1. Bainespal says:

    An awesome article, and yet a confusing and complicated concept, to me.

    I have wished very badly that my favorite stories could be true, and felt so disappointed that my world seems so boring and futile by comparison.  Real life seems to have so little significance compared to Story.

    And yet, the thought that the story must be true is one of the few things that helps motivate me to do anything at all.  The story is not “literally” true in that the events, worlds, and people of the story never existed.  But the adventure and significance that I see in all my favorite stories has to exist.  The fact that I feel the lack of that significance so keenly means it has to exist.

     

    After all, though God’s word contains songs and systematic theology, God did not communicate His Word in only those forms. Instead He gave His Word as Story. The first, truest, primary, only real-life Story.

    By thinking too hard about the ramifications of the Bible and Christ both being called “the Word of God,” I managed to make myself totally confused and frustrated. By “He gave His Word as Story” do you mean that the Bible is completely story in essence? Or are you referring to the incarnation of Jesus Christ, whose life on Earth is the great, “real-life” Story? But, isn’t the “real-life Story” all of history and all of creation, since, as you say elsewhere, reality is story with God as the Hero? All of the above? I’m confused.  Surely the Bible doesn’t only contain stories (as you said), and surely the Bible/the Gospel isn’t really the only “true story” in the literal sense; there’s lots of true stories.  Like, the Titanic.

  2. The thought that the story must be true is one of the few things that helps motivate me to do anything at all.  The story is not “literally” true in that the events, worlds, and people of the story never existed.  But the adventure and significance that I see in all my favorite stories has to exist.  The fact that I feel the lack of that significance so keenly means it has to exist.

    This sounds to me like C.S. Lewis’s famous quote from Mere Christianity:

    If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.

    (While this may not be a sure sign that Christianity is true, it does seem a confirming sign. Otherwise, this desire is thoroughly useless; evolution should have weeded it out.)

    Absolutely those great stories are in a sense true, because they point to Christ. He is the Hero of what Lewis and Tolkien famously termed the “truth Myth,” the only epic tale with transcendent symbols, a perfect plot, and the sudden turn of evil into great good.

     

    By thinking too hard about the ramifications of the Bible and Christ both being called “the Word of God,” I managed to make myself totally confused and frustrated.

    Here, I did mean “Word of God” as in  the Bible.

    By “He gave His Word as Story” do you mean that the Bible is completely story in essence?

    One great, Epic Story, spanning the whole of reality, from start to “finish.”

    But, isn’t the “real-life Story” all of history and all of creation, since, as you say elsewhere, reality is story with God as the Hero?

    As Scripture’s account spans all of reality — from His creation in Genesis to His new creation in Rev. 21-22 — yes, that’s what I mean. We’re in the “middle” of His Story now, though its ending has already been written and the canon closed.

    Surely the Bible doesn’t only contain stories (as you said), and surely the Bible/the Gospel isn’t really the only “true story” in the literal sense; there’s lots of true stories. 

    In this sense I consider the Bible, and the reality it describes, the Story, with all other true stories — all historical events, each one of our lives — stories within the Story.

    Within Scripture, the account of Noah (with him as “hero”) is a story within the Story.

    The account of King David is also a story within a Story.

    Your story, and mine, as we live our lives, is also part of that greatest and truest Story.

  3. Marion says:

    Stephen,
    That was an interesting article and I enjoyed it.
    However, it seems to be a problem with just enjoying stories for entertainment.  God didn’t make us robots and he was definitely okay with us having some pleasure in our lives.  Read Ecclesiastes (my favorite book in the Bible) for that.
    It seems as Christians (also in our secular culture) have a problem with just enjoying something for what it is.  I don’t get that.
    I do read stories for other things as well like theme or characters or that author’s worldview.  But first and foremost, I would like to entertain as well.
    For example, I went to the used bookstore today and picked up a copy of Sidney Sheldon’s Other Side of Midnight.  His best known and most-popular novel.  I would have never read Sidney Sheldon….but I was told I should read it to check his storytelling skills, crafting of a story and how entertaining it is to read. 
    So I will read it in the next several days to see if that’s true.  Now if it’s only an entertaining page-turner…is there something wrong with that?
    Marion

  4. Marion, I’m in complete agreement that fun, even entertainment, can glorify God!

    However, it seems to be a problem with just enjoying stories for entertainment. God didn’t make us robots and he was definitely okay with us having some pleasure in our lives.

    I think this dichotomy — glorifying God through stories vs. enjoying them — keeps coming back up because we just can’t believe that the purpose of our existence is not just to Be Good or to Do Our Duty for God. Rather, our purpose is to enjoy Him, and thereby also enjoy His good gifts. That is a glorious, freeing, and yet scary truth, for it requires that all our little graceless rules and checklists be tossed out. This truly is about relationship, and while God never promises we’ll never suffer for Him, He also gives us very good gifts to show us His love — including stories and entertainment.

    One explanation for this provocative yet Biblically based concept, which some label “Christian Hedonism,” is in another article at Desiring God:

    Does seeking your own happiness sound self-centered? Aren’t Christians supposed to seek God, not their own pleasure? To answer this question we need to understand a crucial truth about pleasure-seeking (hedonism): we value most what we delight in most. Pleasure is not God’s competitor, idols are. Pleasure is simply a gauge that measures how valuable someone or something is to us. Pleasure is the measure of our treasure.

