Writing About Reprobation

I've written an article for the Spring issue of By Faith titled "Writing About Reprobation: The Theological Value of Noir Fiction."  In the print edition, the title alone takes up a two-page spread, with a fedora-wearing hardboiled model banging away on a typewriter. The online version doesn't show as much undershirt:

For the full argument, click the link and enjoy. Here's a little taste from near the end ...

Compared to the real world, noir fiction is highly stylized. But next to the stylized world of the classic detective tale with its drawing rooms and butlers and obscure poisons, the hard-edged world of noir seems real indeed. Chandler is best understood in the context of Christie, and noir's insistence on total corruption is best understood in the context of a world that insists on its fundamental justice and orderliness.

Many thanks to the folks at By Faith for devoting so much space to my little riff on the virtues of noir.