This feels like a confession.
When asked what they hope to accomplish with their writing, Christian writers are fond of saying that they want to “glorify God.” They want to magnify, exalt, honor, give witness of and uphold God in the stories they tell.
Which leads to my confession: I have no idea what they’re talking about.
Of course, I realize that Christians are to glorify God in everything they do.
So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. (I Cor. 10:31).
But doesn’t this render the Christian writer’s response moot? I mean, if you’re supposed to do EVERYTHING to the glory of God, why must you single out your writing?
- Do you glorify God in how you eat?
- Do you glorify God in your TV habits?
- Do you glorify God in how you manage your money?
- Do you glorify God in how you treat your boss?
- Do you glorify God in how much you serve others?
- Do you glorify God in your online presence?
- Do you glorify God in how you market your book?
“Do ALL to the glory of God.”
If this is assumed, then why are Christians writers so concerned to point out that their literary mission is to “glorify God”? That should be a given. In fact, if you’re not glorifying Him with your whole life now, why should it matter that you stick references to Him in your stories?
And, sadly, that’s what many folks mean by glorifying God in their writing. For most Christian writers, glorifying God is all about their message. It means not backing away from the Gospel and not avoiding references to Christ in their novel. It means developing content that is virtuous, redemptive, and spiritually uplifting.
Which leads me to ask: Can only writers of explicit “Christian content” glorify God in their writing? Can a Christian sportswriter glorify God in his writing? Can a Christian textbook maker glorify God in her writing? Can a Christian dog trainer glorify God in their writing? Can a Christian op-ed columnist glorify God in their writing? Can a Christian scriptwriter for Nickelodeon glorify God in their writing?
IF NOT — if only Christian writers can glorify God in Christian stories — then how can a Christian ever hope to “do all to the glory of God”?
IF SO — if Christians can glorify God in whatever kind of story they write (or task, service, job they perform) — then how is glorifying God in a Christian story any different than glorifying God in a “secular” story?
Call me a stickler, a wet blanket if you like. But glorifying God seems to be a lot more than just going to church, quoting Scripture, referencing God, and distributing Bible tracts. Glorifying God is a lot bigger than just our message.
So why must our novels be any different?
I think if glorifying God is to be in everything we do, then our writing should be more than just about the message. It should be the writing process itself I suppose. If God is using you (the writer) as an instrument for a certain message He wants to get out, then the message should be the last thing that we as Christians should worry about. If our goal is to glorify, then I think the message should come naturally.
Does this make any sense, Mike?
IF SO — if Christians can glorify God in whatever kind of story they write (or task, service, job they perform) — then how is glorifying God in a Christian story any different than glorifying God in a “secular” story?
I’m not sure if I understand this. Could you elaborate Mike? I don’t try to make any distinctions between secular and Christians stories. To me they’re all just stories. Some will try to serve a higher purpose in serving God or allowing the stories to be a vessel for God, others don’t.
Julian, I’m just following out the train of thought. Most Christians believe that, practically speaking, we glorify God by living a certain quality of life. A Christian physician glorifies God, not just be speaking about God, but by doing a good job, being personable and empathetic, and not prescribing pain pills indiscriminately. Likewise, I’m wondering if there isn’t more to glorifying God in our writing than portraying Christian characters who quote Scripture, pray, and don’t cuss.
Sorry for so many comments but I also think that making reference to God in our stories can be done, but it doesn’t HAVE to be done. If our writing is suppose glorify God, then should the content glorify Him without the name dropping.
I have always maintained that as long as I live and breathe and exist in my theistic worldview, everything I do including writing stories will flow out of that worldview and the story, hopefully without being “preachy” will reflect that worldview. That being said, I don’t believe my stories have to be overtly Christian. Narnia and Middle Earth were not overtly Christian but the Christian worldview was well represented in the themes of the stories and the characters and their experiences.
I hope that as long as I live from a theistic worldview, my writing will reflect that worldview and its values. In fact, overtly Christian stories that push the message and shove it down my throat are anathema to me. I can’t read them! In fact, I resist the urge to write like that. It seems like an easy path to take. I’d rather face the challenge of letting a really good story flow out of my worldview rather than shoe horn the story to fit my presuppositions. After all, this is what Dan Brown did with “The Da Vinci Code”.
I’m gonna play Ransom Note Cut & Paste from Dorothy Sayers here.
