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What is the duty of the Christian writer?
This question is both important, and rather impossible to answer in any absolute way. On one hand, the Christian writer (and by that, I mean to speak about those who write imaginative literature: personal essays, novels, short stories, poems, plays) has the same responsibility as any writer: to write well. But on the other hand, the Christian writer, if he has been paying attention during the last two or three decades, has a certain burden to build in some kind of Christian apologetic into his work. I’m not saying this is right or good; I’m just saying that in the Culture Wars, the Church has – sometimes passively, sometimes actively – enlisted Christian writers with this task.
“You’re writing novels! They should be Christian novels!”
“You’re writing screenplays! They should undo the damage of a thousand depraved screenplays!”
“Flannery O’Conner and C.S. Lewis wrote books that had something to do with Jesus! So should you!”
These kinds of entreaties and enlistments can really burden the young writer with far too much to think about. Writing good stories is hard enough. Writing good stories with built-in apologetics is nigh impossible. The best answer for the Christian writer, then, is to look at other writers who were Christians: O’Connor, Lewis, Walker Percy, Evelyn Waugh, T.S. Eliot, George Herbert, John Donne, Tolstoy (depending on who you ask), and especially Dostoevsky. There are, of course, a thousand other famous Christian writers, but we don’t know who they are, because they were kind enough not to write about their faith too much and instead focus on good stories. But Dostoevsky hid nothing in this regard, as critic A.N. Wilson points out:
[T]he better Western novelists have tended to fight clear of theology. Their works might contain a religious element, but they are not vehicles, as Dostoevsky’s great novels are, for the presentation of raw metaphysical debate. It simply is not possible to read The Brothers Karamazov without becoming engaged with the God questions: Does he exist? If he exists, how can the suffering of a child even be thinkable? Is there an alternative to the seductive, and ultimately blasphemous allure of the Grand Inquisitor’s creation of a religion which offers mystery and authority?
Wilson continues:
Is the novel the most Christian fictional work ever written, or the most damning indictment of religious faith, from which in fact no “realist” account of religious belief could ever be extrapolated? Or is it neither? Is it a book which enables the reader to wrestle with these questions, unshackled either by obedience to a tightly defined religious system, or by that equally limiting worship of science which the nineteenth century erected as a substitute?
That novel, and Dostoevsky’s other novels, are about as far as one can get from the Left Behind series without actually leaving the bookstore. Dostoevsky gives no easy answers to these questions, and as such, everyone (pagans and Christians alike) walks away with more to think about. Pagans leave this novel having read about a devout believer who is not unlikable. Christians leave this novel having read about a devout pagan who is not unlikable. Sounds like real life to me. And that’s what Christian writers should be writing about, after all.
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Well, some would tell you that to advance the Gospel you must make that the supreme consideration of your literary efforts. The danger in that view is you become not much better than the hacks who cranked out pro-party line books in the regimes of Hitler or Stalin.
I favor notsomuch explicitly Christian works as works that unmistakably point you to Christ.
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I would say the music industry is just as similiar. The idea that a writer of song/book has to mention Jesus so many times in a piece of work to qualify as christian, is silly. The duty of any writer I would say is to write according to their calling. Not against it.
What a writer is influenced by will always come out in their writings, whether overtly strong or subtle, even in fiction. The best works are always the most honest and true to the writer. The industries have a tendency to hamper that, as what is honest is not always “positive” or “uplifting” or “theological”.
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The Christian writer? If he’s not willing to give up the writing of books to bear his cross in practical life, I question how deeply Christian he is. Being a writer is a supremely selfish and narcissistic occupation, and it takes a huge amount of time that might be better spent for the sake of the Gospel.
I’m saying this as someone who majored in English in college and wanted nothing more than to be a Christian writer and as someone whom God has been disciplining away from this idol for many years.
