The Books that Made Us: Deconstructing the Modern Christian Classics

A travelog of the moral and spiritual journey Rebecca Bratten Weiss has taken through some of the books in the modern Christian literary canon. She offering readers an open-eyed expedition into the rubble of the tradition’s texts, where among the remains of racism, classism, misogyny, classism, and homophobia, she sifts for the glimmers of truth.

Many seeking values of social justice have discovered their relationship with the Christian literary classics has been, well,… complicated. Many of the works that formed, entertained, inspired, and gave us solace have justly come under scrutiny due to elements of racism, antisemitism, misogyny, elitism, and homophobia. Though some Christian scholars and writers try to dismiss or even justify these elements, the fact is that flaws in certain Christian classics are real and serious.

Former academic and English teacher Rebecca Bratten Weiss wrestles with her relationship to beloved yet problematic Christian literary classics, works of G.K. Chesterton, T.S. Eliot, Evelyn Waugh, C.S. Lewis, and others. As she does so, she develops a critical toolkit to empower readers to deconstruct and differently reclaim these narratives—and their own stories—with a view to maturing the way we read, live our ethics, and seek justice. In re-engaging with classic texts, claiming the good, rejecting the bad, and naming the complexities, she sheds light on ways to evaluate stories in light of truth and justice and assess their place in the larger cultural tradition.

Sometimes re-reading these works becomes more like an examination of conscience, prompting practices of reparation for participation in harmful ideologies. But sometimes, to her surprise, she finds in unexpected places truthful representations she hadn’t sufficiently appreciated before. Still there are pots of gold.