Christians Reading Classics

Can Christians today read the great classics of Greco-Roman pagan literature for spiritual formation and growth in the virtues? Classical scholar Nadya Williams responds with an unequivocal "Yes!" Even in the Late Roman Empire, Christian readers like Augustine and Boethius did just this. However, reading the classics this way requires a different approach than perhaps most people today are used to.

Christians Reading Classics is a book about reading the Greco-Roman classics as Christians—the why, the how, and to a lesser extent, the when. This exercise, equal parts intellectual and spiritual, is timely. Just as our bodies are what we eat, so are our minds what we consume. Recent years have seen the emergence of books emphasising the value of literature in nourishing our minds and souls, promoting the practice of reading not just the Bible but all texts for spiritual formation. Most such books have focused largely on medieval and modern literature, involving antiquity only occasionally.

Almost two thousand years ago, as Christianity began to spread in the Ancient Mediterranean world, the gospel reached believers who had grown up with the great works of pagan literature and saw pagan gods in every facet of their world, from literature to art, coins, and more. The joy encountered in learning about Jesus and his love for all sinful humanity stood out starkly against the cruel pagan worldview prevalent in myths. Yet, even in these myths, they too saw hints of truth and spiritual longings for salvation.

In twenty short chapters, Nadya Williams introduces readers to one or two different ancient authors and their key works. She offers three interrelated reasons for Christians today to read the pagan classics for spiritual formation: reading to be surprised by joy, reading to understand the world of the Bible and the earliest Christians, and reading for character formation.

It is time Christians rediscovered the benefits of reading the great works of Greco-Roman classical literature as Christians.