By Ebenezer Afolabi

African culture is rooted in oral culture and tradition. On this basis, the adoption of storytelling in all its forms in the defense of the Christian faith in Africa will definitely yield a positive result. Storytelling can be a viable means for defending the Christian faith in Africa because it engages the mind, it helps in prompting imagination, and it also engages emotion through dramatic narratives. Storytelling has a great impact on both the storyteller and the listeners. Its impact is both cognitive and affective. It is interesting to know that God uses narratives, symbols, metaphors, images, and stories throughout the Scriptures as means for revealing Himself and His will to mankind. If God employed storytelling to convey His divine truth, then, considering its place in the cultural and social practices of Africans, employing storytelling will definitely yield a positive in defending the Christian faith in Africa. 

Unfortunately, not many Christian apologists have given consideration to storytelling as a means for doing apologetics. Some Christian apologists might complain that storytelling in the context of apologetics may lack the clarity of logical argumentation, and may not allow for rational discourse. Kendall Haven, a storyteller and researcher, has also observed and summarized this way:
Stories suffer from a bad reputation ⸺the word tends to be associated with fairy tale, untrue, suspect . . . .You resort to stories if you have a weak case or if you’re hiding the truth . . . .Stories have been sidetracked into the kiddy corner and labeled, “just for fun.” We believe that story is the opposite of logic, that stories aren’t effective for conveying serious and important concepts. And without even consciously pausing to consider either the veracity or implications of our assumptions, we set aside the most powerful communications and teaching tools available to humans and then idly wonder why our efforts to communicate and teach concepts, ideas, beliefs, values, attitudes, and facts do not succeed.
Haven tells of a physics teacher who was struggling to help his class learn what they needed to know. The students simply weren’t interested. So the teacher decided to experiment with storytelling. For each scientist whose theories he wanted the students to understand, he told stories about the scientist’s life and how he or she came up with the theories. He also painted a picture using stories of the world they lived in. He was amazed at the difference in his students. Suddenly they were interested in science and doing well in the class. Quite a few even went to the library and did extra research because they’d become so motivated. In the same vein, Bible stories help hearers to want to be more like Jesus in character, values,, and priorities, and they help listeners know the truth about him.

In West Africa, storytelling was one of the cultural and social practices that Africans participated in during various aspects of their daily lives. The art of storytelling was used both to teach and to comfort members of the community. Storytelling helps to preserve the history of one’s self, one’s family, and one’s ethnic group.

The function of storytelling has been identified as:
Mediating and transmitting of knowledge and information across generations,
Conveying information to the younger generation about the culture, worldviews, morals, expectations, norms, and values,
Supporting and reinforcing the basic doctrines of A Communal Participatory Experience can be equated to the present-day Western focus group setup.

Daniel Taylor writes of the desire for meaning as the originating impulse of our storytelling:
We tell stories because we hope to find or create significant connections between things…Our stories teach us that there is a place for us, that we fit. They suggest to us that our lives can have a plot. Stories turn mere chronology, one thing after another, into the purposeful action of the plot and, thereby, into meaning.… Stories are the single best way humans have to account for our experiences.
Dillon gives more reasons why storytelling is important:
1. Storying Opens People to the Gospel. Sometimes, storytelling is the only way people are willing to listen to the gospel. They may have built up defensive walls against other evangelistic methods, had bad experiences in the past, or their own religious leaders have warned them against listening to the Bible. . . One huge advantage of using stories is simply that the hearer enjoys the story and doesn’t feel threatened by it.

Wayne Dye who serves the Summer Institute of Linguistics International observed: 
People learn best in a non-threatening situation because they can be more open to what is being taught. In a threatening situation, much of the hearer’s unconscious energy goes into preparing to defend against the threat. A story presents concepts in a way that hearers do not feel obliged to agree with them. As a result, the new ideas are more likely to be accepted. 
2. Storying Can Be Done with Nonseekers. Many evangelistic methods, such as evangelistic sermons or courses that investigate Christianity, can only be done with people who already want to know more about the Bible or are at least comfortable enough to participate. Storying allows us to share the gospel with hearers who are anti-Christian or haven’t yet considered that Jesus could be relevant to their lives.
3. Storying Creates Community. Orality and literacy expert Walter Ong says this is a natural result of storytelling. “Oral communication unites people in groups,” he writes. “Reading and writing are solitary activities that throw [us] back on [ourselves] . . . . When a [storyteller] is addressing an audience, the members of the audience normally become a unity, with themselves and with the speaker. . . .People who hear stories together are drawn closer together by a common experience, ⸺that is, via the hearing, discussion, and application of the stories to their lives. In contrast to a sermon, where a listener tends to stand “outside” and “look in” on what the preacher is saying, stories draw people into the heart of the narrative. Without even realizing it, they begin to see the stories as real. 
4. Storying Helps Theological Understanding. Dillon shares her personal experience with a middle-aged pork seller to corroborate her point. She narrates: “I know a middle-aged pork seller who suggested to me that if King Belshazzar had repented in the story found in Daniel 5, God would have accepted him. His life might still have ended, but he could have gone to heaven for eternity.” “That is deep theology stated in a simple form. This man had begun to grasp the depth of God’s grace and forgiveness,” says Dillon.
5. Storying Changes Worldview. A worldview . . . is a detailed description of the way people within an ethno-linguistic people group or homogenous unit act, think, believe, live, and function. It consists of the central assumptions, concepts, and premises shared by the members of a culture or subculture. Jeremy Taliaferro opines: “We believe that storying can be used successfully in any culture, oral or otherwise. Mostly because it is so flexible, you can mold it to the culture.” N.T Wright also points out: 
Stories are, actually, particularly good at modifying or subverting other stories and their worldviews. Where a head-on attack would certainly fail, the parable hides the wisdom of the serpent behind the innocence of the dove, gaining entrance and favor, which can then be used to change assumptions that the hearer would otherwise keep hidden for safety.

