It might seem odd to put Planet Narnia (Oxford University Press, 2008) on my list of recommended “literary apologetics” books, since it’s a study of CS Lewis’s use of medieval planetary imagery in the Chronicles of Narnia — not a specifically apologetic work. However, anyone who’s serious about understanding how a story can show forth the truth of the Christian faith would do … [Read more...]
Public Apologetics Part 1: Introvert Edition
Over the past few years I’ve noticed that many Christians have a certain sense of performance anxiety from hearing a few too many conversion stories and personal testimonies. Should I have led X number of people to Christ by now? Christians who have been studying apologetics are often particularly gripped by anxiety: shouldn’t I be Doing Something Important to Save Souls with … [Read more...]
Book Review: Imaginative Apologetics, ed. Andrew Davison
What would it mean for the Gospel if we were equipped with a full, rich, well-reasoned, and imaginative apologetics? The collection Imaginative Apologetics is a valuable contribution to the work of apologetics, offering a number of important insights and starting points for further work. … [Read more...]
Advent as a Season for Conversion: TS Eliot and "The Journey of the Magi"
We all know the story of the Three Kings, even if only from the chorus of “We Three Kings of Orient Are.” However, Holy Scripture does not call these men kings, but rather magi, “wise men from the east” (Matthew 2:1) Their story reminds us that Christmas is a call to conversion, if we will only hear it. … [Read more...]
Literary Apologetics Reading List: Mystery Novels
Mystery novels, taken as a whole, reflect at a deep level the truth of the Christian worldview. And yes, I mean mystery novels in general, not “mystery novels by Christian writers.” Here’s why. … [Read more...]
The Christian Story
Apologists seek to defend the truth of the Christian faith, and have many ways to present the one truth. Preaching is one way; reasoned argument, another. But too often Christians today are hesitant to use story as a means of presenting the truth - perhaps through unfamiliarity, perhaps through associations with postmodern and liberal interpretations of Christianity. However, … [Read more...]
Faith, Hope and Poetry: Theology and the Poetic Imagination by Malcolm Guite (book review)
For as long as people have written, sung, and told stories about God, literature has been a means by which the Holy Spirit has moved individuals to draw closer to Christ. However, the role of the imagination in apologetics and theology has received, until lately, little attention from Christian scholars and apologists. Fortunately, this situation is now being remedied by a … [Read more...]
What Is Literary Apologetics?
As an apologist, I work in the field of cultural apologetics, and more specifically in imaginative apologetics -- which can be loosely defined as developing the use of the imagination, as well as the reason, as a mode of knowledge. Imaginative apologetics includes the presentation and exploration of truth through all the different art forms - painting, music, theater, film, … [Read more...]