An Unexpected Journal: The Power of Story

Book excerpt: What is it about a story that has the power to change a person, through a person a society, and through a society the world? It is that through story and the faculty of imagination, we connect and engage with something outside of ourselves. We can see through a lens not our own and experience circumstances not ours. This issue explores the role story plays in imaginative apologetics, explaining the Christian truth, through a collection of both essays an stories. CONTRIBUTORS Annie Crawford: “Literary Apologetics: A Spell for the Refreshment of the Spirit” on why stories matter. Rebekah Valerius: “Hume in Elfland.” A short story on an imagined meeting between G. K. Chesterton and David Hume where worldviews, imaginations, and miracles collide. “Devouring Reason: The Myth of Arachne Retold.” A short story on the desire for meaning. Charlotte Thomason: “For What Purpose.” An essay on why C. S. Lewis wrote about Narnia. Nicole Howe: “Augustine’s The Confessions: The Power of Spiritual Biography.” An essay on the importance of first person testimonies. Korine Martinez: “Dry Bones.” A short story about why we must not lose hope, dedicated to the community of Santa Fe, Texas. Annie Crawford: “Finding Faith in Fairy Tales: Answers for Modern Skeptics from C. S. Lewis’ The Silver Chair.” An essay on why faith is a reasonable answer to uncertainty. Edward A. W. Stengel: “God the Great Iconoclast: C. S. Lewis’ Personal Theodicy.” An essay addressing the problem of pain. Seth Myers: “Lewis in La La Land.” An essay on the movie La La Land and the search for significance. Karise Gililland: “Sneaking Past Watchful Dragons: Imaginative Apologetics and the Games We Play.” An essay on how games are a delayed apologetic. 173 pages Volume 1, Issue 2, Summer 2018