I got my teaching degree at a public university and began my career in a public school. So when I transitioned to teaching English in a Christian high school, I felt a bit lost. What would it look like to teach classic literature with a biblical worldview?

As I struggled through my first year, I stumbled upon Leland Ryken’s Realms of Gold: The Classics in Christian Perspective. It was like opening treasure chest. I began to teach my students, as Dr. Ryken taught me, that “it is possible to set up a profitable two-way street between the Bible and literature, with the Bible enabling me to see a lot in literature that I would otherwise miss, and literature enabling me to see and feel biblical truth better.”

I’ll never forget how his analysis of The Scarlet Letter changed my perspective on a classic work I hadn’t previously enjoyed. The final discussion of that novel became my favorite class in American Literature each year. My students came in disappointed that the ending wasn’t like something out of a rom-com, and I was giddy with excitement to show them why Hawthorne’s ending is much better—because it displays the beauty of a justified sinner resting in the mercy of God. I never enjoyed teaching more than when I got to show my students the gospel in literature.

Dr. Ryken’s teaching changed the way I taught literature, and it changed the way I read and enjoy it. So I’m thrilled that TGC is now offering 11 free courses from Dr. Ryken on Christianity and classic literature. If you want to see more in literature, if you want to see biblical truth in new ways, let Dr. Ryken show you the beauty of the classics through a Christian lens.