Download the mp3s here
Surprisingly enough (to me) this was at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Two very good lectures and also a good two-part panel discussion where Pearce’s cockney sounds quite fun next to the other prof’s drawls. Evidently the seminary or a related college has a great books program of sorts and a very Catholic attitude toward literature (that’s a compliment folks!). All the panelists decried “bad good fiction,” the trite stuff pumped out by Christian authors that might have sound moral values but is bad literature. Even having read Pearce’s litereary bio of Tolkien, there was new material here, or a slightly different take on things at least. What made the discussion so interesting was that it not only diagnosed the problems of bad art but also offered solutions. Quite quotable, I might have to listen a few times.
I love Pearce’s take on evangelizing the culture. He is sound on literature and a good speaker, witty, able to talk both to scholars and to everyman. I need to read more of his books.
More on Pearce at Ignatius Insight
Pearce’s conversion story