There are far too many people in this decadent culture who are convinced that God has called them to do something they already want to do. Does any Christian novelist in 2008 really think that his books are going to be unique and efficacious? Have you looked at the over-saturated book market? How can we have time to justify indulging in our hobbies if we take seriously all the expectations the New Testament places on followers of Jesus Christ? Disciplies are to empty themselves for others. I really, really wish–don’t we all–that I could claim that sitting alone in a room full of books for hours on end–that doing what I like to do–is bearing my cross, but my conscience tells me otherwise. I even feel guilty often just reading, knowing that I have not exhausted myself studying the Scriptures and ministering to my family and the members of my church and my neighbors. I have not yet shed blood fighting against sin. I haven’t been faithful teaching the Gospel to my children or praying with my wife.
If the Christian writer is worth his confession, the writing of books will be on the bottom of his priority list.
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David L., I would suggest that, for writers, the writing of good books is a particularly worthy cross to bear in practical life, along with loving one’s neighbor and other nearly impossible tasks
I can’t even begin to fathom the dichotomy you propose between Christian vocation and Christian living. I am utterly perplexed.
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“If he’s not willing to give up the writing of books to bear his cross in practical life, I question how deeply Christian he is.”
I respect that you have attempted to live according to God’s will despite a love for writing, but that doesnt make it wrong for other christians who have the same love, and the direction from God to write on a full time basis.
I love baseball, God called me to something else. That doesnt make it wrong for Albert Pujols to play or make him less christian.
Because you love writing, but God called you to something else, doesnt mean that C.S. Lewis was any less christian, or practical in his life simply because writing was a priority for him.
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Oh David, what a sad perspective on the Christian life! Perhaps God did indeed show you that in your life it was an idol. Perhaps that is indeed not His calling for you. But for many others, it is a calling from God, or at least part of one’s calling from God.
I’m glad it was C. S. Lewis’s calling, and G. K. Chesterton’s, and Tolkien’s, and that of so many other Christians through the years, some of whom have reached people that those in other callings cannot reach.
David, for me personally, I’m a Christian writer. I’ve written more books than I’ve published (so far), but I’m a writer. I’m using God’s gifts and His calling on my life, as well as my education, to write books with a Christian worldview, and to edit those that others have written to make them the best they can be. In fact, for me personally, in giving me a career I can do from my home, I have more time for people, and more flexiblity for people’s needs, than I had when I worked an eight-to-four job.
Have you ever noticed that in the history of the world, God occasionally throws Christians in prison so that they can stop worrying about daily life concerns and start writing? Granted, these are mostly bachelors, but the principle applies: the apostle Paul, John Bunyan, Bonhoeffer, and many others have been put in a writing cell by God so that they can focus on the written word.
In fact, God gave His own communication to us in written form, double underlining the power of that medium.
I like C. S. Lewis’s line, that we need not more other little books about Christianity, but more little books about other things with their Christianity latent. We need books on finances, and novels, and books on gardening, and Bible study books–all from a Christian worldview. We particularly need books for children that aren’t subversive as most of today’s secular children’s books are, though unfortunately right now, in the time of greatest need, the Christian market isn’t publishing books for children.
But David, whatever convictions God has given you about your own idols or your own narcissism, don’t question the motives of God’s servants to whom He has currently given the calling to write.
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Maybe it’s just a dichotomy in my own life, but maybe it’s also a confused notion of Christian vocation, as well–one in which, like I said, God supposedly calls us to do what we already want to do. Do you really think that every single undergraduate who wants to be a writer has been called by God to do so? Or might there be something in our culture that encourages this confusion between selfishness and Christianity? It’s very comforting for the conscience to realize that giving place to our own ambitions is something God truly wants us to do
Is watching TV, movies and football from a Christian point of view “a particularly worthy cross to bear”? What about stamp collecting or browsing the internet?
