Through Literature to the Gospel
The great 19th-century American evangelist Charles Finney once declared, “I cannot believe that a person who has ever known the love of God can relish a secular novel.”
And he went on to denounce explicitly Lord Byron, Walter Scott, even Shakespeare. Now such attitudes may strike some as strange, yet, historically, some American evangelicals have been suspicious toward secular literature. To give us the tools we need to know whether that attitude is justified, Louise Cowan and Os Guinness have published a new book entitled Invitation to the Classics. It can help Christians understand not just what classic books to read, but how they can lead us to a richer understanding of the Gospel.
Classic Fiction Every Christian Should Read
Done with consuming light and tired content with borderline silly plots that bring little spiritual value? Enter, classic fiction. The stories listed below span hundreds of years and are sure to provide you with plenty of spiritual food for thought. Go through them with a few friends for even more benefit to your soul! Listening is one of the best ways to engage classic fiction (in our opinion!). These detailed and topic-heavy works will quench your thirst for something deeper and will provide the content you’ve been searching for to fuel more spiritually engaging conversations and understanding.
Who Is Your Master? A Christmas Carol
Charles Dickens’ most famous work, A Christmas Carol, has become a staple of Christmas traditions and is shared in many homes – regardless of religious beliefs. However, this charming and nostalgic tale is full of biblical values and retains a starkly Christian framework.
A Christmas Carol is quite like a biblical parable. It’s crafted to be subversive, entertaining, and relatable, rather than preachy, direct, or harsh, yet it is still quite thought-provoking and full of God’s desires and intentions for His people.
Guard Our Hearts: Sense and Sensibility
In Sense and Sensibility, Elinor and Marianne are quite different in their outlook on life, their opinions, and their emotional makeup. Where Elinor is sensible and level-headed, Marianne is romantic, full of feeling, and sees the world in full color. However, though they are unalike in many ways, Elinor and Marianne know one another uniquely and intimately.
Redeeming the Time: Sense and Sensibility
Mrs. John Dashwood in Sense and Sensibility is perhaps the greediest and most self-centered character in Jane Austen’s novels. When her father-in-law dies, leaving his fortune and estate to her husband, she manipulates her husband so thoroughly that instead of giving his stepsisters “a thousand pounds a-piece,” he decides to give them no financial help whatsoever. When the funeral is over, she arrives at Norland, “without sending any notice of her intention to her mother-in-law,” with her son and their servants. She “install[s] herself mistress,” while “her mother and sisters-in-law” are “degraded to the condition of visitors.” Her only regret: that her mother-in-law gets to keep the “china, plate, and linen.”
The Least of These: Little Women
The March girls start their day with morning devotions, something they’ve neglected since “father went away” and the war “unsettled them.” If they hadn’t spent that first half hour of the day preparing their hearts, they might not have so cheerfully given their breakfast away. Do you have a time and a tucked-away place for your personal devotions? If not, think of ways to make that time special and make it a priority.
Feasting on Grace: Babette’s Feast
Danish author Baroness Karen Christenze von Blixen-Finecke, who wrote under the pen names of Karen Blixen and Isak Dinesen, gifted the world with a story that never fails to bring tears of conviction and joy, as it echoes the lavish love of Jesus.
Babette’s Feast is a short story that, despite its brevity, is packed to overflowing with gracious glimpses of the goodness of God.
Royalty Incognito: The Scarlet Pimpernel
I was first introduced to The Scarlet Pimpernel via the somewhat campy-but-iconic 1982 film adaptation starring Anthony Andrews and Jane Seymour, and so enthralled was my tweenaged self that I promptly devoured the book, which remains an often-reread favorite to this day.
The Scarlet Pimpernel, published in 1905, intertwines many Christian themes, but the standout is that of the masked hero – royalty incognito on a rescue mission.