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Word Pictures: Knowing God Through Story & Imagination
Artist and screen writer 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.
208 pages, Paperback
First published August 30, 2009
81 people are currently reading
184 people want to read
About the author
Brian Godawa
110 books389 followersBrian Godawa has been a professional filmmaker, writer, and designer for over 20 years. His creative versatility was born of a passion for both intellect and imagination, both left-brain and right-brain. The result: Brian is an artisan of word, image, and story that engages heart, mind, and soul. Just think, "Renaissance Man."
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
March 22, 2023
I am incredibly drawn to book covers (they are art too) without knowing what to expect with this one. I study the Bible with other extensive materials. With all I have learned from literary papers to a plethora of articles, not to mention The Works of Josephus, Brian Godawa has enhanced my understanding of scripture on even another level. I totally recommend this book for anyone wanting an easy way to dive deeper into scriptures you might not know existed.
May 2, 2011
One of the tensions that comes up repeatedly for Christians is the relationship between the mind and the heart. I've talked to several people in my ministry who find a difficulty in connecting the two. We often find ourselves feeling like we need to make a choice between intellectual, propositional truth on the one hand and deep, heart-level emotion on the other.
Wrestling with that tension is at the heart of Brian Godawa's book. The good news is that the conclusion he comes to, which I completely agree with, is that that tension represents a false choice. We don't need to choose between the mind and the heart. We need to bring the two together and recognize how the deep, heart level issues speak to us about core, doctrinal truths and vice versa.
Godawa takes a look at how this works in Scripture. The Bible comes to us with deep propositional truths that are, for the most part, presented in the form of stories, parables and poetry. Reason and art are not dualistically held apart in the Bible; they are brought together, each being used to build up the other.
Godawa shows how this relationship we see in Scripture needs to impact how we interact with culture. Christians often find themselves being torn between isolation (in order to defend biblical truth) and syncretism (in order to fulfill our obligation to the great commission). Godawa offers a third alternative: subversion. We meet the culture where it's at, affirm was it true and in line with biblical teaching, and then challenge and redefine what is contrary to the Bible. He shows how this is the same tactic both Paul and Jesus used in communicating the Gospel.
I found the arguments in the book to be not only persuasive, but deeply important. As someone who values story and art as means of communicating truth, as well as the relationship between the mind and heart, I believe we deeply need to hear the message Godawa is talking about. When we ignore his point, the church tends to go to one of two extremes. Either we wind up with a dry, lifeless intellectualism or we abandon biblical truth. Neither of those is an acceptable option. Both of them represent a serious abandonment of biblical faith.
I think the book is extremely important and I highly recommend it, but there were a couple of issues that kept me from giving it a full five stars. First, Godawa's style is very accessible. I might even say too accessible. I loved what he had to say, but I also found myself wishing this was a deeper, more scholarly book. I understand that writing a work of scholarship wasn't his purpose, but the points he's getting at deserve that level of development.
Second, there were a ton of pictures throughout the book. I understand why he put them in (he's trying to combine words and images to make his point). Some of them did help illustrate what he was try to say, but most of them were pretty lame and cheesy. Rather than adding to the book, they were an unnecessary distraction. The same thing goes for the decision to change fonts in every chapter. I'm not sure what that was supposed to add. I found it mostly annoying.
Despite a couple of areas where the book could have been improved, I wholeheartedly recommend Word Picture. Actually, I'd take that a step forward. This is a book that NEEDS to be read, especially by those of us seeking to minister in post modern culture while simultaneously upholding biblical truth. It's a quick and easy read, but it's also one of the most important books you can invest in
Wrestling with that tension is at the heart of Brian Godawa's book. The good news is that the conclusion he comes to, which I completely agree with, is that that tension represents a false choice. We don't need to choose between the mind and the heart. We need to bring the two together and recognize how the deep, heart level issues speak to us about core, doctrinal truths and vice versa.
Godawa takes a look at how this works in Scripture. The Bible comes to us with deep propositional truths that are, for the most part, presented in the form of stories, parables and poetry. Reason and art are not dualistically held apart in the Bible; they are brought together, each being used to build up the other.
