John Bunyan: "[We can use metaphor and allegory to] make truth's golden beams cast forth its rays as light as day."
Tim Keller: "Parts of Biblical truth can often be found--sometimes expressed beautifully and clearly--right alongside of the trivial or the false in the cultural products of the world." (from forward to The Stories We Tell)
John Eldredge: "The best stories of all...bring us the Eternal Truths and take the the form of...myths."
Lindskoog and Hunsicker: "A fantasy that keeps faith with the reader leaves the promise of growing up to be a beautiful swan, of having cinders and shame replaced by royal splendor, and even of having beastliness tamed and transformed by love."
Tolkien: "[Fairy tales help us] stand outside of Time itself, maybe."
Ecclesiastes 3:11 "Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end."
Gandalf (Tolkien): "This quest may be attempted by the weak with as much hope as the strong. Yet such is oft the course of deeds that move the wheels of the world: small hands do them because they must while the eyes of the great are elsewhere."
Lloyd Alexander: "Fantasy touches our deepest feelings and in so doing, it speaks to the best and most beautiful parts of ourselves."
Matthew 13:10-13 And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” He answered and said to them, “Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given...Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.
John Eldredge: "When you tell a story, you speak to the heart."
I have been a passionate lover of all things faerie and fiction for my whole life. Even before I could read, I couldn't get enough of my parents reading to me. I can remember snuggling on the couch with my Bible when I was three or four years old and spending long enough for my parents to notice studying the words and letters on the page. When my mom asked me where I was in my reading, I pointed to an indecipherable group of letters. When she asked me what it said, I replied, "Well, I haven't gotten to that word yet." It wasn't long before my mom and my kindergarten teacher were having to conference to give me more reading work so that I wouldn't disrupt the class.
When I was able to decipher those words and read the beauty behind them, I became what could only be called a voracious reader. I remember clearly picturing heaven as a bean bag chair and piles and piles and piles of books that stretched on into eternity. My picture of heaven now is much more full of Jesus, but books will be there, I am sure!
After that information, it will be no surprise to you that reading and fiction play a big part in my life and in my faith. I have found that I am not at all alone in thinking that the myth is important in understanding our God. Many of the great and the small theologians have spoken of its importance. Their words give voice to a cry of my own heart.
In the "Message to Parents and Teachers" at the end of Faerie Gold, Treasures from the Lands of Enchantment, Kathryn Lindskoog and Ranelda Mack Hunsicker do an excellent job at defending the reading of fantasy fiction. They explain seven different benefits, one of which is "[Fairy Tales] carry readers beyond the restrictions of time and space and promote a sense of mystery and transcendence." This is beyond the moral and relational benefits of reading stories--this is touching on something that nothing else can give us. When we read fiction, I firmly believe that our minds are stretched towards what they will hold in heaven. We cannot imagine what we will see and experience when we are face to face with our Lord, but I know we get a bit closer when we read fantasy.
John Eldredge, in Waking the Dead, his book about living life fully alive for the Lord, expounds even more on the myth. He says that the best stories reveal Christ and teach us how to live as Christians. These truths are Biblical but hard to remember in our daily lives: there is more to life than what we see, there is a battle raging around us, and we have an important part to play in that battle. This is why I love Lord of the Rings, the Wingfeather Saga, the Chronicles of Narnia, Harry Potter, the Percy Jackson books, and on and on. I believe wholeheartedly that the Bible teaches we are saved solely by grace for the purpose of enjoying God and giving our lives away for His Kingdom. I am always more motivated in this purpose when I am reading or thinking of the heroes of great works of fiction.
A lot of our fantasy comes to us today in the form of movies and tv shows, and there is much to be gained from that as well. The Stories We Tell by Mike Cosper is a book that delves into some of these same topics as they relate to popular shows and movies. He talks about how movies, tv, and the books behind them reveal truth about ourselves, culture, the gospel, and our God.
We will discuss the importance and power of fiction in both my high school classes and middle school classes, spending some extra time with this theory in the middle school lit classes. Fiction is only this powerful and this important insomuch as it helps us to understand the truths of the Bible, and we will be focusing on this in our classes.
