The Cross and the Pen- Part Two

      ​In my last blog, I briefly wrote about the fact that, as a Christian, I do not often overtly mention my faith at conventions or in my writing. In the last blog, author Jamin Melanson wrote why he write’s Christian or Christian world view in his speculative fiction. Today, I will be sharing why I do not.
      My love for reading started with the book This Present Darkness by Frank E. Peretti, it was the summer of 2001 and I had just become a Christian. At that point, I would only read Christian books. If it was sold in the Christian section or at a Christian book store then I would read it. It was a few years later, when the movie The Fellowship of the Ring was being shown in the theater, that I was introduced to the world of Fantasy. I refused to go see the movie as it had elves, orcs and other demonic things in it. Finally, my father dragged me (literally) to the theater, and I am glad he did. It was through this event that I started to see and develop why I would prefer not to write “Christian books”.“You shove the Gospel down their throat”- While I do not believe this is true, I have experienced that many people are skeptical of Christian books for the simple reason that they feel at one point the gospel is going to be told to them. Many of my friends growing up thought that a large section of the plot would be a set up for a person coming to the realization that they need Jesus Christ in their life. While as a Christian I believe this is true, the fantasy world is not always in need of Gospel. Unless you set up a theological idea of sin, grace, redemption and a Biblical God, the gospel is out of place.“The characters are ‘Paper People’”- Christian have been horrible at making movies in the early 90’s. Low budget, and personal agendas lead to movies being released that from a non-Christian view of movies were poor. That thought transferred onto books. Flat Stanly’s are a fear of every reader, and writer. No one want to write characters that are flat, uninteresting, and predictable. As stated before however, due to the Gospel being so much of a plot, the story becomes predictable and in a way the protagonist becomes flat. We know that they are going to do, we know that these events are leading up to the moment of redemption. No one wants to read about paper cut out people.“Since Christians hate fantasy, this is going to be trash” - Many of my friends now are surprised to find out I am a pastor. Why? Because the idea that Christians hated fantasy (things like Harry Potter, D&D, and other RPG) and that there was no place for it in the Christian world.  The natural conclusion is that the first two things we talked about are going to happen. Even more so the writing may be childish or not well as there is little understanding of the culture and history of creatures like Cathulu, manticore, harpies, and orcs.         At the core of the reasons lays one thing: Many people who do not identify with the Christian faith will write of the book before ever reading the back. Are these stigmatisms always true? Of course not, C.S. Lewis, and Tolkien both had very strong Christian elements in their stories. And while Lewis said that the Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe was not an allegory, there sure are a lot of connections.
    I want people to read my stories. I understand something call a false-dichotomy, that is, in a made-up world not all the biblical truth and laws are needed. Magic in many fantasy books was created by the god of that world and is not forbidden. Many fantasy books don’t even included a god or redemptive history. Why is that? Because it is not needed for the story to be told. That does not mean that people do not need Christ. It simply means that in the story being told they do not.
      In my books, there are very strong elements of what I believe: that we should care for the earth, that redemption is possible, that people should be extended grace, and that we should strive to do good. To me these themes act as conversation starters. We can express and draw people into a discussion outside of the book, based on those themes.  We can show through creativity the truths of the Gospel, without making the book Christian. That is what I strive to do. To tell a great story that will get people thinking, but doing so within the confines of the world I create.
      There are great Christian authors Ted Dekker, C.S. Lewis, JRR Tolkien, but when I think about them I am struck with what made them great. It was because they were, through the world they created the expressed biblical truths, not that they made everyone a Christian in the books. The story transcends one religion and meets people where they are, wanting to see people transformed, wanting to see the happy ending, wanting to experience magic. They sought the themes, and that is where I seek to be one day, telling great stories that engage people in the wonder of a created world, much like ours but entirely different.