LITERATURE ARTS

“In the beginning was the Word.” Thus opens one of the most beloved books in the Christian Scriptures, the Gospel of John. It is a most fitting introduction to a literary masterpiece that points to the One that the Christian faith centers upon: Jesus Christ, the Word of God. Proponents of the Christian faith have rightly been labelled as “people of the Book.” Christians accept and embrace the truth that the Holy Scriptures are the “infallible rule of all saving knowledge, faith, and obedience” (1689 Baptist Confession of Faith). Leland Ryken summarized the import of the fact that our rule of faith comes to us in the form of a book: “Because the Bible communicates truth by literary means, no Christian can say that literature is unimportant.” The Christian reader must therefore embrace literature as a meaningful expression from a human author created in the image of God. Literature must be interpreted and applied from a distinctly Christian perspective so that all things, whether eating or drinking, reading or writing, would be done for the glory of God. (excerpt from "Why Christians Should Value Literature" by Chris Hume)