"Christian" Elements in Fiction?
La Shawn Barber has a very insightful post today on 'Christian' Elements in Fiction. If you are a fan of C.S. Lewis or The Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe, I'd especially love to hear your take on this.
posted by Crystal Paine at 2:51 PM
12 Comments:
I'm not a big fan of the Narnia series, but I do appreciate C.S. Lewis's use of analogy. There were many parts of the story that made me think about things I'd never really considered.
K.
Oops. I meant "allegory", not "analogy".
K.
I do enjoy the series and my whole family is eagerly anticipating the release of the movie in December. As to whether the books are Christian, I suppose it depends on how narrow your definition of "Christian fiction" is. On the one hand, the plan of salvation is not laid out; on the other hand, IMO they are filled with more Christian references than many books currently being sold as Christian fiction. As Kara said, Lewis' use of allegory is wonderful.
Personally, I think the label we put on the books is irrelevant. They are excellent books written by a man with a Christian worldview--what more could we want? :) Frankly, the release of this movie is a wonderful opportunity--Lewis intended Aslan to represent Christ, something I think it would be hard for a Christian to miss, but that a non-Christian might not realize. I expect that it will do well in the theater--perhaps when discussing the movie we'll get a chance to tell someone about the real Aslan.
I am so syked (is that how you spell it?) about the movie. I've been inspired to read the books again. I just have to find the time. I wish they had made the movie when I was a kid. Do you guys remember the old BBC version of it?
-Zan
I loved the Chronicles of Narnia. I think I was in 2nd or 3rd grade my first time reading through them.
My family owns the BBC version on video of books 1-4. It is actually good for putting you to sleep in some parts:) I don't think it was the acting so much as it was the long-drawn out uneventful parts and monotonus conversations in some parts. I much preferred the books to the movies but I prefer the book more than a movie in almost all cases.
When I attended public school for a year my teacher read The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe to the class. I loved it and wished we read more great fiction in our class such as CoN. I guess I have fond childhood memories of Narnia. I admit I haven't develed into the controversy behind the book series so I'm pretty one-sided on this issue. I also loved fairy tales, fables and make-believe when I was growing up, especially any story with princes and princesses. Some of my best memories were of my grandmother telling me stories about the Three Little Pigs or Little Red Riding Hood whenever I spent the night at her house.
I don't think I ever had trouble distinguishing fiction from real life. I guess it depends on an individual child and where they are developmentally.
I'm a huge fan of Narnia, Middle-earth. Also something of a fan of Harry Potter.
Here's my take. A work can be considered "Christian" if the book displays a Christian worldview. It does not have to have an explicitly Christ-like sacrifice (though, indeed, such a sacrifice is the most moving theme in literature for me. Some of the best books with this theme are Les Miserables and Tale of Two Cities).
The strength of Tolkien, for instance, is his portrayel of evil. Evil permeates every single layer of existence: of the Valar (read about them in the Silmarillion), you have Morgoth being evil. Of the Maiar, you get Sauron. Of the elves, orcs; of the ents, trolls; of the humans, ringwraiths. Finally, and here's the major omission of the movie, for the hobbits, you have the Scouring of the Shire. However, Tolkien's concept of redemption is weak. Morgoth, for example, simply sues for peace and that's that.
Lewis, on the other hand, has a much better concept of redemption. But his Narnia works do not all have this theme in them. The Horse and his Boy does not have the kind of sacrificial saving that The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe has.
What about Harry Potter? Well, Rowling is not a Christian, she has said so herself. If you look at the books, I don't think you really have a predominating Christian influence there. She does two things very well, I think: friendship and bravery. Other things she doesn't do quite so well. On the other hand, many Christians have gone off the deep end with regard to the magic she uses. As Douglas Jones once said, "If after reading Harry Potter, your children are tempted to join a coven, it is not too much to say that you are a miserable failure as a parent." My advice: go ahead and wait until the kids are a little older, say, 12. And then make sure they don't take it too seriously. It's fun light reading. Tolkien is better.
In Christ.
Christian Fiction is just that, fiction.
It's also an oxymoron in my view of seeing it. Christianity is to lead us to the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth ( for lack of better words ).
