Louis Markos is a thinker with a passion for blending Greco-Roman and Judeo-Christian traditions to better understand the complete truth found in Scripture. His capacity for in-depth study and analysis has led to dozens of books on apologetics, classic literature and C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. In addition to being an author, Louis is also an English professor and scholar in residence at Houston Christian University as well as a popular speaker and writer of over 300 articles and reviews.

In today’s interview, he shares how he celebrates food, fellowship and worship through monthly potlucks at home, how singing and movie marathons help him feel closer to God, and how one quick text each morning deepens his Scripture study.

QUESTION #1: ACQUAINT

Food is always about more than food; it’s also about home and people and love. So how does a go-to meal at your favorite hometown restaurant reveal the true you behind your web bio?

Although I like going out to eat with my family at Italian, Chinese and Mexican (well, Tex-Mex fajita!) restaurants, my favorite “night out” is the international fellowship potluck that meets at my home each month. The more the merrier, I say, and the more variety of food, especially food from different parts of the globe, the better I like it. My dining room table sits 12 comfortably, with an adjacent table accommodating another six, although extra folding chairs are often wedged in to increase the number.

Food and fellowship go together for me, and I prefer eating family-style with everyone helping themselves to whatever they like. Conversation is always vigorous and covers every topic under the sun, from religion and politics to education and travel to history, literature and film. As the host, I love to float around and hear what different subgroups are discussing and what cuisine they have chosen to focus on. Since we meet once a month, there will inevitably be someone with a birthday, and since one of the regulars is an excellent baker, we often end the meal singing “Happy Birthday” and eating cake, along with all the other desserts.

Dinner is followed by worship that I lead on my piano, using my spiral-bound hymn fake book, which provides me with the melody, chords and words for over 1,000 hymns. My chorus fake book has over 300 songs to choose from. After that, I lead a Bible study — for the last few years, I have been taking the group through “The Chosen,” an excellent miniseries on the life of Christ — followed by more fellowship and singing for whoever wants to stay on. That’s what I call a “night out,” with food drawing us together and leading to worship and study.

QUESTION #2: REVEAL

What “nonspiritual” activity have you found to be quite spiritual, after all? What quirky proclivity, out-of-the-way interest or unexpected pursuit refreshes your soul?

Well, let me continue with my love of playing the piano and leading sing-alongs. In addition to my hymn and chorus fake books, I have a Disney fake book, a Christmas fake book, a movie fake book, a Broadway fake book, a Celtic fake book and lots of other fake books with standards from the 20th century. After the international study is over, many will stay late and sing Disney songs. They also love to sing songs from “Phantom of the Opera,” “Les Misérables” and other musicals. My children grew up singing those songs, and it is one of the things that binds us.

The other thing that binds us and that constitutes a spiritual exercise for us is the many “The Lord of the Rings” movie marathons I have hosted at my home over the years. We watch all 12 hours of the extended version in one sitting, usually starting about 2 p.m. and ending at 2 a.m., or later! There is nothing like accompanying Frodo on his journey, working our way late into the night with breathless awe and hopeful expectation. We have also built that spiritual bond during long summer car trips to national parks across the country. During those long drives, we would listen to the Focus on the Family radio play versions of all seven “Chronicles of Narnia” books, as well as the 13-hour BBC radio play version of “The Lord of the Rings.” Good memories and conversations! In fact, my kids (who are now 30 and 29), remember fondly how I would quiz them in the car on Narnia and Middle-earth trivia! They were apt students!

My other hobby, a more solitary one, is film. I have watched well over 4,000 movies in my life, and although I watch some merely for fun and diversion, I devour the more literary ones as other people devour good novels. I watch every genre from every country and every period. It is my passion, and I have taught film classes on Hitchcock, Frank Capra, musicals and movie studios, as well as published a book titled “My Life in Film: How the Movies Shaped My Soul.”

QUESTION #3: CONFESS

Every superhero has a weakness; every human, too. We’re just good at faking it. But who are we kidding? We’re all broken and in this thing together. So what’s your kryptonite, and how do you confront its power?