Therefore, storytelling can be a great tool for presenting the gospel effectively to Africans. It is a great apologetic and evangelistic tool. Elias Ayala sums it up: 
Within the context of apologetics, the goal is to defend the faith in a clear, powerful, and concise fashion. The truths we seek to convey can be skillfully presented when couched within the context of a story. Instead of regurgitating intellectual facts (which are themselves vitally important in the apologetic task), a story allows us to bring the listener along the journey of seeing their need for a savior. While this can be done in many creative ways, praise be to God that He has provided us with the greatest story ever told, and the amazing thing is that it is true. If we master the story that God has provided us In His Word, we can then learn to convey that age-old story in new and creative ways that will hopefully be used to the glory of God in bringing people to the knowledge of God. When skillfully marshaled, the story of the Gospel can be applied in an evangelistic fashion while also being applied apologetically. A powerful story told powerfully can be just what is needed to plant the seeds of truth in the hard-hearted sinner. The hope is that God uses our efforts along with His Spirit to open blinded eyes. In the final analysis, storytelling can play and has played a powerful role in the defense of the faith, and should be mastered and skillfully employed to the glory of God.

The entire Bible is replete with amazing stories that can be applied to our day-to-day lives, i.e. creation story, the story of the flood, Passover and the Red Sea story, stories of victory and defeat, the stories of rebellion and fall, stories telling human weaknesses and God’s supreme act of grace, salvation story, etc. They can teach both moral and spiritual lessons and skillful use of biblical stories can lead nonseekers to faith in Christ Jesus. Jesus is our supreme example of this. In our context, storytelling also includes movie productions. Godawa explained: 
Love them or hate them, movies have become one of the dominant forms of storytelling in our society and, therefore, carriers of cultural mythology (television, even more so). Modern man may pride himself in his scientific rejection of ancient mythologies and pagan gods and goddesses, but he has not rejected mythology in principle. He has merely replaced one mythology with other mythologies. The myths of Odysseus and Hercules that taught Greeks and Romans Courage, honor, strength, and fate have been replaced with movies like Gladiator and Braveheart that teach Americans and Europeans very similar values. As most moviegoers know, movies about historical people are more often legends and myths than actual stories. 

However, there are rules of engagement to follow when applying this method for presenting the gospel or to defend the faith:
Rule #1: Pray to God for inspiration and the ability to gain the attention of your listeners. 
Rule #1: Choose suitable Stories. 
Rule #2: Understand your hearer’s worldview.
Rule #3: Develop your own style for starting a story series.
Rule #4: Keep the story simple, relatable and engaging.
Rule #5: Ensure that your illustrations do not run counter to the overall teachings of the Bible.
Rule #6: Remember the goal is to lead your listeners to help your listeners remove their mental barriers to the faith and ultimately lead them to the Savior. 
Rule #7: If the story has natural repetition in it, don’t cut it out. 
Rule #8: Let your face show the emotion of your story. Ong emphasizes the importance of gestures in storytelling. He notes that even when we are totally immobile, our gestures are communicating something. For example, motionlessness might suggest we are bored with a story. However, at the appropriate time, ⸺perhaps as Jesus is buried, ⸺it might communicate grief and disappointment, especially if accompanied by slower-than-normal speaking speed.
Rule #9: If you are in a cross-cultural context, listen to the local stories of the people within that cultural context, and see what you can learn from their styles of storytelling.
Rule #10: Expect feedback after telling a story to be sure your listeners don’t miss out on the message you are trying to convey.
Therefore, the devaluation of storytelling because of the notion that it lacks clarity of logical argumentation will reduce Christian apologetics to mere intellectualism and this will never get the job done. Rational argumentation combined with storytelling will be a great combination for getting the work done. Godawa puts it succinctly: “A Master storyteller may have a deeper influence on culture than a Master in Apologetics.”

This article is culled from Doing Apologetics with an African Mindset (second edition), pages 198-2