Quodlibet
Narrative Dissonance
The devil’s prime narratives include the rehabilitation of history’s evildoers and the maculation of its heroes. The point of these wicked stories is not to show that their subjects weren’t in fact as good or as bad as they are generally thought to be, but to relativize the difference between good and evil, for which they stand as symbols, however imperfect.
Godly narratives, on the other hand, are not hagiographical in the corrupt sense of ignoring or minimizing the flaws of the good (witness the scriptural treatment of Joseph or Simon Peter). In them, rather, the imperfect human icons are shown for the sole end of their transparency to the Glory of God.
S. M. Hutchens is a Touchstone senior editor.
Get six issues (one year) of Touchstone PLUS full online access including pdf downloads for only $39.95. That's only $3.34 per month!
Get a one-year full-access subscription to the Touchstone online archives for only $19.95. That's only $1.66 per month!
bulk subscriptions
Order Touchstone subscriptions in bulk and save $10 per sub! Each subscription includes 6 issues of Touchstone plus full online access to touchstonemag.com—including archives, videos, and pdf downloads of recent issues for only $29.95 each! Great for churches or study groups.
Transactions will be processed on a secure server.
more on Christianity from the online archives
27.5—Sept/Oct 2014
on Growing Vegetables as a Primer in Moral Philosophy by Rachel Lu
32.4—July/August 2019
on Probability, Death & the Existence of God by Graeme Hunter
more from the online archives
31.6—November/December 2018
on Futility & the Open Door to Deliverance by Patrick Henry Reardon
29.1—Jan/Feb 2016
Secular Credibility Is a Devilish Temptation by James Hitchcock
calling all readers
Please Donate
"There are magazines worth reading but few worth saving . . . Touchstone is just such a magazine."
—Alice von Hildebrand
"Here we do not concede one square millimeter of territory to falsehood, folly, contemporary sentimentality, or fashion. We speak the truth, and let God be our judge. . . . Touchstone is the one committedly Christian conservative journal."
—Anthony Esolen, Touchstone senior editor
