Currently reading Ralph C. Wood’s, Literature and Theology. A gem of a book.
An excerpt from the introduction:
Christianity is a supremely story-centered and story-borne religion. Christians are called to center their lives around the singular story of God’s ordering and reordering of the world. It is not surprising that, as a story-telling people, Christians would have followed the example of their Jewish forebears in being a People of the Book. Though it has many other qualities, the Bible is first and last the narrative of God’s people, the recounting of His dealings not only with Jews and Christians but with all the other peoples as well, from the original Creation until the final End. Nor is it any wonder that a people whose lives are sustainted by the Grand Drama of God’s work in the world should have produced yet more stories and books of their own. This little book of mine is an attempt to relate some of these later stories and books to the One Great Story and Book.
Beginning where a Christian’s life begins in the Church – at baptism, Dr. Wood delves into the baptismal imagery of “The River” by the ever-provocative Flannery O’Connor. He moves on to consider vocation through the lens of Walker Percy’s The Moviegoer, and the matter of compansionship via J.R.R. Tolien’s The Lord of the Rings. Further, the works of T.S. Eliot, G.K Chesterton, C.S. Lewis, and Walter Miller are brought to bear on other aspects of the Christian life. Hardly a work for pastors or theologians only, Dr. Wood’s collection of essays are engaging, challenging, and thoroughly edifying for a wide range of readers.