CV NEWS FEED // John Paul the Great University in California has launched a new free online course, “Storytelling & the Gospel,” in which its expert professors guide participants through Scripture from an artistic perspective related to their field.
Available on the university’s recently rebuilt platform, JPCatholic Online, the new lecture series offers a refreshing approach to Christian creatives and storytellers seeking to grow in both their craft and their faith.
James Crowell, a public relations representative for the university described the lecture series as “an effort to equip creative Catholics to produce good, true, and beautiful content.”
“Ranging from films to novels, we created this platform as a way to house free lectures for those unable to attend our university in-person,” Crowell stated, noting that the platform contains a continually growing library of courses, “offering a way for the public to engage with our mission to impact the culture for Christ.”
Creative writing professor Steve Kramp told CatholicVote while reflecting on his contribution to the lecture series, that his aim while designing his course was to help creatives embrace the sacrifice of their vocation.
“I don’t expect everyone who takes a creative writing elective to commit to a lifelong diet of rice and beans,” Kramp said. “But I do believe there’s such a thing as an artistic vocation.”
He continued:
If Jesus is indeed calling some of us to holiness through our passion and talent for art, it’s a safe bet that he’s not looking for half-hearted responses. But even if we understand intellectually that holiness and sacrifice go hand in hand, at least in a fallen world, sacrifice is still intimidating.
The spiritual calling for creatives is present in the Bible, Kramp pointed out, citing a passage in the book of Exodus where God tells Moses that he has chosen Bezalel and Oholiab, filling them with the Holy Spirit, to become artists.
Furthermore, Kramp notes that Jesus himself “set an example by speaking in parables (flash fiction, we call it now),” that have since “[inspired] poetic biographers and visionaries and iconographers and musicians to build a civilization.”
“What more do we need?” he asked. “And who are we to say we know a better way?”
“This is what JPCatholic is about, at our best—we integrate our Catholic faith with our pursuit of beauty, which is no less than our endless pursuit of the face of Go,” he wrote, concluding:
My hope is that this new video series not only shares what we do with a broader audience, but also that it reminds us as teachers and students of our true purpose. Not just to make a few bucks or win awards, but to renew a civilization and, even more importantly, nudge souls toward heaven.
Other courses available in the series include:
- A Sower Went Out to Sow: Christ’s Storytelling through Parables
Fr. Andy Younan - The Vocation of the Storyteller: The Biblical Call to Be Culture Creators
Prof. Chris Riley - All the World’s a Stage: Humanity & the Performing Arts
Prof. Lee Eskey - Exploring the Darkest Depths of the Soul: Portraying Evil in Fiction
Prof. Megan Eccles
