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 at

Baylor University Baylor University is a Private university, private Baptist research university in Waco, Texas, United States. It was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Te ...

Early life and education

Jacobs earned a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree from the

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

in 1980 and a

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of Postgraduate education, graduate study and original resear ...

from the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...

in 1987.

Career

Jacobs was the Clyde S. Kilby chair professor of English at

Wheaton College (Illinois) Wheaton College is a Private college, private Evangelical, Evangelical Christian Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Wheaton, Illinois, United States. It was founded by evangelical abolitionists in 1860. Wheaton ...

until 2012 when he was hired as the distinguished professor of humanities in the honors program at Baylor. 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 based in Washington, D.C. It features articles on politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 185 ...

'', ''

First Things ''First Things'' (''FT'') is a journal aimed at "advanc nga religiously informed public philosophy for the ordering of society", focusing on theology, liturgy, history of religion, church history, culture, education, society, politics, literat ...

'', and '' The New Atlantis''.

Personal life

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

*''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 Evangelical writers American literary critics American magazine writers American male non-fiction writers American religious writers Anglican scholars Anglican writers Baylor University faculty Evangelical Anglicans Place of birth missing (living people) University of Alabama alumni University of Virginia alumni Wheaton College (Illinois) faculty