John Mark Reynolds

It's all found in Plato.

Recent Essays

So Horrible It Taints All

John Mark Reynolds | Misc. | 08.30.2010

Reflections after reading Harriet Jacobs’ Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl Slavery was the original American sin. I don’t know anyone who justifies race-based slavery, but I have known seemingly good folk with ... Read More...

Pentecostal Power and Euripides

John Mark Reynolds | Literature | 08.27.2010

I have lain on the floor under the power of God . . . at least, I must say to my skeptical reader, it seemed so to me. At some points in my life, it felt as if God came and took power over every faculty and left me weak, utte... Read More...

A Summer of Salinger

John Mark Reynolds | Education | 08.25.2010

Somehow I missed soaking in Salinger as a young adult. In this, if my current students are any indication, I am a rarity. They know Catcher in the Rye the way I knew That Hideous Strength. If I worried about being Mark Studdo... Read More...

A Chance at Greatness

John Mark Reynolds | Culture, Politics | 08.24.2010

Not many of us get a chance at greatness, but one man has his chance right now. The man who can make history is Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, the religious leader behind the planned Islamic Center near Ground Zero. He can lift A... Read More...

Rooting for Doom

John Mark Reynolds | Culture, Theology | 08.16.2010

“We stand at the edge of doom,” he reported to his listeners-- or at least that is what I heard. This is perfectly possible. All cultures carry with them the cause of their own ruin. Let the normal antibodies that prot... Read More...

Next Year in Constantinople

John Mark Reynolds | Culture | 08.16.2010

If Muslims choose to build near Ground Zero, they should be allowed to do so. The reaction of the majority of the American public demonstrates that doing so is not wise in the short-term, but it is up to the funders of th... Read More...

Do You Want Sainthood With That?

John Mark Reynolds | Theology | 08.12.2010

A few Westerners are waking up to discover that having it all isn’t. In the eighteenth century men fantasized that if we conquered poverty and provided free education, then men would be happy. Millions have been lifted i... Read More...

Escaping the Tyranny of Me

John Mark Reynolds | Culture, Theology | 08.06.2010

Anne Rice loves Jesus, but she dislikes His friends. Evidently, Jesus has exactly Anne Rice's views, and no one else who has ever considered Jesus has understood him correctly. Jesus is God, and Anne Rice is his only true pro... Read More...

The Sanction of Eros

John Mark Reynolds | Culture | 07.30.2010

Chelsea is getting married and the tabloids are awash in commentary. President and Secretary of State Clinton’s daughter is headed down the aisle and it has become fashionable to use her marriage as a “hook” to discuss ... Read More...

Pressing beyond “niceness”

John Mark Reynolds | Theology | 07.08.2010

Nobody has religion totally right, but some errors are more serious than others. People are all similar. Reality does not change from person to person, but the interpretation of reality can be different. Nobody should be s... Read More...

The Long Good-Bye: Five Lessons for Parents of College-Bound Children

John Mark Reynolds | Misc. | 07.08.2010

Children are born and then, for parents, the long good-bye begins. Every year I have been a parent has marked not just firsts, but lasts. This year our youngest will turn thirteen, becoming a teenager for the first time, but ... Read More...
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Miscellaneous Notes

Contact Me!

Reynolds' Blogroll

Hugh Hewitt
hughhewitt.townhall.com
Ancient Faith Radio
ancientfaithradio.com
The Corner at NRO
corner.nationalreview.com
Evangelical Outpost
evangelicaloutpost.com
The Perseus Project
(ancient texts)
www.perseus.tufts.edu
Free Republic
freerepublic.com
Box Office Mojo
boxofficemojo.com
BBC News
www.bbc.com
Daily Kos
dailykos.com
Huffington Post
huffingtonpost.com
Packers Plus
www.jsonline.com
MiceAge
miceage.com
MousePlanet
mouseplanet.com
Leiter Reports
leiterreports.typepad.com
Post-Darwinist
post-darwinist.blogspot.com
Red-Blue Christian
www.redbluechristian.com
Panda's Thumb
pandasthumb.org
Touchstone Blog
merecomments.typepad.com
Uncommon Descent
uncommondescent.com
California Republic
californiarepublic.org
Acton Institute
acton.org
Antiochian Orthodox Church Website
antiochian.org