I have two weaknesses that often make things difficult. The first is that I suffer from intense allergies, not only to cats and dogs, but to all kinds of chemicals, from perfume and cologne to Lysol and potpourri to scented candles and scented lotion to dry-erase markers and dry cleaning. I give speeches all over the country and for all different venues, and my allergies have made it difficult for me to find safe places to stay. When they put me up in a hotel, I have to call the hotel beforehand and make sure they do not clean with any chemicals. It is a pain, but it has taught me humility and trust in God, as well as forcing me to rely upon the kindness of strangers.

The allergies took a particularly difficult turn for me during COVID, when my church, like most others in the world, had everyone douse their hands with sanitizer before entering the sanctuary. The first time I walked in, and the chemical scent from the sanitizer hit me, I felt like my head was going to explode. So I spent the next year attending church by Zoom. But it was not all bad. Since I live five blocks from my church, after the service, I would walk over and fellowship with everyone outside as they exited the church.

My other weakness is my insane sleep schedule. Since I was a kid, I have been an insomniac whose mind is clearest at night. Luckily, as a college professor, I am able to teach afternoon and evening classes. My normal routine is to read and write and prepare classes and speeches until 2 or 3 a.m. and then sleep until 10 or 11 a.m. That means I am productive, since it is pretty quiet at night. It also means I can take those late afternoon classes that most “normal” professors don’t like because they are out of energy. That’s when I’m really revving up! In fact, when I speak at conferences, they give me the late afternoon spot, since I do a good job waking up all the attendees who are starting to get sleepy!

QUESTION #4: FIRE UP

Tell us about your toil. How are you investing your professional time right now? What’s your current obsession? And why should it be ours?

Aside from my students, in which I am fully invested, the international fellowship I mentioned earlier and the Ratio Christi apologetics chapter I am the faculty sponsor for, I have two passions that, thankfully, connect with the mission and vision of my university.

First, I am devoted to promoting the marriage of Athens and Jerusalem. I believe that our Greco-Roman and Judeo-Christian legacies complement one another and that they should stand at the center of our culture and of a true liberal arts education. Many of the books I write try to build bridges between what Dante called the virtuous pagans (Homer and Virgil, Sophocles and Aeschylus, Plato and Aristotle, Cicero and Livy, etc.) and the Christian revelation of Christ and the New Testament. I believe that Christianity is not the only truth but the only complete truth and that God used the best of Greco-Roman literature, history, philosophy and statecraft to prepare the ancient world for the coming of the gospel.

My books that do this the most fully include — in reverse chronological order — “From Aristotle to Christ: How Aristotelian Thought Clarified the Christian Faith,” “Worshipping an Unknown God: Finding Christ in the Pagan Classics,” “From Plato to Christ: How Platonic Thought Shaped the Christian Faith,” “The Myth Made Fact: Reading Greek and Roman Mythology through Christian Eyes,” “From Achilles to Christ: Why Christians Should Read the Pagan Classics” and my “Ancient Voices” trilogy, which provides an insider’s look at Classical Greece, Classical Rome and the Early Church.

My second passion, which is a natural offshoot of my first, is for classical Christian education, which I believe offers great hope for the future of our country. I speak widely for classical Christian (private) and classical charter (public) schools and conferences all over the country, delivering commencement addresses, leading teacher training and speaking for fundraising banquets. I brought my children with me whenever I could, and they caught the bug themselves, with my son Alex teaching history for a classical Christian school near San Antonio and my daughter Anastasia teaching music for a classical charter school near Dallas.

Although the books I listed above reflect the vision of classical Christian education, I have also published, in this mode, “Passing the Torch: An Apology for Classical Christian Education,” “C.S. Lewis: An Apologist for Education,” “Literature: A Student’s Guide,” three Worldview Guides to “The Iliad,” “The Odyssey” and “The Aeneid,” and a trilogy of children’s novels in which my kids become part of Greek mythology (“The Dreaming Stone”), “The Iliad” and “The Odyssey” (“In the Shadow of Troy”), and the 300 Spartans and Esther (“The Gates of Freedom”).

