Malcolm Guite pt. 1: Does Theology Need an Imaginative Spark to Grasp God’s Mystery?

Imagination Combined with Reason Can Build a Sturdier Faith.

Malcolm Guite invites us to recover a "baptized imagination," showing how poetry can do real theological work by carrying truth through image, beauty, sacrament, and story. Rather than replacing reason, imagination helps us perceive meaning—opening Scripture, creation, and the mystery of Christ in ways analysis alone cannot reach.

00:00 - A Sonnet for Saint Peter

01:16 - Introduction to the Episode

03:32 - Can Poetry Do Theology?

09:02 - What Is the Baptized Imagination?

11:09 - Reason, Imagination, and Meaning with C.S. Lewis

17:24 - The Eternal Act of Creation

20:07 - Conclusion and Preview of Part 2

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Mentioned In This Episode:

• Malcolm Guite's Galahad in the Grail
• Malcolm Guite's Parable and Paradox
• William Shakespoeare's Sonnet 18: Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
• George Herbert's poem The Agonie
• C.S. Lewis's Bluspels and Flalansferes
• C.S. Lewis on Imagination and Reason in Christian Apologetics
• Samuel Taylor Coleridge's Biographia Literaria

Scriptures Referenced In This Episode:

• 1 Corinthians 2 (ESV)
• Luke 22:19-20 (NJKV)
• Luke 10:27 (NKJV)
• John 1:1 (NIV)
• Psalm 19:1 (KJV)

More from Malcolm Guite:

• Malcolm Guite's website and blog
• Malcolm Guite's Youtube channel
• Malcolm Guite's books

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