"The Christian Imagination: Exploring Faith in Literature"
February 8 – March 13, 2016
Instructor: Dr. Timothy M. Slemmons
Course Description:
J.R.R. Tolkein, C.S. Lewis, Flannery O'Connor, Annie Dillard, Madeline L'Engle, Frederick Buechner, Wendell Berry - their works have challenged and intrigued us by combining faith and fiction in remarkable ways. Generations of Christians, and many preachers, have used their talents to explore issues of faith in a variety of genres, including poetry, allegory, novel, and story. This five week course will encourage a conversation designed to enhance our preaching by examining selected contributions from across the breadth of the historical and literary landscape, with the following aims:
- to explore a variety of genres (poetry, the novel, myth and story) in which preaching and other literary genres have interfaced and cross-fertilized;
- to foster discussion, identify, and recommend areas of further reading; and
- to invite participants to share, discuss, and critique ideas and inspirations for their own creative pastoral writing beyond the strictures of the sermon with the aim of garnering a fresh hearing for the gospel amidst an ever-changing culture.
Primary Text:
Leland Ryken, The Christian Imagination: The Practice of Faith in Literature and Writing (Colorado Springs, CO: WaterBrook Press, 2002) ISBN-13: 978-0877881230
- Teacher: Timothy (Tim) Slemmons