Christians Reading Classics

Mere Orthodoxy
  • 5.0 (11)
  • CHRISTIANITY
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

Christians Reading Classics is a podcast about classic books being read through a distinctly Christian lens. Hosted by author and classicist, Nadya Williams, Christians Reading Classics introduces—or should we say—re-introduces listeners to classic works that have inspired generations. Interviewing experts who know these books well, the hope is to inspire listeners and awaken their imagination to God's world through literary, theological, and even children's works that have stood the test of time. Christians Reading Classics is a Mere Orthodoxy podcast. Find out more at mereorthodoxy.com

  1. 5D AGO

    Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand with David Kee

    Nadya Williams and David Kee discuss Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged — its origins, philosophy, and enduring relevance for American Christians. Kee, a business professor at Harding University who teaches the novel, traces Rand's objectivism, the tension between individualism and collectivism, and what a Christian engagement with her work requires. — Christians Reading Classics is a podcast from Mere Orthodoxy and is listener-supported. If you would like to support this work, become a Mere Orthodoxy Member today at http://mereorthodoxy.com/membership. Apply for Beeson Divinity School's Ph.D program by April 1 for Fall 2026 admission here: https://bit.ly/BeesonDivinityPhD — Chapters 00:00 - Introduction and Reading from Atlas Shrugged 01:10 - Guest Introduction: David Key 02:00 - David's Background: From Geneva to Entrepreneurship to Academia 08:10 - Defining a Classic 10:56 - How David First Encountered Atlas Shrugged 13:04 - Who Was Ayn Rand? 25:03 - Teaching Atlas Shrugged to Business Students 32:27 - Individualism, Collectivism, and the Christian Worldview 39:11 - The Mystery of John Galt 44:10 - Elevating the Entrepreneur 52:35 - Why Christians in America Should Read This Book 53:25 - What Classic David Wishes He Had Written

    59 min

  2. MAR 18

    Mansfield Park by Jane Austen with Beatrice Scudeler

    Jane Austen's most underrated novel is also her most serious. In this conversation, books editor Nadya Williams and essayist Beatrice Scudeler explore what Mansfield Park has to say about virtue, vocation, wealth, and the formation of character -- and why Fanny Price, the novel's quiet, overlooked heroine, may be Austen's most carefully drawn moral portrait. — Get the ebook Spiritual Formation for the Family at http://mereorthodoxy.com/family. Christians Reading Classics is a podcast from Mere Orthodoxy and is listener-supported. If you would like to support this work, become a Mere Orthodoxy Member today at http://mereorthodoxy.com/membership. Apply for Beeson Divinity School's Ph.D program by April 1 for Fall 2026 admission here: https://bit.ly/BeesonDivinityPhD — Chapters 00:03 -- Opening: Austen reads the opening lines of Mansfield Park; Nadya introduces the episode and season premise 01:48 -- Defining a classic: what makes a work speak across centuries without losing its rootedness in its own time 05:29 -- Why Mansfield Park for America's 250th: Austen, evangelical Christianity, and the values that crossed the Atlantic 08:48 -- The plot: Fanny Price, the Bertrams, and what happens when the Crawfords arrive from London 13:35 -- The problem of Fanny Price: why modern readers resist her, and why Lionel Trilling diagnosed the real issue in the 1960s 19:57 -- Fanny as a sympathetic character: what it means to be 10 years old, sent away from your family, and expected to be grateful 25:09 -- The absent adults: Sir Thomas, Lady Bertram, and the novel's indictment of parenting by principle without presence 27:09 -- Was Fanny autobiographical? The case for Jane Austen as observer, introvert, and moral compass 33:15 -- What money buys: education, time, space for contemplation -- and what it cannot buy 39:07 -- Marriage as formation: why Austen's vision of marriage is still revolutionary, and what we've lost by privatizing it 41:16 -- Why Mansfield Park may be Austen's best: constancy, prudence, and the virtue of being the quiet center that holds everything together 48:45 -- Closing question: what classic would Beatrice have written? Anne Bronte's The Tenant of Wildfell Hall

