RENEWING Our Imaginations with Jessica Hooten Wilson (ep. 21)

2022-03-22

On this episode of the podcast we are joined by professor and author Dr. Jessica Hooten Wilson, to talk about her new book, The Scandal of Holiness. Together we discuss how reading good books can renew our imagination, allowing us to keep company with "literary saints." Among the questions we discuss: What makes a character a literary saint, and why should we spend time in their company? Why do we have such a hard time trusting holiness, and what do we miss if we lose sight of it? Should we seek suffering? How do we distinguish between asceticism...

On this episode of the podcast we are joined by professor and author Dr. Jessica Hooten Wilson, to talk about her new book, The Scandal of Holiness. Together we discuss how reading good books can renew our imagination, allowing us to keep company with "literary saints." Among the questions we discuss:

What makes a character a literary saint, and why should we spend time in their company?
Why do we have such a hard time trusting holiness, and what do we miss if we lose sight of it?
Should we seek suffering? How do we distinguish between asceticism and masochism?
How do various means of engagement (literature, art, contemplation) shape our imagination?
Who are some lesser known authors that Christians should read?

Books mentioned in our conversation:

Moses, Man of the Mountain by Zora Neale Hurston

Silence by Shūsaku Endō

On Reading Well by Karen Swallow Prior

Book of the Dun Cow by Walter Wangerin Jr.

Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset

A Lesson Before Dying A Gathering for Old Men by Ernest J. Gaines

Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky

Diary of a Country Priest by Georges Bernanos

Other authors mentioned in our conversation:

C.S. Lewis

George MacDonald