Facebook 
Twitter Philip Yancey, a journalist by profession, is a bestselling writer and speaker. He is known for his honest, thoughtful explorations of Christian faith, particularly in areas of questions, struggles, and mystery. His devoted readers have bonded with him on his own journeys through doubt and faith, and they count on him as a trusted companion in the search for a faith that matters amid the world’s deepest problems as well as its shining joys. His latest book is What Good Is God? Visit Philip online at http://www.philipyancey.com/
Writer: Aaron Lee
Philip Yancey. Image courtesy of Philip Yancey.
Aaron Lee (AL): First of all, thank you for your excellent book Prayer. I read it recently and found it powerfully convicting. The Christian artist Makoto Fujimura said that “prayer is the highest art form”. What is your view?
Philip Yancey (PY): It sounds very good to call prayer “the highest art form”, and in theory I have to agree. Most of the time, though, prayer feels like hard work. I’ve learned that everything worthwhile—whether creative arts, classical music, athletics, or spiritual disciplines—requires sustained periods of exercise and commitment. Prayer is like that for me. In my writing, I dare not wait until I feel “inspired”, or I would never write. I have to sit at the desk and get to work. The same with prayer.
AL: You have a wonderful way of weaving your life experiences into the books you write. That’s one of the reasons why these books are so engaging, even though the subject may be difficult to handle. What role does creativity and imagination play in writing for a Christian audience?
PY: In Singapore I mentioned that good writing resonates at a subconscious level with the reader. We humans are creatures of time (this happens, then that happens, in a predictable sequence) and also creatures of materiality: we feel, taste, touch, hear, see. Creative writing conveys to the reader that the writer, too, is human and can understand and express the human predicament. I do that through my life experiences, which can pluck chords of resonance in my writers. Others find alternative ways of doing something similar.
AL: In a 1986 article you wrote for Christian Century about TS Eliot and Christian society, you mentioned the moral incoherence of modernity, and that Eliot’s “fervent attempts to reshape the structure of civilization came to naught”. Do you still think of this as a duty of writers? How have writers fared in this mission since then?
PY: In that article—you may be the only person who remembers it!—I observe that Eliot abandoned his artistic projects and devoted years to more the more pragmatic goal of reshaping civilization. Yet no one reads Eliot’s thoughts on politics and the economy anymore. We still study his poetry. I wonder if his impact would have been greater if he had stuck to poetry instead of dabbling in social engineering. Frankly, I don’t think Christian writers have added much to the goal of reshaping society and changing the world since Eliot’s time either.
AL: Do you have any favourite poets or fiction writers (of any time/age)? Do you draw anything from them in your own writing?
PY: I read less poetry than I should, though Rilke, Yeats, and Auden can transport me. I try to stay acquainted with modern fiction, occasionally reading winners of the Booker Prize, for example. John Updike is hard to beat as a pure stylist and master of the English sentence—though as one critic complained, never has a person written better sentences about matters of less import. Arundhati Roy teaches me about point of view, JM Coetzee is a master of minimalism—I try to learn from everyone I read, noting images, sentence structure, unusual constructions.
AL: What about contemporary Christian fiction writers such as William P Young (The Shack), Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins (eschatological fiction), or any others that you know? What do you think of their work and what they are achieving?
PY: Now you’re getting personal. I’ve avoided reading or writing Christian fiction as it tends to have the scent of propaganda about it. I have a different eschatological point of view than the Left Behind series, and I winced at the writing quality of The Shack. Yet I don’t want to criticize my fellow-labourers in God’s vineyard, and have a grateful appreciation for the fact that God can speak through anyone—even a donkey, in Balaam’s case. My book Soul Survivor describes some of the modern writers I look to as mentors, including, for different reasons, Annie Dillard, Robert Coles, Frederick Buechner, and Shusako Endo.
AL: Could you talk a little about one work of creative art (whether it is a song, poem, painting etc.) that has powerfully impacted you as a Christian?