***
No piety in the worker will compensate for work that is not true to itself; for any work that is untrue to its own technique is a living lie.
Yet in Her own buildings, in Her own ecclesiastical art and music, in Her hymns and prayers, in Her sermons and in Her little books of devotion, the Church will tolerate, or permit a pious intention to excuse work so ugly, so pretentious, so tawdry and twaddling, so insincere and insipid, so bad as to shock and horrify any decent draftsman.
And why? Simply because She has lost all sense of the fact that the living and eternal truth is expressed in work only so far as that work is true in itself, to itself, to the standards of its own technique. She has forgotten that the secular vocation is sacred. Forgotten that a building must be good architecture before it can be a good church; that a painting must be well painted before it can be a good sacred picture; that work must be good work before it can call itself God’s work.
***
I think we need to work our art as unto God; in faithfulness to His Person and Character as well as in pursuit of technical excellence and expression in the chosen medium.
I’ve got to do my best boldly and prayerfully. I can’t knowingly offer “the sick, the blind, the lame.” Mal.1:8
Wow! Fantastic quote, Patrick. I’m definitely swiping that.
When I hear writers (or any artists) say they do what they do to glorify God, I don’t take it to mean they don’t try to glorify Him in all other areas of their lives, but that they are trying to distinguish themselves from those artists who say whatever they want to say, not caring a whit about what God might think. There are plenty of those artists out there. We’re bombarded by their “fruits” everyday if we don’t choose our media carefully. Certainly, non-Christian artists can glorify God either intentionally or unintentionally, but it isn’t a common driving force in the secular realm.
My problem, Jessica, is not with Christians who want to ‘to distinguish themselves from those artists who say whatever they want to say, not caring a whit about what God might think.” My issue is with those Christian artists who believe that the only way they can do so is by referencing God, Scripture, or Christian symbolism. As if getting a tattoo of John 3:16 across my neck makes me a better witness.
Huh. Well. Yeah, there are those. And in too strong a dose it can become a bit strange and off-putting.
Patrick, I can see how it would be easy to fall into that trap, and I’ve had to ask myself that question too. Am I trying to “glorify God” merely in hopes that He will greatly bless what I want to do? I have been guilty of that attitude sometimes.
I totally agree, Jessica.
Unfortunately I’ve met those for whom that phrase is code for: “I’m believing God to prosper my little expedition, here.”
I’m just gonna say it, I’d like to tell stories (cinematic and literary) without having to mention God and Scripture. I would like the content of my work reflect my personal beliefs in God without throwing His name out there or making some heavy handed allegory.
I know its possible to do this, but I wonder how.
I’ve been studying this–making “the content of my work reflect my personal beliefs in God…–and I think there are workable strategies. I love writing strategies. They aren’t formulas, rather instigators for certain explorations. If we develop characters with strong points of view, passion, a little internal conflict, and integrity, then drop them into a scene with a character with a different point of view, or no passion or uninformed passion, something’s going to happen. Characters and stuff happening in a cause/effect pattern–a high-falutin’ technical definition of story.
Literary works are meant to convey universal truths. This is why people say that a literary work has changed their life. However, many of these people ‘just don’t get it.’ Even books like The Catcher in the Rye, one of my personal favorites, convey Godly messages, albeit in a secular tone. These works can be used to reach people of all creeds and make them think deeper about what it means. Take the prophecy: in many places it’s not-so-clear, but translates into “you need to get right with me.”
Imagination is a gift from God. When we use it, we reflect his image. And that is something to revel in. I imagine God is happy to see us do that.
I think it’s a matter of verbiage and definition. We glorify God in what we do by working at it with everything we have, as if working for the Lord. So anytime we put forth our best effort and work with integrity, because we are working for God, not man, that is glorifying God. And we can do that in anything we choose to do.
I think what many Christian writers mean when we say we want to glorify God with out writing, is that we want to point to God. We want to point to His majesty and grace and the power of his redemption. A writer for the secular market can definitely glorify God in his/her writing, but even so, their stories might not point readers to God.
If that makes any sense.
On a slightly different note, I’m posing more questions on my blog tomorrow. Mainly about the nature of preachiness and if Christian books (books published by the CBA) are by default, message books. I’d love your input, Mike!
oops – I mean “with OUR writing” not “with OUT writing”. What a difference a letter makes.
Oh, and another thought.