Why did the Puritans, like Richard Baxter, exhort his listeners against wasting time reading fictional books? And yet we encourage everyone to write them? Because we’re so much more open-minded than they were? Or maybe just more worldly? And why was “ambition” considered a sin in the 16th/17th centuries. Do you not acknowledge that personal glory and fame have a lot to do with the desire to write good books?
You seem to have no problem with the statements I made above, because you didn’t address them. Writing is massively time-consuming and solitary and self-centered. I know, because I’ve done it. Certainly you’ve read biographies of successful writers? Have you seen that literary success is primarily a matter of sacrificing everything to gain that success? Would you say that famous writers have good life-long marriages, generally? Or are numerous affairs and marriages more typical? What about the book market? Don’t you think we could do with fewer writers? Flannery O’Connor said something about that: she said that writing programs don’t discourage enough of their students from writing.
I’m not trying to be categorical here. I realize that some people can and ought to make a living writing books, but our culture is so decadent and over-saturated and our church is so worldly–trying to put God’s stamp of approval on our selfishness and sin–that our perspective is all twisted. I’m just trying to raise some questions that I don’t see being addressed anywhere.
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“Do you really think that every single undergraduate who wants to be a writer has been called by God to do so?”
Nope, but that is the same with any vocation. It doesnt lessen the vocation for anyone who is wants to partake and is called to do so. Any thing in life can be taken to far and abused. Take our economy for instance.
You can be come so absorbed into any work that you neglect practical life. I dont see writing as any more demanding than any other line of work.
Does sin change the inherent worth of a vocation? Obviously not. It is misusing our gifts and callings that ruins vocations. Even if no one believed in Christ would that change the truth of Christ? No. Even if the whole culture misuses writing and literary devices, it doesnt make writing wrong or less christian.
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I think you’re missing my point, Thorn.
My question is whether it’s legitimate, in this place and time, to consider writing a valid calling from God. Obviously some have been called to write books. But the idea that it resembles cross-bearing in any sense of the term is absurd. Just as absurd as it would be to claim that, for the running back, playing football is cross-bearing. Sure, they require work, but all that work is in the service of self-glorification, fame and earning money. Not to mention that neither books nor football really rise above the level of entertainment.
I mean, have you seen the revenue that Christian publishing brings in? Self-denial, indeed.
It bothers me, too, that nobody seems to think these concerns are even worth bringing up. Is Christ just an accessory, or is He truly the All-in-All? Which means that His commands precede our desires in every area of life. No matter who you are, writing is one area of life, not the essential, defining characteristic of it. That other Christians think asking this question is sad is just sad.
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I’m not trying to be categorical here. I realize that some people can and ought to make a living writing books, but our culture is so decadent and over-saturated and our church is so worldly–trying to put God’s stamp of approval on our selfishness and sin–that our perspective is all twisted. I’m just trying to raise some questions that I don’t see being addressed anywhere.
David, perhaps the issue isn’t so much whether one can write books–and fictional books–to the glory of God, but whether the notion of “calling” that pervades modern society today is accurate. Too often evangelical Christians tend to say they are “called” to be a writer or a musician or a businessman in the same manner that one is “called” to be a pastor or a missionary: “Oh, yes, God has called me to be a writer and I am going to go out and write books that will convert everybody.” This view certainly has glaring flaws, flaws that indicate perhaps one is , as you suggest, self-justifying his own plans for life by putting the veneer of “God’s will” over them.
But to suggest that reading and writing books (and fictional books) is first a waste of time and second often merely a desire for self-glory is to ignore the philosophical, theological, and deeply spiritual questions that such books often raise–and indeed, these are often questions which begin deep in the heart of the writer. Perhaps you, in your own experience, found writing to be a sort of fame-seeking; many people–so many of the great literary writers–didn’t: for them it was an expression of all their ideas and passions, ones which we would do well to study.
