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In class at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas, I teach how the genres of storytelling reveal how generations have seen the world — and I speak about how salvation history reveals how God sees the world, at The Extraordinary Story podcast.
Among the many things that make Christ’s story extraordinary is the fact that it both includes and transcends the genres we are accustomed to. Here are some examples.
First: The quest story finds its fulfillment in Christ.
In quest stories, the protagonist sets out on a hero’s journey to gain a prize of enormous value, and will need to overcome seemingly impossible obstacles — exteriorly and interiorly.
J.R.R. Tolkien wrote two versions of the quest story: The heist, where a questing hobbit “burgles” the ill begotten gains of the enemy; and a reverse heist, where the hobbit’s quest is to return and destroy the prize.
The Gospel is both kinds of quest. Jesus describes his mission as a heist when he says he will overcome the Strong Man Satan and divide his spoils, Satan’s kingdom of power. But he also destroys Satan’s prize possession, renders it worthless, and supplants him with a new kingdom of humility.
Second: The story of Jesus is the ultimate superhero story.
In superhero stories, a hero from another land, or a hero who arises from among us with exceptional abilities, is driven by injustice in his past to right wrongs in the world. In those broad details, you hear echoes of the story of Jesus, coming from heaven to correct the disaster his people have made of the world.
Jesus’ tale is complete with a compelling origin story, a nemesis who is in many ways his opposite, a faithful sidekick and a mission to save the world.
Third: The Gospel even has horror story elements.
Horror stories work by reminding us that there is another layer to the world that we don’t see, but that can destroy us. In the Gospel, figures like the Gerasene demoniac bring that unseen land into ours, and Jesus warns again and again that if we are selfish and greedy we will experience woe in that land of true horror.
The Gospel even has ghost story elements. Ghost stories tell us that those who are dead are not really dead — and that their unfinished business still needs to be attended to. Herod worries that Jesus is John the Baptist returning back from the dead and Jesus the apostles he is not a ghost — before as well as after his death.
Fourth: Christ’s story is also a crime story.
In the crime genre — from On the Waterfront to The Godfather to Quentin Tarantino movies — criminals find that living outside the law makes love and peace impossible.
In the same way, we are unhappy people, unable to feel right with the universe because are at odds with the Law. And the whole point of Jesus’ mission to earth is to reform us, to free us from lawlessness into truth.
Fifth: The Gospel story is a war story.
In the war genre, fighting men discover that where justice is impossible, love is their saving grace — and that, for them, love means fraternal sacrifice in battle.
Jesus teaches that our whole lives are a spiritual battle, and we must be armed for serious combat — but that there is no greater love than to lay down your life for others.
Sixth: Last but not least, the Gospel is a love story.
In a romance story, love wins a victory against an unjust world. Where everything else goes wrong, a heart finds solace in the embrace of another.
If, in romantic comedies, heroes fight for their beloved, then Jesus is the greatest romantic hero of all, because he fights to the death for every one of us.
But the story of Jesus also transcends each of these genres.
Christ’s quest is greater than any other, because instead of just winning a prize, he becomes the prize for each of our quests, a treasure and a pearl, and far more.
He transcends the superhero genre, by giving each of our ordinary virtues supernatural power, and he transcends the horror genre by delivering from horror to hope.
He transforms crime stories by becoming in himself the way of peace for thieves who repent and a stumbling block for thieves who don’t. And he transcends the war genre and romance genre, both at once, because his fight will defeat all wars, and his love will fulfill every broken heart.
The story of salvation history is also, of course, an action story, a quiet drama, a psychological thriller and a great adventure. It is the Extraordinary Story.
