The Christian Imagination

I just came across this post by Traci Giles called: Why a Christian Imagination?
Here’s an excerpt:

Some might argue that to have a “Christian” imagination is to limit the creativity available to the mind. The imagination is a porthole to other worlds; it is a gift that allows one to frame their own reality. So what would one gain from having a Christian worldview? If the imagination is simply the “creative faculty of the mind” why do people feel the need to put an adjective in front of it? Why a “Christian” imagination?

The imagination is an integral part of who we are as created people. As Christians we believe that we were formed by a Creator, who brought us to life through His power and imagination. Our existence is a result of our Maker’s hand. Our life both in the present and into eternity is a gift given by God that enables us to experience living both for ourselves and for Him. Madeline L’Engle in her book Walking on Water, discusses this in reference to time. She says, “In kairos (time) we become what we are called to be as human beings, co-creators with God, touching on the wonder of creation. This calling should not be limited to artists—or saints—but it is a fearful calling”.

Now, the very fact she is quoting L’Engle is enough to make it quote-worthy:)
That said, I highly suggest you read the whole thing if you can, as she has some good insight.

Fiction: “The telling of stories which are not entirely based upon facts. Although the word fiction is derived from the Latin fingo, fingere, finxi, fictum, “to form, create”, works of fiction need not be entirely imaginary and may include real people, places, and events.”

Parable: “The word ‘parable’ comes from the Greek parabol, the name given by Greek rhetoricians to any fictive illustration in the form of a brief narrative. Later it came to mean a fictitious narrative, generally referring to something that might naturally occur, by which spiritual and moral matters might be conveyed. A parable is like a metaphor that has been extended to form a brief, coherent fiction.”

I was having a talk with an indepedent, apolostic pastor several years ago in reference to a popular book of fiction written by a Christian. The pastor told me he didn’t see a point in reading something that wasn’t true.

Jesus, the savior and Lord of all Christians, certainly did a number of things that make you wonder. Like, with Him being God incarnate, why wait till he was 30 to start his public ministry? And then, in a world desperate for hope and truth, he tells stories, lots of them, primarily using a form of short fiction called a parable. In Matthew 13:34, it says, “Jesus spoke all these things to the crowd in parables; he did not say anything to them without using a parable.”

So, instead of speaking the truth directly, and appealing directly to the intellect, he told stories that people could relate to, yet stories that many didn’t understand. Even the disciples weren’t sure what Jesus was talking about at times. It’s even harder for us to understand that sort of thing. We aren’t very patient people, and ruminating over a story or poem to find the layers of meaning is not very natural in a very busy society. Yet, these stories of Jesus gave people a chance to discover meaning for themselves. And we are more likely to retain and ‘own’ what we discover ourselves.

We say we believe the Bible is true, so is it? Are metaphors true? Are parables true? Is Biblical poetry true? If we define true as factual, then the answer is no. Yet, we can get really hung up on facts, and we can lose the story. We can also lose the heart. And Jesus, he knew the power of story. He spoke to many who were the least, and he gave them hope. And he told them truth, by using fiction.

In summary, I believe the Bible is true, and factual in regard to what should be interpreted as fact. The Bible makes great use of metaphor and short fiction as well in the wisdom literature, prophets, apocalyptic lit, and parables of Jesus. As such, I rejoice in both fact and fiction in the Bible.

We underestimate fiction and it’s place in our lives as Christians. We underestimate how well fiction can convey truth.

And if you have any comments, agreeing or disagreeing, feel free to share.

Are any of you familiar with the writings of Søren Kierkegaard? He was a deep Christian thinker and writer who lived not so long ago. Among his best known works is Purity of Heart is to Will One Thing. In his journals, as quoted on Per Crucem ad Lucem, he says the following:

Fundamentally a reformation which did away with the Bible would now be just as valid as Luther’s doing away with the Pope. All that about the Bible has developed a religion of learning and law, a mere distraction. A little of that knowledge has gradually percolated to the simplest classes so that no one any longer reads the Bible humanly. As a result it does immeasurable harm; where life is concerned its existence is a fortification of excuses and escapes; for there is always something one has to look into first of all, and it always seems as though one had first of all to have the doctrine in perfect form before one could begin to live that is to say, one never begins.

