Christian fantasy

[~darkelfgirl~]

I need some feedback, please.

I want to write a fantasy story that's not an allegory, but directly Christian (as in God is the divine ruler, and there's Christianity).

The thing is, it is fantasy, which means that there are fictional creatures (obviously) and powers (which come from the soul, not like magic with spells and herbs).

What do you think? Some people find this ok, and others think it's "blasphemous".

P.S. I apologize if someone made a thread on this before.

[Radical Dreamer]

Moved to General. The Writing forum is really more for things that are already written, or feedback on works you're working on, etc. This thread would fit better here than it would in the writing forum, until you actually start writing it.

[ClosetOtaku]

Check out Frank Peretti's "This Present Darkness". Not fantasy per se, but certainly not mainstream fiction, either. I wouldn't consider it blasphemy at all.

C.S. Lewis insisted his Narnia series wasn't allegory, but an attempted answer at "What would Jesus be like in a different setting?"

[jaems-kun]

It's definitely going to be difficult to make a fantasy about Christianity without making the Christianity any kind of fantasy. Or at least I'm having trouble wrapping my head around it.

Magic, however, doesn't always have to be magic. It can be like "fantasy" science. That's usually what "herb" magic and potions are. Pop a pill for a power up, kinda. Probably not what you'd want to include in your story but what I mean is magic doesn't have to be a mysterious "power". You can make it kinetic, or something. Once you get rid of the power aspect, I'm pretty sure that voids the issues that most christians have with the fantasy genre.

anyway, hope that gives you some food for thought.

[animewarrior]

well I've read the Present Darkness by Frank Peretti which is a fantasy thriller mix as well as A LOT of other books with Christianity in them + fantasy...Dragons in our Midst series by Bryan Davis case in point...I don't think this is "blasphemous" and I would definitely read it. ^^

[Raiden no Kishi]

To be honest, I'd just focus on writing a solid fantasy tale. Your Christian beliefs will shine through without explicit references to Christianity. That way, people who are either a) biased against Christianity or b) offended by Christianity being used as the basis for a fantasy story will not have any reason to dismiss your story out of hand. Plus, it leaves you much more leeway to write your story as best suits its purpose.

.rai//

[Scarecrow]

This was always my problem when trying to come up with any kind of Christian fiction. I love fantasy and sci-fi and gothic horror type stuff. I figure the best thing to do is ignore trying to explain magic, evil creatures (vampires, zombies, etc), or anything like that. Establish God as the creator but leave it at that and see where it takes you.

I can't say I'm an expert, I've honestly never really written anything xD I have lots of ideas though and I'm just now getting really serious about actually getting back to drawing and making a manga (something I don't read but I thought making a manga would make excellent storyboards for an animation which I AM interested in). But my problem was always trying to hard to make it Christian. It often comes forced and you're never gonna please everyone anyway. So what I do is just create a world where characters acknowledge God as the supreme being, and let characteristics of God shine out of the characters. And I don't mean they have to be perfect flawless characters but ones trying to find the center, walk a fine line, and have struggles that everyone deals with.

I find a lot of stuff that is not Christian per se but has strong moral characters or themes are much more effective than anything with forced meanings and ways to logically explain stuff like magic etc... Plus you keep reality and fiction separate. Mixing magic in the way you were describing had me a little on edge (may have just been the way I read it, I don't know what you were planning exactly). It seems like a cool idea but... what to "white witches" believe? That their gifts are from the gods, goddess, etc etc etc. which they are not. Sure you could call them "spiritual gifts" but then once again, thats trying to hard and again, you're gonna step on shoes even more. Possibly making non-Christians think Christianity really is just a fantasy.

So IMHO... don't try to explain where magic comes from if you wanna use it. I have no problem with fantasy magic in stories at all. In Harry Potter... it just exists. It's something they're just able to do. Its just something else God created with the rest of this fantasy world but I would NOT say it comes FROM God (well like... what I mean, someone says a prayer, big old magical display of lilghts and stuff). But learning it like an ability like running, cooking etc... No problem. Does your ability to cook come from God? Well yes... he gave you the ability to learn and some are just more skilled at it than others. Treat magic the same way.

I hope this makes some sense.

Edit: Or I could have waited a little bit longer and you would have got the same general answer in much less words xD Sorry I have a problem about going overboard explaining in my posts or just talking in general. Oh well...

[Popsicle]

[color="DeepSkyBlue"]Well, I think you should pray about your story and how to explain certain things. If God wants you to really write this story he will show you how to do everything if you ask Him.

