Book Reviews: Pastors in the Classics

When I first heard about Pastors in the Classics, I thought it would be referring to theological classics that Pastors need to be reading. After starting to read the book, I found out this book was about Pastors finding stories and illustrations in classics from world literature.

What kind of literature am I talking about? How about The Scarlet Letter, The Hammer of God, and Murder in the Cathedral. The book is divided into two parts. The first part deals with illustrations from clerical literature. Each chapter that starts off with a brief summary of the book with who wrote it, the main character, and a basic idea of what to look for in the book. The rest of the chapters deal with what Pastors need to look for in how it can apply to pastoral ministry.

The second part of the book was called a handbook of literary portrayals of the pastor's life. Each entry talks about the canon of the work, how it provides the reader info if they want to review the work, and give tips on how to interpret the work. Each of the works in the second part of the books attempts to give info to the clerical figure in the story and clarify issues in ministry.

This was an interesting book because there are not that many books on this subject. Usually your hear about getting lessons in movies, but this is a good addition to any Pastor's library.

Thanks Baker Books for letting me review this book.