Any writer can glorify God in their writing, but that doesn’t mean the finished product will glorify God. Does that make sense?
This is a great article. I’ve had strong objections to “Christian fiction” and “Christian music” since I was in high school and first started making a serious effort at writing fiction. It seems like any old piece of crap can get published as long as it slaps in a message about loving Jesus or sings God’s praises. I don’t believe God is truly glorified by people who write dreck in Jesus’ name. I believe God is truly glorified when we use the talents He’s given us to tell stories that are meaningful and true, whether or not they explicitly say that Jesus is the only way to heaven.
I try to write honest fiction about Christian characters. I also try to write honest fiction about non-Christian characters, because my life doesn’t exist in a vacuum. I’m surrounded by non-Christians, many of whom I am very close to and care deeply about. How is God going to be glorified if those non-Christian friends of mine read my fiction and feel that I have marginalized them or belittled them?
I’m not writing fiction with the purpose of saving people’s souls. I’m writing fiction with the purpose of telling a good story. I think the things that are important to me will shine through (at least that’s my goal) without my preaching.
The answer lies in what is it about the light that we let shine that points people to God, that glorifies Him?
There is the kind of glorifying based on the quality of our work, whatever that is. When someone learns we are a Christian, then that can glorify God, but in and of itself is just as likely to point to me as to God from someone looking in. If I write a terrific book that blows everyone out of the water, they aren’t going to say, “Wow, God wrote a great book there!” They are going to focus on me, and short of some level of realization that I’m a Christian, and that influences my writing, God will not be noticed.
Then there is the level where themes and morals lived out in the novel, promoted as “good” or “evil” in the novel, whether God or Christ or Christianity is ever mentioned or not, is compatible and supportive of Christianity. Again, Christianity shares much of that with other religions, even with purely secular values. So short of them knowing I’m a Christian, such an outsider reading my book may not see God at all, despite my specific Christian worldview very evident in the writing.
Then another level is the more overt mentioning of God. This has the advantage of making it clear both what audience we are shooting for (a Christian one), and that God is clearly stated as the basis for the novels values and themes. The only problem is such a novel isn’t likely to be very “light shining” because few outside of Christian circles are likely to read it. Especially if it is decidedly preachy, which they tend to be. C. S. Lewis tried to get around this with allegory (and so have many, many other writers) but all too often the allegory is fairly obvious, as in C. S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia. Such have a better chance of reaching non-Christian audiences than straight out preaching.
My Reality Chronicles falls as a hybrid between the last two. It is obvious God is a character, though you never hear Him or see Him, and that the main character is a Christian, and there are themes of redemption running through it. But I’ve done my best not to get too “preachy” in it, and just show through the story the morals and values that arise. How well I’ve done with that, readers will have to decide.
But, and here for me is the key point, the above while all good in their own ways, isn’t what glorifying God is about. Rather, glorifying God is about offering my life to Him. Offering my writings to Him, to do with as He pleases. It’s a personal thing that I offer to God whatever it is I do, to Him. This can inform the quality, the audience, and the themes. But it is the quality of my life as a whole that shines the light. One of my stories might be a little ray among the whole, but apart from my life would be meaningless in glorifying God.
God will be glorified in my stories because I’ve offered them up to Him, and He can use them however He sees fit, whether that is edifying the faithful or convicting a non-Christian of their need for Christ.
So to me, the content is a minor factor in whether it glorifies God or not. Granted, overt anti-Christian themes or content would not glorify God. But as a Christian, I’m not likely to write anything like that unless it is a mistake that was totally missed. But I know my Christian worldview will inform the types of things that are promoted as “good” and those which are seen as “evil.” The real test of whether it is glorifying God is whether I’m doing it as unto God, or unto myself. We don’t ever get ourselves totally out of the picture, but if we are doing it for Him primarily, and we stay true to Christian values and teachings, whether or not it is obvious, then I think we are glorifying God.
Why I think a lot of “Christian novels” tend to be overly preachy and unnatural in their presentation of Christianity is because they haven’t offered it up to God fully. They don’t feel comfortable allowing God to use it as He sees fit, instead they feel a need to force the reader to get the message that the author wants.
