Report from ‘Writing as Christian Proclamation in Contemporary Contexts’
Report from Week 1 of Writing as Christian Proclamation in Contemporary Contexts: The Truth’s Superb Surprise, led by Debra Rienstra of Calvin College, sponsored by CICW and hosted by Seminars in Christian Scholarship:
Our first week has acquainted us with a variety of compelling Christian voices from (mostly) the past 10-15 years, including Anne Lamott, Kathleen Norris, Brian McLaren, and some intriguing newcomers such as Rob Bell and Russell Rathbun. We began with memoir and then moved to apologetics, noting how the two are becoming less distinct—an author today is more likely to embed an assertion of the truth of her faith in a personal narrative, which fleshes out beliefs with experience (or the other way around), while apologetics may ring hollow to readers now without personal reflections on doubt and struggle—argumentation alone isn’t enough (more on memoir here). We made Debra blush as we praised her book, but we had a point: the book has two important things we don’t usually think about as ingredients for apologetics: beautiful crafting and also consistent hospitality and respect for the reader. One of the most helpful words to tie these two together, offered by one participant, was witness. Meanwhile, we’ve all been struck by how differently two people can react to the same book, and develop different feelings toward the same author, especially with such a beautiful blend of different voices and experiences in the room.
Below are our beginning discussion questions from each day, and some summary statements that emerged from our discussion. Also read a blog reflection by participant Al Hsu, author and editor for InterVarsity Press. (Other links: blogs of Jana Riess of Publishers Weekly, who joined us all of last week, and Andy Crouch of Christianity Today, who joins us this week. Authors Vinita Hampton Wright and Al Hsu are here for the entirety of the seminar.)
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