    52 min

  3. MAR 12

    The Nicomachean Ethics by Aristotle with Sabrina Little | America 250

    div]:bg-bg-000/50 [&_pre>div]:border-0.5 [&_pre>div]:border-border-400 [&_.ignore-pre-bg>div]:bg-transparent [&_.standard-markdown_:is(p,blockquote,h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6)]:pl-2 [&_.standard-markdown_:is(p,blockquote,ul,ol,h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6)]:pr-8 [&_.progressive-markdown_:is(p,blockquote,h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6)]:pl-2 [&_.progressive-markdown_:is(p,blockquote,ul,ol,h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6)]:pr-8"> _*]:min-w-0 gap-3 standard-markdown"> Nadya Williams and Sabrina Little explore Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics — its account of virtue as habit, the teleological shape of a good life, and how athletics and daily practice form character. Little connects Aristotle to Aquinas, parenting, and her own work as an elite ultramarathoner and philosopher. — Christians Reading Classics is a podcast from Mere Orthodoxy and is listener-supported. If you would like to support this work, become a Mere Orthodoxy Member today at http://mereorthodoxy.com/membership. Apply for fall 2026 admission to Beeson Divinity School's MDiv (or M.Div., your choice) and be considered for a full-tuition scholarship.: https://bit.ly/OurRisenLord   — Chapters 00:00 - Introduction 02:35 - What is a classic? 03:51 - Why the Nicomachean Ethics for American Christians? 07:19 - Aristotle's aims: eudaimonia and virtue 10:24 - The contemplative life vs. the practical life 13:38 - How college life trains students in virtue 18:13 - Advice for first-time readers of Aristotle 22:27 - The Examined Run: athletics and moral formation 28:29 - Teaching virtue to young children 32:03 - Would Aristotle recognize our struggles today? 34:57 - Aristotle and women 36:07 - What classic do you wish you had written?

    38 min

  4. MAR 5

    Wuthering Heights with Evie Solheim

    Nadya Williams and Evie Solheim discuss Wuthering Heights, what makes it a gothic classic, why Emily Brontë's moral ambiguity still provokes, how the novel speaks to a generation starved for romance, and why the new film adaptation trades subtlety for TikTok-style spectacle. Also: Anna Karenina, Virginia Woolf, and Greta Gerwig's Narnia. — Get the Mere Orthodoxy ebook, Spiritual Formation for the Family, at http://mereorthodoxy.com/family Mere Fidelity is a podcast from Mere Orthodoxy and is listener-supported. If you would like to support this work, become a Mere Orthodoxy Member today at http://mereorthodoxy.com/membership. Get 30% of the Baker Book of the Month, R30 Key Moments in the History of Christianity: Inspiring True Stories from the Early Church Around the World, by going to: http://bakerbookhouse.com/pages/mere-fidelity Apply for Beeson Divinity School's Ph.D program by April 1 for Fall 2026 admission here: https://bit.ly/BeesonPhD — Chapters 00:11 – Opening reading from Wuthering Heights and intro to the Brontë sisters 01:54 – Welcome to Season 2 of Christians Reading Classics; introducing Evie Solheim 03:25 – What makes a classic? Timelessness, breaking the mold, and the canon 06:35 – Plot summary: key characters, places, and the structure of the novel 08:43 – The gothic genre: origins, elements, and its American descendants 10:22 – Southern Gothic: Flannery O'Connor, Faulkner, and True Detective 13:12 – How we first meet Cathy — and the unreliable narrators telling her story 16:28 – Advice for first-time readers: Emily Brontë's biography and creative world 19:43 – Virginia Woolf's essay on Wuthering Heights and what it means to write like that 22:56 – Why Wuthering Heights resonates with Americans today: romance, apps, and longing 27:21 – The new film adaptation: competing with TikTok, not other movies 31:43 – Comparing Wuthering Heights to Gone with the Wind: land, love, and star-crossed tropes 36:28 – Good cinematic adaptations: Greta Gerwig's Little Women vs. Emerald Fennell's Wuthering Heights 41:10 – Is Wuthering Heights amoral? Reading Heathcliff's fate through a biblical lens 47:29 – Closing question: the classic Evie wishes she had written — Anna Karenina

    52 min

  5. FEB 26

    Uncle Toms Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe with Obbie Tyler Todd | America 250

    Nadya Williams and Obbie Tyler Todd explore Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin as part of season two's focus on classics American Christians should read for America's 250th. They discuss the Beecher family's influence, the Fugitive Slave Law as the book's impetus, Stowe's deeply scriptural approach to critiquing slavery, the Christ-likeness of Uncle Tom, and why the novel's theological vision — not merely its abolitionism — gave it such enduring power. — Get your copy of Mere Orthodoxy's ebook, Spiritual Formation for the Family, by going to http://mereorthodoxy.com/family Christians Reading Classics is a podcast from Mere Orthodoxy and is listener-supported. If you would like to support this work, become a Mere Orthodoxy Member today at http://mereorthodoxy.com/membership. Apply for fall 2026 admission to Beeson Divinity School's MDiv (or M.Div., your choice) and be considered for a full-tuition scholarship.: https://bit.ly/OurRisenLord — Chapters 00:00 Introduction to Uncle Tom's Cabin   02:21 Defining a Classic   06:57 The Importance of Uncle Tom's Cabin for Christians   12:06 The Beecher Family Legacy   20:45 Harriet Beecher Stowe's Impact on American Sentiment   27:43 Introducing Uncle Tom's Cabin to New Readers   29:59 Moral Complexity of Slavery   32:17 The Christian Perspective on Slavery   35:32 Character Development and Redemption   38:50 Contrasting Narratives of Slavery   46:01 Evangelical Reception of Uncle Tom's Cabin   50:45 International Reception and Impact