For you see, when they get “preached” at by the author, they see the author as being glorified by having this nifty message. If the reader sees something of value in the writing that speaks to them, they will see God using the authors words to speak to them, because the author didn’t directly say X, Y, Z. The reader simply connected the dots and had a “ah ha” moment. Then God is glorified instead of me. If I’m offering it up to God, then He has control of what message people will get out of it. If I don’t, I’ll tend to force-feed a message to the readers, but it may not be the one they need to hear. And in either case, the author gets the glory.
So I’d say in that view of things, explicit preachy Christian messages will have limited glorifying God appeal. Especially when they come across as tacked on instead of natural to the story and/or characters.
R.L., this is an incredibly insightful comment. I completely agree with you.
Something else came to mind this morning. I was the drama minister at my church for 15 years. Five years ago, our church adopted a new strategy under our new pastor. We would no longer perform church based drama. Up until that point, the idea was to offer art to our community in the form of drama — more than just the usual Easter or Christmas pageants. We would attract non-believers to our church with excellent, high quality drama and art in general. The idea was for the church to become once again a center of excellence in art as it used to be when the church commissioned artists to create great and wonderful works.
Now, the idea had arisen that we, as Christians, should go OUT into the community and become involved in secular art. By doing so, we would expose the culture to our Christian worldview and thus begin to change culture. I learned firsthand about this strategy from a church in Los Angeles. This church had a film school whose entire purpose was to train Christian filmmakers and send them into Hollywood to change culture.
I don’t know if this strategy is going to work. Certainly as Christian writers, we already have that mandate. We are writing our stories and sending them out into culture. But, is that writing focused on the established Christian reader or are we trying to cross over to the secular reader? Here is the rub, I believe. In order to reach a secular audience, do we have to water down the Gospel and risk not glorifying God with our work? Is that what we are supposed to do?
Or, do we compromise our values and write dark, edgy stories with curse words and gratuitous sex and violence in order to attract secular readers and somehow hope that our Christian worldview comes through? Not sure. But, it seems to be the prevailing attitude among church leaders today that our art as Christians should not be expressed in the church but taken to the streets so that in doing so, secular culture gets exposed to our “glorifying” of God. How do we do this without appearing to no longer “glorify” God? It is almost a Catch-22.
What do you think?
I sort of think of it this way, what it means to “glorify God” through our writing: If “the heavens declare the glory of God,” then His fingerprints are there. The heavens don’t use words, but their very essence shouts of something and Someone far, far bigger than we are. Glorifying God in what we do (in my opinion) doesn’t mean we have to “tag” everything we do with God’s name. There’s not a tag under a cloud that says “made by our Awesome God.” We just need to do what we do to the best of the ability He’s given us, and ask Him about what to do that will bring glory to Him. Sometimes, that’s very simple to do.
I think people complicate things more than they need to, and end up pushing their opinions onto others as well. As in, if our characters don’t say grace over every meal or we don’t have a church sermon in the book, that “God” isn’t being shown in our work. But I guess that’s getting back to an earlier post… 🙂
Interesting train of thought. And it doesn’t hurt for us to think carefully about why we write, what we write, and if God is pleased with our offerings, and how we can best “reflect” Him to our readers…
Glorifying God means doing everything to the best of our ability. “Do it with all your might’ as it says in Ecclesiastes. For sure, writers can glorify God without mentioning God. It’s like saying an artist can only glorify God if they paint pastoral pictures of Jesus. Come on!!! As an artist as well as an author, this drives me crazy! I personally hate pastoral scenes of anything. Pictures that are raw and elicit an emotional response are far more engaging – and dare I say ‘glorifying’ if they have some kind of message. (Let’s say, pointing out some kind of injustice, as in protest art…)
It reminds me of what I happen to be reading right now in the Bible. I’m into the prophets and let me tell you, a lot of that stuff isn’t pretty! But it’s still glorifying.
Okay, I think I’m really digressing here. short answer: YES – you can glorify God without mentioning God, and non-Christian authors can also glorify God. (Look at how a dancer glorifies the creator simply by showcasing the amazing human body … ) Oops. digressing again.
Pastorals do not lack meaning or passion. They are the flip side of the picturesque. This style of art was meant to bring about emotional responses. Judging by the treatises philosophers wrote about these two types of landscapes, my guess is that artists were successful in both painting emotion and meaning into their compositions.
I know I’m taking you literally, but I can’t help feeling irked at the maligning of pastorals. God gives us various images of himself, his son, and the holy spirit in the Bible. Jesus as shepherd is used repeatedly because it’s a powerful image. And there’s nothing particularly soft or nice about humans being compared to sheep, either. It’s not a nice image at all.
