Paperback: 188 pages

Publisher: Baker Academic

Publish Date: February 10, 2026

Language: English

ISBN-13: 9781540969866

How does the imagination affect our spiritual growth and discipleship? Is it possible for our imaginations to cause harm in the world?

In his search to understand how the imagination works and how theology can nurture it for cultural discipleship, Justin Ariel Bailey realized the limitations of common discipleship models: The pursuit of spiritual growth often devolves into information transfer and behavior modification. Bailey argues that imagination is at the heart of discipleship, influencing our choices, behaviors, and beliefs about God, ourselves, and the world. But it needs both healing and training–a diseased imagination can result in harm to self and others.

Bailey examines the imagination’s role in spiritual life, from perception and attention to hope and emotion, while diagnosing its diseases, including hypocrisy, distraction, control, and self-deception. Each chapter ends with an orienting prayer, culminating in a longer prayer that captures the book’s themes.

With theological depth and pastoral wisdom, Bailey invites readers to reclaim their imaginations as a vital part of discipleship, shaping a life of deeper love and justice.

Content

Table of Contents

Introduction: Undragoning the Imagination
1. The Eyes of the Heart: Imagination and Perception
2. Seeing and Believing: Imagination and Prayer
3. Close Your Eyes: Imaginative Resistance
4. Look Again: Imagination and Attention
5. The God Who Speaks: Imaginative Absorption
6. The God Who Sees: Imagination and Attachment
7. Taste and See: Imagination and Emotion
8. Seeing with Other Eyes: Imagination and History
9. What We Do Not Yet See: Imagination and Hope
Afterword: Innovation and Incarnation

Appendix: Imaginative Diseases
and Orienting Prayers

Endorsements

“

During my Christian formation, discipleship was often reduced to knowing and doing the right things. But what if we’ve lost something more fundamental, more central than either knowledge or action? What if we have misguided imaginations? In Discipling the Diseased Imagination, Justin Bailey artfully and convincingly makes a case that the imagination is the center of our discipleship. To reimagine is not a childish thing but a moral imperative of possibility.

Alex Soslerassociate professor of Bible and ministry, Montreat College
“

Discipling the Diseased Imagination will help readers understand just how powerful and formative the imagination is to mind, heart, and spirit. A diseased imagination will lead to a diseased mind, heart, and spirit, but a healthy one will do what God intended: see God, ourselves, and his creation through his eyes. This book will inspire readers to refill and reform the imagination in everyday ways that will restore it to its glorious, God-given purpose. In doing so, this book will also help us restore ourselves.

Karen Swallow Priorauthor of The Evangelical Imagination: How Stories, Images, and Metaphors Created a Culture in Crisis
“

The modern sickness of the soul runs deeper than most diagnoses are able to reach. Beneath the surface of our words and deeds, our hearts have been infected by cancerous visions that eat away at the good and the beautiful. Inviting us into the true story of reality, in which Christ is the centerpiece, Discipling the Diseased Imagination is the treatment plan the church sorely needs. With a rare blend of intellectual depth, pastoral care, and elegant prose, Justin Bailey prescribes a vision for the Christian life that is honest, humane, and hopeful.

Joshua ChatrawThe Billy Graham Chair of Evangelism and Cultural Engagement, Beeson Divinity School and Samford University
“

Justin Ariel Bailey powerfully shows us that diseased imaginations can transform into dragons. Hope may turn into sentimental clichés; our efforts to perceive God, into idolatry; and our search for transcendence, into an addiction to emotional highs. With an engaging mix of theology, literature, poetry, pop culture, and anecdotes, Discipling the Diseased Imagination teaches us how to prayerfully train our imaginations so that we can combat our dragons and live into our imago Dei.

Lanta Davisprofessor of humanities and literature, John Wesley Honors College, Indiana Wesleyan University; author of Becoming by Beholding: The Power of the Imagination in Spiritual Formation
“

What a lovely book! Here is a volume that is truly generative when it comes to not just thinking about Christian discipleship but engaging in actual prayer. I hope many individuals and small groups will read, discuss, and engage with Justin Ariel Bailey's wise counsel.

Kelly Kapicprofessor of theology, Covenant College; author of You're Only Human

Author

Justin Ariel Bailey

Justin Ariel Bailey (PhD, Fuller Seminary) is dean of chapel and professor of theology at Dordt University in Sioux Center, Iowa. He is an ordained minister in the Christian Reformed Church and has served as a pastor in diverse settings. Bailey is the author of Reimagining Apologetics and Interpreting Your World, and he is a sought-after speaker.

Video

Discipling the Diseased Imagination began as a six-part chapel series at Dordt University in the spring of 2023. Though the chapters developed beyond these 20 minute messages, in many ways, they still form the devotional core of the book.

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