Christendom has long been in need of a hero who, in fear and trembling before God, had the courage to forbid people to read the Bible.

If you aren’t familiar with Kierkegaard, you might be inclined to think he doesn’t value the Bible or take it seriously. In fact, he valued it highly. There is, of course, a context for this quote, just as there is a context for many Bible verses we sometimes read out of context.

We talk a lot about Scripture, maybe even quote it (and that, I have to admit, is better than not talking about it at all), but sometimes make it out to be what it isn’t. The Bible sometimes becomes an end in itself, so much God’s word that we don’t need God himself. We may look at the Bible like a scientifist, forming a hypothesis and then looking to find a verse that appears to support it, so we can then use that verse to support whatever we are arguing at the time.

Kierkegaard, among others, wrote about meditating and reflecting on God, the One Thing, with Scripture being a tool in that regard to get to know God better. Today, we often lose our sense of wonder for life, the mystery in the Bible, and our awe of God. As Kierkegaard also says, “The problem is not to understand Christianity but to understand that it cannot be understood.” We reduce our ‘faith’ into a manageable ideology and God and the Bible along with it. We come to think we know the Bible, God, and ourselves, and sometimes stop there. The Bible simply becomes a manual, dissected and categorized…and yes, I disagree with the notion that the Bible is primarily a handbook, manual, or guidebook. It’s worth noting that the parts of the Bible that most resemble a rulebook (Leviticus) and history (Chronicles) are among the least read and quoted portions of the Bible.

As Kierkegaard says, we need to read the Bible more humanly, with all that we are, to reflect on it, really reflect on it and absorb it, to let God speak through it to us, and to make not the Bible, but God, our focus.

That, in its simplicity, asks a lot from us…

The United States, if you think about it, has never been much for tradition. This shouldn’t be surprising, with the influence the Enlightenment and other ideologies have had on this country. Our founding fathers, while recognizing their roots, sought to separate ourselves in many ways from our largely British heritage, to be independent. Many different cultures ended up converging on the United States, the so-called melting pot. Some retained their culture for awhile, others lost it due to acculturation. Now, we have what is known as a pop culture, the culture of what is popular, with a number of subcultures within.

The church itself has a number of subcultures. Even the evangelical subculture has its subcultures. Then there are the cultural traditions within certain denominations, which are considered traditional churches. The word ‘tradition’ is problematic. For instance, the word is used 7 times in the New Testament, 6 by Jesus, all in a negative tone.

The word tradition comes from the Latin word traditio which means “to hand down” or “to hand over.” Tradition provides a story, a context, for the next generation. It is a grounding force. In a day when we have thrown out tradition as something antiquated, we are left with the story of the moment. Whether we are more free without tradition is debatable.

Really, it depends what we mean by tradition, and how it influences us. Tradition as history is always important, to know where we come from. Tradition as a system of how we do things can be either good or bad. In a business, for instance, a certain process may be questioned. If we know the reason for that ‘tradition’ we will often come to one of two conclusions: it makes a lot of sense, or it is now pointless. I’ve seen both.

When talking about traditional churches, what, exactly, is a traditional church? Are they really traditional? Perhaps in the sense that they have more of a historical tradition than many other churches and have music or litergy from long ago. There’s something powerful about singing a song that Martin Luther sang, or having communion with St. Augustine. There’s also something strange, to me, when a cultural tradition from a few hundred years ago is seen as somehow more ‘right’ or ‘holy.’ Also, traditional church denominations tend to have a history biased towards their founder and their followers. Yet, there is also something to be said for not forgeting the past, and remembering.

Christianity has a rich, rich tradition of literature, if we’d take the time to look for it, including a fair amount BEFORE the Reformation. It’s scary to think how we neglect it. I’ll be talking about some of that literature in future posts.