And why can’t the good and the peaceful glorify God, as well as the bad and the ugly? Truth-telling is multidimensional. But, on the other hand, I agree with your ultimate conclusions. 🙂
I believe a scriptwriter writing for Nickelodeon can indeed glorify God with his writing. The widow who gave a penny-and thus all she had-to God, glorified Him with her quiet deed. And on the flip side, too many so-called righteous people loudly proclaim their deeds in the name of God without their lives and hearts glorifying Him.
In response to this post, Becky Miller has taken up the discussion about glorifying God and what that means at her site. As usual, Becky brings her theological analyses to the subject for another interesting spin on the subject. Check it out!
I love your thoughts and comments Mike. I have been a Christian for over 28 years and I am so tired of the ides of “secular” vs. Christian. I think that by creating this delineation we limit the ways in which God brings glory to Himself. And just being frank here, there is much in literature, music, and in film that is “Christian” in its message but terrible in its persentation.
I believe that a Christian can write, paint, photograph something that does not have a “Christian message” as understood by modern evangelicalism, and still bring glory to God because of its creativity and theme.
I also believe that a non-christian can write, paint, photogragh, something that brings glory to God as well. I think so much of the artistic realm in the “secular” that has depth, and amazing creativity. And since God is the Author of everything beautiful, His glory is evident.
Thanks again for your insightful blog.
Peace to you,
Mark
I have little to add to what others have said.
My primary aim in everything is to glorify God. But a lot of Christian writers seem to use that as a shibboleth to getting published. As if they say “God is on my side so this book WILL see the light of day.” It’s the writers’ version of Name it and Claim it. And it bugs me because so much of what many of those books are is not something I’d want to put God’s name on, but I guess that’s not my problem.
Anyway, my primary goal in writing is to entertain and comfort people. I figure that glorifies God and it seems pompous to announce that I’m GLORIFYING GOD at every turn.
As usual, you’ve brought up some interesting questions about Christian faith and writing. I think you are right — we should glorify God in everything that we do.
Writers are among the best missionaries in the current world and which ever they do must always praise our GOD.
While I agree that a work does not need to be blatently christian themed, preachy, and laced with scripture, there is a line which should not be crossed by an author who is a christian.
I’ve read several books lately by authors who are christians where paragraphs and pages are used to describe sexual encounters that are definitely not glorifying to God. I understand that as part of a story, these types of encounters might be important, but does an author who is striving to glorify God in everything he does really need to tell us “her silk robe fell gently to the floor revealing…”
I think any writing that is going to encourage blatant lustful thoughts, cannot glorify be glorifying God at the smae time–even when the details shared are mild by the worlds standard. This is not the same as writing about the sexual encounter without going into graphic detail because reading it, is not going to encourage sinful behavior. All christians needs to realize that their GOAL is not to strive to have better standards than the world, but to “be holy as I am holy”(live up to Gods standards).
Interesting discussion. I think if we are truly trying to bring glory to God in all aspects of our lives doing so in whatever work we do will simply happen, without effort, without the proverbial Bible thumping. I entered a secular poetry contest once, just for fun. When it took the top prize the judge, who is not a believer, said the most powerful aspect of the piece was the “under-lying presence of God.” I hadn’t mentioned Him. Or so I thought.
I was stunned, humbled, praised God.
Write the words. Let Him do the rest.
Write the words. Let Him do the rest.
This. Yes.
I’m told my books are not “preachy” — I can’t determine that for myself, it takes a reader to do that. I believe we can tell stories that range along a continuum from very sweet and low-key to edgy and challenging. If we do it as unto the Lord, there’s room in His house for all these types of fiction. I just wish there were more acceptance of the Christian world-view in the general publishing industry, though. We’re not hiding our light under a bushel, but if we write Christian and sell only to Christians — how does that get His message across?
IF only Christians can glorify God does that not negate common grace at some point? Christians need to do everything for God’s glory but if it’s all about the mentioning the gospel in your writing then it misses the point. Flannery O’Connor wrote with Christian themes but sometimes not explicitly.
I’m not sure if anyone’s still paying attention to this discussion, but I thought this post was very interesting, and I wanted to add my thoughts.