Let me address this from the English major’s point of view (I’m currently a graduate student in English): Each book is to some degree a part of its author. Willa Cather in writing One of Ours said that she got so close to the main character (whose real-life prototype died in WWI) that part of her died with him, and she would carry part of him to her grave. And so, when people write, they often write to put forward their ideas–ideas about God and man and man’s place in the world and society. God is the origin and originator of truth, and thus, as the saying goes, “All truth is God’s truth.” So when we study literature–and when we teach it, and when we promote it–we are promoting God’s truth; we share what is true and what is not true and relate it back to our own Christian faith and relationship with God.
In some ways, then, literature is perhaps one of the best Christian activities: it teaches us to love beauty and truth (which originate in God), and teaches us thus to love God more. Christians should be the best literary scholars, the best writers, the best businessman and pastors possible, and to suggest that most of literature, today and in the past, is merely an expression of selfishness is to miss the opportunity to grow as a Chrstian by observing, analyzing, and evaluating the ideas that go into great literature.
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Any really good writer must be able to really understand all kinds of different cultures, classes, and people.
It seems to me the only role of religion for any “Christian Writer” should be simply that of a tool to accomplish that objective. And at times, it may even stand in the way.
Of course if you are an Evangelical Christian writer, that may not be so. If one of your goals is to evangelize, then you are just a preacher who writes instead of preaching.
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I think David asks some excellent questions worth pondering.
I have attended writer’s conferences where we were exhorted that if we are “called ” to write, we should write and exclude all the other non-essential activities which can claim our limited writing time. I remember thinking, “that’s all well and good but if the creative writers are all in their ivory towers writing, who is going to run VBS and Sunday school?”
I think that’s what David is, in part, asking about.
We also need to differentiate between writing and publishing. Many people need to write stories, but most of those stories do not need to be published. It could be part of the healing process, it could be to share with family members, it can be to encourage through letters or e-mails. That’s important writing that should be done with confidence we’re doing the work of God.
Recognizing a vocation and how your gifts play into that, also is important. In addition, our writing life can come in a different time and season than the one we currently occupy. For years, I raised children and moved around the country, scribbling in the off hours. Now the children are mostly grown, I have time and, frankly, far more wisdom to write intelligently. But I chaffed at my life for a long time and missed important engagement because I wanted so badly to be writing rather than experiencing.
His comment about needing to work and raise children also is important–and is part of the reason many writers don’t publish until they are older and the kids are gone. That’s true at my house (not the publishing part, alas). And, I’m married to an engineer so I don’t have to support our family–which is very important.
One of the finest novelists I know– four novels published, at least one Christy award, maybe two– recently went back to work as an electrician. He needed to support his family and critical acclaim wasn’t doing it.
Note–while some writers in CBA make good sums of money, the majority do not; the advance is all the money most will make. And advances are usually under $10K. You would make more money per hour babysitting.
So why write? It’s part of the creative process God put into us as zygotes. We need to come to peace with how and why God wants us to use that gift to His glory. A heart open to the leading of God can find truth anywhere–including in the pages of a novel as Kimberly indicated.
And I believe God wants us to enjoy our lives–and to include leisure in them. Sure, Adam and Eve worked hard naming all those animals, but in the evenings when the work was done, they walked in the garden and enjoyed God.
Wish I could contribute more, but I’m off to play in San Francisco on a glorious, windy day.
Blessings–Michelle, BA English Literature, UCLA ‘77
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Now I’m going to be late, but Arcadia makes a keen observation (as usual).
Madeleine L’Engle used to talk about the difference between a Christian writer and a writer who happens to be a Christian–you can see it in the writing. A Christian writer would tend to be someone who writes primarily for a Christian audience, and as such will use language and ideas readily identifiable by Christians. Or who uses the writing as a polemic.
A writer who happens to be a Christian (which I would hope is me), is a writer whose Christian worldview pervades their work but does not overtake it. The truth we know is part of the backstory, but not blatant.
Ciao.
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I’m glad there are Christian writers who write novels that are both quite interesting and entertaining and deliver good, Christian messages at the same time. For instance, my favorite author (or at least my favorite fiction author alive right now), Ted Dekker, writes books that keep me hooked, but he makes some very good points without having his characters engage in boring monologues or anything of the sort.