There's a little verse, in Rev. 22:15. "For without [are] dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie. "
Invented stories are lies. Fullstop. Don't get caught in loving and making a lie friends.
Just because a book has a little bit of Jesus in there doesn't mean that the book is christian or good for one.
Now apply this not only to all the books that one reads, but the traditions that one keeps, and the TV you all mob view as well.
This one verse could revolutionise your walk with Christ.
I think fiction can be a vessel for conveying aspects of the Gospel message and Christian character. Jesus himself often spoke in parables, telling a fictional story to illustrate a point.
I love The Chronicles of Narnia, and grew up having them read to me, eventually reading them myself. The Christian elements are so strong in them: creation, fall, antithesis, promise of a seed, betrayal, sacrifice, resurrection, redemption, etc.
I love the BBC movies for old times sake, even if they were pretty poorly done :). I am eagerly anticipating the release of the new movie, and am planning a midnight visit to the IMAX near us :). I rarely visit a movie theater, but this will be one of those times.
I also have grown to love The Lord of the Rings trilogy over the past few years, and find great Christian themes in it as well, albeit not as strong.
I find Harry Potter to be in an entirely different classification, and although I have seen two of the movies, I have never read the books, nor plan to read them or watch any more of the movies.
For a good article on the differences between the CoN, the LOTR, and HP, I suggest this link:
http://decentfilms.com/sections/articles/2567
For a good article on magic in fiction, I suggest this link:
http://www.visionforum.com/hottopics/newsletters/newsletter.aspx?id=07-22-05
I am a bit of a Harry Potter fan too. I'm very slowly reading the latest book. Don't have much time to read lately. It is pretty entertaining.
-Zan
It never ceases to amaze me when I go into a "Christian" bookstore, and I see two competing racks of books. I see the display of anti-Harry Potter books, and right next to it, I see the books about "seeing Jesus in Narnia", etc. It infuriates me that because Lewis was a professed Christian as was Tolkein, Christians accept their use of magic in fiction, but because Rowling is not, we say her work is evil. Myself - my children will be taught what fiction is, and it will be read to them when appropriate. We own Rowling's books, Lewis's, and Tolkein's. We also own movies like Mary Poppins and the Sword and the Stone, etc. with "magical" undertones. If the issue is magic and sorcery with some Christians, then they need to be consistent, not accept it just because someone slaps a Christian label on it! It also amazes me how many Christians are anti-Harry Potter, yet have children who believe in Santa, Tooth Fairy, Easter Bunny, etc - all "magical" figures. I am not saying this about anyone on this board, but people that I have run into in my community. As a last thought - I think that many people will be shocked at the outcome of Harry Potter - the central theme through the entire series has been the battle of good vs. evil. I think that all judgement has to be kept on Harry Potter until we see the outcome. But personally, and I may be wrong, I think that many people will have to take back many of the judgements they have passed when the whole series is completed.
If you don't want to read a book or a series of books then don't. Even encourage not to read those books.
I've read Harry Potter but because of plot holes. Where does the energy come from to put the magic in effect? It has to come from somewhere. If you can just say the spell and it happens then how come there are muggles (non-magical people).
LOTR: I found to be boring but I thought the movies were excellent. I'm just not into fantasy.
CoN: I have yet to read beyond "The Magician's Nephew" and "The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe" Personally, these books use magic so what is the difference between this one and Harry Potter. They both use magic they are both wrong in that aspect because God says that magic is evil. It's like Tiffany says why is Harry Potter bad because it uses magic but Narnia is not bad even though it uses magic too.
If people have a hard time telling the difference between fiction and reality then maybe they shouldn't read these types of books. I had a friend who was 22 years old. Just two years younger than me. She said she saw Aslan in the trees and portals to Narnia. Is that the book's fault? I don't think so. It's the person.
Just don't ban or burn books becuase you don't like them. http://formerlostgirl.blogspot.com/2005/10/dont-let-others-raise-your-kids-read.html Click on the title of my blog entry to learn more about Banned Books. Remember boycotting works better than banning.
Here's a
link to my August 3, 05, post, "What must be Christian about a Christian
novel?" in which I mostly quote other people who should be listened to more than
I, because they have thought about it, and are doing it, in their view.
Thanks for posting.
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