Godawa shows how this relationship we see in Scripture needs to impact how we interact with culture. Christians often find themselves being torn between isolation (in order to defend biblical truth) and syncretism (in order to fulfill our obligation to the great commission). Godawa offers a third alternative: subversion. We meet the culture where it's at, affirm was it true and in line with biblical teaching, and then challenge and redefine what is contrary to the Bible. He shows how this is the same tactic both Paul and Jesus used in communicating the Gospel.
I found the arguments in the book to be not only persuasive, but deeply important. As someone who values story and art as means of communicating truth, as well as the relationship between the mind and heart, I believe we deeply need to hear the message Godawa is talking about. When we ignore his point, the church tends to go to one of two extremes. Either we wind up with a dry, lifeless intellectualism or we abandon biblical truth. Neither of those is an acceptable option. Both of them represent a serious abandonment of biblical faith.
I think the book is extremely important and I highly recommend it, but there were a couple of issues that kept me from giving it a full five stars. First, Godawa's style is very accessible. I might even say too accessible. I loved what he had to say, but I also found myself wishing this was a deeper, more scholarly book. I understand that writing a work of scholarship wasn't his purpose, but the points he's getting at deserve that level of development.
Second, there were a ton of pictures throughout the book. I understand why he put them in (he's trying to combine words and images to make his point). Some of them did help illustrate what he was try to say, but most of them were pretty lame and cheesy. Rather than adding to the book, they were an unnecessary distraction. The same thing goes for the decision to change fonts in every chapter. I'm not sure what that was supposed to add. I found it mostly annoying.
Despite a couple of areas where the book could have been improved, I wholeheartedly recommend Word Picture. Actually, I'd take that a step forward. This is a book that NEEDS to be read, especially by those of us seeking to minister in post modern culture while simultaneously upholding biblical truth. It's a quick and easy read, but it's also one of the most important books you can invest in
December 11, 2009
Mighty fine. Godawa argues that God communicates through story and image, and that truth can indeed be communicated in such medium; to reduce the Bible to propositions is to lose something essential, because God chose narrative to tell us about Himself. Conservative evangelicals, he says, tend to want to reduce the stories of the Bible down to their "meaning," and then dump the stories in favor of the "message" expressed propositionally. The last few chapters deal with the Biblical subversion of pagan stories of the time. For instance, he argues that Paul's Mars Hill sermon was intended to mimic the structure of Stoic philosophy, and then undercut and subvert that story with the twist-ending of resurrection and God making Himself known through Jesus. From this basis, he argues that Christians should get down to business subverting common, unbelieving stories in our own culture.
April 19, 2018
This book was quite good and extremely thought provoking. I'm not sure I agree with the author on all points, but I am really glad I read this book.
August 9, 2019
Books of Words, and Other Evils
Throughout this book the author makes his mea culpa for having once been the type of backward-thinking Christian who "privileged" reason while devaluing the imagination. He had succumbed to the "elitism of the word" in that he "privileged rational discourse as the ultimate means of discerning truth and neglected the legitimacy of emotion and imagination." (Locations 178, 965.) He had become "logocentric." A dreadful condition that not only fosters "the inflexibility and intolerance that led to wars" and "rationalistic doctors who murder millions of preborn children," but also enables the likes of the Marquis de Sade who "in his books of words" described "grotesque sexual fantasies of sado-masochism, rape, mutilation and murder that rival any modern cult horror film." 2367, 2400.
Now enlightened and duly chastened, the author proclaims that Christian theology must now maintain "an equal ultimacy of both word and image" and that we need an "equal ultimacy of both word and image in our cultural vocabulary." (2245.) Images, we are told, are on a par with words in communicating and understanding truth. Indeed, God could have just as easily communicated his truth in images alone without words, so one must never suggest that images are inferior to words in communicating truth. 2273-274.
And yet God gave us a Bible of words, not a graphic novel. God himself is logocentric: "In the beginning was the Word (Logos), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." John 1:1. You can't get more logocentric than that.
The vast superiority of words over images in communicating ideas is established by the author's own "book of words." It contains hardly any images, and the few it does have are superfluous to the text. If, as the author claims, there is "equal ultimacy" of word and image, his book should have contained equal amounts of words and images to convey his ideas. It doesn't; and even if it did the book would have been much longer and the author's ideas much less clear.
