[A Saturday Feature of the First Road Blog]
Imagination
is an uncomfortable subject in some Christian circles and a train wreck in
others. Words like myth, fiction, and fantasy raise justifiable caution flags. Therefore, I
was grateful that this year’s Legonier Conference in Orland, FL, included on
its book tables Leland Ryken’s 2002 compendium, The Christian Imagination.
The
more than forty contributors Dr. Ryken selected for this resource, (ranging from Francis Schaeffer
to Madeleine L’Engle), provide a wide range of viewpoints. I was heartened with
the efforts to underscore the role of the imagination as a key factor in our
being made in the image of God and
hardwired to want to describe in story what Truth looks like. For those who delight
in imaginative tales as a means of analogy, The Christian
Imagination brings forward the processes, dynamics, possibilities, and
motivations for evaluating and even creating fiction. It also gives
guidance in “suspending disbelief” (knowing this story did not happen) without
suspending reason and reality (able to discern if ideas developed in this story are authentic).
I
was sorry the section on “Myth and Fantasy” did not pursue the biblical word paramuthion and its related words – paramutheomai and paramuthia) which are
translated as comfort in such texts
as Philippians 2:1 – comfort of love.
(See also: John 11:19, 31; 1 Corinthians 14:3; and 1 Thessalonians 2:11; 5:14.)
The
section on poetry seemed a bit oblique; but then,
I was not able
to bring to the table
the ability to see
what eluded me.
Sadly,
one article, under the vexing title, “The Gospel as Fairy Tale,” did not seem clear
in its effort to say the Gospel fulfills in reality what the heart longs for in
the once-upon-a-time / happily-ever-after story line.
I
would not necessarily recommend this book on a high school student level; however, I
think any high school teacher would be well rewarded to be exposed to a
copy. Beyond that, it should be a must read for anyone agitated enough by the
matter of fiction and fantasy to argue about it, or excited enough to want to
write it.
ALPHABETICAL LIST OF ALL FIRST-ROAD ARTICLES
ALPHABETICAL LIST OF ALL FIRST-ROAD ARTICLES
Oooh, I'm going to have to get this. You should take a look at a group called Realm Makers, Splickety Publishing, and Christian Speculative Fiction. All three are the reaction of Christian sci-fi/fantasy authors to Christian publishing not liking them and refusing to publish their work.
ReplyDeleteI'll look into them. Of course any good thing can be over done, and then people react. And, of course, the solution is to boycott rather than mentor better writers. :-p
ReplyDelete