Pastors in the Classics

Leland Ryken

Description

Throughout the history of English literature, church ministers have figured prominently in novels, plays, morality tales, and even poetry. Pastors in the Classics is a unique, unprecedented collection of relevant literary masterpieces in which the pastor's experience is a major part of the story. Part 1 is a reader's guide to twelve important classics written over four centuries and covering seven different nationalities. Each chapter not only describes and interprets the work in question, it also highlights a specific feature of pastoral ministry explored in the work. Part 2 is a handbook that defines the canon of literary masterpieces that deal with the pastor's experience, offering reading suggestions for both ministers and lovers of literature.From the familiar (The Canterbury Tales; Cry, the Beloved Country; and The Scarlet Letter) to the lesser-known (Silence, Witch Wood) to the surprising (A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man), this collection uncovers the good, the bad, and the ugly ways in which pastors have been presented to the reading public for the past half millennium.

Sujets

• Idioma inglés
• English
• Anglais

Informations

• Publié par: Baker Publishing Group
• Date de parution: 01 janvier 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781441235886
• Langue: English

Extrait

© 2012 by Leland Ryken, Philip Ryken, and Todd Wilson
Published by Baker Books
a division of Baker Publishing Group
P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287
www.bakerbooks.com
Ebook edition created 2011
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means for example, electronic, photocopy, recording without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
ISBN 978-1-4412-3588-6
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. ESV Text Edition: 2007
Scripture quotations labeled KJV are from the King James Version of the Bible.
“Our basic book is the Bible. But anyone in ministry will be further enriched by getting acquainted with the pastoral classics discussed in this book. (A classic is a distinguished book that speaks to every generation and doesn’t have to be rewritten.) Whether you are new to ministry or a veteran, the books discussed in this guide can help you better understand yourself and your calling beyond what you may have learned from textbooks and lectures. These classics offer enlightenment as well as entertainment, and this book is one of the best guides I have seen. I highly recommend it.”
Warren W. Wiersbe , author; former pastor, Moody Church
“Many pastors know the power of a well-chosen citation from Kierkegaard or Dostoevsky when preaching to others. But for pastors who are tired, discouraged, isolated, trapped in some lethal sin, or in danger of losing their faith, here is an ideal guide to find in the classics the deepest, most relevant, emotionally gripping wisdom to preach to oneself. May God use it to revive many of us, remind us of the height from which we have fallen, and restore us to our first love.”
Gordon P. Hugenberger , senior minister, Park Street Church, Boston
“ Pastors in the Classics is a splendid and unique guide to the portraits of pastoral ministry found in the great works of Western literature. The useful information provided here will be enlightening, and the insightful commentary appreciated by anyone who has ever pastored a flock. Lovers of great literature will find their reading more enjoyable and their understanding deepened by this satisfying work.”
Devin Brown , department of English, Asbury University; author of Inside Narnia
“We come to know ourselves and others through stories. Here the authors invite us into literary worlds replete with stories of pastors: pastors who preach and suffer, who sin and repent, who fail in small and spectacular ways, who stand always in need of grace. If we accept the invitation to enter these tales, we will emerge challenged and encouraged, our hearts returned to love of God and neighbor.”
Susan Felch , professor of English, Calvin College
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright Page
Endorsements
Introduction
Part 1: A Guide to Masterworks of Clerical Literature
1. The Canterbury Tales : Scandalous Clergy
2. The Scarlet Letter : Hidden Sin and Its Consequences
3. The Warden : Integrity in the Face of Public Attack
4. Elmer Gantry : The Travesty of an Almost-Christian
5. Witch Wood : Powers and Principalities in Flesh and Blood
6. Murder in the Cathedral : The Minister as Martyr
7. The Diary of a Country Priest : The Power of an Ordinary Ministry
8. The Power and the Glory : Can a Bad Minister Produce Good Fruit?
9. The Hammer of God : The Triumph of the Gospel in a Minister’s Life
10. Cry, the Beloved Country : Sanctified for Service through Suffering
11. Silence : Becoming like Jesus in His Death
12. Gilead : Finishing Well
Part 2: A Handbook of Literary Portrayals of the Pastor’s Life
Introduction
Adam Bede
And the Shofar Blew
At Home in Mitford
Barchester Towers
The Bishop’s Mantle
The Book against God
The Book of Bebb
Brendan: A Novel
Brideshead Revisited
The Bridge of the San Luis Rey
The Brothers Karamazov
The Damnation of Theron Ware
The Dean’s Watch
Death Comes for the Archbishop
Death in Holy Orders
Deep River
Father Brown
The Flight of Peter Fromm
The Gauntlet
Godric
The God-Seeker
Go Tell It on the Mountain