The author does not, and cannot, practice what he preaches. But what exactly is he preaching? According to the author, the Bible is full of contradictions, if read literally, but these can all be made to go away with a figurative reading. Figurative interpretation is particularly suited to biblical narratives describing events that defy the laws of physics and are not confirmed by historical records outside the Bible. 371, 401.
The author is dismissive of attempts to establish the historical facts of the Bible, an endeavor he describes as an "obsessive preoccupation" of theologians and many bible scholars. (321.) While acknowledging that actual historical facts may have provided some impetus for the Bible, such facts are "often interwoven with these imaginative images" and there remains much in the Bible "that is fantastic." (407, 459.)
The author sees no need to separate fact from fantasy in the Bible because the exaggerated, fantastic, nonliteral portions are "just as true as any of the historical, literal, abstract or rational propositions and words contained in these same pages." (515.)
Fantasy is "just as true" as reality. They have "equal ultimacy." That is the author's message.
We all love a good fairy tale, but Aslan and Gandalf are not "just as true" as the historical, biblical Jesus. Imaginary characters cannot save anyone from their sins or grant eternal life. While divine condemnation and the resurrection of the dead might be interpreted by some as mere figures of speech to stimulate the emotions and imaginations, if there really is a day of reckoning, then we need a real savior. We need the real, historical, factual Jesus. But you could never find that Jesus in the exaggerated, fantastic, nonliteral bible as figuratively interpreted by the author.
Throughout this book the author makes his mea culpa for having once been the type of backward-thinking Christian who "privileged" reason while devaluing the imagination. He had succumbed to the "elitism of the word" in that he "privileged rational discourse as the ultimate means of discerning truth and neglected the legitimacy of emotion and imagination." (Locations 178, 965.) He had become "logocentric." A dreadful condition that not only fosters "the inflexibility and intolerance that led to wars" and "rationalistic doctors who murder millions of preborn children," but also enables the likes of the Marquis de Sade who "in his books of words" described "grotesque sexual fantasies of sado-masochism, rape, mutilation and murder that rival any modern cult horror film." 2367, 2400.
Now enlightened and duly chastened, the author proclaims that Christian theology must now maintain "an equal ultimacy of both word and image" and that we need an "equal ultimacy of both word and image in our cultural vocabulary." (2245.) Images, we are told, are on a par with words in communicating and understanding truth. Indeed, God could have just as easily communicated his truth in images alone without words, so one must never suggest that images are inferior to words in communicating truth. 2273-274.
And yet God gave us a Bible of words, not a graphic novel. God himself is logocentric: "In the beginning was the Word (Logos), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." John 1:1. You can't get more logocentric than that.
The vast superiority of words over images in communicating ideas is established by the author's own "book of words." It contains hardly any images, and the few it does have are superfluous to the text. If, as the author claims, there is "equal ultimacy" of word and image, his book should have contained equal amounts of words and images to convey his ideas. It doesn't; and even if it did the book would have been much longer and the author's ideas much less clear.
The author does not, and cannot, practice what he preaches. But what exactly is he preaching? According to the author, the Bible is full of contradictions, if read literally, but these can all be made to go away with a figurative reading. Figurative interpretation is particularly suited to biblical narratives describing events that defy the laws of physics and are not confirmed by historical records outside the Bible. 371, 401.
The author is dismissive of attempts to establish the historical facts of the Bible, an endeavor he describes as an "obsessive preoccupation" of theologians and many bible scholars. (321.) While acknowledging that actual historical facts may have provided some impetus for the Bible, such facts are "often interwoven with these imaginative images" and there remains much in the Bible "that is fantastic." (407, 459.)
The author sees no need to separate fact from fantasy in the Bible because the exaggerated, fantastic, nonliteral portions are "just as true as any of the historical, literal, abstract or rational propositions and words contained in these same pages." (515.)
Fantasy is "just as true" as reality. They have "equal ultimacy." That is the author's message.
We all love a good fairy tale, but Aslan and Gandalf are not "just as true" as the historical, biblical Jesus. Imaginary characters cannot save anyone from their sins or grant eternal life. While divine condemnation and the resurrection of the dead might be interpreted by some as mere figures of speech to stimulate the emotions and imaginations, if there really is a day of reckoning, then we need a real savior. We need the real, historical, factual Jesus. But you could never find that Jesus in the exaggerated, fantastic, nonliteral bible as figuratively interpreted by the author.
