This is a guidebook for Christians who want to learn how to recognize books that are spiritually and aesthetically good—to cultivate good literary taste. Gene Edward Veith presents basic information to help book lovers understand what they read, from the classics to the bestsellers. He explains how the major genres of literature communicate and explores the ways in which comedy, tragedy, realism, and fantasy can portray the Christian worldview.
These discussions lead to a host of related topics: the value of fairy tales for children, the tragic and the comic sense of life, the interplay between Greek and Biblical concepts in the imagination, and the new “post-modernism,” a subject of vital importance to Christians.
In the pages of this book, readers will meet writers, past and present, who carry on a great literary tradition. By supporting worthy authors, Christians can exert a powerful influence on their culture.
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“Reading between the Lines is thoroughly enjoyable and thoroughly literate—a magnificent blending of history, literature, and theology that will be welcomed by professionals and laity alike.”
— Wayne Martindale, professor of English, Wheaton College
“The scope of this project is impressive.”
— Leland Ryken, author of The Christian Imagination“Dr. Veith proves himself once again to be a knowledgeable guide through the landscape of the written word.”
— Luci Shaw, author of God in the Dark“This book should raise significantly the cultural level of evangelicalism.”
— Edward E. Ericson Jr., professor emeritus of English, Calvin CollegeBe the first to write a review about this audiobook!
Gene Edward Veith, Jr., is the culture editor of World Magazine. He was formerly professor of English at Concordia University Wisconsin, where he has also served as dean of the School of Arts and Sciences. He is the author of numerous books, including Postmodern Times: A Christian Guide to Contemporary Thought and Culture, The Spirituality of the Cross: The Way of the First Evangelicals, and God at Work: Your Christian Vocation in All of Life. Postmodern Times received a Christianity Today Book Award as one of the top twenty-five religious books of 1994. He was named Concordia’s Adult Learning Teacher of the Year in 1993 and received the Faculty Laureate Award as outstanding faculty member in 1994.
Jeff Riggenbach (1947-2021) narrated numerous titles for Blackstone Audio and won an AudioFile Earphones Award. An author, contributing editor, and producer, he worked in radio in San Francisco for more than thirty years, earning a Golden Mike Award for journalistic excellence.