What can Christians learn from Stephen King? Jared Wilson and Matthew Barrett

Stephen King will go down as one of the greatest fiction writers of our time. Although his works are not often considered relevant to theological conversation or even unfriendly to the Christian faith by some, King offers Christians a window into the human experience with his deep sense of reality that is honest about the despair of this world and the wonder within every person who asks if something transcends this world. After engaging King, readers are left asking, “Could there be hope? Could there be a hope that enters into our reality and goes beyond the typical superficiality that we often see around us?” Christians have nothing to fear when engaging Stephen King, as he implicitly shows us how redemption is something we all long for as humans.

In this episode, Jared Wilson joins Matthew Barrett as they both discuss how the great Stephen King has influenced their writing. They also explain why reading fiction can help pastors become better preachers and theologians become better communicators.

Jared C. Wilson is Assistant Professor of Pastoral Ministry at Spurgeon College, Author in Residence at Midwestern Seminary, General Editor of For The Church (and co-host of the For The Church Podcast), Director of the Pastoral Training Center at Liberty Baptist Church, and author of numerous books, including The Pastor’s Justification, The Imperfect Disciple, The Gospel According to Satan, and The Gospel-Driven Church.

Matthew Barrett is the author of Simply Trinity: The Unmanipulated Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Baker). He is the founder and executive editor of Credo Magazine and host of the Credo podcast. He is associate professor of Christian theology at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.