August 11, 2011
Brian's second book, Word Pictures (much like his first, Hollywood Worldviews), is intelligent, well-reasoned and compelling (which is somewhat ironic given his subject matter). He suggests that, while the Bible is chock-full of narrative, the European Enlightenment introduced a new paradigm of truth and knowledge that demanded a foundation solely on rationalism and empiricism and Christian thinking quickly followed suit. "The study of theology and apologetics" he proposes, "turned from the narrative text to the factual event behind the text. It's almost as if the biblical narrative became eclipsed by the pursuit of factual empirical verification of the text; a modern scientific obsession". In two early chapters (which also happen to the titles) he contrasts the "Word Versus Image" forms of communication and the "Literal Versus Literary" forms of interpretation.
But the book truly hits stride when Godawa starts talking about the idea of subversion. In subversion, the narrative, images and symbols of one system are discreetly redefined or altered in the new system. Using Acts 17, a chapter often cited in rational apologetics discussions, he argues that Paul was undermining Stoicism, subverting it through the Christian worldview. As Brian describes, "Paul is subverting their concept of God by using common terms with a different defintion that eventually undermines their entire narrative. He begins with their conventional understanding of God but steers them eventually to his own".
If there's one thing I did not like about the book, it was a couple of aesthetic choices. There were pictures scattered throughout, supposedly to support the argument for image, but they were mostly distracting and some were quite arbitrary. Also, each chapter was printed in a different font to accent how "the very art of typography itself influences the way we think". However, the only accent for me was how annoying different fonts in a book can be. In fact, it made one chapter almost unreadable. There is a reason, after all, why most publishers stick with a very few fonts for the body text of their books.
Aside from those few gripes, however, the book was a pleasure to read and a worthy follow up to Hollywood Worldviews. The idea of subversion in our culture was a fascinating concept and one I had not heard articulated before. This idea of subversion carries the second half of the book and I could barely put it down from that point on. It seems clear that subversion is taking place whether Christians are the ones weilding it or not (I had not considered that The Matrix may be an intentional subversion of Christian themes for New Age ideas). As Brian suggests, "We need to be actively, sacredly subverting the secular stories of the culture, and restoring their fragmented narratives for Christ".
This book was a free review copy generously provided by InterVarsity Press.
But the book truly hits stride when Godawa starts talking about the idea of subversion. In subversion, the narrative, images and symbols of one system are discreetly redefined or altered in the new system. Using Acts 17, a chapter often cited in rational apologetics discussions, he argues that Paul was undermining Stoicism, subverting it through the Christian worldview. As Brian describes, "Paul is subverting their concept of God by using common terms with a different defintion that eventually undermines their entire narrative. He begins with their conventional understanding of God but steers them eventually to his own".
If there's one thing I did not like about the book, it was a couple of aesthetic choices. There were pictures scattered throughout, supposedly to support the argument for image, but they were mostly distracting and some were quite arbitrary. Also, each chapter was printed in a different font to accent how "the very art of typography itself influences the way we think". However, the only accent for me was how annoying different fonts in a book can be. In fact, it made one chapter almost unreadable. There is a reason, after all, why most publishers stick with a very few fonts for the body text of their books.
Aside from those few gripes, however, the book was a pleasure to read and a worthy follow up to Hollywood Worldviews. The idea of subversion in our culture was a fascinating concept and one I had not heard articulated before. This idea of subversion carries the second half of the book and I could barely put it down from that point on. It seems clear that subversion is taking place whether Christians are the ones weilding it or not (I had not considered that The Matrix may be an intentional subversion of Christian themes for New Age ideas). As Brian suggests, "We need to be actively, sacredly subverting the secular stories of the culture, and restoring their fragmented narratives for Christ".
This book was a free review copy generously provided by InterVarsity Press.
July 1, 2017
I was provided a complimentary digital copy of this book in exchange for a fair review - and you didn't have to twist my arm to agree to do it. I have read the last few books by Godawa, and will admit that I was not quite sure what to expect this time around, but the title alone was provocative enough to draw me to read it.
