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Dr. Charles Bressler

It is unusual to see Dr. Charles Bressler, professor of English Literature, alone. Over the last 27 years that he has spent at Houghton he has made many friends, especially among English majors. However, on an especially bad day not too long ago, he did go to the cafeteria to eat his lunch without a companion.

He sat down and began to eat and think through what was troubling him, when a couple of his students asked if they could sit with him. “We became ‘God bearers’ for each other,” he relates. “We talked about what God was doing in our lives, proving that the joy of sharing these things takes place in unexpected places at unexpected times.”

Bressler finds that transformations like this take place regularly at Houghton. He says, “Houghton has wonderful students who yearn for social justice with a moral code.” For him these students are at the heart of why he teaches at Houghton.

Bressler’s classes, which often focus on the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, are among the most popular Houghton offers. His dynamic teaching style and true passion for his subject inspire students no matter what their major. In fact, Bressler relates, “Literature of the Western World (a general education class) is among my most favorite to teach because of all the disciplines represented in the class. Each student brings with them a passion about their individual areas of study which adds so much to the discussion.”

In each of his classes Bressler strives to lead his students, through literature, back to Christ. He says, “Houghton has an obligation to help students find what the Christian answer is. Mine is an easy disciple to integrate faith and learning – its just natural. We need to send our students out into the world equip to change it.” He feels that this is in fact happening. In the students he interacts with, the ones who eat lunch with him and are his “God bearers,” he see great hope for the future. Within their many areas, he feels, Houghton students can be “Wilberforces for the 21st century.”