Associate Professor of Practical Theology and Dean of Students at Reformed Theological Seminary, Jackson
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Paradise Lost: A Biography, by Alan Jacobs. Princeton University Press, 2025, 203 pages, $24.95. Nothing is easy about Paradise Lost (PL)—and especially not for contemporary readers. First, the poem itself presents problems. Long gone are the days when it could be assumed that educated Americans had read—or at least dipped into—the epic poetry of Homer, Virgil, and Milton. Paradise Lost contains over ten thousand lines of blank verse and is full of references to Greek and Latin literature, cosmological speculations, an imaginative recasting of the first three chapters of Genesis, a tour of the unfolding biblical history of redemption, and no small amount of theological polemics. Content alone is enough to deter many readers. Still others make it to the finish line wondering…
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When I finish reading or listening to a book, I add it to my annual “books read” list. My 2025 list is at the end of this post. This year I was especially grateful for books by two RTS Jackson colleagues, Guy Waters and John Fesko. On the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, the “We Believe” series offers studies of the doctrines confessed in the Nicene Creed. In it, Water’s One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church contributes to our understanding of the Reformed doctrine of the church. The author makes good use of his thorough grasp of biblical theology, systematic theology, and church history to provide readers with a comprehensive study of the nature and work…
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The Hobbit Encyclopedia by Damien Bador, Coralie Potot, Vivien Stocker, and Dominique Vigot. Translated by Alayne Pullen and Matthew Clarke. Frances Lincoln, 2023, 336 pages, $18.69. Quite a few books that were lost on me as a young reader have come to be cherished, read, and reread through the years. In my case, I can point to the novels of Austen and Eliot, which made for dreary reading earlier in life but have long since become treasured literary companions. Within the last several years, Tolkien has joined their ranks. Our introduction did not go well. I completed The Hobbit in high school only under the threat of a failing grade. I reread it again not too many years later with little…
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