Sign in with Facebook
Loading...
The Christian Imagination: The Practice of Faith in Literature and Writing
by
Leland Ryken
The Christian Imagination
brings together in a single source the best that has been written about the relationship between literature and the Christian faith. This anthology covers all of the major topics that fall within this subject and includes essays and excerpts from fifty authors, including C.S. Lewis, Flannery O’Connor, Dorothy Sayers, and Frederick Buechner.
Paperback, 480 pages
Published
February 19th 2002
by Shaw Books
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
This book is not yet featured on Listopia.
Add this book to your favorite list »
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
486)
This is an extraordinary treasure of thought-provoking reflections, by many of my favorite authors (including Lewis, Tolkien, and Chesterton). The sections on “Imagination, Beauty and Creativity” and “Myth and Fantasy” were particularly rich, at times enchanting. “In Praise of Stories” was one of many intriguing articles I intend to go back to. I would read one or two of these delicacies, then force myself to put the book down, to contemplate what I’d read, yes, but also to ration out the precio...more
This book was given to me by one of my high school English teachers, Jonathan Koch, to recognize me for my service as president of the Creative Writers' Guild. It was the perfect gift. As a christian and an aspiring author I've long considered Lewis and Tolkien my primary role models, so reading about the creation of the Chronicles of Narnia and about Tolkien's thoughts on the purpose of fantasy was a joy. The philosophy of literature defended in this book puts many of my own half-formed theorie...more
Varied selection of writings by Twentieth Century Christian authors.
view all 4 comments
This book is meant to be chewed slowly, leaving time between bites for the digestive processes to work.
Key Quotes:
It is evident on every page of his writings that Augustine was impacted for the good by his classical reading in spite of his cynical teachers and his own scruples, and sometimes he is not unaware of it. The pagan Cicero’s Hortensius was a major influence leading to his conversion to Christ. It “quite altered my affection, turned my prayers to thyself, O Lord, and made me have clean...more
Key Quotes:
It is evident on every page of his writings that Augustine was impacted for the good by his classical reading in spite of his cynical teachers and his own scruples, and sometimes he is not unaware of it. The pagan Cicero’s Hortensius was a major influence leading to his conversion to Christ. It “quite altered my affection, turned my prayers to thyself, O Lord, and made me have clean...more
I really enjoyed this book. Not every essay was great, but a lot of them were. The best part was the variety. There were long articles, short articles and lists of quotes. There were older writers and newer ones. There were articles on reading, writing, poetry, movies, fantasy, realism and why reading is such fun. There were various types of Protestants, as well as Roman Catholics. Some of the authors included were Francis Schaeffer, George MacDonald, C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Wendell Berry, G...more
Awesome.
Helped fight my natural inclination to write off (booh...) the beauty of writing, of telling a story, of art.
I am inclined to propositional thinking, but sometimes my propositional attitude forgets that propositions are supernatural. Our propositions contain more of heaven and hell than we know. I.e. though propositions are thought to be understood only by the intellect, yet it is our souls, and the reality in which our souls live and breathe and move, in which the propositions in our...more
Helped fight my natural inclination to write off (booh...) the beauty of writing, of telling a story, of art.
I am inclined to propositional thinking, but sometimes my propositional attitude forgets that propositions are supernatural. Our propositions contain more of heaven and hell than we know. I.e. though propositions are thought to be understood only by the intellect, yet it is our souls, and the reality in which our souls live and breathe and move, in which the propositions in our...more
A great book about having a Christian perspective towards imagination and art, specifically writing. It's split into ten sections (A Christian Philosophy of Literature; Imagination, Beauty and Creativity; To Teach and Delight; The Christian Writer; The Christian Reader; State of the Art: Success and Failure in Current Christian Fiction and Poetry; Realism; Myth and Fantasy; Poetry; and Narrative) with various articles, viewpoints, and quotes included in each. Great material for anyone who reads,...more
Great collection of articles that connect, discuss, and reflect on Christian faith, literature, and writing.
I think the best way to read this book is to simply bounce around to the different writers and topics(since they are all essays and papers.)
I personally enjoyed the pieces written by actual poets and writers like C.S. Lewis, Flannery O'Conner, T.S. Eliot and the rest because I was interested to see how a "Christian" writer goes about developing his artwork. I don't know if I really found an answer to this question or a satisfying one at that. I think the essays are mostly about helping to fix mi...more
I personally enjoyed the pieces written by actual poets and writers like C.S. Lewis, Flannery O'Conner, T.S. Eliot and the rest because I was interested to see how a "Christian" writer goes about developing his artwork. I don't know if I really found an answer to this question or a satisfying one at that. I think the essays are mostly about helping to fix mi...more
You can't beat Lewis, Tolkien, Buechner, O'Conner, and Godawa all thrown together into one book.
A good anthology about the role of faith in literature.
Some very beautiful essays in here...
I read bits and pieces of this book while doing research for a paper. The pieces I read were great. How theology, literature, imagination, and narrative intersect is an interest area of mine. Ryken is a major player in this field, so I anticipate coming back to this book in the future. I was also glad that it was written at a thorough, but not overly academic level. It's an undergraduate reading level and avoids unnecessary complication with insider lingo. Recommended!
I just keep reading Flanner O'Connor's essay, "Novelist and Believer" over and over again. She has such wisdom and insight into our culture, into the despair and hopelessness that seems to overshadow us. There is one line that follows something like this... "and some have domesticated their despair and learned to live with it--celebrate it, even..."
You don't have to agree with every essay in this wonderful book but I assure you, in every page you will find good food for the thought.
I will not put this book away on a distant shelf; I want it always at hand.
I will not put this book away on a distant shelf; I want it always at hand.
May 18, 2007
Joanna
marked it as to-read
I WANT THIS BOOK!
May 15, 2013
Patricia
is currently reading it
May 13, 2013
Emme
marked it as to-read
May 13, 2013
Kris Anne
marked it as to-read
May 11, 2013
Kyleesj
marked it as to-read
May 10, 2013
Eva Ella
marked it as to-read
May 08, 2013
Helen
marked it as to-read
May 07, 2013
Laura Bokma
is currently reading it
May 06, 2013
Tim VanderMeulen
marked it as to-read
May 04, 2013
Andrew
marked it as to-read
May 04, 2013
Jen
marked it as to-read
May 03, 2013
Emily
marked it as to-read
May 03, 2013
Philip
marked it as to-read
May 02, 2013
Nathan Doyle
marked it as to-read
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
Dr. Ryken has served on the faculty of Wheaton College since 1968. He has published over thirty books and more than one hundred articles and essays, devoting much of his scholarship to Bible translations and the study of the Bible as literature. He served as Literary Chairman for the English Standard Version (ESV) of the Bible and in 2003 received the distinguished Gutenberg Award for his contribu...more
More about Leland Ryken...
Share This Book
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »
“There is no valid reason for the perennial Christian preference of biography, history, and the newspaper to fiction and poetry. The former tell us what happened, while literature tells us what happens. The example of the Bible, which is central to any attempt to formulate a Christian approach to literature, sanctions the imagination as a valid form of truth. The Bible is in large part a work of imagination. Its most customary way of expressing truth is not the sermon or the theological outline, but the story, the poem, and the vision--all of them literary forms and products of the imagination (though not necessarily the fictional imagination). Literary conventions are present in the Bible from start to finish, even in the most historically factual parts.”
—
1 person liked it
More quotes…
