Influence of Storytellers on Western Theology

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Well-educated intellectual Christians in the West, especially in the United States, have been heavily influenced by storytellers such as C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Dorothy Sayers, and Chesterton's father Brown stories. These narratives often shape worldviews more profoundly than polemical or argumentative writings, indicating a significant insight into a unique way of thinking about God and theology suggested by the structure of revelation. The concept of life as the epic of heaven, akin to the Iliad or the Odyssey of Heaven, adds a powerful and resonant dimension to this perspective.

Last year, Tyler asked his readers “What Is the Strongest Argument for the Existence of God?” and followed up a few days later with a post outlining why he doesn’t believe in God. New York Times columnist Ross Douthat accepted the implicit challenge, responding to the second post in dialogic form and arguing that theism warrants further consideration.

This in-person dialogue starts along similar lines, covering Douthat’s views on religion and theology, but then moves on to more earth-bound concerns, such as his stance on cats, The Wire vs The Sopranos, why Watership Down is the best modern novel for understanding politics, eating tofu before it was cool, journalism as a trade, why he’s open to weird ideas, the importance of Sam’s Club Republicans, the specter of a Buterlian Jihad, and more.

Read a full transcript enhanced with helpful links.

Recorded January 11th, 2018 Other ways to connect

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