    1 hr

  6. FEB 19

    Brave New World by Aldous Huxley with Katelyn Walls Shelton | America 250

    Nadya Williams and Katelyn Walls Shelton discuss Aldous Huxley's Brave New World — its haunting parallels to embryo selection, reproductive biotechnology, and pleasure-maximizing culture — and what Christians should make of a novel that reads less like dystopian fiction and more like this morning's news. - Christians Reading Classics is a podcast from Mere Orthodoxy and is listener-supported. If you would like to support this work, become a Mere Orthodoxy Member today at http://mereorthodoxy.com/membership. Apply for a full-tuition scholarship for Beeson Divinity School's M.Div program that begins Fall 2026 here: https://bit.ly/OurRisenLord - Chapters 00:00 — Introduction & what makes a classic 05:00 — Brave New World mirrors our world: embryo selection, Orchid, Gattaca 07:16 — Why Christians in America should read this book 14:19 — Plot overview: hatcheries, Bernard, Lenina, John the Savage 23:40 — Life in the World State: conditioning, sexuality, soma, death 35:40 — Huxley's own contradictions: Doors of Perception and his LSD death 39:17 — Current reproductive biotechnologies: embryo grading, gene editing, artificial wombs 49:43 — Closing: The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas by Ursula Le Guin

    52 min

  7. FEB 12

    The Education of Henry Adams with Leah Libresco Sargeant | America 250

    Nadya Williams, Books Editor for Mere Orthodoxy, talks with Leah Libresco Sargeant, author of The Dignity of Dependence, about Henry Adams's The Education of Henry Adams—specifically the chapter "The Dynamo and the Virgin." They explore Adams's experience of the sublime at the 1900 Paris World Fair, his unresolved spiritual longings, what his Unitarian background reveals about American Christianity, and how Leah's work on embodiment and dependence offers a striking counterpoint to Adams's life of the mind. Plus: Leah's classic pick, Flatland. — Mere Fidelity is a podcast from Mere Orthodoxy and is listener-supported. If you would like to support this work, become a Mere Orthodoxy Member today at http://mereorthodoxy.com/membership. Get 30% of the Baker Book of the Month, 30 Key Moments In Church History: Inspiring True Stories from the Early Church Around the World by Mark W. Graham, by going to: http://bakerbookhouse.com/pages/mere-fidelity Apply for a full-tuition scholarship for Beeson Divinity School's M.Div program that begins Fall 2026 here: https://bit.ly/beesonscholarships Chapters 00:00 – Introduction & Background on Henry Adams 03:44 – Memoir as a Genre 06:27 – Why Read Adams for America's 250th 09:21 – The Dynamo and the Virgin Explained 13:18 – Adams's Faith and Spiritual Longings 20:34 – Technology, Awe, and False Worship 26:45 – Tips for First-Time Readers 28:24 – The Dignity of Dependence 37:31 – Classic You Wish You'd Written

    39 min

  8. FEB 5

    Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass with Shilo Brooks | America 250

    Dr. Shilo Brooks joins Nadia Williams to explore Frederick Douglass's Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (1845), examining how this 60-page masterwork remains profoundly relevant for understanding liberty, education, and authentic Christianity. Brooks illuminates how Douglass's self-taught literacy became an act of spiritual and intellectual liberation—proving that "education and slavery are incompatible." The conversation traces Douglass's journey from Maryland plantation to becoming America's greatest orator, while addressing his critique of slaveholding Christianity versus genuine faith and the enduring lessons on what liberal education requires for sustaining free citizenship. Chapters: 00:05 Opening: Douglass's Unknown Birthday 04:14 Why This Book Is a Classic 09:49 Target Audiences: Then and Now 13:47 Adjusting to Freedom 16:32 Teaching Himself to Read (Illegally) 19:51 Education and Slavery Are Incompatible 23:04 Convincing Students That Reading Changes Lives 27:36 The Cast of Characters: Slaveholders and Fellow Slaves 33:11 The Wrestling Match with Covey 37:15 Teaching Bible School to Fellow Slaves 40:18 How Did He Become Such a Beautiful Writer? 42:21 Douglass's Theology and Providence 45:48 Noble Ambition: Brooks's Forthcoming Book 50:25 Classic Books I Wish I'd Written

    52 min
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
11 Ratings

About

Christians Reading Classics is a podcast about classic books being read through a distinctly Christian lens. Hosted by author and classicist, Nadya Williams, Christians Reading Classics introduces—or should we say—re-introduces listeners to classic works that have inspired generations. Interviewing experts who know these books well, the hope is to inspire listeners and awaken their imagination to God's world through literary, theological, and even children's works that have stood the test of time. Christians Reading Classics is a Mere Orthodoxy podcast. Find out more at mereorthodoxy.com

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