The God of Story: Discovering the Narrative of Scripture Through the Language of Storytelling

by Daniel Schwabauer, Leonard Sweet (foreword)

Many of us have been taught to read Scripture as a collection of information that needs to be categorized, systematized, and analyzed verse by verse, concept by concept. But the Bible isn't a jigsaw puzzle, and it wasn't written in just Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. It was also written in the language of story. And as with every good story, we get to meet colorful characters, unravel mysteries, and see the world from a different point of view. It all makes more sense when understood from the perspective of storytelling.

In The God of Story, Daniel Schwabauer explores the narrative principles of theme, context, characterization, voice, and plot as a lens for understanding the cosmic story arc of God's relationship to humanity. By including creative retellings of biblical stories, he demonstrates how to engage Scripture with imagination.

For a fresh approach to reading the Bible and discovering how its stories connect to your own, start by learning to see God as the master storyteller.

Genres: Nonfiction, Writing, Christian

272 pages, Paperback

Published February 18, 2025

About the author

Daniel Schwabauer, ThD, teaches English at MidAmerica Nazarene University and writes award-winning fantasy and science fiction novels. He earned an MA in creative writing under science fiction legend James Gunn and completed his doctoral work in semiotic theology with Leonard Sweet. He lives in Olathe, Kansas, with his wife and dogs.

Reviews

[Asher Allen]

As a Christian and a writer, I have given much thought to the relationship of "the Author of life" to story, especially in recent years. So it was a delight to get my hands on a book like The God of Story, written by a man from whom I have learned so much over the past fifteen years.
I love the premise of this book and much of the execution. I remain, though, uncertain how to rate it. Many individual chapters are five-star worthy, but certain claims and lines of reasoning remain unconvincing to me personally.
 
By way of example, I can't currently accept the characterization of Elihu as a "satanic accuser," an appellation seemingly necessitated by the suggested dichotomy between power and principles. Appealing to the suggestion of antinomy between the ideals to prove Elihu evil would be circular reasoning, so I remain unwilling to agree with the vilifying proposition on that basis alone. If we look to the text for the evaluation, we do not see any condemnation of Elihu by Job or his three friends or the LORD; rather, the inspired narrative says that Elihu "burned with anger at Job because he justified himself rather than God." (Job 32:2b) Being jealous on God's behalf is the sort of thing that is elsewhere commended, and the introduction of Elihu actually makes me think of Phinehas in Numbers 25:11: “Phinehas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, has turned back my wrath from the people of Israel, in that he was jealous with my jealousy among them, so that I did not consume the people of Israel in my jealousy."
Even if we allow for the possibility that Elihu might have been wrong in some of his words, I am not comfortable—having read all his praises of God—with seemingly unequivocal claims like the following from chapter six of this book:
"Elihu is not a divine prosecutor but a devilish one."
"Elihu is a tool for Satan's last temptation. He is a mouthpiece for the Adversary."
"In spirit, Elihu is a medieval torturer bending over his racked victim and demanding submission to the new king."
"His god is a god of power. But his god isn't the God of the opening frame, not the God Job has been appealing to. His god isn't God. His god is Leviathan, 'the king over all who are proud.'"
These are bold claims, and I don't find them as well-supported or as textually derived as the (somewhat less damning) characterization of Daniel a couple chapters later.
There are other characterizations and interpretations with which I take issue, but I don't want to further enumerate or belabor my criticisms. 
 
It might sound like I didn't enjoy this book, but I did overall. And I appreciate this book and its intent and its author. It is well-written, engaging, and compelling. My objections are more with the confidence of certain claims, where I personally see a need for more circumspect language. I tend to be pedantic when it comes to hermeneutics and theology in general. 

[Literary Strawberry · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot to think about. It was really cool to look at the Bible and the gospel as a whole through the lens of storytelling; I'll have to re-read to better absorb some of these concepts.

My favorite parts were when he shared some of his own short pieces of storytelling. I'll be honest, the modern telling of the healing of the blind man didn't really work for me I got what he was going for, placing Jesus and his disciples in a modern context to defamiliarize it and let us go back to the original Bible story seeing it fresh, but since he had the disciples singing hymns and established that Christian churches exist in this world, it threw me off too much knowing that those things meant Jesus /already/ came, and having a new modern Jesus in addition set off my "false teacher" and "cult" alarm bells, lol. I think I would have enjoyed it more if he'd left out those details so I could imagine this was an alternate reality where Jesus came for the first time to our modern world , but I absolutely loved the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego from Daniel's point of view when Nebuchadnezzar says that he sees four men in the fire and Daniel realizes that fourth man should have been him? Chills , and the story of the gospel from Satan's perspective (as he tries /so hard/ to defeat Jesus, but his power can't break God's principle) was super good too.

Good stuff to think about, definitely a book I'll be coming back to.

"No matter how broken or misaligned the puzzle of your life, Jesus can fit it seamlessly into the flow of his. No life is truly small. No story is insignificant. No one who comes to him in humility will ever be turned away.

The story of Jesus is the one true story that gives meaning to all the others. Which is why the language of that story is not just the language of humanity; it is the language of life."

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had to write an entire blog post about this book it was that good.

https://megangerigauthor.substack.com...

[Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The story of Jesus is the one true story that gives meaning to all the others."

[Jamie Gordy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won this book in a giveaway from the Lorehaven Podcast a couple of months ago. I was excited to read it. All thoughts and opinions expressed in the review are my own. Non-fiction reading takes me awhile because I annotate and digest.

