Authors C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien have captured the imagination of millions of readers across languages and cultures with unforgettable stories enchanting the familiar and transforming the way we look at lions, lampposts, and rings. They have also touched the way many see weightier matters of life, moral brokenness, and death. As powerful as they are, fantasy stories are primarily created for the imaginative delight of the author and the reader, and they are good in and of themselves.

But are there secondary goods for stories like The Chronicles of Narnia? One lesser-known potential is that stories like these can powerfully communicate across cultures. More importantly, they can help people understand and appreciate the wonder and truth of the Christian worldview for the first time or with fresh insight. Part of what got C. S. Lewis's attention as an atheist was George MacDonald's fantasy, Phantastes.

Other Watchful Dragons shows some of the best ways narrative contributes to cross-cultural apologetics through The Chronicles of Narnia. But greater still, the path there involves an exploration of the powers of narrative, seen in renowned writers George MacDonald, J. R. R. Tolkien, and C. S. Lewis, as well as contemporary scholarship.

Jonathan M. Parker is Adjunct Professor of Christianity and Culture at Washington University of Virginia and an adjunct professor at Columbia International University. He is senior pastor of Jerusalem Baptist Church, a multi-ethnic church in Northern Virginia. He has also had the privilege of living abroad in Colombia and Costa Rica as well as traveling to over twenty countries in Central and South America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.