I am in the middle of writing a Christian sci-fi/adventure story that I believe God has called me to turn into a video game or animated show sometime in the future. I started coming up with the plot about a year ago and I let God take control. He has pretty much written it through me and has explained the "questionable" things well. I still pray for my story everyday. I think you should consider prayer and seek God for guidance while you are writing your story.

You should also read some Frank Peretti books as others have said already. They might give you some ideas on how to write some stuff. They're awesome books too! lol, so yeah, pray pray pray...[/color]

[Raiden no Kishi]

[color="DeepSkyBlue"]Well, I think you should pray about your story and how to explain certain things. If God wants you to really write this story he will show you how to do everything if you ask Him.

I am in the middle of writing a Christian sci-fi/adventure story that I believe God has called me to turn into a video game or animated show sometime in the future. I started coming up with the plot about a year ago and I let God take control. He has pretty much written it through me and has explained the "questionable" things well. I still pray for my story everyday. I think you should consider prayer and seek God for guidance while you are writing your story.

You should also read some Frank Peretti books as others have said already. They might give you some ideas on how to write some stuff. They're awesome books too! lol, so yeah, pray pray pray...[/color]

God's . . . writing your story through you?

Interesting. It must be exceedingly good, then. I would definitely be interested in it.

.rai//

[Popsicle]

God's . . . writing your story through you?

Interesting. It must be exceedingly good, then. I would definitely be interested in it.

[color="DeepSkyBlue"]Well, not literally exactly. It's hard to explain, but it's just another one of God's ways of working through a Christian to further His kingdom! Whoo! It's just me using God's guidance and will for my life while using God-given talents. I've grown a lot through this experience in my relationship with the Lord though. It's really awesome how God works, especially when you see Him working in your life!

Now another point for darkelfgirl...

Keep praying and always keep looking for God while you do this. He can teach you many new things while you write your story and help you mature to be more like Him.[/color]

[Maledicte]

To be honest, I'd just focus on writing a solid fantasy tale. Your Christian beliefs will shine through without explicit references to Christianity. That way, people who are either a) biased against Christianity or b) offended by Christianity being used as the basis for a fantasy story will not have any reason to dismiss your story out of hand. Plus, it leaves you much more leeway to write your story as best suits its purpose.

.rai//

I agree.

I'd say don't worry about who think that such a thing is blasphemous. Lord of the Rings and the Chronicles of Narnia both have characters that use supernatural powers, and both were written by Christians (and I know of some Christians who regard both series as "blasphemous").

[K. Ayato]

A friend of mine in his book sticks to the claim that since fantasy stories are not based in reality, that the magic used is more like a force, such as gravity. Whether or not you choose to agree is up to you.

[LadyRushia]

Definitely pray about it. I know with my stories (which I believe have come from God) the "magic" or abilities the people have are gifts that God gives them (like how some people are born with artistic or musical gifts) and they either use that gift to honor Him or not.

As for coming across as forceful, well, my stories have characters who believe in and follow God and characters who don't. Some start out not believing and in the end they do. Maybe having a balance of believers and non-believers would make your story less forceful. Also, if your Christian characters go about sharing their faith in a kind way, then your readers may not have a problem with it.

As for Christians who might call your story blasphemous, all I'm going to say is that if you write for the purpose of spreading God to others, then that's all you need to think about. If something is helping people think about God differently, then it can't really be bad.

[Debitt]

To be honest, I'd just focus on writing a solid fantasy tale. Your Christian beliefs will shine through without explicit references to Christianity.

+1 to this. While I won't deny the possibility of being able to write good fantasy with explicit use of Christianity, I feel that quite often trying it in to a fantasy setting quite often results in a piece that just feels...contrived. You get too caught up in trying to make Christianity work in the setting, and trying to make it work isn't a BAD thing, necessarily, but it distracts you from focusing on just telling a good story.

I'm firmly of the opinion that Christian fiction is not necessarily fiction with Christianity in it, but fiction written by Christians that shows their beliefs, rather than constantly smacking the reader over the head with them.

Your mileage may vary, of course, but that's just my take on it.

[mechana2015]

I'm firmly of the opinion that Christian fiction is not necessarily fiction with Christianity in it, but fiction written by Christians that shows their beliefs, rather than constantly smacking the reader over the head with them.

MY HERO!

QFW and agreement.

Force molding a story into a religion, or vice versa, like forcing anything into a mold, will warp one side, the other... or both. I think one of the biggest problems with current christian media is the attempt to force christianity into stories, or stories into christianity, rather than letting the authors experience and writing ability educate how the story should progress naturally and where (or if) religion should come into play in a major way in the story.