Aside from his fiction, his last two major non-fictions writings that I read were God Against the gods (http://amzn.to/2bGmaXW) and When Giants Were Upon the Earth (http://amzn.to/2bI1I6p). Both of these books, though more specifically the latter, deal with issues of ancient understanding of Scripture. They gave insight into the Hebrew mind and shed new interpretive light on understanding passage from an ancient worldview. I found both books very good and fascinating, probably because the study of topics like the Pseudepigraphal writings, the Divine Council and the like have been a hot topic in my studies the past few years.
So, when I agreed to review this title, I guess I only assumed to be getting similar content - but I was wrong. What we have here is a writing that really proves one thing that most modern Christians rarely grasp, and in not understanding the point, they create many fantastical interpretations that are nowhere near the intent of the original writer or audience they wrote to. If I were to condense the topic into a very simplistic statement, this book goes to great depth to show that approaching Scripture from a purely literalistic angle is an erroneous way of reading Scripture.
Again, that is a very simplistic synopsis, but as I finished the book, it struck me that the literalistic view is the root of many of the problems dealt with throughout the book. Once you understand that the Bible is literature, and within it there are many typical literary styles that we are used to in other books, and you start to see those styles, then the Bible is able to be more easily and better understood.
Example after example of various writings styles are given, as well as reference after reference to writings of the same period and how they reflect style of that time, especially during the New Testament period and looking at the literary understanding and practice of the Greeks and philosophers at the time. Add to that examples of similar literary practices and how they show up in our modern world in books and movies, and you get a well rounded look at the Bible as a literary work, without in anyway "attacking" the Bible as liberals often seek to do over issues like this.
Aside from his fiction, his last two major non-fictions writings that I read were God Against the gods (http://amzn.to/2bGmaXW) and When Giants Were Upon the Earth (http://amzn.to/2bI1I6p). Both of these books, though more specifically the latter, deal with issues of ancient understanding of Scripture. They gave insight into the Hebrew mind and shed new interpretive light on understanding passage from an ancient worldview. I found both books very good and fascinating, probably because the study of topics like the Pseudepigraphal writings, the Divine Council and the like have been a hot topic in my studies the past few years.
So, when I agreed to review this title, I guess I only assumed to be getting similar content - but I was wrong. What we have here is a writing that really proves one thing that most modern Christians rarely grasp, and in not understanding the point, they create many fantastical interpretations that are nowhere near the intent of the original writer or audience they wrote to. If I were to condense the topic into a very simplistic statement, this book goes to great depth to show that approaching Scripture from a purely literalistic angle is an erroneous way of reading Scripture.
Again, that is a very simplistic synopsis, but as I finished the book, it struck me that the literalistic view is the root of many of the problems dealt with throughout the book. Once you understand that the Bible is literature, and within it there are many typical literary styles that we are used to in other books, and you start to see those styles, then the Bible is able to be more easily and better understood.
Example after example of various writings styles are given, as well as reference after reference to writings of the same period and how they reflect style of that time, especially during the New Testament period and looking at the literary understanding and practice of the Greeks and philosophers at the time. Add to that examples of similar literary practices and how they show up in our modern world in books and movies, and you get a well rounded look at the Bible as a literary work, without in anyway "attacking" the Bible as liberals often seek to do over issues like this.
October 7, 2016
see my review on my blog: https://boat14nc.wordpress.com/2016/0...
October 23, 2017
While it ended as a good read, this book took a little while to get into. I felt like Godawa took a while to really warm up to the point he was trying to get across--and I didn't really feel engaged (despite agreeing with his premise) until nearly halfway through the book; which I felt was a shame.
Additionally, the fact that each chapter is printed in a different font was quite distracting--considering some of them were tough to read as well... While I understood the aim (visually), it definitely didn't play out as smoothly as I feel may have been hoped for.
Overall, though, he ended on a strong note, and his arguments were well laid out and raised many good points.
I just wish it had been more engaging from the start.
Additionally, the fact that each chapter is printed in a different font was quite distracting--considering some of them were tough to read as well... While I understood the aim (visually), it definitely didn't play out as smoothly as I feel may have been hoped for.
Overall, though, he ended on a strong note, and his arguments were well laid out and raised many good points.
I just wish it had been more engaging from the start.
