Alan Jacobs (born 1958) is a scholar of English literature and a literary critic. He is a distinguished professor of the humanities in the honors program of

Baylor University Baylor University is a private Baptist Christian research university in Waco, Texas. Baylor was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Texas and one of the ...

Career

Jacobs earned a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

degree from the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and largest of the publi ...

in 1980 and a

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

degree from the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United States, with highly selective ad ...

in 1987. He was the Clyde S. Kilby chair professor of English at

Wheaton College (Illinois) Wheaton College is a private Evangelical Christian liberal arts college in Wheaton, Illinois. It was founded by evangelical abolitionists in 1860. Wheaton College was a stop on the Underground Railroad and graduated one of Illinois' first ...

until 2012 when his hiring to Baylor was widely noted as part of the competition between these two Christian colleges. In addition to his academic work and books, Jacobs has been a regular contributor to magazines including ''

The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

'', ''

First Things ''First Things'' (''FT'') is an ecumenical and conservative religious journal aimed at "advanc nga religiously informed public philosophy for the ordering of society". The magazine, which focuses on theology, liturgy, church history, religio ...

'', and '' The New Atlantis''. Jacobs is an

evangelical Anglican Evangelical Anglicanism or evangelical Episcopalianism is a tradition or church party within Anglicanism that shares affinity with broader evangelicalism. Evangelical Anglicans share with other evangelicals the attributes of "conversionism, a ...

Books

Jacobs' books include: *''Breaking Bread with the Dead: A Reader's Guide to a More Tranquil Mind'' (Penguin Press, 2020) *''The Year of Our Lord 1943: Christian Humanism in an Age of Crisis'' (Oxford, 2018) *''How to Think: A Survival Guide for a World at Odds'' (Currency, 2017) *''"The Book of Common Prayer": A Biography'' (Lives of Great Religious Books, Princeton, 2013) *''The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction'' (Oxford, 2011) *''Wayfaring: Essays Pleasant and Unpleasant'' (Eerdmans, 2010) *''Original Sin: A Cultural History'' (HarperOne, 2008) *''Looking Before and After: Testimony and the Christian Life'' (Eerdmans, 2008) *''The Narnian: The Life and Imagination of C. S. Lewis'' (Harper, 2005) *''Shaming the Devil: Essays in Truthtelling'' (Eerdmans, 2004) *''Must Christianity Be Violent? Reflections on History, Practice, and Theology'' (ed. with Kenneth R. Chase, Brazos Press, 2003) *''A Theology of Reading: The Hermeneutics of Love'' (Westview Press, 2001) *''A Visit to Vanity Fair: Moral Essays on the Present Age'' (Brazos Press, 2001) *''What Became of Wystan? Change and Continuity in Auden's Poetry'' (University of Arkansas, 1998)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jacobs, Alan 1958 births Living people 21st-century American Episcopalians 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century evangelicals American academics of English literature American evangelicals American literary critics American magazine writers American male non-fiction writers Anglican scholars Baylor University faculty Evangelical Anglicans Evangelical writers Place of birth missing (living people) University of Alabama alumni University of Virginia alumni Wheaton College (Illinois) faculty