Pastors In The Classics

Throughout the history of English literature, church ministers have figured prominently in novels, plays, morality tales, and even poetry. Pastors in the Classics is a unique, unprecedented examination of master literary works as they portray the Christian minister and his/her experience. Literary masterpieces include The Canterbury Tales, The Scarlet letter, The Diary of a Country Priest, Silence, Gilead, Cry, the Beloved Country, and many more.

Part 1 is a reader’s guide to twelve important classics written over four centuries and covering seven different nationalities. Each chapter describes and interprets the work in question, and highlights a specific feature of pastoral ministry explored in the work.

Part 2 is a handbook that defines the canon of literary masterpieces that deal with the pastor’s experience, offering reading suggestions for both ministers and lovers of literature. From the familiar (The Canterbury Tales; Cry, the Beloved Country; and The Scarlet Letter) to the lesser-known (Silence, Witch Wood) to the surprising (A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man), this collection uncovers the good, the bad, and the ugly ways in which pastors have been presented to the reading public for the past half millennium.