Shownotes
Apologetics consists in defending the faith by explaining the reasons for belief in Revelation. It is summed up in Saint Peter's exhortation to “always be prepared to make a defence to any one who calls you to account for the hope that is in you” (1Peter 3:15). However, recently, several apologists have been stressing the need to engage not just the minds but also our imagination. This strand of apologetics has been called imaginative apologetics. In this episode, Holly Ordway explains imaginative apologetics and recommends some of the best books on the subject.
Holly Ordway is the Cardinal Francis George Fellow of Faith and Culture at the Word on Fire Institute, and Visiting Professor of Apologetics at Houston Christian University. She holds a PhD in English from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and is the author of Tolkien’s Modern Reading: Middle-earth Beyond the Middle Ages (Word on Fire Academic, 2021). Her other books include Tales of Faith: A Guide to Sharing the Gospel through Literature (Word on Fire Institute, 2021) and Apologetics and the Christian Imagination: An Integrated Approach to Defending the Faith (Emmaus Road, 2017). She is also a Subject Editor for the Journal of Inklings Studies and a published poet.
Her recommended books on imaginative apologetics are:
- On Fairy-stories by J.R.R. Tolkien
- Planet Narnia: The Seven Heavens in the Imagination of C.S. Lewis (also available for Kindle) by Michael Ward
- An Experiment in Criticism (also available for Kindle) by C.S. Lewis
- An Unexpected Journal A Quarterly Journal
- The Beauty of Holiness and the Holiness of Beauty: Art, Sanctity, and the Truth of Catholicism by Fr. John Saward
Five Books for Catholics may receive a commission from qualifyng purchases made using the affliate links to the books listed in this post.
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