Fiction as a Spiritual Discipline
Posted on August 27, 2007
Filed Under Deeper Walk |
My wife is the most voracious reader I know. Fiction is her first love. The good stuff - Jane Eyre and The Great Gatsby, Madeleine L’Engle, Buechner, all things Dickens. Recently, when she rifled through War and Peace, I began to feel a little intimidated.
Eugene Peterson says that pastors should read fiction as part of their spiritual regimen (wonderful advice I was never once offered in seminary). I think every Christian should heed this wisdom. Listening to the story. Being captured by the narrative. Discerning truth as we are tugged through the plot. “Every good story is a retelling of the gospel,” says Chesterton. If that’s true - and I believe it is - then we need to read more good stories. God knows, we need as much of the gospel as we can get.
Here is a quick hit on four novels that have told me much truth:
- East of Eden, John Steinbeck
- The Chosen, Chaim Potok
- ‘Til We Have Faces, C.S. Lewis
- Peace Like a River, Leif Enger
How about giving us your list? What fiction writers and fiction works have given you a glimpse of reality, of truth, of grace? Share with the rest of us.
peace / Winn
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27 Responses to “Fiction as a Spiritual Discipline”
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Winn -
I wholeheartedly agree with you — there always seems to be something in those powerful stories that connects with my soul. Here’s two that have shared truth with me:
Les Miserables — Victor Hugo
Anna Karenina — Leo Tolstoy
Some of the times of deepest communion I have experienced with God were after reading great fiction that captured the truth of the Gospel. Most recently that was Madeline L’Engle’s Trilogy:
–A Wrinkle in Time
–A Swiftly Tilting Planet
–A Wind at the Door
I wholeheartedly recommend these three books to anyone. There are many, many more but I will let others share.
I LOVE fiction! And read a lot of it but mostly it’s Christian authors. Honestly you can find some fantastic Christian fiction that isn’t candy coated (or totally predictable) and really gets you thinking.
My favourite book in this regard is “Veritas Conflict’ by Shaunti Feldhahn. I had never really thought about spiritual warfare until I read this book - it impacted me immensely!
I think more people need to pick up a book and read - there is so much you can learn and take away from a great story.
The Kite Runner
The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis
A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
Lewis - Great Divorce / Peralandra
Golding - Lord of the Flies
Orwell - Animal Farm
…so those last two are focused on human depravity, but that’s part of the gospel message as well.
i Definitely need to read more fiction.
I forgot Les Mis
I would highly recommend “Byzantium” by Stephen Lawhead. Takes you through the highs and lows of faith, all the while reminding us that God’s work goes on whether we think so or not.
Ted dekker’s books are AMAZING!
Thr3e is SUPERB, and the “Circle Trilogy” is rocking it right now for me, but C.S. Lewis, Mark Twain, and The Short Stories of O. Henry” are some of my all time favorites!!
Harry Potter. It’s a battle between good and evil, but most importantly, teaches that sacrificial love truly does conquer all. (I would say more but I might ruin the ending for those who haven’t read the 7th book yet.)
Buechner! Glad to see his name in this write-up.
My not-so-short list:
+ Godric, Frederick Buechner
+ Gilead, Marilynne Robinson
+ The Man Who Was Thursday, G.K. Chesterton
+ The Chronicles of Narnia, C.S. Lewis
+ The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde
+ A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens
+ The History of Love, Nicole Krauss
+ Lord of the Flies, William Golding
+ The Storm, Buechner
^ Les Miserables breathes so much life into me, too, but more so on the stage than in the novel. Best batch of songs ever on Broadway in my not-too-humble take.
Great thoughts Winn. Here are some of my fav’s
The Road, Brothers K, Hemingway’s short story collection to name a few.
“Atonement” by Ian McEwan. It’s written by an atheist (I think), but I’ve never read something that so powerfully discusses the relationship between fiction and reality and the power of the Narrator in the bigger Story.
Something Wicked This Way Comes-Ray Bradbury
The story of two boys, Will is born just before Halloween and Jim is born just on the day.
light and dark.
A carnival comes to town early and it brings some sinister characters. It shows that love wins in the end. That evil only has the power you grant it.
Too much going on to tell it all here. Just one part of the book sticks with me.
The father sits with his son who is confused at why just being good doesn’t keep bad things from happening. He tells him that appearances are deceiving. The man who looks beaten down may very very well be the best man spiritually but the man who is pretty and smiling, don’t be too sure he isn’t rolling around in sin.
You just have to read it. The best writing ever. Still helps me spiritually every time I read it.
Here’s a quick list:
Tolkien/ The Lord of the Rings
Rowling/ Harry Potter series
Lewis/ That Hideous Strength
Dickens/ Bleak House, David Copperfield
I forgot to mention:
A River Runs Through It by Norman McLean
The River Why by David James Duncan
I second the Madeleine L’Engle books cited above…and would add Many Waters to the list.
