I recently returned from a trip to Florida, where I spent a few days in Orlando before going to a conference. Orlando is a hotbed of fantasy and adventure, from Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure to Disney World and Sea World.
At Disney World, little girls can fulfill their dream of becoming a princess at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique. At Universal’s Islands of Adventure, there is the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, one of the highlights of my trip. Visitors can drink Butterbeer (a nonalcoholic drink) and wander through the village of Hogsmeade. Many of the rides, in fact, are rather secondary to the experience, though the most popular ride’s line winds through Hogwarts Castle, complete with talking portraits. In Orlando, fantasy is big business. Fantasy and fairy tales are big business in television and movies as well. Recent theatrical releases include “Mirror Mirror” and “Snow White and the Huntsman”, and the first installment of “The Hobbit” is scheduled for December. On television we see “Once Upon A Time” and “Grimm.” ABC and The CW are both working on series based on Beauty and the Beast.
Fantasy also has a tradition within Christian culture. George MacDonald, C.S. Lewis, and J.R.R. Tolkien explore faith themes in their imaginative worlds. In fact, a person may walk into a bookstore and find no less than three devotionals based upon Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia series. It seems faith and imagination may be well suited to one another. Some would argue they work so well because it is like comparing apples to apples — that both belief in a higher power and belief in a fairy tale are in fact beliefs in the same type of fiction.
I am not one of the people who think all matters of faith can be reasoned out. There are some things that require…well…faith. Even Jesus’ disciples, as they watched him heal the blind and lame, still had to make the leap from thinking, “This is a great man with great power,” to, “This is the son of God.” We in the 21st century can read the eyewitness accounts, but we are still hampered with the intangible nature of forming a relationship with a person who is no longer in bodily form, one of the many examples of things that may be difficult for a person to understand. That’s where imagination comes into play. Imagination helps me to picture what God is like. Does it make him less real because I have to employ my imagination? One of the reasons I think C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien have lasting impact is they are able to imagine worlds in which the fight of good against evil has names, faces and bodies we can picture. If we can picture it in our minds, it is easier to grasp. I know I can’t really understand something until I can envision how it works. That is the role of the imagination in faith. How does imagination help you in your faith journey?
Ray Bradbury’s science fiction was a big help to me in visualizing faith. I still remember “The Long Rain” and how the captain’s faith was rewarded.
Bruce,
Yes, “The Long Rain” is a great example of the ways imagination can help envision a concept. It be used to describe a number of things: perseverance, faith being rewarded (as you mentioned), fighting against despair.
I read this quote and remembered your article quote. I don’t post this to be contrary but to stimulate more thought.
“Imagination is not faith. The two are not only different from, but stand in sharp opposition to, each other. Imagination projects unreal images out of the mind and seeks to attach reality to them. Faith creates nothing; it simply reckons upon that which is already there.”
-A.W. Tozer in this post: Reality & Reckoning: http://www.crossroad.to/Excerpts/books/faith/Tozer/010/pursuit/3-reality-reckon.htm
Eric,
Yes, I agree with Tozer that “imagination is not faith.” But I do think imagination can aid a person in his or her faith, especially as Jesus used parables frequently to illustrate his teaching. How does one envision a parable? I would argue that a person must use imagination.
What I find interesting about Tozer’s argument is that he talks about the fact that we rely too much on our five senses while missing out on the invisible, spiritual world. He also states: “At the root of the Christian life lies belief in the invisible.”
One of the definitions of imagination is creating concepts “not present to the senses” (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/imagination). So, if Christian belief is in an invisible (not present to the senses) reality, and imagination is the ability to conceptualize things outside the scope of the senses, might we conclude that imagination may help a person’s belief in this invisible reality?
I feel like Tozer sets up a false dichotomy between imagination and reality. He seems to operate under the assumption that imagination and reality do not intersect, or that imagination may include elements of reality and comment upon reality.
And — continuing the theme of my original post — perhaps Professor Dumbledore from the Harry Potter series sums this up nicely:
” ‘Tell me one last thing,’ said Harry. ‘Is this real? Or has this been happening inside my head?’
Dumbledore beamed at him, and his voice sounded loud and strong in Harry’s ears even though the bright mist was descending again, obscuring his figure.
‘Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?’ ” (Rowling, J.K., Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. New York: Arthur A. Levine Books, 2007. p. 723)
I think my concern and probably the underlying premise of Tozer’s discussion is rooted in the line of reasoning found in Romans chapter one:
“When they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.” v. 21
I think it’s true that stories can give context and real world connections, as well as imagery that hooks someone in memory and gives structure for contemplating truth.
But I think there is a fine line today being played with that subtly and not so subtly states that truth isn’t objectiive but is subjective. I believe this is what Tozer’s is countering and his statement points to the need to differentiate between Mythos and Biblical story. I beleive that biblical truth isn’t story on par with other stories…it is THE story from which other stories reflect and ultimately point towards, in shadow or brightness.
I understand your concern, and I certainly am not an advocate of subjectivism. I am also not suggesting that people shouldn’t read and understand the Bible. Certainly, if a person is reading only imaginative works, however much an aid to their faith these works are, that person is missing something. Similarly, if a person is reading religious works rather than the Bible, that person is also missing a crucial element.
I view the use of imagination as a tool. Like any tool, it can be used in ways that it was not intended to be used. So a person will always need to use it with caution, moderately, and not to the exclusion of other tools.
I think once one is grounded in objective truth, we are free to eat from all the other trees in the garden.
A biblically rooted mind is a free mind, one able to walk among the fields of literature, film and music and be able to appreciate, contemplate, enjoy, celebrate, be moved, impacted and thrilled by the glory of God found in and among all human expression.
We become liberated from “demons” as Paul put it, we can eat at tables where the food even arrived from offerings to idols and eat with clear consciences. These so called gods are nothing at all, so we can hold fast to what is good in these mediums and set aside that which isn’t true or good. I become a mature person when I can discern and celebrate all good things.
The opposite is the phobic, fear based, knee jerk, defilement thinking that takes place in many religious environments. That formation process binds thinkers and feelers, it puts Christians into a ghetto, unable to engage the culture and results in further displacing the discussion and consumption of truth from the conversations of hungry seekers and hungry saints.
I think both of us are trying to say the same thing. Thanks for the convo.