Those who like his genre of books (action/adventure/thriller) should try reading his novels, as they’re excellent.
I like his Circle/Showdown series a lot; if you plan to try reading his books, that might be a good place to begin.
In order, they are the Circle Trilogy (Black, Red, and White),
Showdown, Saint, and now Sinner. Although it’s not necessary to read them in chronological order, it helps to understand the storyline better if you do, I think.
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I’m getting your point David. You raise a good question, but I dont see how you arrive at your answers.
Why is this time any different than any other time in history to give up on writing?
What are you expecting out of cross bearing? When is it enough to qualify a vocation as valid or even valid to the individual? Is Pujols, who acts responsibly on and off the field, who has on occasion given his testimony to thousands after a game, any less cross bearing?
My point is, the question isnt whether the vocation is unsuitable, but how is the vocation being used. In other words, my gripe with the Christian industry is how it markets Jesus. Like you say an “accessory”. I have a huge problem with watering down Jesus for the sake of making a buck, or simply following mainstream. The christian industry should be counter culture, open and honest. It should lead, rather than follow just to make a buck. I dont have a problem with any industry making a buck whether its the christian industry or the oil industry. Its the way in which business is conducted that matters. Our vocational lives shoudl reflect our practical and christian lives.
We write, and we paint, and we compose, because as Lewis depicts in “The Great Divorce” that we are merely attempting to capture a piece of heaven.
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David,
On writing as a vocation, this is how God has gifted me. Having skill in an area doesn’t necessarily mean one should pursue it as a profession, but since I don’t have skills in most other areas, for me it’s a pretty good sign. I loved my second job, working in a drugstore–but it wasn’t a good way to make a living. (It didn’t pay enough.) It’s rather pointless to find a job in which one doesn’t do well if there’s one available that matches my “gift mix,” wouldn’t you say?
I agree with you that there are too many mediocre books out there–which is an argument against publishing mediocre books and not an argument against writing. For me personally, most of my writing is on relational issues from one angle or another, for instance building into the lives of children. I’d say, in other words, that they have the ability to help people and teach them, and not just entertain. I haven’t published any fiction, and the only fiction I have written is for children. (As I’ve pointed out already, the secular fiction being published for children today is in dire need of wholesome alternatives.)
I happen to believe the Puritans were wrong about fiction. Their view comes from their own opinions, not from Scripture. (Remember that Jesus Himself used fiction–parables–and that Scripture nowhere tells us to avoid it, and you’ll see what I mean.) Not everyone enjoys fiction, and that is fine. But I would argue that reading good fiction is a very good use of one’s leisure time–it enlarges our world, helping us see things from another’s perspective. And yes, the Bible does treat leisure time as legitimate. I personally know people who shun fiction, and they also keep arm’s length from people in the real world; fiction can teach empathy, which to me is one of its greatest strengths. Again, I’m talking about quality fiction, and there’s a lot of useless and bad stuff out there, much of it from Christian publisshers.
Yes, it is possible to want to be published for glory and fame and wealth…but those who have such desires don’t know much about the realities of publishing for the vast majority of published authors (and especially for the much larger number of unpublished writers). We can feel pride in any pursuit. When I am tempted to feel pride in my writing, I remind myself of two things: (1) This gift came from God, and the proper response is gratitude rather than pride and (2) I’m not good at many other things, so it’s rather silly to be proud of the one thing I do rather well. I could also add (3) I’m “nobody” as far as book sales and author fame, so it’s rather silly to be proud of having been published a couple times.
In a world that has art and books and other forms that communicate truth or communicate lies, and in which the vast majority of artists communicate false worldviews, shouldn’t Christians be all the more concerned with communicating truth, if God has given them such gifts?