Holy Masquerade
In My Father’s House
In the Beauty of the Lilies
The Ionian Mission
Jane Eyre
Jonah’s Gourd Vine
Les Misérables
Light from Heaven
The Mackerel Plaza
A Man for All Seasons
Mansfield Park
March
Men and Brethren
The Minister’s Wooing
Moby-Dick
A Month of Sundays
Morte d’Urban
Old Mortality
One Foot in Heaven: The Life of a Practical Parson
The Poisonwood Bible
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
Pride and Prejudice
The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner
Saving Grace
Scenes of Clerical Life
A Simple Honorable Man
Starbridge Series
The Sunday Wife
The Testament of Gideon Mack
The Thanatos Syndrome
Thomas Wingfold, Curate
The Vicar of Wakefield
Wheat That Springeth Green
Wise Blood
Woman of the Pharisees
Young Goodman Brown
About the Authors
Back Ads
Back Cover
Introduction
This book was conceived when the two authors who are pastors independently envisioned a book that explores the image of the pastor and issues of ministry in literary masterpieces. Both would-be authors also independently requested the literary scholar on the authorial team to serve as coauthor. The convergence of these ingredients was sufficient to launch the project.
What Kind of Book Is This?
This book is a road map to literary masterpieces in which the pastor’s experience is a major part of the story. In fact, this book contains nearly everything that a reader or discussion leader needs in order to get started on an exploration of the pastor in literature.
The first part of the book is a reader’s guide to twelve important literary classics in which pastors are the mainspring of the action. These masterworks were written in four centuries and cover seven nationalities. The analyses of these works go beyond description to interpretation. Furthermore, each chapter highlights a specific feature of pastoral ministry that the literary work itself puts before us. Reflection/discussion questions are part of these chapters.
The second part of the book is a handbook a reference book that defines the canon of literary masterpieces that deal with the pastor’s experience. The entries in this section give all the information a reader needs when selecting literary works that deal with pastors.
In summary, this book is both a reader’s guide to major works and a reference book containing information about the field as a whole.
Aims and Goals of This Book
The first goal of this book is to facilitate the reading of some great works of literature. We hope the works covered in this book will emerge in readers’ imaginations as literary delights. They are works of literature first of all and works providing insight into the pastor’s life within that parameter. It is important to note additionally that the works surveyed are not narrowly concerned with issues of ministry but actually cover all of life. For example, T. S. Eliot’s play Murder in the Cathedral portrays not only the final days in the life of a saint but also the life of the common citizens of Canterbury in their daily routine of hopes and fears.
Literature has a unique ability to speak to the whole person, and the books surveyed in this volume can teach and move readers in a way that nonliterary books about ministry do not. This is partly a difference between “showing” and “telling.” A contemporary book on issues in ministry might tell a minister not to enter into sexual relations with a woman in the congregation, while Nathaniel Hawthorne’s famous story shows why a minister should not do so.
Second, we chose works in which the pastor’s life is a major ingredient. Accordingly, the commentary focuses chiefly on the ways in which the works portray and clarify issues in the minister’s life and vocation. The table of contents of this book shows at a glance the issues the respective literary works address scandalous clergy, hidden sin in a preacher’s life, the dilemma of the unworthiness of ministers to do God’s work, and so forth. The books chosen for this volume can help to shape the spiritual life of people in ministry.
Third, most of the works covered in this book place the minister’s life within a broader Christian context. The works thus incline toward the broad category known as Christian literature literature that portrays experiences that are important to Christians and that endorses Christian doctrines. For most of the works, therefore, the usual rewards of reading Christian literature will be present, including reflection on the Christian life, affirmation of a Christian worldview, and nurture of the soul. John Milton said that one of the effects of reading Christian literature is that it “sets the affections [the old word for emotions] in right tune.” The works discussed in this book generally make the grade and can legitimately be called devotional reading. Thus, The Scarlet Letter is a Christian classic in its portrayal of salvation, quite apart from the fact that it deals with ministerial issues.
How Should This Book Be Used?
This book is first of all an aid to an individual reader’s mastery of the literary works included in the book. This book shares the goal of all literary criticism, namely, the enhancement of a reader’s enjoyment and understanding of the works that are discussed.
Second, we have had a continuous eye on how to foster group discussion of the chosen works. Such discussion could occur equally well in an academic course, a seminar,