Resources:
Waking the Dead John Eldredge
Faerie Gold Kathryn Lindskoog and Ranelda Mack Hunsicker
The Stories We Tell Mike Cosper
redeemedreader.com
Tim Keller: "Parts of Biblical truth can often be found--sometimes expressed beautifully and clearly--right alongside of the trivial or the false in the cultural products of the world." (from forward to The Stories We Tell)
John Eldredge: "The best stories of all...bring us the Eternal Truths and take the the form of...myths."
Lindskoog and Hunsicker: "A fantasy that keeps faith with the reader leaves the promise of growing up to be a beautiful swan, of having cinders and shame replaced by royal splendor, and even of having beastliness tamed and transformed by love."
Tolkien: "[Fairy tales help us] stand outside of Time itself, maybe."
Ecclesiastes 3:11 "Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end."
Gandalf (Tolkien): "This quest may be attempted by the weak with as much hope as the strong. Yet such is oft the course of deeds that move the wheels of the world: small hands do them because they must while the eyes of the great are elsewhere."
Lloyd Alexander: "Fantasy touches our deepest feelings and in so doing, it speaks to the best and most beautiful parts of ourselves."
John Eldredge: "When you tell a story, you speak to the heart."
I have been a passionate lover of all things faerie and fiction for my whole life. Even before I could read, I couldn't get enough of my parents reading to me. I can remember snuggling on the couch with my Bible when I was three or four years old and spending long enough for my parents to notice studying the words and letters on the page. When my mom asked me where I was in my reading, I pointed to an indecipherable group of letters. When she asked me what it said, I replied, "Well, I haven't gotten to that word yet." It wasn't long before my mom and my kindergarten teacher were having to conference to give me more reading work so that I wouldn't disrupt the class.
When I was able to decipher those words and read the beauty behind them, I became what could only be called a voracious reader. I remember clearly picturing heaven as a bean bag chair and piles and piles and piles of books that stretched on into eternity. My picture of heaven now is much more full of Jesus, but books will be there, I am sure!
After that information, it will be no surprise to you that reading and fiction play a big part in my life and in my faith. I have found that I am not at all alone in thinking that the myth is important in understanding our God. Many of the great and the small theologians have spoken of its importance. Their words give voice to a cry of my own heart.
In the "Message to Parents and Teachers" at the end of Faerie Gold, Treasures from the Lands of Enchantment, Kathryn Lindskoog and Ranelda Mack Hunsicker do an excellent job at defending the reading of fantasy fiction. They explain seven different benefits, one of which is "[Fairy Tales] carry readers beyond the restrictions of time and space and promote a sense of mystery and transcendence." This is beyond the moral and relational benefits of reading stories--this is touching on something that nothing else can give us. When we read fiction, I firmly believe that our minds are stretched towards what they will hold in heaven. We cannot imagine what we will see and experience when we are face to face with our Lord, but I know we get a bit closer when we read fantasy.
John Eldredge, in Waking the Dead, his book about living life fully alive for the Lord, expounds even more on the myth. He says that the best stories reveal Christ and teach us how to live as Christians. These truths are Biblical but hard to remember in our daily lives: there is more to life than what we see, there is a battle raging around us, and we have an important part to play in that battle. This is why I love Lord of the Rings, the Wingfeather Saga, the Chronicles of Narnia, Harry Potter, the Percy Jackson books, and on and on. I believe wholeheartedly that the Bible teaches we are saved solely by grace for the purpose of enjoying God and giving our lives away for His Kingdom. I am always more motivated in this purpose when I am reading or thinking of the heroes of great works of fiction.
A lot of our fantasy comes to us today in the form of movies and tv shows, and there is much to be gained from that as well. The Stories We Tell by Mike Cosper is a book that delves into some of these same topics as they relate to popular shows and movies. He talks about how movies, tv, and the books behind them reveal truth about ourselves, culture, the gospel, and our God.
We will discuss the importance and power of fiction in both my high school classes and middle school classes, spending some extra time with this theory in the middle school lit classes. Fiction is only this powerful and this important insomuch as it helps us to understand the truths of the Bible, and we will be focusing on this in our classes.
Resources:
Waking the Dead John Eldredge
Faerie Gold Kathryn Lindskoog and Ranelda Mack Hunsicker
The Stories We Tell Mike Cosper
redeemedreader.com
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