Collected Quotations

"And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth."
John 1:14
"In the name of Our dearly beloved homeland, We call on Our faithful sons of the fatherland to fulfill their sacred duty to the fatherland, to obey the tsar in the heavy moment of national trials, and to help Him, together with the representatives of the people, to guide the Russian Empire on the road to victory, welfare, and glory. May the Lord God help Russia!"
from the abdication of Nicholas II
"Where do we go from here?"
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
(Musical Episode)
"Khan!"
James Tiberius Kirk
(Star Trek II)
"…but where is the fourth?"
Socrates (Timaeus)
"I went down to the Piraeus with Glaucon, the son of Ariston…"
Socrates (Republic)
"…the story will save us, if we are persuaded by it…"
Socrates (Republic)
"Lord Jesus Christ, son of God, have mercy on me a sinner."
Jesus Prayer
"I believe, o Lord, and confess that thou art truly the Christ the son of the living God…"
Liturgy of the Western Rite Orthodox Church
"I will not cease from mental fight, / Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand / Till we have built Jerusalem / In England's green and pleasant land."
William Blake
"Who's there?"
Hamlet, William Shakespeare
"Who shall be Pendragon in the time when Saturn descends from his sphere? In what world did he learn war?"
Merlin, That Hideous Strength

Biographical Sketch

Biographical Sketch

John Mark Reynolds is the founder and director of the Torrey Honors Institute, and Associate Professor of Philosophy, at Biola University. In 1996 he received his Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of Rochester.

John Mark Reynolds' Curriculum Vitae
PDF (36KB)

Publication Overview

Dr. Reynolds' first book, Three Views on the Creation and Evolution Debate, was co-edited with J.P. Moreland. His latest book, Towards a Unified Plationic Human Psychology, is a close examination of Plato's view of the soul as seen in the Timaeus. Several of his technical articles have been published on philosophy of religion as well as popular articles in journals such as The New Oxford Review and Touchstone.


Lecturer and Speaker

Dr. Reynolds lectures frequently on ancient philosophy, philosophy of science, home-schooling and cultural trends. He regularly appears on radio talk shows, including the Hugh Hewitt Show, and activelly blogs on cultural issues. For speaking requests email Michael Fatigati


John Mark Reynolds

John Mark and his wife Hope have four homeschooled children: L.D., Mary Kate, Ian and Jane. John Mark and his family love Disneyland and make frequent trips to the ‘Happiest Place on Earth’ with his students at the Torrey Honors Institute of which John Mark is the founder and director.


Top 10 Books

I am reminded by the folk at America's best magazine, Touchstone, that C.S. Lewis published a famous "top ten list" of the books which most influenced his life. I am not listing the best books or the books that impact me now, but the books that have influenced the course of my life. To make the top ten list (or the close 20) is to have read the book more than five times, carefully, and not for work. The top ten list must have influenced my life for more than five of my forty years. Books in the top ten list should still be meaningful, thus giving some slight preference to the grown up me.

1. The Bible

I don't remember a time when the stories of this book were not being read to me and I read it every day. My parents raised me in an atmosphere super-saturated with this Book of Books.

2. That Hideous Strength (C.S. Lewis)

Torrey is based on the image of Saint Anne's in this book. This is the truest account of the state of the West written in the last one hundred years.

3. Lord of the Rings (J.R.R. Tolkien)

I have read this book every year of my life since seventh grade. Even the smallest hobbit can do great things for God.

4. Republic (Plato)

The two years spent with this book and Al Geier were the most academically productive of my life. Since then, I have come to find almost every truth needed in the pages of this book, saving only the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ.

5. Nicholas and Alexandra (Massie)

This book seized my imagination and shaped my view of politics forever.

6. A Severe Mercy (Vanauken)

My favorite book on love, marriage, and the problem of pain.

7. Chronicles of Narnia (Lewis)

I still hope the elevator in Sutherland will open to Narnia someday.

8. Divine Comedy (Dante)

The most influential book of the last four years of my life.

9. Timaeus (Plato)

This is the first and last word on science for me.

10. Reason in the Balance (Johnson)

The book that still shapes the educational experience at Torrey.


Top 5 Movies

1. Passion of Joan of Arc
2. Anything by Andrei Tarkovsky
3. It's a Wonderful Life
4. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy
5. Sense and Sensibility