    We know this intuitively. If a friend says to you, “I really enjoy being with you,” you wouldn’t accuse him of being self-centered. Why? Because your friend’s delight in you is the evidence that you have great value in his heart. In fact, you’d be dishonored if he didn’t experience any pleasure in your friendship. The same is true of God. If God is the source of our greatest delight then God is our most precious treasure; which makes us radically God-centered and not self-centered. And if we treasure God most, we glorify Him most.

    Does the Bible teach this? Yes. Nowhere in the Bible does God condemn people for longing to be happy. People are condemned for forsaking God and seeking their happiness elsewhere (Jeremiah 2:13). This is the essence of sin. The Bible actually commands us to delight in the Lord (Psalm 37:4). Jesus teaches us to love God more than money because our heart is where our treasure is (Matt. 6:21). Paul wants us to believe that gaining Christ is worth the loss of everything else (Phil 3:8) and the author of Hebrews exhorts us to endure suffering, like Jesus, for the joy set before us (Heb. 12: 1-2). Examine the Scriptures and you’ll see this over and over again.

    Christian Hedonism is not a contradiction after all. It is desiring the vast, ocean-deep pleasures of God more than the mud-puddle pleasures of wealth, power or lust. We’re Christian Hedonists because we believe Psalm 16:11, “You show me the path of life; in Your presence there is fullness of joy, in Your right hand are pleasures for evermore.”

    The book Desiring God is also very helpful for getting this into one’s foundation.

    It seems as Christians (also in our secular culture) have a problem with just enjoying something for what it is. I don’t get that.

    I agree. We keep wanting to “use” things for other ends. Even liberal professing “Christians” who claim they’re all about Art and All That are addled with guilt complexes. To them, art isn’t really valuable because it reflects the Creator and His wonders and gives us joy from Him, but because it Drives Us to Social Action. The same is true of genuine Christians. Story can’t be valuable simply because it’s story, right?

    To some extent I agree. If we don’t understand the purpose of Story, its positives will be only shallow, fleeting “entertainment” in the worst sense of the word. But if we do see that good story honors God, even when we’re not specifically thinking of God’s Name when we’re reading it, paradoxically, that may just seep into our minds and hearts …

    I’m still working on this. Maybe my next column should make it more personal.

    Recently I’ve been viewing some of the fantastic Green Lantern: The Animated Series episodes. Don’t laugh! This series, which on the surface looks like just another mindless cartoon, has some well-thought-out action, characters, and intricate plotlines. Do I pray before each episode or take notes on particular redemptive moments? Not at all. But does the creativity implicitly reflect God’s image as Creator, and do the good-versus-evil themes implicitly and even explicitly reflect His true Story, sneakily reinforcing those beauties and truths in my mind and heart? You bet they do.

    “Entertainment” is rarely (perhaps even never) harmless. And that’s the wonder of it.

    I would have never read Sidney Sheldon….but I was told I should read it to check his storytelling skills, crafting of a story and how entertaining it is to read. So I will read it in the next several days to see if that’s true. Now if it’s only an entertaining page-turner…is there something wrong with that?

    If you’re asking me, I don’t know; I’ve never heard of that author or read his works.

    For you, is there?

    If not, then — after some thought about your question — I might suggest this. Somehow my wife and I have begun drifting into thinking this, occasionally, though not as often as we should, when we’re enjoying one of God’s good gifts: time with friends, a movie, a delicious dinner item or dessert, or a wonder of nature. It goes like this:

    You know, God didn’t need to give us (name of good gift). But He did anyway.

    I’m not sure how we started this little homespun “meme.” Yet I think it’s a step in the right direction. It doesn’t “spiritualize” things in the way that well-intended Christians do when they figure they need a spiritual logo or layer of jargon to sanctify a Thing. It does, however, grow toward that gold standard (which we will never reach) of truly, overtly glorifying Him, even subconsciously or silently, for all His good gifts.

    • Galadriel says:

      That last point–God didn’t have to give us x, but he did–makes me think of a Sandi Patti song, called “That’s the Love of God” with the lyrics:

      What made God take so much care
      To make creation glow?
      He could have made it black and white
      And we’d have never known.
      And what made God send Jesus
      To die on Calvary?
      Of course it was this joyous thing
      I feel inside of me

      .That’s the love of God…

  5. Marion says:

    Stephen,
    Thanks for your response to my post.  I will respond to your post later. 
    But, your series about story got me thinking about a question. 
    I posted it on my blog:
    Is Reading a Story only for the Middle Class?

    I would like to have your feedback on this one.

    http://kammbia1.wordpress.com/2012/05/19/wisdom-of-marion-2-15-is-reading-a-story-only-for-the-middle-class/

    Thanks,
    Marion

  6. […] how I would answer that question: Beauty and Truth 4: The Chief End of Story. […]

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  8. […] a story doesn’t lead me to enjoyment — true enjoyment is the same as even subconscious worship of God — it’s likely a poor story. I was concluding this the other day when considering many Christian […]

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