Announcing the Fall 2023 Theology & Fiction book club selection
An invitation to join us!
Gentle reader,
You’re invited to join me and my fabulous co-leader Christina Bieber Lake for the 3rd installment of the Church Blogmatics quarterly Theology & Fiction Book Club!
Before we get to book club details and our book annoucement, though, I’d like to offer up a GREAT BIG THANK YOU to all of you who have joined me here. This week, substack let me know that Church Blogmatics is officially a substack bestseller.
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What is the theology & fiction book club?
The club is an online gathering to discuss connections between two of the best things in the world: theology and fiction.
I’m a big fiction reader—from classic to contemporary, popular to literary—and a big believer in the power of story to shape human beings, address deep questions in ways that can’t happen in other genres, and speak to the theological needs of life.
I use fiction in my own writing of theology, and talking theology and fiction with friends is my idea of big fun. In reading stories, I find comfort, exposure to ways of thinking that aren’t my own, and lots and lots of truth telling about a sinful world groaning for redemption.
Reading fiction is even an exercise in virtue formation, correlating with increased empathy and better understanding of other people.
When will we meet?
Fall’s meeting will be October 22nd at 7:00pm Central Time
What book are we reading?
Our Winter 2023 selection was Ted Chiang’s Exhalation: Stories, and for Spring 2023 we read Marilynne Robinson’s Jack.
We’re excited to announce our third selection.
We’ll be reading Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.
From the book description:
Fifteen-year-old Kambili and her older brother Jaja lead a privileged life in Enugu, Nigeria ... Yet, as Kambili reveals in her tender-voiced account, things are less perfect than they appear. Although her Papa is generous and well respected, he is fanatically religious and tyrannical at home—a home that is silent and suffocating.
As the country begins to fall apart under a military coup, Kambili and Jaja are sent to their aunt, a university professor outside the city, where they discover a life beyond the confines of their father’s authority. Books cram the shelves, curry and nutmeg permeate the air, and their cousins’ laughter rings throughout the house. When they return home, tensions within the family escalate, and Kambili must find the strength to keep her loved ones together.
Purple Hibiscus is an exquisite novel about the emotional turmoil of adolescence, the powerful bonds of family, and the bright promise of freedom.
I look forward to discussing this beautifully written novel with you.
Theological themes in the novel include:
spiritual abuse
Christian marriage and family
the nature of the church, the relationship between Western missionary Christianity and indigenous Christianity
Content notes: the novel deals with abuse, including child abuse, intimate partner violence, and religious abuse.
Who is your co-leader?
Dr. Christina Bieber Lake is Professor of English at Wheaton College, and if you ask me who in all the world I’d love to discuss theology and fiction with, she’s right at the top of my list.
Christina has special interest in theology and literature, and her publications certainly reflect that.
From Christina's faculty web page:
I've always believed we must learn to be good readers of fiction in order to enter our posthuman world ethically--and so I wrote a book about that. I've just finished a book arguing that story (as typically conceived in America) is inherently theological, and another one about how to remain inspired to teach.
Check out Christina’s fascinating award winning books including The Flourishing Teacher, Prophets of the Posthuman: American Fiction, Biotechnology, and the Ethics of Personhood, and Beyond the Story: American Literary Fiction and the Limits of Materialism.
What do I need to do to prepare? Do I need to know anything special about theology or fiction?
Just read the book and enjoy!
No special knowledge of theology or fiction is needed to enjoy and participate in the event. Come for a life-giving discussion of this fabulous book, the theological questions it raises, and what all that might mean for the Christian life.
How do I register for the event?
Tickets are $12, which supports the organizers.
Just click here to purchase your ticket at Eventbrite.
Paid subscribers to Church Blogmatics can use promo code CHCHBLOG for 30% off the ticket price.
Free subscribers can get an early bird discount with promo code EARLYBIRD for any ticket purchased before the end of September.
We very much hope to see you at our third quarterly Theology & Fiction Book Club gathering!
Grab your copy of Purple Hibiscus now.
Happy reading!
Grace & peace,
BFJ
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