“My father says those who want power and get it live in terror of losing it. That’s why we have to give power to those who don’t want it.” _________________________________________________________________________ Divergent, the first book in the amazingly popular YA trilogy by Veronica Roth, spent months on bestseller lists and was voted "Favorite Book of 2011" in the … [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...]
Bitterblue: Kingdoms of Truth and Lies
Kristin Cashore's recently released Bitterblue, the sequel to Graceling, premiered at #2 on the New York Times Bestseller List. If early reviews and previous successes are any indication, the list of accolades will be impressive – and deservedly so. Ms. Kashore is a gifted writer who spends years honing her books, and it shows. THE BASIC PREMISE The story takes place … [Read more...]
Graceling: On Monsters and Grace
Publishers Weekly listed Graceling,the debut novel from Kristin Cashore, in its Best Book of the Year list in 2008. Since then, Cashore has published a sort-of prequel called FIre and a sequel titled Bitterblue. Here's Wikipedia's list of awards: Graceling was shortlisted for the ALA's William C. Morris YA Award, is an ALA Best Book for Young Adults, was a Cybils finalist … [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...]
"The Road": Morality and the Secular Apocalypse
The apocalypse as described in various religious traditions tends to reassert the sovereignty of the gods over the realm of morality. In the Christian tradition, for example, the second coming of Christ, in a final disambiguation of who is good and who is evil, will bring perfect justice to a fallen humanity. And in the Oresteia, a long string of violence and death results in … [Read more...]
JC Lamont's "Prophecy of the Heir" on the problem of judgment
Over the summer I read JC Lamont's Prophecy of the Heir, and not included in my review and author interview is mention that my absolute favorite thing about this book is how Lamont unapologetically, yet with the prowess of an apologist, answers the problem of the harshness of judgment. In the review, I do mention that Michael’s loyalty to the Prince is challenged mainly by his … [Read more...]
Deep Hunger and Dark Games
I'm a big fan of honesty in fiction. I don't want cookie-cutter personalities, saccharine love, or shallow stereotypes. I want the author to convince me to cheer for heroes and against villains - and I want to know why the heroes and villains are worthy of the label. I want grit and beauty, despair and hope, love and loss. If a story tells me what the world is like, I … [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...]