November 8, 2017
I have been waiting for a long time for a book like this, so when a freind told me to read it, as I might like it, I wasn't sure. Since, being a catholic I kind of worry when something is based only on bible sources. However, am so gland I read it, as the book examples aesthetics and its link to the arts, that is done in such a simple and stright forward manner. Since, Godawa, a well known writer, says we can't run away from R+ shows and novels, which explore sin and the dark side of life, as they appear within the gospels, and real life. However, we need a hero like Jesus to bring sunshine and order to the choas, as the christian faith attempts to do upon the earth.
This is the key theme and subject in all forms of art and allowing one's imagination to flow upon the earth.
This is the key theme and subject in all forms of art and allowing one's imagination to flow upon the earth.
May 25, 2018
A deeper appreciation for the Word of God
I've been a Bible reader for years but this book has given me a deeper appreciation for the artistry of the Word. I've found I spend more time really thinking about verses and finding deeper meaning in the use of symbolism, imagery, and subversion. Mr. Godawa has written a rich book in that he challenges us to really seek the truth God wants us to know. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to appreciate the Bible in a new way.
I've been a Bible reader for years but this book has given me a deeper appreciation for the artistry of the Word. I've found I spend more time really thinking about verses and finding deeper meaning in the use of symbolism, imagery, and subversion. Mr. Godawa has written a rich book in that he challenges us to really seek the truth God wants us to know. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to appreciate the Bible in a new way.
March 10, 2022
Another dive into the place of art in Christianity. Godawa is essential to Christian artists and writers who question the place of their creativity in the life of faith. Many examples of God's artistry and delight in what his human creation achieves are pulled from Scripture in ways I'd never considered before. This book is a delight to read and is SHORT--no long lectures, but just the right encouragement to write, paint, sculpt, etc. to the Glory of God.
February 21, 2021
Great book. I used elements of this book in my Bibliology class/curriculum.
September 9, 2015
"Word Pictures: Knowing God Through Story & Imagination" by Brian Godawa is a very important book. Leonard Sweet describes it as 'part autobiography, part biblical studies, part apologetics, part aesthetics, part historical theology...'
Godawa describes the WORD category as including 'words, propositions, books, spoken and written prose, preaching and rational discourse, among other things.' He defines the category of IMAGE as 'visual images, music, drama, symbol, story, metaphor, allegory and other forms of creativity.' Godawa, as philosophical storyteller, explains that the Church typically swings to extremes - they either favour WORD or IMAGE, but usually the former is true.
This book aims for a balance between WORD and IMAGE. There were many moments, I identified with Godawa's experiences about my faith primarily being theology-driven. What he had to say challenged me, but in a good way.
There were many Aha! moments. One example discussed is when God prohibits the Israelites from making likenesses of things in heaven and on earth to worship them. Then five chapters later, God commands the Israelites to make likenesses of things in heaven and on earth to use in their worship of God. Mind-blown! It's so simple. Yet, there's a huge distinction between worshipping images and using them in worship.
There were a few issues with the book. It would seem Godawa doesn't believe the Book of Genesis is historical. Also, the book is much too short. Finally, the wide range of fonts and pictures used throughout, while thematically appropriate, are a little tacky.
All in all, I highly recommend "Word Pictures" to everyone, but especially to Christians. It may just bring more of a beating heart to your faith. And that can only be a very good thing.
8.5/10
Godawa describes the WORD category as including 'words, propositions, books, spoken and written prose, preaching and rational discourse, among other things.' He defines the category of IMAGE as 'visual images, music, drama, symbol, story, metaphor, allegory and other forms of creativity.' Godawa, as philosophical storyteller, explains that the Church typically swings to extremes - they either favour WORD or IMAGE, but usually the former is true.
This book aims for a balance between WORD and IMAGE. There were many moments, I identified with Godawa's experiences about my faith primarily being theology-driven. What he had to say challenged me, but in a good way.
There were many Aha! moments. One example discussed is when God prohibits the Israelites from making likenesses of things in heaven and on earth to worship them. Then five chapters later, God commands the Israelites to make likenesses of things in heaven and on earth to use in their worship of God. Mind-blown! It's so simple. Yet, there's a huge distinction between worshipping images and using them in worship.
There were a few issues with the book. It would seem Godawa doesn't believe the Book of Genesis is historical. Also, the book is much too short. Finally, the wide range of fonts and pictures used throughout, while thematically appropriate, are a little tacky.
