Ryken further notes that the arts (including story) are a road map to essential humanity. They tell us the truth about foundational human experience. They keep calling us back to bedrock humanity by putting us in touch with the universal images of life—both ideal and un-ideal.19 Story also embodies and incarnates truth in concrete form, not just stating abstract propositions. The artist does not simply theorize abstractly about human experience but rather presents it, thereby giving experiential
Page 48