Christians Reading Classics

Nadya Williams and Jeff Bilbro discuss Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter — its Puritan setting, Hawthorne's fraught ancestry, and the novel's three responses to sin: moralistic judgment, escapist relativism, and Hester's redemptive middle path. They also touch on Hawthorne's friendships with the Transcendentalists, the dangers of cancel culture, and Jeff's forthcoming book on AI and creaturely intelligence. —— Get the free 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 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 — 00:00 - Introduction & What Is a Classic? 05:10 - American Classics & the Year 250 07:15 - Short Books vs. Long Books 09:33 - Hawthorne: Life & Context 14:11 - The Plot: Hester, Dimmesdale, Chillingworth, Pearl 17:23 - Three Responses to Sin 25:08 - Dimmesdale & Self-Deception 29:10 - Pearl & Spiritual Formation 33:43 - Chillingworth: Truth-Hunting for Power 36:17 - What Christians Should Notice 42:16 - Creaturely Intelligence (Jeff's Forthcoming Book) 47:31 - What Classic Would You Have Written?

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, Ivana Greco, and Dixie Dillon Lane discuss Mark Twain's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer — 150 years old this year — as a window into antebellum American childhood, the timeless challenge of raising boys, and what it means to read classics across generations. Why does Twain's rapscallion hero outlast Sid in the cultural imagination? What does Aunt Polly's long-suffering love reveal about providence and parenting? And which American classics deserve a second look in the year of America 250? — Get the ebook Spiritual Formation for the Family for free 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 — Chapter 00:00 - Introduction & what makes an American classic 03:00 - Favorite American classics for children 04:15 - Can you hate a classic? What parents look for 06:52 - Books build culture 08:45 - How parenting changes reading habits 11:58 - Entering Tom Sawyer: the world of the novel 13:51 - Tom's misadventures (and Ivana's canoe confession) 18:06 - The cast of characters: Tom, Huck, Becky, Aunt Polly 24:12 - Reading Tom Sawyer historically: slavery, race, and context 26:50 - Who is really raising Tom Sawyer? 31:16 - What would you do if you were raising Tom? 34:51 - Tom, women, and the civilizing impulse 38:44 - How a book about mischief became a great American novel 43:52 - Tom vs. Sid: not all children are the same 48:52 - The American spirit of adventure and its literary legacy 53:34 - Reading recommendations for America 250