All in all, I highly recommend "Word Pictures" to everyone, but especially to Christians. It may just bring more of a beating heart to your faith. And that can only be a very good thing.
8.5/10
October 1, 2016
I've followed Godawa's fiction and creative projects for a while and admire his creativity and insights. This books was a neat way to catch a glimpse of the journey he's taken with God, exploring his faith and how he approaches the Bible. I could relate very well to his desire to find rational ways to defend his faith, to dig into the mental and scientific approaches to understanding God.
One of the things I really appreciate about this book is that Godawa presents in a rational way (with historical, anecdotal and biblical evidence for his assertions) a case for letting go of rationalism and an overabundance of emphasis on intellectualism. So many things he points out encouraged me and validated things I've felt or even thought, but without having any certainty that I was on a path that anyone else would understand or approve of.
Several other reviews (especially the critical ones) have pointed out that this book is a bit technical or dry for some tastes. I would agree with that. I'm very busy, I don't have much time for reading, and honestly I would not have finished the book if I hadn't received a free copy in exchange for an honest review. I'M SO GLAD I FINISHED IT. All along the way, I highlighted the bits in my Kindle that provided biblical, historical or cultural examples, so I could study them in more depth later. I've been inspired and encouraged in my creativity and the validity of the use of story and imagery in living out my faith and shining the light of the gospel in this crazy world. Thank you, Brian Godawa, for sharing your journey with us.
One of the things I really appreciate about this book is that Godawa presents in a rational way (with historical, anecdotal and biblical evidence for his assertions) a case for letting go of rationalism and an overabundance of emphasis on intellectualism. So many things he points out encouraged me and validated things I've felt or even thought, but without having any certainty that I was on a path that anyone else would understand or approve of.
Several other reviews (especially the critical ones) have pointed out that this book is a bit technical or dry for some tastes. I would agree with that. I'm very busy, I don't have much time for reading, and honestly I would not have finished the book if I hadn't received a free copy in exchange for an honest review. I'M SO GLAD I FINISHED IT. All along the way, I highlighted the bits in my Kindle that provided biblical, historical or cultural examples, so I could study them in more depth later. I've been inspired and encouraged in my creativity and the validity of the use of story and imagery in living out my faith and shining the light of the gospel in this crazy world. Thank you, Brian Godawa, for sharing your journey with us.
November 27, 2016
Author Brian Godawa really can't help but outdo himself, especially with his newest book The Imagination of GOD: Art, Creativity, and Truth in the Bible. In this book, Godawa explains in-depth how art & creativity are not found in Scripture but also used very, very often to communicate truth that the audience can absorb more easily.
Also explained in detail is how even Jesus Christ understood the power of art & creativity and even used them in his many parables, in order to convey the Gospel message to his listeners that they could grasp better. Learn how art is used in the Bible and in what ways in order to capture the audience's imagination with stimulating visual imagery, word-pictures, and more. Being an artist myself, I am familiar with the imagery used in the Scripture that communicates the message to the viewer. I can definitely recommend this book to fellow artists, curious readers, and anime fans too (with very good reason).
Also explained in detail is how even Jesus Christ understood the power of art & creativity and even used them in his many parables, in order to convey the Gospel message to his listeners that they could grasp better. Learn how art is used in the Bible and in what ways in order to capture the audience's imagination with stimulating visual imagery, word-pictures, and more. Being an artist myself, I am familiar with the imagery used in the Scripture that communicates the message to the viewer. I can definitely recommend this book to fellow artists, curious readers, and anime fans too (with very good reason).
December 17, 2014
This book should shape how you read and interpret Scripture. Godawa's contention throughout this book is that God has presented us with a reality constituted by the combination of "Word" and "Image". In other words, reality (and, thus, truth and knowledge) is a harmonious blending of the abstract (word) and the concrete (image). The ultimate example of this is the incarnation of Jesus. In Jesus we have God (word) and man (image) together without confusion or corruption of either. As sinners, however, we tend to emphasize one characteristic over another and Western Christianity in particular values Word over Image. This book, then, is an extended argument for the validity and importance of Image in our understanding of constitutes knowledge and truth. The Bible, after all, is a collection of stories, not of dissertations.
