Good books inspire the imagination, jump-start creativity, and kindle new ideas. So it's no surprise that for these twenty-one members of the Chrysostom Society (a renowned contemporary Christian writers' group) the works of classic literary masters have played an influential role in shaping their writing.
In this revised and updated volume of "Reality and the Vision, " which includes five new chapters, best-selling authors Philip Yancey and James Calvin Schaap ask the question, "Who has helped form you as a writer of faith?" The answers they found are surprising, captivating, and instructive:
- Richard Foster explains how reading from the ancient devotional masters helped him to manage a frenetic modern schedule.
- Walter Wangerin Jr. shares how the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tales helped him make sense of his world.
- Virginia Stem Owens confesses that Soren Kierkegaard, a Danish philosopher famous for his melancholy, helped her cope with a family crisis.
- Eugene Peterson tells how he became a better pastor by scheduling regular appointments with the Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky.
A short reading guide at the end of each chapter serves as an invitation to explore these classic works further. "More Than Words" is a delightful way to deepen an appreciation of fine literature and a thoughtful gift for those who love good books.
Philip Yancey is an American Christian author. Fourteen million of his books have been sold worldwide, making him one of the best-selling evangelical Christian authors. Two of his books have won the ECPA's Christian Book of the Year Award: The Jesus I Never Knew in 1996, What's So Amazing About Grace in 1998. He is published by Zondervan Publishing.
Yancey was born in Atlanta, Georgia. When Yancey was one year old, his father, stricken with polio, died after his church elders suggested he go off life support in faith that God would heal him. This was one of the reasons he had lost his faith at one point of time. Yancey earned his MA with highest honors from the graduate school of Wheaton College. His two graduate degrees in Communications and English were earned from Wheaton College Graduate School and the University of Chicago.
Yancey moved to Chicago, Illinois, and in 1971 joined the staff of Campus Life magazine--a sister publication of Christianity Today directed towards high school and college students--where he served as editor for eight years. Yancey was for many years an editor for Christianity Today and wrote articles for Reader's Digest, The Saturday Evening Post, Publishers Weekly, Chicago Tribune Magazine, Eternity, Moody Monthly, and National Wildlife, among others. He now lives in Colorado, working as a columnist and editor-at-large for Christianity Today. He is a member of the editorial board of Books and Culture, another magazine affiliated with Christianity Today, and travels around the world for speaking engagements.
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