Credo Fellow Highlight: Louis Markos

Credo is Latin for “I believe.” From the creeds of the Church Fathers to the confessions of the Reformation, Christians have been faithful to confess the faith once for all delivered to the saints. Credo retrieves this classical and reformational heritage in order to create and cultivate theological renewal today. By bridging the gap between church and academy, Credo helps churchgoers, pastors, and students alike learn theology and retrieve orthodoxy for the sake of Christian fidelity today.

However, a team effort is required if the church and academy alike are to remain faithful to this orthodox faith, a team that spans denominations and brings together some of today’s most outstanding theologians, pastors, and writers. I am pleased to welcome the Credo Fellows, each of which embodies the spirit of Credo in their own teaching and writing ministries. Each week, we are highlighting one of the new fellows, allowing you to hear more about their passions, from the halls of patristic and medieval history to the corridors of dogmatics and classical literature.

Matthew Barrett, executive editor

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Louis Markos (Ph.D., University of Michigan) is a Professor of English and Scholar in Residence at Houston Baptist University where he holds the Robert H. Ray Chair in Humanities. Dr. Markos is a popular speaker and has delivered well over 300 public lectures on such topics as C. S. Lewis, ancient Greece, ancient Rome, and Dante in some two dozen states and Oxford, Rome, and British Columbia. He is committed to the concept of the Professor as Public Educator and believes that knowledge must not be walled up in the Academy but must be disseminated to all who have ears to hear.

Books

From Achilles to Christ (IVP Academic, 2007)

“The heart of Christianity is a myth which is also a fact.” – C. S. Lewis. In From Achilles to Christ, Louis Markos introduces readers to the great narratives of classical mythology from a Christian perspective. From the battles of Achilles and the adventures of Odysseus to the feats of Hercules and the trials of Aeneas, Markos shows how the characters, themes and symbols within these myths both foreshadow and find their fulfillment in the story of Jesus Christ–the “myth made fact.” Along the way, he dispels misplaced fears about the dangers of reading classical literature, and offers a Christian approach to the interpretation and appropriation of these great literary works. This engaging and eminently readable book is an excellent resource for Christian students, teachers and readers of classical literature.

Literature: A Student’s Guide (Crossway, 2012)

Enjoying poetry and novels can seem irrelevant and out of touch in a world of texting, tweeting, and blogging. But even in this technological age literature matters.

Seasoned professor Louis Markos invites us into the great literary conversation that has been taking place throughout the ages and illuminates the wisdom to be found therein. He offers both a guide to studying and understanding literature, especially poetry, and an inspiring look at what it means to think like poets and view the world through literary eyes. This book holds out a truth for all: that the understanding and appreciation of literature draws us closer to God, his Word, and his work in the world.

On the Shoulders of Hobbits: The Road to Virtue with Tolkien and Lewis (Moody, 2012)

The world of J. R. R. Tolkien is filled with strange creatures, elaborately crafted lore, ancient tongues, and magic that exists only in fantasy; yet the lessons taught by hobbits and wizards speak powerfully and practically to our real lives. Courage, valor, trust, pride, greed, and jealousy–these are not fictional virtues. This is the stuff of real life, the Christian life. Professor and author Louis Markos takes us on the road with Tolkien and C. S. Lewis, with looks at selected classic works of literature as well, to show how great stories bring us so much more than entertainment. They inspire and convict, imparting truth in unforgettable ways.

Rediscover the virtue of great storytelling and the power of fantasy to transform our reality.

Pressing Forward: Alfred, Lord Tennyson and the Victorian Age (Catholic University of America Press, 2002)

Louis A. Markos places the poetry of Tennyson in the context of the crisis of faith that marked the Victorian Age, whose notable figures included Thomas Carlyle, Charles Darwin, John Ruskin, John Henry Newman and Stuart Mill. In particular, Markos reveals the significance of Tennyson’s great poem In Memoriam for the transition from Romantic to Victorian literature, as well as the importance of his Idylls of the King for its refusal to accede to the Victorian myth of progress. Tennyson emerges as a strong critic of the materialistic philosophy and literature of the period.

Podcasts

 Videos