Suggested reading: Total Truth by Nancy Pearcey. In a world where lies are being told loudly, it may (for some people) actually be sin to drop out of the discussion. For the record, that’s a big reason I continue to post on here: Anlir and Steve G and other unbelievers are on here, posting from a perspective that is strongly opposed to Christianity, and thus this forum is “modern-day apologetics” and a good place for Christians to be. I don’t avoid face-to-face interactions with people (I know my neighbors), but this site is one way I personally ensure that my writing won’t be focused on earning fame and money. (Few on here even know my last name.)
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#9 “Not to mention that neither books nor football really rise above the level of entertainment.”
David L,
If books really do not rise above the level of entertainment, I would have to say that the questions you ask are important and need to be asked. As others have said, leisure time is important, and entertainment is not inherently bad, but pouring huge amounts of time and money into creating entertainment, when entertainment can be created much more cheaply, does seem to be poor stewardship. (If we think children should learn to entertain themselves without lots of expensive toys, so should adults.)
However, I think a Christian writer should be striving to produce something that does rise above the level of entertainment. That doesn’t mean it won’t entertain, but it will, as Cheryl D. points out, enlarge our perspective of the world and other people. There is so much I have learned on so many levels from reading fiction. (Non-fiction too, but few non-fiction writers that I have read do well at tackling the “big questions” of life without getting overly scholarly or preachy or just plain boring.
Right now I’m reading a book by P.D. James. It’s a murder mystery, with a great plot, so it’s certainly entertaining. But it also raises questions about the past – what should be our attitude to the past and its mistakes, both our own and those of others that affected us? How much attention do we give the past? How much is our present shaped by it? Is it beneficial or harmful to give a lot of attention to it?
Assuming you think those are questions worth thinking about – and I obviously think they are – you could write a non-fiction book exploring them from a theological or philosophical or sociological viewpoint. But I think fiction is often the best vehicle for such questions, because it draws us in as we identify with people in the book, it makes us look at them from the perspective of different characters, and in the hands of a good writer it is done in such a way that we enjoy the process.
I don’t know if I’ll ever get the book written that I’ve been thinking about for years, writing little snippets from time to time but mostly just thinking about. I do have a family and a full-time job and I volunteer at church and in other community organizations. And I’m not sure that I have the personal maturity and wisdom to deal adequately with the questions that I want to address in the book. I figure I’ll work on it more when my kids are grown. But I do think it’s worth the time and effort, and I hope that someday I’ll get it written – whether I get it published or not.
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David L
I’m speechless – my husband happens to be home right now, he often works at home on Friday’s – he has just read your posts too – we are both touched by what you have written.
What you have written could only have come from the LORD, I in my meager way have felt for years the same way, but could never have put it into words. I wonder just how many hearts you will reach with your words of wisdom, I hope many.
I have read many books, however it is ONLY the Word of GOD that I remember in a real way. It’s stays with me wherever I go. I’m reminded often throughout the day what HIS Word has said. What would I do without Jesus, where would I go, what other ‘WORD’ would quench the longing in my heart for truth, or bring ‘real’ meaning to my life? –
I’m reminded of this passage of Scripture which often comes to mind when once again a ‘new book’ is mentioned:
God bless you David, thank you for your words of wisdom.
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I don’t know much about writers as a group, but I do know a lot about doctors. In the case of “Christian doctors,” it disturbs me that the Christian label is used 1) as a marketing tool, 2) as an excuse for laziness (”my family needs me”), 3) as an excuse for bad doctoring. Many (by no means all) of the outspokenly Christian doctors I’ve known have fit into one or more of these categories. I hadn’t thought of it until now, but I wonder if some of this isn’t due to pressures put on Christian medical students — We need to use our practices as outposts for Christ!!! You’re about to become somebody people listen to; it’s your duty to bring them to Jesus!!! — As if competent, compassionate medicine weren’t enough.
So, the situation HSK describes for budding writers may exist in other professions.
