Long before universities arose in the West, the desert city of Nisibis was home to one of the Christian world's most luminous centers of learning — a school where students memorized scripture, pondered the prophets, and trained the soul in the love of God. Around the year 600, the teacher Barhadbeshabba stood before that school at the opening of the academic year and asked a simple, searching question: why do schools exist at all? His answer unfolds as a majestic story. Creation itself is a classroom; Adam is the first student; the patriarchs, Moses, and the prophets are God's appointed teachers; even the Greek philosophers prepared the way. At the center stands Christ, the true Teacher, whose apostles carry his instruction to every nation. Written in graceful Syriac and preserved for centuries in manuscript, The Cause of the Foundation of the Schools is a timeless meditation on learning, humility, and holy desire. This faithful modern-English edition makes Barhadbeshabba's forgotten classic newly readable. Part of The World Scriptures Library.