PY: Frederick Buechner’s brief book Telling The Truth rocked me when I read it. An ordained minister and polished fiction writer, Buechner managed to bring new life to the old story of the Gospel. That is my goal, in a sense: not to propose new ideas but to find new ways of expressing old truths. Buechner does that consistently as well as better than anyone I know.
AL: What relationship do you see between imagination and creativity, and the fruits of the Spirit?
PY: Both seem to represent a combination of gift and hard work. We abide in the spirit and gradually, fruits such as love, peace, and faithfulness grow within us. We abide in the spirit and find ways to express that reality creatively and imaginatively. Yet both processes involve tedious work. Gifts of creativity and spiritual gifts rarely feel like gifts to the one who has them; mainly, they feel like burdens or obligations. Only as we exercise them do they take the appearance of gifts.
AL: You are probably on the road a lot. Do you have a regular writing routine?
PY: I began my career in a magazine office and learned the 9–5 office routine. Actually, it’s more often 8–6 nowadays. I do my creative work in the mornings, and use that deadly period just after lunch to catch up on email and other tasks. For me, writing divides this way: 40 percent getting ready to write (interviewing and researching), 20 percent composing, and 40 percent cleaning up what I wrote (the editing and refining process). In an article that entire process may take a week; a book requires a year and more.
AL: Is there one book that you are just burning to write, and if so, what would it be about?
PY: I plan to write a no-holds-barred memoir about growing up in a toxic, repressive church, ditching faith completely, and finding my way back towards grace. There are complications involving the people I must write about, but truly I believe I was put on earth to write this one book, which will stitch together the disparate parts of my life.
AL: Did you discover something about Singapore (anything!) that you did not know before your recent trip?
PY: It is so hot! Yet it’s so well organised. We flew here after a few days in Manila. I was delighted to find orderly traffic, flowers and greenery, and signs of orderly bustle everywhere. Singapore is showing a new light to Asia, a way of combining the best of East and West. Keep it up!
“Frankly, I don’t think Christian writers have added much to the goal of reshaping society and changing the world since Eliot’s time either.”
So the writer’s responsibility (such an old-fashioned word in our world today!) is not to reshape or change, but to reflect (in both senses of the word – to mirror, and to meditate). The Singaporean in me finds that rather disturbing – the idea that writers cannot effect any real change or ‘make’ anything happen. (Though of course Auden got it right years ago – “Poetry makes nothing happen.”)
Thanks much for this interview though. i suppose it was by God’s grace that Yancey was the first popular Christian writer i read, before i was a Christian. i’m not sure where i’d be today if i’d read someone else! ;P i still find his writing – style, content, quality – something to aspire towards. It’s great that CLV’s managed to get in touch with him.
I resonate with the line, “That is my goal, in a sense: not to propose new ideas but to find new ways of expressing old truths.” Being a created being means that I understand anything from the Creator is much higher and wiser than what I can ever think. I’ve come to admit, and be convicted that the Bible is simply the wisest book because it’s God written. I do want to be wise (instead of clever), and I know to do so, means that I have to seek wisdom. The highest wisdom is God’s wisdom, and I really think that if we just use our creativity to re-enact/re-tell what the highest wisdom is saying, we’re on a good track. And yes, hard work in creative thinking and doing is necessary, if only to hide the pearls so that they are not cast to swines. =)
In this sense, we must stay away from “changing the world” mentality that comes from our own strength. Sometimes, I wonder what would have happened if Eliot had partnered the Holy Spirit in a very dynamic way? I wonder how his very wonderful mind would absorb, and then relate the powers and signs of the kingdom. And if we want to effect change as writers, perhaps the most telling change is ourselves. Getting the right perspective on the straight and narrow is crucial to how we structure our work. And then, listening to Jesus for the next step.
I believe that most Christian writers who truly seek God and write, did not feel wasted. They must have a treasure trove of replies/comments from people who really appreciated their influence/words. Perhaps the resonances were not worldwide. The partnership of fruitfulness and fame are more incidental (divinely planned, of course) than complementary.
Great stuffs thanks!
Dear Hedonese, so sorry for the late response. Thank you for the encouragement! We promise to check and reply more responsively in future.