The Evangelical Imagination

“Karen Swallow Prior is among the most helpful Christian literary critics writing today. In The Evangelical Imagination, she introduces us to the creative works and metaphors that have formed the priorities of American evangelicalism and the ways that these have malformed the movement. Her call for the reformation of evangelicalism is a call to repent, to allow new metaphors and analogies to drive us to more faithfully read and put into practice the Scriptures. Prior offers an insightful work of love that aids a holy transformation of our imaginations.”

Tish Harrison Warren

“The Evangelical Imagination is a marvelous book—thoughtful, elegantly written, literate, and timely. Karen Swallow Prior understands the essential role of the imagination in the search for truth. An evangelical herself, Prior has done a masterful job of identifying the unstated assumptions that have shaped evangelical Christianity. In doing so, she is performing a profoundly important service: separating Christ from Christian culture, including some of the most deforming aspects of Christian culture. American evangelicalism is in crisis; The Evangelical Imagination helps us to understand why and what needs to be done to make it an instrument of grace in a world that desperately needs it.”

Peter Wehner

“Karen Swallow Prior wants evangelicals to think carefully about how they think, particularly to understand how much we as evangelicals take for granted in the metaphors we use, the assumptions we make, and the conventions we follow. The book brings together the history of evangelicalism, Prior’s expertise in Victorian literature, and sensitive analysis of the present moment into an indictment of the ‘evangelical imagination,’ but an indictment with hope because of evangelical engagement with the gospel.”

Mark Noll

“Christians know that we should love the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. But what about loving him with all our imagination? In this important new book Karen Swallow Prior argues that the imagination is a vital and neglected area of discipleship for today’s church. She attacks the cultural cholesterol of ideas like improvement and sentimentality that sclerotize the evangelical imagination, and she invites us to enjoy a more healthy and biblical imaginative life. This is a crucial book for anyone who wants to bring every faculty—including the imagination—under the lordship of Christ.”

Christopher Watkin

“If you think you’ve read everything on evangelical culture, think twice: The Evangelical Imagination will blow your mind! As well as encourage your heart to desire what is beautiful again. Prior’s writing is sharp, substantive, and engaging. You will be quoting her to friends and sharing her insights with your family as you struggle to remember the false paradigms you used to live under. With her deep knowledge of the past three hundred years of history, literature, and philosophy, Prior unmasks our assumptions about evangelical culture and shows us both the good and the bad of our inherited social imaginary. You need this book to remind you why you love the evangelical church and to inspire you to be an active culture maker for the kingdom.”

Jessica Hooten Wilson

“If ‘examination is an act of love,’ as Karen Swallow Prior rightly asserts, then this important book is a loving examination of many of the received ideas, metaphors, and stories that evangelicals have inherited and that inform their worldview. Prior’s examination of this history, this underlying imagination, in light of Scripture and the deepest truths of faith, offers contemporary Christians a chance for self-awareness, renewal, and hope. The insights offered in this book are not always comfortable, but they are just that kind of truth which the gospel promises ‘will make us free,’ free to move through culture to Christ, rather than letting our culture obscure or diminish him.”

Malcolm Guite