Here are some additional thoughts after releasing my podcast episode covering Gilead by Marilynne Robinson and Reimagining Apologetics by Justin Ariel Bailey. It may seem like a weird connection or a weaselly way to try to insert a Christian book/topic into Gilead, but there is actually a very close connection between Gilead and apologetics.
There is a scene towards the end of Gilead where the protagonist, John Ames, has a conversation with his namesake Jack (John Ames) Boughton. Jack has legitimate questions about faith and John is struggling to answer them. In fact, if this scene were to become a case study, it would be used in standard apologetics courses in what not to do.
Apologetics usually refers to defending faith and/or being able to give a reason for one’s beliefs. Recently, it has veered towards the intellectual side of the continuum with imagination existing on the other side.
In Reimagining Apologetics, Justin Bailey argues for a return to a centered approach between the intellect and the imagination and uses authors such as Marilynne Robinson and George MacDonald as examples.
Going back to the scene between John and Jack, despite John’s fumbling of words, he ends by blessing Jack. By doing this, John is attempting to “reveal a wider world” to Jack, opening his imagination. As Justin Bailey points out, “it is not…the intellect but the heart that is the site of the spiritual struggle.”
Bailey says “Indeed, for Robinson, the root of sin is a failure to see the sacred, to discern God’s presence in the world, and God’s image in our neighbors.” Therefore, awakening desire is a more direct path than targeting the mind.
The crux of that scene in Gilead is that a friend and parishioner (Jack) is coming to his pastor (John) with deep questions. How is John to respond? With unassailable answers to difficult questions or by awakening Jack to the beauty around him? Let the reader decide. 🙂
