The Scandal of Holiness

How can literature help us live more holy lives? In The Scandal of Holiness, Jessica Hooten Wilson writes on renewing your imagination in the company of literary saints.

Imagination and Holiness

Literature awakens our imagination, and empowering us to holiness. As we read and learn, we see things outside of ourselves -- and we are challenged to change. The book says that “careful reading becomes a sort of countercultural spiritual discipline,” and by showcasing great works of literature along with their heroes, Wilson helps us see them in a spiritual light.

I was most moved when Wilson showed how the heart -- where morality is felt and willed -- beats in good books. Even with fictional works, books can portray reality with truthfulness. Good books allow us to cultivate community, and they challenge us to look not at those in the inner ring of most popular or most famous but those who are in the outer ring -- those who tend to be overlooked or those who will never be A-list stars.

Goodness, Truth, and Beauty

I was most interested to discover that we can see goodness, truth, and beauty are real in the fact that even stories about animals can cause us to feel and sense morality. Music has a similar effect in that it stirs up the soul aligning us with the harmony of all creation. When novels focus on the disinherited, we better see those who are the same in our culture. It frees us from the influence of the world and the corrupting influence of power. They allow us to speak as witnesses and revolutionaries on God’s side.

As literary characters face certain crossroads, we can also see how we can find pathways to holiness. We are taught to see and to respond to those who are suffering. In many novels, we can come face to face with death in a way that we do not experience it in our normal daily life. With devotionals, prayers, and study questions -- this book is a summons to read and see.

I received a media copy of The Scandal of Holiness and this is my honest review. Find more of my book reviews and follow Dive In, Dig Deep on Instagram - my account dedicated to Bibles and books to see the beauty of the Bible and the role of reading in the Christian life. To read all of my book reviews and to receive all of the free eBooks I find on the web, subscribe to my free newsletter.