amishrockstar
Puritan Board Freshman
I'm a literature major at a non-Christian college and we just got done going through Sir Philip Sidney's "The Defense of Poesy" where he's answering Stephen Gosson (who's alleged to be a Puritan-- I'm not familiar with the man though) and what was supposed to be a general Puritan idea that declared the reading/writing of poetry (fiction) is a waste of time and shouldn't be practiced.
I've often thought about and been confronted by other Christians with the idea that all we need is the Bible-- reading fictional works such as those of C.S. Lewis are a waste of time. I'm wondering how some people at P.B. would answer that.
One of Sir Sidney's answers was to assert that poetry (fiction) inspires us to virtue in ways that philosophical books can't because they can be very 'wordy' and dry. I can only imagine a Puritan of that era stating that "we have God's Word to instill virtue in us, so again, why do we need fiction?" In other words, why do I need a flashlight (poetry) to convey 'meaning' and virtue when I have a floodlight (the Bible)?
Thanks for your thoughts,
Matthew
I've often thought about and been confronted by other Christians with the idea that all we need is the Bible-- reading fictional works such as those of C.S. Lewis are a waste of time. I'm wondering how some people at P.B. would answer that.
One of Sir Sidney's answers was to assert that poetry (fiction) inspires us to virtue in ways that philosophical books can't because they can be very 'wordy' and dry. I can only imagine a Puritan of that era stating that "we have God's Word to instill virtue in us, so again, why do we need fiction?" In other words, why do I need a flashlight (poetry) to convey 'meaning' and virtue when I have a floodlight (the Bible)?
Thanks for your thoughts,
Matthew