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My wife says the duty of her Christian writer/husband is to take out the garbage on Monday evenings and bring home enough checks during the month to support our family.
BTW, although I’m a Christian writer, I do not write Christian articles — nor do I write for any Christian publications — although the columns I write for a local paper quite often reflect my Christian worldview.
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There is no comparison of Jesus giving EXAMPLES as He did, using ‘parables’ – to someone using parables as a comparison to mans fictional writing –
Jesus was speaking TRUTH using examples, HIS were absolutes, they weren’t something he dreamt up in HIS mind to either entertain the crowd, or giving a fuzzy experience to sooth anyone. They were given so that little man would understand without a doubt what Christ wanted us to know, talking about the fig tree, the lost sheep, these aren’t just fictional stories, they are something far more important. Lets not believe that ‘little mans’ simple fictional pursuits in any way come close to calling them “parables” for it is high minded with a great deal of self importance, that anyone could or would think they had arrived at parables using their fictional little stories.
Jesus parables
The wise and foolish builders – Mt 7:24-27; Lu 6:47-49
Two debtors – Lu 7:41-47
The rich fool – Lu 12:16-21
The servants waiting for their Lord – Lu 12:35-40
The barren fig tree – Lu 13:6-9
The sower – Mt 13:3-9,18-23; Mr 4:1-9,14-20; Lu 8:5-8,11-15
The tares (darnel) – Mt 13:24-30,36-43
Seed growing secretly – Mr 4:26-29
The mustard seed – Mt 13:31,32; Mr 4:30-32; Lu 13:18,19
Leaven (yeast) – Mt 13:33; Lu 13:20,21
The hidden treasure – Mt 13:44
The pearl of great price – Mt 13:45,46
The drag net – Mt 13:47-50
The unmerciful servant – Mt 18:23-35
The Good Samaritan – Lu 10:30-37
The friend at midnight – Lu 11:5-8
The Good Shepherd – Joh 10:1-16
The great supper – Lu 14:15-24
The lost sheep – Lu 15:3-7; Mt 18:12-14
The lost piece of money (one drachma) – Lu 15:8-10
The prodigal son and his older brother – Lu 15:11-32
The unjust steward – Lu 16:1-9
The rich man and Lazarus – Lu 16:19-31
The importunate (unrelenting) widow – Lu 18:1-8
The Pharisee and the publican – Lu 18:9-14
The laborers in the vineyard – Mt 20:1-16
The pounds – Lu 19:11-27
The two sons – Mt 21:28-32
The evil sharecroppers – Mt 21:33-44; Mr 12:1-12; Lu 20:9-18
The marriage of the king’s son – Mt 22:1-14
The fig tree leafing – Mt 24:32; Mr 13:28,29
Man taking a far journey – Mr 13:34-37
Ten virgins – Mt 25:1-13
The talents – Mt 25:14-30
The vine – Joh 15:1-5
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SAWGUNNER: I favor notsomuch explicitly Christian works as works that unmistakably point you to Christ.
That distinction is without a difference. The category of things that are unmistakable doesn’t include pearls. Not even Jesus points everyone unmistakably to Christ.
HSK: the writing of good books is a particularly worthy cross to bear
. . . down on your marrow bones . .
And the writer’s cross is language, not religion. Christians who don’t feel that human experience is worth writing about, rather than worthless if it’s not written about, or that the imagination is a waste of time, rather than time itself, are wise to do more practical work.
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Victoria,
I probably didn’t make myself clear about the mention of the parables. But there’s an element of Christendom that says “fiction isn’t true; therefore it’s a lie” or “fiction is innately a waste of time” or “fiction can’t possibly teach truth.” Jesus’ use of fiction shows all of these statements to be false.
Obviously no uninspired author is creating fiction on the same level as Christ’s parables. But the God who made a beautiful world, commanded beautiful things to be crafted for the temple, included poetry in His Word, and spoke in parables while on earth is not opposed to artistic creativity. