Calvin Miller (1936–2012) was a theologian and pastor in the Southern Baptist tradition. His narrative approach to preaching, outlined in Preaching: The Art of Narrative Exposition has influenced many preachers, myself included.

It should come as no surprise that the narrative preacher honed his story-telling skills in book form as well. The Singer is the first of a trilogy that retells the story of Jesus in poetic allegory. (The second two books, The Song and The Finale, tell the story of Acts and Revelation.)

While the story of Jesus is gripping in any form, I found this thinly veiled allegory to be too derivative. It wasn’t different enough from the source material to re-present the story effectively. The gospel is the song, Jesus is the Great Troubadour, Satan is the World Hater, God is the Earthmaker, and the Spirit is the Father-Spirit.

The cover write-up promised a story “in the tradition of C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien.” It does follow the tradition of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe as an allegory for Christ. As for Tolkien—I can’t think he’d be pleased with the comparison to his work which was explicitly not an allegory.

This is a famous book in Christian circles and I’m glad I read it. But I won’t be looking for the rest of the trilogy.

Miller, Calvin. The Singer. InterVarsity Press, 1975.