I should add here that I am the grandson of four Greek immigrants who came to America around 1930. I recently published a book about them and how they helped shape me: “Four Modern Greek Heroes: Literary Sketches of a Greek-American Family.”

QUESTION #5: BOOST

Whether we’re cashiers or CEOs, contractors or customer service reps, we all need God’s love flowing into us and back out into the world. How does the Holy Spirit invigorate your work? And how do you know it’s God when it happens?

Although God created the universe ex nihilo (“out of nothing”), that is rarely how he works in the world. The Creation week of Genesis shows God bringing order out of chaos by a process of discernment: separating day from night, heaven from earth, dry land from water. The Holy Spirit rarely puts something into an empty head. What he does is illuminate what is already there and direct it onto a proper path.

As a writer who is also a Christian, I believe that it is my duty to do as much reading, observing and thinking as I can, filling up my mind with information and trying to put that information into categories. What the Holy Spirit does is touch my disordered brain and bring it into a new kind of order, forging connections I would not have made on my own. The Holy Spirit inspires me by giving that “aha” moment, that lightbulb flash that makes everything come together in a fresh and original way. Once the Holy Spirit does that, it is up to me to get to work, though I pray for guidance along the way and that I will not misuse the gifts entrusted to me. I just used the word “original,” but my final goal is less to be original and more to be faithful to the tradition that has been handed down to me, to make it relevant again to a new generation.

I must admit that I am one of those Americans who spends a bit too much time looking for signs, sometimes confusing coincidences with signs. What makes something a divine intervention and not just a surprising coincidence (“small world”) is when the thing that appears random to the world is used by God to bring something he has been teaching me and working in me for a long time to a climax. I think season 2, episode 2 of “The Chosen” is correct to suggest that the disciple Nathanael was having an extreme crisis of faith under the fig tree; that is why when Jesus tells him that before Philip called him, while he was yet under the fig tree, he saw him (see John 1:48), Nathanael responds that Jesus is the Son of God, the King of Israel (1:49). If someone guesses what movie I saw last night, he might just have made a lucky guess; if someone says something random to me that confirms the decision that I have come to believe — through months of prayer, fasting and careful Bible reading God is leading me toward — then it is probably not random.

QUESTION #6: inspire

Scripture and tradition beckon us into the rich and varied habits that open our hearts to the presence of God. So let us in. Which spiritual practice is working best for you in this season?

As your standard evangelical, I do try to stay faithful to a quiet time of Bible reading and prayer each morning. One thing that has made it more meaningful is that after I do my Bible reading, I text my kids with a very brief devotional, including a Bible verse that struck me and a one- or two-sentence explanation of why. I find my prayers are most effective when I combine them with a mile-or-so walk I take around my neighborhood at least three times per week. Walking and praying is good therapy for me and allows praying to be conversational.

In keeping with my desire to bring Athens and Jerusalem together, I often read Greco-Roman myths and poetry with a devotional heart, seeking to be drawn closer to God by meditating on the questions asked by pagans who did not have the Scriptures but who were made in God’s image and who have had eternity written in their hearts (see Eccl. 3:11). Christian poets who draw me to God include Dante, John Donne and George Herbert. I am also drawn closer to God by playing hymns and chorus songs based on the Bible, although I experience God as well when I play anything on the piano that is imbued with beauty in its melody, harmony and rhythm.

QUESTION #7: FOCUS

Looking backward, considering the full sweep of your unique faith journey and all you encountered along the way, what top three resources stand out to you? What changed reality and changed your heart?

The single greatest influence on my life has been C.S. Lewis, not only as an apologist but as a fantasy writer who brought together his reason and imagination and an English professor who was unafraid to be a generalist in an overly specialized world. Close to Lewis comes J.R.R. Tolkien, whose epic “The Lord of the Rings” beckons to me with its overpowering sense of meaning, purpose, danger, virtue and friendship. Some of the books that I have written that capture that influence include “Tolkien for Beginners,” “C.S. Lewis for Beginners,” “From A to Z to Middle-Earth with J.R.R. Tolkien,” “From A to Z to Narnia with C.S. Lewis,” “On the Shoulders of Hobbits: The Road to Virtue with Tolkien and Lewis,” “Restoring Beauty: The Good, the True, and the Beautiful in the Writings of C.S. Lewis” and “Lewis Agonistes: How C.S. Lewis Can Train us to Wrestle with the Modern and Postmodern World.”