[Sparrowhawk]

I do not see anything wrong about it. Like someone said earlier, C.S. Lewis did the same thing, but because of that, since it has been done, it may be hard to do without looking like you are borrowing too much from stuff that has already been done.

[Aileen Kailum]

In all honestly, I've never had a problem with writing fantasy. (Which is good, considering that 90% of what I write is fantasy.) And while I've never personally had anyone berate me for it, I do know that people who think it's a sin for Christians to write fantasy exist. I remember reading an article about that once.... would've made me upset if I'd stopped laughing.

I have to say I agree with Debitt. Your faith will influence your writing by itself, without you having to force it on the reader.

Also, C. S. Lewis and Tolkien are good examples of Christians who wrote fantasy, but there are plenty others. The link is to a book list on the site Wherethemapends, a site dedicated to Christian speculative fiction (fantasy and sci-fi). Scroll down a bit, and you'll find a section on fantasy. Christian fantasy actually does exist. Go figure.
http://www.wherethemapends.com/Booklist/booklist_pages/booklist_links.htm

[USSRGirl]

I think you'll get a crowd of about twenty ultra-fundies who will boycott your book and call you a heretic, and the rest of the world will love it. XD Like the others said, C.S. Lewis and many others have done the same, but there are even people who boycotted Narnia for including Greek mythology and called it "pocket paganism." Then there was Lewis' Screwtape Letters which is a *obviously* fictional book of letters from the perspective of a demon to an apprentice demon on how to mess with their Christian charge. When it was first printed in the writing section of a Christian magazine, someone apparently thought it was real and wrote in saying they were canceling their subscription because "some of Mr. Lewis' advice is not good." o.O;; I shudder to think which parts he thought WERE good.

XD Bottom line, it's not blasphemous, but you'll always have critics. Don't let them shake your position as a Christian on stuff like that, or how you write. Just give it a try and let God guide you, but remember that it's *only* a story and you're allowed to write it for fun/fantasy of how you think characters and ideas should go. Some things are neither divinely inspired or heresy - they just ARE. Don't write with raving, fundies with too much time on their hands and too little actual Biblical grounding in their minds. Just write what you wanna write.

[LadyRushia]

If your writing comes from God and you write your story to glorify God and if God has put it on your heart to write the story, then you can really ignore anyone who calls you a heretic.

[Saj]

If you looking for a good way to do magic, i would suggest you check out Shadowrun (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadowrun)

The way magic is done in the game (not the xbox game, that was utter trash) is done in a way that if you wanted, you could take the concept, modify it a bit, and apply it with a christian theme.

[Shilohan ninja]

Like so many of our fellow peers have already stated quite thurrowly, just give it to God. If it's his will, he will help you make it happen. It don't matter who gets on your case about it. Just do it and see what happens. The results might suprise you. If people dis you for it then that's their problem. All that matters is what God thinks.
Godspeed and may He bless the work of thy hands, Daughter of Eve.

[~darkelfgirl~]

Thanks so much for the feedback and links, guys ^^. (I don't mind the long explanation, Scarecrow).

Yeh, I definitely don't want to end up 'smacking people on their heads with my beliefs' . That'll just make the unsaved want to put it down.

And while I've never personally had anyone berate me for it, I do know that people who think it's a sin for Christians to write fantasy exist.

I think I read that article you're talking about or something like it. They basically shredded apart the idea of fantasy allegories...and LOTR. I thought my eyes would roll on out of my head XD.

XDD 'Ultra-fundies'. That sounds like underwear.

Thanks again guys (never can say enough)!

[LadyRushia]

I think I read that article you're talking about or something like it. They basically shredded apart the idea of fantasy allegories...and LOTR. I thought my eyes would roll on out of my head XD.

I think that same article called all fiction writers liars. . .ANYWAY, XD.
Personally, I think God wants Christian fantasy to exist. Who knows how He could use stories like that?

[Maledicte]

XDD 'Ultra-fundies'. That sounds like underwear.

I...never thought of them that way

[USSRGirl]

XDD 'Ultra-fundies'. That sounds like underwear.

I...never thought of them that way

And I'll never think of them the same now.

[~darkelfgirl~]

I agree, Rushia ^^



XD I don't know. That name just came across to me as that. And that one episode of "Megas XLR" with those Ultra Chicks (Sailor Scout imitations). Man, I really liked that show.

[Angel Tifa]

I don't see why the idea would be bad. Like what some others have already said, if it's also to help spread the faith of God, that would be great.

As for fantasy though wouldn't it just be ficitional you mean? I know I've heard of so many other fictional Christian books such as "blood proof" get published. As for blasphemy, it may only seem that way depending on how one interprets the Bible if you know what I mean.