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I’ve been thinking about dragons a lot recently after reading all of Cressida Cowell’s wonderful How to Train Your Dragon series with my son. It’s a delightful series, and Cowell is a true Inklings successor. She writes with so much joy for storytelling and with all the Christian allegory your heart could desire. |
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In the hero Hiccup’s climactic showdown with the evil dragon Furious, the dragon experiences a kind of conversion away from rage and violence and anger. He realizes he loves Hiccup-the-Christ-figure and declares, "I am born again." This image of a dragon’s redemption has stuck with me, partly because in this allegory, I am the dragon. |
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In Scripture, dragons—these great beasts we humans can’t help but dream about (or have nightmares about) from time to time—are associated with evil and chaos. And in the works of the original Inklings, J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis, dragons remind us of those corners of ourselves that we’d rather keep hidden. The dragons inside us come out in our "craving for glittering things, the obsession with our own reflections, and the longing to sit atop the pile in the place of God," Justin Ariel Bailey writes in his new book, Discipling the Imagination. |
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Bailey asks: How do we undragon our imaginations? How do we pursue what is good and beautiful and holy in our thought lives? |
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"I’m convinced that if the imagination is to be discipled, it must also be healed," he writes in an excerpt published by Christianity Today this week. "I have started praying like this: ‘O God who heals my diseases, heal my diseased imagination.’" |
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"The wonderful news of the gospel," he says, "is that while we are still stumbling in the dark, God comes and finds us. He knows the sickness of our hearts and what we are doing to ourselves. Though we are turning into dragons, God moves to rehumanize us after the pattern of Jesus, the true human." |
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We are hosting a gathering for the creatives, writers, readers, entrepreneurs and builders among us. Christianity Today is delighted to announce our Mini-Summit on Creativity & Vocation coming up on February 21st in Nashville, a convening designed to explore the intersection of faith, work, and creativity.
Featuring a live recording of The Bulletin, plenty of powerful speakers and ending off with a night of arts & conversation with Inkwell, this will be a memorable time indeed. Save your spot today! |
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This week on The Russell Moore Show, Sharon McMahon shares about her philosophy on teaching civics in an age of misinformation.
"It is about choosing which battles to fight," she told Russell. "You can either let everything become a mountain, or some things can be molehills even if you would prefer that they not be." | Listen here. |
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Kate Lucky, senior features editor: I’ve gotten everyone in my extended family hooked on LePens. The glide of a ballpoint, the boldness of a skinny Sharpie. |
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Ashley Hales, editorial director, features: One of my goals this year is to have more Sunday-night family dinners by candlelight. These candles are on my list. |
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There was a magnolia tree by a white church on a hill. It was a beautiful tree—tall and green and blooming every year with those massive flowers, so sweet to…
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A disciple was someone who followed a rabbi around not only to learn doctrine but also to see its application in life. Jesus was one such rabbi, as we see…
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Two years ago, CT declared New Atheism dead, referring to an angry and vitriolic form of unbelief that arose in the early 2000s. Writer and editor Christopher Beha tackles today’s…
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The Black church and Black Christians have played an indispensable role in shaping American and church history. For hundreds of years, African American congregations have operated as hubs of spiritual…
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When Jesus taught, he used parables. The kingdom of God is like yeast, a net, a pearl. Then and today, to grasp wisdom and spiritual insight, we need the concrete. We need stories. In this issue of Christianity Today, we focus on testimony—the stories we tell, hear, and proclaim about God’s redemptive work in the world. Testimony is a personal application of the Good News. You’ll read Marvin Olasky’s testimony from Communism to Christ, Jen Wilkin’s call to biblical literacy, and a profile on the friendship between theologian Miroslav Volf and poet Christian Wiman. In an essay on pickleball, David Zahl reminds us that play is also a testament to God’s grace. As you read, we hope you’ll apply the truths of the gospel in your own life, church, and neighborhood. May your life be a testimony to the reality of God’s kingdom. |
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