbers.
Finally we come to astronomy. It is in astronomy that we study the heavens, the very doorpost of God. In this concentration we carefully approach the very home of God and timidly knock, will He let us enter into his presence? For that, we must fall all the way back into the language arts and special revelation.