Also…
The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
The Alchemist by Paolo Coelho
L’Engle once said something to the effect that Jesus wasn’t a theologian. He was God who told stories.
C.S. Lewis in his literary criticism wrote about everyone wanting to be themselves and a thousand others - and that is why we use literature, as windows.
From Douglas Coupland to George Bernanos… to Victor Hugo (I was just in the abbey in France that was converted into a prison and inspired Les Mis…creepy ville). The Russian novelists knew that thier ideas hidden between the lines, might just erode the status quo in communism.
I think it was Eugene P who said that the Church isn’t dying from a lack of ideas, but rather, a lack of imagination… which reminds me of the look on my kids faces as I read them the stories of Narnia over and over again. I once asked Luke, when he was 5, where he would want to go in the world if he could go anywhere. He answered with one eye-glistening face-beaming word, “NARNIA!”
I just smiled and said, “OK, bud. Let’s go find it together.”
As an English Lit grad student who attended a largely engineering university in undergrad (which will remain nameless), I almost cheered outloud in front of my computer when I read your comments. And I was thrilled to see that three out of four of your top books would have also been in my top ten list. I just have to add a plug that any serious fiction reader needs, at some time, to read some of the greatest novels of all times:
Middlemarch
Anna Karenina
Crime and Punishment
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
I also highly recommend Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. However, that recommendation comes with a warning: you will probably need to read it at least twice to really get the truth through his purposely obscure style (to see through the fog and mist).
i’m learning to love fiction and the artful element of story more and more. and just learning how the gospel is God’s story of redemption in bringing his people back to himself. yay for story.
–the sun also rises by hemingway
–you shall know our velocity by dave eggers
I wholeheartedly agree. I read fiction and nonfiction alike but have always used fiction for two reasons
1. To keep my creativity alive
2. To cultivate a love for reading (It’s easy to get burnt out on nonfiction) -
My list = Black, Red, and White by Ted Dekker - Les mis of course - Chronicles of Narnia C.S. Lewis(more amazing for adults although written for kids)
I don’t read fiction enough, but here’s a couple I read in high school that were very faith affirming for me.
The Outsider by Albert Camus. A very chilling story of life lived without God.
Lord of the Flies. A deep look at our sin nature.
And more recently:
The Chronicles of Narnia Series. Never have I devoured books more quickly!
Life After God by Douglas Coupland. The end of this book was like a bright light. Plus he’s Canadian!
I think fiction should be included in adult Sunday School classes. Some of the best include:
Les Miserables - Jean Valjean is a role model for me. Redemption and grace throughout.
Robinson Crusoe - teaches dependence on God.
The Great Divorce - a beautiful (yet sad) picture of heaven.
George McDonald - excellent fantasy; I especially liked Lilith.
To Kill a Mockingbird - Atticus Finch is a true hero.
The Ox-Bow Incident - a warning about being influenced by mob mentality (set in the old west).
The Brothers Karamazov - Alyosha is another hero of mine.
“The Story Spinner”, - can’t seem to find the author, but its wonderful! Read expecting to see pieces of how our stories impact people, and about the way the truth can be woven into peoples lives through stories.
the brothers k–david james duncan
I love all these comments
I’m an English major at my university and a life-long lover of literature. To add and not repeat, because I agree with every piece of literature you folks have said…
Flannery O’Connor is an amazing author, who blends her faith and humor in some seriously fantastic works about humanity (and a lot of depravity).
-A Good Man is Hard to Find (short story, go read it!)
-Wise Blood
And more.
I concluded long ago that pain is the best teacher… I understand the effect that even imaginary psychic pain can have on growth. I might still catch some flack for this… but I have to add it. We can learn a great deal from stories, but do we keep our filters on until we are sure we can trust the author’s perspective? I’ve learned to be careful where I look for answers, because all that glitters in not gold.
My pastor, Loran Livingston, is famous for these words, “Don’t read any other book until you have read this one from cover to cover!” Holding a black book in the air, he drives that point home often, but he’s right. There is no other story that holds a candle to the “war and peace” in “the greatest story ever told!” I have found in my life that I have to know what the word says before I think about what anyone else has to say. Besides, while not fictional, some of those stories are of epic proportion, and every reading brings out new truths and hews new rivers through my soul through which He can pour living waters. In my book, nothing compares!
I must confess, however, that I would like to meet Puddleglum. I, too, just might be guilty of so much worry that once I have something truly urgent to convey, no one will be listening. Yes, I am looking for Narnia. Hopefully, those of you I have caused to be up in arms can now put down your broadswords.
Shalom and Happy Rosh Hashanah (New Year)!
See wordofmessiah.org for significance.
Blessings,
Sherri