I agree that, as Christian writers, glorifying God should be a given. But very often it isn’t. Even though God has already redeemed us, and “we delight in God’s law”, the “law of sin is at work within” us and will as long as we are living here in our earthly. Paul talks about this in Romans 7:14-25.
I believe that since we are to do everything to the glory of God, then it is all the more reason to be intentional about it. Not that we should be less intentional about glorifying Him through our writing, but that we should be more intentional about Glorifying Him through everything. And since it’s a command, better to overdo it than not enough, right? Besides, if our hearts are right, and our true motives are to glorify Him, then I doubt that we could ever ‘overdo it’.
As for what it means to “glorify God” “in the stories they tell”, I would say that it means to write about God’s character in a way that points the reader to Him and makes them think “Wow, what a great and awesome God I serve!” or “He is so loving, I want to know Him more!” Of course, the way we understand what it means to glorify Him through our writing will influence how we go about it.
And like Mike said at the end of his first comment, the message should come naturally if our hearts are right before God. But once in a while, we would do well to review our message and ask if the message is glorifying to God. By the fruit, you can recognize the heart.
Anyway, just a few thoughts. Thank you for this post. It’s great that you’re encouraging writers to think about why they do what they do and to examine their motives.
Jordy,
Thanks for the encouragement. I just heard Dallas Willard talk about Francis of Assissi–It was actually an aside in his talk.
Dallas said that Francis sent his men out two by two so the world would see them loving each other and be drawn to God. This relates loosely to writing, I know. It spoke to me because I teach at writing conferences and have been praying about adding a partner. Francis’s policy seemed to make a good argument for team-teaching to writers. Let us do all to the glory of God.
Amen to that last sentence, Terasa!
Seeking Practical Definitions, probably by Genre
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Mike;
You do like to mix it up don’t you? You ask some of the most engaging, thought provoking and argument inciting questions of any Fb poster that I’ve seen. Bravo, bro.
As with many things Theological I find myself thinking, “Wow, those big words like a really important thing; I wonder what they mean practically? What’s the practical essence of it and how can I accomplish it? I find this phrase “Glorify God” to be part of that shadowy class of phrases and words.
I didn’t have time to read all the responses, the ones I sampled looked quite thoughtful; but I did notice one thing that I found a bit troubling. Everyone wrote about “Glorifying God” as if it was a well understood term that most everyone knew the meaning of. (Some did try to define it functionally, and I commend them for adding their Extensive definitions to the discussion) However even with this Glorifying God seemed like a secret password that everyone “in the club” uses but to which there wasn’t one clear “Consensus” meaning.
I read Rebecca Millers thoughtful attempt to address this topic in her blog (your links below); but even there I don’t see the kind of clear “consensus” answer I’d like to see.
I know some Theological terms in scriptures are obscure like that because they are untranslated Latin words and they have no meaning in English, other than what the preacher or commentator fills them with (which IMHO is where many theological wars originate, but I digress); but Glorifying God or Bringing Glory to God are fine English words which should have a plain, practical meaning.
I know a number of new Christian Writers who write Christian Fiction about Zombies, Vampires and other Occult subjects. I’ve asked them and they all have a rationale for their choice of Genre’s outside the typical pale for Christian writing. I confess though that in the absence of a clear meaning for Glorifying God (and I know that in real life God does a whole lot of stuff that falls way outside that typical, dare I say Orthodox, pale Himself) I’m at a loss to know if their rationale makes sense spiritually.
More importantly, I find that without a clear standard of Appropriate and Practical Excellence, to apply to these non-standard Christian Genre’s, when I’m asked to critique their work for Style, Substance and Thematic Consistency it’s hard to know what to say and what suggestions for improvement to give. Mere Stylistic critiques are relatively easy, Substance and Thematic Consistency are the hard part absent a clear standard of what Glorifies God.
My experience in the Writing world has taught me that a good editor / critique partner who knows the genre and market that you are writing for is essential to turning out a good literary / entertainment product. Since the Spiritual Goal of Glorifying God is not defined by Elements of Style or by the Marketplace it seems we need some consensus on what is the essence of Glorifying God. As a Critique partner I want to know how to recognize it when I see it, and as an Author I need to know how to shape my Themes and Plots to do it.
It seems to me that if we could define, Intensively and Extensively, what “Glorifying God” means it would be much easier to determine whether we’d got the job done or not when we evaluate the writing of others and do our own writing.
God is glorified by fruit bearing
John 14-16