Tolkien Speaks: The Secret to a Happy Marriage

Tolkien Speaks: The Secret to a Happy Marriage

Perhaps his most famous and enduring tribute to his beloved bride was weaving his romance with her into the mythology of Middle Earth in the story of Beren and Luthien.

How Story Inspires

How Story Inspires

Creativity begets creativity. Beauty calls out to beauty.

Art Appreciation is for the Everyday

Art Appreciation is for the Everyday

You could blame technology and the hurried twenty-first century lifestyle, or point to commercialism and pop culture. But there is another reason: People underestimate our common ability to apprehend the aesthetic.

On the Road to Boredom

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On the Road to Boredom

Here is an even greater hope that the second-raters do not produce a flood of treacle, sappy moralism, of the sort found in so many Christian films.

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What Lent Feels Like

What Lent Feels Like

But for now, it is enough to get back up and roll away the stone.

Join Us: Christianity and Story

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Join Us: Christianity and Story

A three-part class at 10am at Holy Trinity.

Brian Brown, Director of the Anselm Society

 

Week 1 (Feb 1): How do we tell stories?

Do we as Christians have compelling stories to tell our friends? Our culture? Our children? Or are we an increasingly insular minority, speaking only in “family friendly” God-talk with easy answers that don’t stick—either with non-Christians or with our children as they grow up? This week will explore how the Bible uses story, focusing on the prophets and Christ, and continue into how we as Christians can tell great stories that shake people—including ourselves—out of the darkness of their circumstances into the light of truth.

Week 2 (Feb 8): How do we listen to stories?

Bible stories, fairy tales, Christmas morning…they all have one thing in common: they’re for kids. Or are they? What if we had a cradle-to-adulthood conception of Christianity? What if we knew what to do with stories as adults? This week will explore the proper role of stories in the lifelong Christian identity—whose story we’re in, how to listen for truth in stories (instead of looking for reasons to discount them), and how to build and pass on a Christian identity that stands the test of time.

Week 3 (Feb 15): How do we illustrate stories?

Are we Christians known for what we fear, and what we forbid? Are the good things about Christianity all invisible? This week will put it all together, covering the relationships between goodness, truth, and beauty in Christian theology and worship—and how our understanding of story can move from what we tell to how we live.

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