Why Reason Alone Isn’t Enough | Malcolm Guite on Faith and Imagination

Malcolm Guite joins Luke Martin for a wide-ranging Unbelievable: The Interview conversation on poetry, faith, and the power of imagination. 00:00 Intro: Malcolm Guite on poetry, faith, and imagination 00:38 Welcome + what Malcolm’s working on now (Arthur, Grail, four volumes) 02:22 Research trip + illustrator + documentary plans 04:52 Malcolm’s “single-sentence” vocation: kindling imagination for Christ 05:46 Reason & imagination: “baptised imagination” and truth-bearing art 08:14 Why Lifting the Veil (accessible theology for creatives) 10:51 Greatest influences: Lewis, Tolkien, Coleridge 14:49 Augustine’s Confessions and “chronological snobbery” 17:51 Lewis, reason & imagination — and the Anscombe debate question 20:31 Lewis’s pre-conversion divide: mythic longing vs bleak rationalism 23:37 The poem “Reason” + “Who will reconcile…?” (integration in Christ) 30:04 Break + socials + course promo 30:58 McGilchrist: cultural crisis of meaning, utility, disenchantment 38:16 Parables objection: did Jesus use stories to hide meaning? 45:24 Reading Scripture as a poet: metaphor, transcendence, idolatry 47:07 Eugene Peterson on metaphor in the Psalms 53:07 Metaphor vs history: resurrection as real event and meaning-maker 1:00:52 Student questions now: identity, permanence, beauty, belonging 1:07:36 “The hem of Christ’s garment”: tradition as a path to Christ 1:10:51 Speaking to the “elephant”: belonging → believing → behaving 1:12:51 New projects + where to find Malcolm (books, YouTube channel) 1:18:01 Closing thanks + subscribe + next episode teaser Known as a poet, priest, and academic (and former chaplain of Girton College, Cambridge), Guite reflects on the writers who shaped him from Augustine to Coleridge, and especially C.S. Lewis and Tolkien. Why does imagination matter for truth, not just feelings? And what happens to a culture when “reason” becomes narrow, utilitarian, and disenchanted? Guite engages the modern hunger for beauty, tradition, and meaning, arguing we don’t need to “re-enchant” the world so much as un-disenchant ourselves. He also shares what he’s writing next: an epic poetic retelling of the Arthurian cycle Galahad and the Grail: Merlin’s Isle (Volume 1), out in March 2026 - a retelling restoring the Christian bedrock of the Arthurian legend and the Holy Grail, inspired by the Inklings. • Support us: https://www.premierunbelievable.com/geolink/donate • Subscribe to the Unbelievable? podcast: https://www.premier.plus/unbelievable • More shows, free eBook & newsletter: https://premierunbelievable.com - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PremierUnbelievable/ - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/premierunbelievable - TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@premierunbelievable - X (Twitter) https://x.com/unbelievablefe - Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/unbelievablefe.bsky.social