This book explores how Scripture reveals God through story. The author, Daniel Schwabauer, defines the language of story, theme, context, characterization, voice and plot and explains how they are found in the Bible. He explains how the Bible is so much better understood if you understand the over arching story from Genesis to Revelation.

I really enjoyed this book. It made me look at God’s word in a new and refreshing way. It also helped me realize the power of a good story. If I had one minor critique it would be that he quotes from one person quite a bit. I would like to see more sources. Overall, I learned so much from this book. One of my favorite chapters was the one about Job. It made me think on Job in new ways.

I would recommend this book to all Christian readers, especially those authors and readers of Christian fiction. I believe it will give you validation for what you do. If you don’t believe the Bible is a story (we are not saying not real) then this might not be the book for you (or maybe you need to read it anyway lol).

[E.G. Bella · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this while under the weather and with a far fuzzier brain than normal, so I'm already planning to reread it very soon and make sure I catch everything. That said, this is one of the best books about story I've ever read, and the only one I've found to cover story from a deep and engaging biblical perspective. Easily 5 stars.

In particular, the chapter/s on Job, were revolutionary to me. Schwabauer's points and illustrative scenes were so helpful, and I lost track of how many times I had to stop reading to think through and pray about what he'd just written. I'd never thought about Job and his trials in that way, and the truths Schwabauer pulled from the biblical story hit me hard.

This book gave me a burning desire to go read my Bible again, and that's perhaps the highest praise I can give it. Sometimes, having grown up Christian and knowing the biblical stories, just being able to see the familiar with fresh eyes and an eager mind can make all the difference.

I'll come back with more specific thoughts, but overall, this is book is enlightening, healing, vividly written, and full of valuable insight, the right smattering of humor, and plenty of heart. I would recommend it to any Christian creative seeking a deeper understanding of story and how the Bible can give us a clearer picture of what story really is. So glad I picked this one up!

[Carolyn Kirkman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can know intellectually that Jesus told stories and that narratives are important to the Bible - but Daniel Schwabauer beautifully shows us why. And that changes everything. I've already begun approaching the Bible differently. I see a new value in my creative writing. Along the way, I found answers to theological questions I've been wrestling with for years but haven't been able to articulate.

I'm surrounded by theology, apologetics, and bible-loving nerds. I myself am one of them. But I'm also a creative writer, artist, and musician. I'm always defending story-telling and artists to the apologists that I love dearly. Sometimes, there is simply not a cookie-cutter answer to a biblical passage. Sometimes it doesn't require a proficient understanding of Hebrew and Greek. Sometimes we need to wrestle with it. Sometimes storytellers are the best people for the job. And we have to have a space for them.

As someone who was taught by Daniel Schwabauer in high school, I can't help but read "The God of Story" and be overwhelmed with the thought that this will be his life's greatest work - that this book is the reason for everything he's done and taught so far. And yet, I'm also looking forward to what he writes next.

In my growing collection of theology, philosophy, and apologetics books, this one fills a gap that we desperately need as a church. It's a joy to place it on the bookshelf alongside other edifying books that I will revisit again and again.

[Bria Burton · Rating 5 out of 5]

The God of Story achieves a kind of triple-threat accomplishment that took me by surprise as I read it. Dr. Schwabauer has fashioned a foundational reference manual on the basics of narrative that every writer should place on their craft bookshelf while melding in a high-concept historical thesis on language and story. If those two elements weren’t aspirational enough, he also seamlessly weaved in an exploration of challenging Scripture passages (the Book of Job, anyone?). That last piece of the trifecta hit me the hardest personally as I'm walking through a challenging season of my life. This book became so much more to me than a necessity in my writer’s toolkit. It became a faith journey with the Author of Creation. The book challenged me to examine my own notions about the purpose of a telling a good story, how to craft with excellence, and ultimately how to strive for lasting impact through storytelling. It's the kind of non-fiction book that I will keep referencing again and again.

[Rebecca van den Ham · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve been wanting to read this book since I first heard about it, and it did not disappoint! Love Mr. Schwabauer’s humor, and his direction in understanding the Bible by looking at the overall story structure. It makes so much sense! Humans are wired to connect with stories, Jesus spoke with stories, so why wouldn’t we expect God to also use story to connect with us all through Scripture?

Some parts of the book, especially toward the beginning, felt a bit heavily academic, but this was tempered with humorous examples (sometimes involving dinosaurs). The overall tone lightened up as we went along. The final chapters will feel familiar to anyone who has experienced the One Year Adventure Novel.

[Nathan Burman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really wonderful book! Super well written by Mr. S., every page being enjoyable. He has offered up some deep insights about the nature of the stories we consume, and how they can consume us, or build us up.
The book is beautifully Christ-centered; it pushes me to pursue deeper discipleship with Him. Mr. S. is faithful to the Bible, which was a pleasant surprise for a book that presents a new (old?) way of reading the Scriptures.
I particularly enjoyed Chapter 8.

I would recommend this book to anyone, but especially to those of us who love stories.

[Katherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Schwabauer has a talent for writing books that a) make you think and yet b) are quick and enjoyable to read. It’s like a superpower. The God of Story will uncover layers of familiar Bible stories that stay with you for a long time and gently demand a future reread. Story is powerful, and the offered challenges are rewarding, hopeful, and redemptive.

[Jonathan Babcock · Rating 5 out of 5]

Took me a while to finish, but well worth the read. The Daniel chapter was absolutely legendary. I want to read back through that one when I get the chance.

[Nicholas Pokorny · Rating 2 out of 5]

Starts well, but can't see what the last 60% was about. Maybe it's just me.