How Plato Shaped Christianity with Dr. Louis Markos

You know, it's taking a while, but there is change.

I want to prove to you, Deacon, you know, the Bible says Jesus wept, but nowhere does it say Jesus laughed.

It's a kind of under theme of the famous book, Name of the Rose.

But I believe that Jesus had a sense of humor.

My proof of that is that God is about to save the pagan classics using the least likely people imaginable, conservative Christian evangelicals, right? These are people who homeschoolers 50 years ago were Bible-only people.

Now, at the very moment that the so-called Ivy League schools are throwing out the great books, including the Greco-Roman pagan classics, it is these evangelicals that are saving them.

Okay, Deacon, I spent all my time half my time, speaking for classical Christian schools.

What is a classical Christian school? It is what Jesuit schools used to be like when they were worthy of themselves, but from a more evangelical, even reformed Protestant point of view.

But I'm going to tell you again, and since this is a Catholic podcast, I've got an article coming out in St. Austin Review.

I'm good friends with Joseph Pierce.

And I use the analogy, you remember in Romans, how Paul talks about Israel as the olive tree.

and he's talking to us Gentiles and saying, hey, you know what? God has broken off the natural branches and grafted you in, but be careful.

He can always put them in.

And then there's a verse that suggests to me that part of the reason that God called the Gentiles is to make the Jews jealous so they will come back, okay? Now, I'm going to argue that God is doing the same thing because, I don't know, the Jesuits have gone a little bit off the deep end in terms of theology.

And the crazy thing is they used to be the center of Orthodoxy, right? They were the Pope Benedict of their day, right? So I really do believe this is happening that more and more over the last 10, 15 years, Catholic schools are starting to reclaim their own classical traditions, starting in Michigan and other places, and they've brought it back.

So this is happening slowly, but more and more evangelicals are realizing the importance.

You're even having publishers like InterVarsity, things like Reading with the Fathers and Bringing Back the Fathers.

And lots and lots of Protestants have been converting to Catholic or Orthodox.

My own daughter became Catholic about a year ago.

And part of it is obviously the, the, the desire for a sacrament and liturgy for something that doesn't change for something that has history, but also a lot of these students that are in a great books program, like an honors program that are reading the early church fathers from Athanasius to, to Clement or all these people, they're starting to have a hunger for that kind of beauty and sacrament.

I'll tell you a funny story.

Not too funny.

Um, There are still people that are complaining about the chosen, which is a brilliant retelling of the life of Christ.

And if you listen carefully, you'll find that some of the Protestants who are against the chosen, it's not really that they don't like the interpretation.

It's like, what are they doing? Giving us an image of Jesus unfilled.

You know, it's taking a while, but there is change.

I want to prove to you, Deacon, you know, the Bible says Jesus wept, but nowhere does it say Jesus laughed.

It's a kind of under theme of the famous book, Name of the Rose.

But I believe that Jesus had a sense of humor.

My proof of that is that God is about to save the pagan classics using the least likely people imaginable, conservative Christian evangelicals, right? These are people who homeschoolers 50 years ago were Bible-only people.

Now, at the very moment that the so-called Ivy League schools are throwing out the great books, including the Greco-Roman pagan classics, it is these evangelicals that are saving them.

Okay, Deacon, I spent all my time half my time, speaking for classical Christian schools.

What is a classical Christian school? It is what Jesuit schools used to be like when they were worthy of themselves, but from a more evangelical, even reformed Protestant point of view.

But I'm going to tell you again, and since this is a Catholic podcast, I've got an article coming out in St. Austin Review.

I'm good friends with Joseph Pierce.

And I use the analogy, you remember in Romans, how Paul talks about Israel as the olive tree.

and he's talking to us Gentiles and saying, hey, you know what? God has broken off the natural branches and grafted you in, but be careful.

He can always put them in.

And then there's a verse that suggests to me that part of the reason that God called the Gentiles is to make the Jews jealous so they will come back, okay? Now, I'm going to argue that God is doing the same thing because, I don't know, the Jesuits have gone a little bit off the deep end in terms of theology.

And the crazy thing is they used to be the center of Orthodoxy, right? They were the Pope Benedict of their day, right? So I really do believe this is happening that more and more over the last 10, 15 years, Catholic schools are starting to reclaim their own classical traditions, starting in Michigan and other places, and they've brought it back.

So this is happening slowly, but more and more evangelicals are realizing the importance.

You're even having publishers like InterVarsity, things like Reading with the Fathers and Bringing Back the Fathers.

And lots and lots of Protestants have been converting to Catholic or Orthodox.

My own daughter became Catholic about a year ago.

And part of it is obviously the, the, the desire for a sacrament and liturgy for something that doesn't change for something that has history, but also a lot of these students that are in a great books program, like an honors program that are reading the early church fathers from Athanasius to, to Clement or all these people, they're starting to have a hunger for that kind of beauty and sacrament.

I'll tell you a funny story.

Not too funny.

Um, There are still people that are complaining about the chosen, which is a brilliant retelling of the life of Christ.

And if you listen carefully, you'll find that some of the Protestants who are against the chosen, it's not really that they don't like the interpretation.

It's like, what are they doing? Giving us an image of Jesus unfilled.