Word Pictures

About the Title

Brian Godawa used to revel in his ability to argue the truth of the gospel, often crushing his opponents in the process. In time, however, he began to realize that winning an argument about the logic of Christianity did not equal persuading people to follow Jesus. What was missing?

Through prayer and searching the Scriptures, Godawa realized that while God cares deeply for rationality, propositional truths were not the only, or even the primary, tools he used to reach people with his Truth. In fact, Godawa discovered that story, metaphor and imagery were central to God's communication style because they could go places reason could never go: into the heart.

In his refreshing and challenging book, Godawa helps you break free from the spiritual suffocation of heady faith. Without negating the importance of reason and doctrine, Godawa challenges you to move from understanding the Bible "literally" to "literarily" by exploring the poetry, parables and metaphors found in God's Word. Weaving historical insight, pop culture and personal narrative throughout, Godawa reveals the importance God places on imagination and creativity in the Scriptures, and provides a biblical foundation for Christians to pursue image, beauty, wonder and mystery in their faith.

For any Christian who wants to learn how to communicate and defend the Gospel in a postmodern context, this book will help you find a path between the two extremes of intellectualized faith and anti-intellectual faith by recovering a biblical balance between intellect and imagination.

A timely corrective to those of us who would reduce faith to words and arguments, given by an author who uses words and arguments so well. In Word Pictures, Brian Godawa manages to be contemporary without being trendy, faithful to tradition without being hidebound. It should be read by anyone concerned for the well-being of biblical truth in twenty-first-century popular culture.

Subtitle: Knowing God Through Story and Imagination

About the Author: Brian Godawa is an award-winning screenwriter and popular lecturer on film, faith and philosophy. He is also the author of Hollywood Worldviews: Watching Films with Wisdom and Discernment. He has been a past speaker at the American Vision Worldview Super Conference.

Specifications: Paperback, 208 pages