The Word Within the Words

Reviewed by:

G. Connor Salter, Professional Writing alumnus from Taylor University, Upland, IN.

Title:

The Word Within the Words (My Theology #3)

Author:

Malcolm Guite

Publisher:

Fortress Press

Publication Date:

January 18, 2022

Length:

96 pages

OVERVIEW

Malcolm Guite has a unique reputation. A poet, Anglican priest, musician, and Inklings scholar, Christianity Today described him as the writer of choice for “bruised evangelicals.” But what inspired this unique man to pursue Christianity, and what kind of Christian vision motivates his unique work? Here, Guite describes his conversion and approach to faith.

“How I became a Christian” books have a reputation for being all arguments for the faith. While apologetics based on rational arguments can be useful and has its place, it’s equally important to remember that emotional factors play an equally large part in our faith journeys. C.S. Lewis was the most famous apologist of the twentieth century, and yet his description of his faith journey centered on joy—an experience of joy he found in various places that he could only connect to a spiritual source.

Given how vital imagination and emotion are to our spiritual journeys, it’s refreshing that Guite focuses his book on what role they play in faith. He covers some familiar points as he describes how he gradually gave up atheism in the 1970s—that scientific materialism by itself couldn’t account for his experience of life, sermons that helped him get past intellectual misconceptions about God. However, more than anything else, he describes becoming a Christian as a poet’s craving for meaning that no other ideology could satisfy, coupled with an experience of God while reading the Psalms. He makes a compelling case that Christianity provides not just an intellectually satisfying faith, but a poetically satisfying faith that answers our inherent hunger for beauty.

After a chapter on his conversion, Guite spends much of this short book outlining how he believes writing, poetry and beauty intermingle in a Christian worldview. He observes, “For a poet, all words have a magical, generative power,” and connects this point to how Genesis says God spoke the world into being. Words literally have power when God speaks them—and for Guite, the way God uses words to create reality expresses a poetic vision. He further argues that humans can emulate this power in a small way—not by using words to say magic spells as occultists do, but by using words to create beauty and by participating in poetic moments like Christian liturgy and communion that help us consider our place in God’s poetic vision.

Guite’s emphasis on liturgy and communion as poetic experiences proves especially interesting, given how he’s become known as a writer evangelicals trust when their own community has harmed them. Particularly since the Jesus Movement, many evangelicals have grown up in churches that avoided liturgy or elaborate decorations—presumably because these were seen as showy additions that got in the way of listening to the spirit. More than a few writers commenting on why millennials have left churches have observed that this approach often becomes Gnostic—so interested in being spiritual that the body, and its craving for beauty, meant nothing. Not surprising, therefore, that evangelical communities are more known for producing tacky art than beautiful art. Nor surprising that numerous Christian novelists, filmmakers, and visual artists have shifted to liturgical denominations in the last forty years.

Whether readers are seeking a look at Guite’s spiritual journey or discussion of how poetry and the arts fit a Christian worldview, this book is a readable, accessible gem.

ASSESSMENT

Rating (1 to 5 stars)

5 stars

Suggested Audience:

Christians interested in unusual spiritual journeys, and how art and poetry fit into Christianity’s vision of what gives life value.

Christian Impact:

Guite presents a beautiful vision of how God’s presence, his power, and his goodness create a beautiful vision of how to live for God.

Note: ECLA Readers who enjoy this book may also enjoy the following:

https://eclalibraries.org/2017/07/15/book-review-sweeter-than-honey-richer-than-gold-a-guided-study-of-biblical-poetry/

https://eclalibraries.org/2021/04/24/charles-williams-poet-of-theology/

https://eclalibraries.org/2017/01/29/book-review-the-poetic-scriptures-of-john-gods-word-in-rhythm-rhyme/

https://eclalibraries.org/2023/04/13/a-waiter-made-of-glass-stories-and-poems/

https://www.amazon.com/

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/