Pastor/theologian Scott Christensen talks about story from a very unusual vantage — that of the problem of evil and the sovereignty of God. He wrote a massive book called What About Evil? which wrestles with some weighty subjects.
So what does this have to do with story and Christian film? Plenty, it turns out.
What is so fascinating about Scotts book is that he isn’t just trying to find answers to difficult questions through academic tools, exegesis, word studies, and the like, the core component to how he seeks to answer the problem of evil is through our understanding of story.
The Bible is God’s story. It’s sometimes called the Drama of Redemption.
And in this book Christensen spends considerable time explaining story and how important it is in helping us to wrestle with this theological issue. His grasp of story in service to theological truth is profound. He is widely read, and quotes extensively from Aristotle, Milton, Tolkien, Lewis, Dostoyevksy, Leland Ryken, Brian Godawa, Northrup Frye, Andrew Klavan, and many others.
In this interview we talk about his book, how story helps us wrestle through difficult theological issues, and what storytelling advice he can give to Christian filmmakers.
