Overview

"This writing intends to rouse would-be believers to faith--or enhance the faith of others--through the adventure of modern fiction. While taking note of the secularity of our era, the author insists the Spirit of God has not departed the scene. The opening poem by Emily Dickinson, """"Tell all the truth but tell it slant,"""" proposes the author's contention that the """"indirect discourse"""" of fictional writers may welcome readers to faith's door in ways sermonic speech never did. The modern authors chosen for this purpose are Izak Dinesen, Annie Dillard, Kent Haruf, Loren Eiseley, Gary Trudeau, Garrison Keillor, William Golding, Walker Percy, Frederick Buechner, and Gabriel Marcel. Having explained one work each by these noted authors, the book closes by pointing to ways in which embedded faith may rise out of these pages to meet the reader where he or she lives."

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9781666700312

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Reviews

"""With elegance and erudition, Bowman elaborates on Emily Dickinson's famous maxim for artists to tell the truth but 'tell it slant.' His novel contribution is to explore this strategy theologically, finding in a wealth of modern writers the indirect workings of faith. In so doing, Bowman not only offers original readings of fiction but supplies a theological perspective for late modernity where faithful speech may be best encountered indirectly and through hidden, broken places."" --Charles Andrews, Whitworth University ""A profoundly deep, heart-penetrating, magnificently written, and spiritually courageous exploration of the intrinsic relationship between certain religiously crucial types of literature and their essential capacity of implicitly and indirectly conveying powerfully inviting and felt hints and glimpses of those shards of Light that are continually penetrating the otherwise all-encompassing darkness of our human condition."" --Russell Pannier, William Mitchell College of Law ""Surely even our increasingly utilitarian culture in its frenetic search for satisfaction includes many reflective people who have rejected the simplistic banalities of so much 'religion, ' . . . who will find food for thought in these chapters."" --Thomas A. Noble, Nazarene Theological Seminary ""Always a close study, David Bowman does an excellent job of sifting through some of our most important modern fiction."" --Armand E. Larive, author of After Sunday: A Theology of Work ""St. Augustine wrote, 'You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.' David Bowman discusses ten modern writers whose characters display such restless hearts. This is a book concerned with the intersection of literature, philosophy, and theology. . . . It is a humane book, in that it presents people in all their humanity. It is by an author steeped in the Christian tradition, but anyone open to the possibility of spiritual experience will find it rewarding. It is a kind of book too little seen these days: a contribution to the conversation about the meaning of human existence."" --William J. Prior, Santa Clara University"

"""With elegance and erudition, Bowman elaborates on Emily Dickinson's famous maxim for artists to tell the truth but 'tell it slant.' His novel contribution is to explore this strategy theologically, finding in a wealth of modern writers the indirect workings of faith. In so doing, Bowman not only offers original readings of fiction but supplies a theological perspective for late modernity where faithful speech may be best encountered indirectly and through hidden, broken places."" --Charles Andrews, Whitworth University ""A profoundly deep, heart-penetrating, magnificently written, and spiritually courageous exploration of the intrinsic relationship between certain religiously crucial types of literature and their essential capacity of implicitly and indirectly conveying powerfully inviting and felt hints and glimpses of those shards of Light that are continually penetrating the otherwise all-encompassing darkness of our human condition."" --Russell Pannier, William Mitchell College of Law ""Surely even our increasingly utilitarian culture in its frenetic search for satisfaction includes many reflective people who have rejected the simplistic banalities of so much 'religion, ' . . . who will find food for thought in these chapters."" --Thomas A. Noble, Nazarene Theological Seminary ""Always a close study, David Bowman does an excellent job of sifting through some of our most important modern fiction."" --Armand E. Larive, author of After Sunday: A Theology of Work ""St. Augustine wrote, 'You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.' David Bowman discusses ten modern writers whose characters display such restless hearts. This is a book concerned with the intersection of literature, philosophy, and theology. . . . It is a humane book, in that it presents people in all their humanity. It is by an author steeped in the Christian tradition, but anyone open to the possibility of spiritual experience will find it rewarding. It is a kind of book too little seen these days: a contribution to the conversation about the meaning of human existence."" --William J. Prior, Santa Clara University"

With elegance and erudition, Bowman elaborates on Emily Dickinson's famous maxim for artists to tell the truth but 'tell it slant.' His novel contribution is to explore this strategy theologically, finding in a wealth of modern writers the indirect workings of faith. In so doing, Bowman not only offers original readings of fiction but supplies a theological perspective for late modernity where faithful speech may be best encountered indirectly and through hidden, broken places. --Charles Andrews, Whitworth University A profoundly deep, heart-penetrating, magnificently written, and spiritually courageous exploration of the intrinsic relationship between certain religiously crucial types of literature and their essential capacity of implicitly and indirectly conveying powerfully inviting and felt hints and glimpses of those shards of Light that are continually penetrating the otherwise all-encompassing darkness of our human condition. --Russell Pannier, William Mitchell College of Law Surely even our increasingly utilitarian culture in its frenetic search for satisfaction includes many reflective people who have rejected the simplistic banalities of so much 'religion, ' . . . who will find food for thought in these chapters. --Thomas A. Noble, Nazarene Theological Seminary Always a close study, David Bowman does an excellent job of sifting through some of our most important modern fiction. --Armand E. Larive, author of After Sunday: A Theology of Work St. Augustine wrote, 'You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.' David Bowman discusses ten modern writers whose characters display such restless hearts. This is a book concerned with the intersection of literature, philosophy, and theology. . . . It is a humane book, in that it presents people in all their humanity. It is by an author steeped in the Christian tradition, but anyone open to the possibility of spiritual experience will find it rewarding. It is a kind of book too little seen these days: a contribution to the conversation about the meaning of human existence. --William J. Prior, Santa Clara University

Author Information

David B. Bowman is the author of two autobiographical books: Saints Along the Way (2015) and Parish, the Thought (2018). He holds a PhD from Glasgow University (Scotland) and has provided ordained ministry for over four decades. Bowman is married to Dianne. They live in Saratoga, California.

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