The other day InterVarsity Press sent me a hard copy of its Spring Academic Alert Bulletin. The following two books caught my eye. (A third I will write about later).
Louis Markos, From Achilles to Christ: Why Christians Should Read the Pagan Classics. This looks terrific. Click the link to see the Table of Contents, and also look at the high praise this book receives from commentators. Two examples:
- "From the earliest centuries of the church and throughout the Middle Ages, Christian thinkers pored over not only the Old Testament but Greek and Roman literature in search of foreshadowings of Christ. Christian readings of the classics fell out of favor in the modern world, but with "From Achilles to Christ" Louis Markos revives this venerable tradition. Professor Markos knows the difference between the Greeks and the gospel, but his illuminating interpretations of selected classics show that God did not leave the Athenians without a witness and capture the thrilling breadth of the evangelical proclamation that Jesus came 'in the fullness of the times.'" —Peter J. Leithart, Senior Fellow, New St. Andrews College, Moscow, Idaho, author of 'Deep Comedy: Trinity, Tragedy, and Hope in Western Literature'
- Louis Markos is one of the most exciting writers around today and there are few more able to lead us on a tour through God's gallery of myth than he is." —Joseph Pearce, Writer-in-Residence and Associate Professor of Literature, Ave Maria University
The second book is by Alister McGrath and Joanna Collicutt McGrath - The Dawkins Delusion? Atheist Fundamentalism and the Denial of the Divine. Cf. the IVP Press release:
Once an atheist himself, he (McGrath) gained a doctorate in molecular biophysics before going on to become a leading Christian theologian. He wonders how two people, who have reflected at length on substantially the same world, could possibly have come to such different conclusions about God. McGrath subjects Dawkins's critique of faith to rigorous scrutiny. - View an interview with McGrath regarding The Dawkins Delusion on CBC Canadian television.
Among the many reviews of the book one finds this somewhat unexpected comment:
"The God Delusion makes me embarrassed to be an atheist, and the McGraths show why." —Michael Ruse, Lucyle T. Werkmeister Professor of Philosophy, and Director of the Program in the History and Philosophy of Science, Department of Philosophy, Florida State University