February 18, 2010
Started strong. The middle chapters were weaker. Ended well.
I am uncomfortable with some of his points. He seems to exaggerate to make his argument seem more powerful; which is common. I also find it ironic that he has to write a book with words to talk about the equal ultimacy of images. I know he addresses this in the appendix, but unsatisfactorily. Images need words more than words need images. That is partly evident in the Word and Sacrament.
His stuff on "Christian horror" is really bad.
He has some great stuff on why modernity was bad and on the good parts of postmodernity.
I am uncomfortable with some of his points. He seems to exaggerate to make his argument seem more powerful; which is common. I also find it ironic that he has to write a book with words to talk about the equal ultimacy of images. I know he addresses this in the appendix, but unsatisfactorily. Images need words more than words need images. That is partly evident in the Word and Sacrament.
His stuff on "Christian horror" is really bad.
He has some great stuff on why modernity was bad and on the good parts of postmodernity.
September 3, 2016
Whenever I read a Brian Godwa book I fall more and more in love with my wonderful Savior (Jesus). He makes me want to open up my bible and draw closer to God. I love how he showed that God uses imagery in His word and that the artist, whether you are a writer, painter or singer, has a place in the Christian world and the freedom to express their talent. And that God values you and your gift and He enjoys using imagery to tell His story. I encourage every artist to get a copy of this book, it will be a blessing to you. If you are not an artist it will still be a blessing to you.
March 13, 2013
This is nice introduction to Biblical patterns of articulation that introduce rational ideas while also using stories, images and creative expressions. Godawa affirms rationality and imagination, mind and emotions, and so on. Along the way, he introduces a range of thinkers who have been writing and speaking in this area like N.T. Wright, Hans Frei, and more. I particularly like his story analysis in the mid-section of the book.
July 30, 2016
Words? Pictures?
This book presents a perspective that is new to me when thinking about the Bible. This book demonstrates the value of rendering an image with words and the Bible is full of this. As an example, an image derived from words is the difference between monotone speech and speech with inflection. This book presents how this came to be and gives many citations for reference.
This book presents a perspective that is new to me when thinking about the Bible. This book demonstrates the value of rendering an image with words and the Bible is full of this. As an example, an image derived from words is the difference between monotone speech and speech with inflection. This book presents how this came to be and gives many citations for reference.
December 15, 2014
A great, brief reflection on the role of imagery and art in Christian faith & apologetics. Godawa makes a compelling case that imaginative storytelling should be just as important to the modern Christian as propositions and arguments. The chapter on Paul's sermon in the Areopagus (Acts 17) is the strongest part of the book. Overall, this provoked the same type of reflection for me that Steve Turner's 'Imagine' did in college. If you are interested in that line of thinking, this is a good read.
May 30, 2012
Great introductory defense of the use and power of image in our faith today. Is not antagonistic toward the modernist view of words, but rather to the modernist view of the superiority of words over image. It is a great book for one who is interested in broadening their horizons concerning truth as it is found in the Bible and the world around us.
June 28, 2013
This book was not as engaging as his last book Hollywood Worldviews. There were interesting things that were discussed in this book but, they just didn't grip me. This book did a good job of explaining how The Bible is a book that is filled with poetry, vivid images and unlimited knowledge. I just wish it captivated me more.
November 30, 2016
As a fiction writer, I really enjoyed the premise of this book: that art/stories/images readers perceive through imagination and sensory description have enormous power to both move readers and assist them in gaining deeper understanding. Gadawa's text was approachable and thought provoking. I particularly enjoyed the history he provided on the conflicts related to texts and images through time.
April 20, 2015
The author makes a lot of good points, but leans too heavily, I think, on suspect theology from people like N.T. Wright. Regardless, Godawa does offer some much needed balance to the world of Biblical interpretation and I consider this book an indispensable part of my library.
September 25, 2017
Godawa confesses to being a modern whose thinking is influenced by the enlightenment. The enlightenment focused more on the literal rather than the literary in scripture. The understanding of both word and image are needed to appreciate the Bible's message.
June 22, 2012
A fantastic book about story and imagination revealed through God's Word.
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September 7, 2015This book is a great help to movie lovers or anyone who lives story.
March 28, 2017
Very good. Godawa challenges us to read the bible on its own terms .
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