Apologetics and the Christian Imagination: An Integrated Approach to Defending the Faith

Linguistically, when today's modern person hears "Apologetics," they either don't know what this is, or they think it's like an "apology" in which a Christian "apologizes" for having a lot of "dumb" beliefs in irrational things like God as a big white man up in heaven on a throne, to whom we plead for indulgences. Ms. Ordway has written a concise, useful, and insightful book about apologetics, and its strongest aspects lie in her focus on language. She not only explains that we live in a post-Christian society (bad enough) but that we live in a society in which the non-believers need to "unlearn" what they "know" about Christianity including about important concepts such as faith, the Trinity, and (last but not least) the person of Jesus Christ himself before they can a) understand what Christianity is really all about, and/or b) come to believe. Our linguistic concepts and symbols, simply put, have gotten in the way of our path to understanding.Her recommended strategy (a bit implicit in the book) is to begin at first principles, what a smarty pants person would call "epistemology" and "ontology," and what a practical lay person might say in an over-a-cup-of-coffee conversation with a friend and non-believer, namely: "Let's first attempt to define some basic concepts such as God, faith, reason, reality, proof, etc., so we have some 'common ground' to have a more fruitful conversation about religion vs. science vs. atheism or perhaps religion AND science AND atheism." Once a person thinks deeply and realizes that he or she might not really have a clear definition of what the word "God" means, or what the word "evidence" means, or even what the word "tea" means... that might open the door to a more fruitful conversation. Secondarily and very importantly, she points out that we as believers should approach others with a humility of heart and mind, being respectful of our shared experience as humans who struggle to find the Way as opposed to "arguing" our path to "victory" against atheists and others. (In this regard, she emphasizes the use of imaginative literature as one pathway of Apologetics that might be more fruitful than the "logical" or "argumentative" path).She also points out that really it is the Holy Spirit that moves a non-believer to begin the journey to faith (not "rational" arguments), and that the best "arguments" by another person can only act as supplements to that mystical experience that propels a person to begin to believe. Having an open mind and heart to faith is the first mystical step towards believing, and everything that comes after depends on that first important step. To that end, those of us who do believe would do well to help people "see" that they have sloppy and/or erroneous concepts as to what constitutes "proof," "evidence," "science," "God," and "belief" among others... as a first step towards having a fruitful conversation about our faith with others. We are all God's children, she seems to argue, and as such are owed a respect of our diversity and differences, even if we shall never come to a full and complete agreement on any topic, not the least of which God and/or Jesus.Perhaps we could start the conversation by Googling 'The Treachery of Images' by Rene Magritte... and pondering for just a moment, "What is a pipe?" to see that that by which we call "pipe" has many reflections in "reality." She does this masterfully with a discussion of the word "tea" and learning that it was only on a real trip to England did she begin to understand what "tea" really was. There's the "tea" you get at 7-Eleven and there's the "tea" you get at High Tea in England, and they aren't exactly the same thing! (I should know, I am very passionate about "tea.").Those of us who are Christians, already, might do well to ponder 1 Corinthians 13:12, "For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known." Or those who love the Greeks, to paraphrase Socrates, we should know enough to know how little we truly know...I am rambling on here, because I am a busy guy... and, as Mark Twain said, if "I had had more time, I would have written a shorter novel." Suffice it to say if you are interested in apologetics, in language, and in how art (especially but not only literature) can help you be a better "apologist" for Christ... this book comes highly recommended. It is a path forward out of fruitless arguments with atheists, agnostics, and other non-believers who hunger for the Truth yet are so blind as to not realize just how blind they actually are. (Just don't tell them that, yet ;-)).

Nowadays, says author Holly Ordway, the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ consists of mere jargon-words with no substantial content and not much meaning to non-believers and believers alike. While the rational arguments of apologetics are necessary for indoctrination ("the most important tasks for the apologists is catechesis and formation inside the Church," Location 472), the evangelization of new converts requires the re-imaging of Biblical truths in a way that makes them appear more desirable to a jaded, materialistic culture. The gospel must be smuggled into the skeptical post-modern mind with the Trojan horse of fantasy, myth and metaphor. The more this messaging can escape rational analysis while appealing to the sub-conscious the better:"The beauty of figurative language, used well, is that it can communicate truth both directly and intuitively, by its fittingness of image and meaning, even if the reader doesn't consciously understand it." Loc. 807."The effect of [C. S.] Lewis's subtle but persistent Christological focus is that the reader, probably without consciously realizing it, gains a sense of the meaning of who Christ is…." Loc. 717.The goal of this sub-conscious programming is to influence the emotions so as to direct the human will toward a desired behavior: "Literature offers a mode of apologetics in which we can guide the natural human emotional response toward its right end and, by presenting truth in such a way that we are moved on the level of our emotions…." Loc. 1600. The process is intended to "harness" the mind in order "to guide the will toward a commitment to Christ." Loc. 295.The main problem with this subliminal advertising for Christianity is it just doesn’t work. Adults are not converted to Christianity by fairy tales, not even by the good ones from Lewis and Tolkien. While the author credits her own conversion to Aslan, the talking lion of Lewis's Narnia, who convinced her that the Incarnation "could be true" (Loc. 231-235), she is the rare and possibly only exception to the rule. As for Tolkien, he did not write Lord of the Rings in order to cloak the glory of Christ in the "self-sacrifice of Frodo and the kingliness of Aragorn" as the author sees it. By his own account, Tolkien wrote the fantasy "because I wished to try my hand at a really long story that would hold the attention of readers, amuse them, delight them, and at times maybe excite them or deeply move them."Christian authors should write, musicians compose, and artists paint. If they are good at their craft and Christian at the core, their worldview will be represented in their work and both can be assessed and valued for what they are. But to treat art as a propaganda tool for religion diminishes both.The author's own attempt at "imaginative apologetics" here ends up as quite off-putting. An earlier reviewer states that the "unabashedly Roman Catholic" author is "nothing if not irenic in tone." Not quite. The word irenic, in Christian theology, means tending towards the reconciliation of different denominations. Yet, among the components of "our Faith" advanced by the author are Transubstantiation, Purgatory, and the physical incorruptibility of the corpses of saints. In the book’s final chapter, the author wraps things up by discussing how "the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church" and continues with an account of a Catholic who was hanged in Oxford in 1589 while "an Anglican priest in the crowd mocked him." (Loc. 2561.) To aggravate matters, the author refers to the hanged man as one of the "Oxford Martyrs" a term that in common usage refers to three Protestants who were burned at the stake for their faith in 1555 during the regime of "Bloody" Mary Tudor. Ironic, maybe, but certainly not irenic.

An articulate and passionate call to re engage with imagination in Christian apologetics - and not rely solely on reason and logic.

A very worthwile book written by an inspirated and gifted writer. Her approach is invaluable for those interested in defending the faith.

A good present for my family members.

I gained a lot of info from this book. A real inspiration and easy to understand.