Were it not for Lewis opening me to the world of apologetics, I do not think I would have written “Apologetics for the Twenty-First Century” and “Atheism on Trial: Refuting the Modern Arguments Against God.” My connection to Lewis, and to apologetics, was strengthened by my membership in InterVarsity Christian Fellowship for all nine years of my college work. I am a product of the small group movement and hosted a Bible study for students out of my home for some 30 years until COVID changed things. It is a great honor to me to have published so many books with InterVarsity Press.

I should also add that I was greatly influenced during the early part of my teaching career by three books that built in me a passion, one that is still very much alive, to integrate faith and learning: “The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind” by Mark Noll, “After Virtue” by Alasdair MacIntyre and “Foolishness to the Greeks” by Lesslie Newbigin.

Certain things can be godsends, helping us survive, even thrive, in our fast-paced world. Does technology ever help you this way? Has an app ever boosted your spiritual growth? If so, how?

I used to insist on writing with a pen and then typing what I wrote. Now, I do all my work directly on my laptop, and I think my prose is better and less tortured because of it. The laptop allows me to continually edit and improve. Answering emails and texts has improved, not hurt, my writing by teaching me to collect my thoughts quickly and answer questions with brevity. It took me a while to think in terms of blog posts, but doing so has trained me to condense my thoughts into tight and resonant packages. I’m a better writer for all these things.

Reading short pieces online has introduced me to many different writing styles, and that has been helpful. Doing so also gets me thinking about various issues of the day, usually from a Christian point of view. I do spend too much time “doom scrolling” on Facebook, but I am also more connected with what is going on — a good thing for someone who writes in solitude and often, like Henry Higgins, “prefers an atmosphere as restful as an undiscovered tomb!”

QUESTION #8: dream

God’s continually stirring new things in each of us. So give us the scoop! What’s beginning to stir in you but not yet fully awakened? What can we expect from you in the future?

I am currently working on a new book for Classical Academic Press on Dante’s “Comedy” in which I retell the epic from Dante’s point of view. It has been fun but challenging since, in order to get deep analysis into the book, I have to find ways to make that analysis come organically out of Dante’s head! I am also working on another book that combines fiction and nonfiction for InterVarsity Press. It will consist of a book-length Socratic dialogue set during an international Thanksgiving potluck held at my home. There will not only be Christians of all types and seekers at the dinner; there will also be guests who are Muslim, Hindu and Buddhist.

I am also working on a three-part autobiography in which I detail how the Great Books from Homer to Lewis and Tolkien shaped me as a man, a Christian and an English professor, and another trilogy of books in which the great poets of the past write letters to us living today to give us advice. These will need to find the right publishers and will evolve over time.

If my trilogy of children’s novels takes off and gains a goodly number of fans, I will, in the tradition of Narnia, extend the trilogy into a seven-book series. If I did that, the books would allow my children to follow in the footsteps of Alexander the Great; participate in the founding of Rome by Aeneas, Romulus and Remus and the Punic Wars; become part of the transition from the Roman Republic to the Roman Empire with Caesar, Antony, Cleopatra and Augustus; and travel along the Roman Roads and waterways with St. Paul.

In any case, I will continue to bring Athens and Jerusalem together, promote classical Christian education and champion Lewis and Tolkien.

If we’re not careful, we can become obsessed with either progress or traditionalism. One says to move forward is the only goal. The other refuses to move beyond the past.

But perhaps a healthy balance of the two holds the key to a brighter future — one built on wisdom and optimism. After all, we need both. We need minds who are willing to think in new and different ways — along with minds who are well versed in history’s traditions and knowledge.

When the two come together, we can be fully committed to what God has done and said while looking ahead with delight at what he will do next.

Which path do you tend to lean toward? How might God use that to build up his kingdom? And how might he be inviting you to see from the opposite perspective?

🎉 Easter Egg Activated!

Louis Markos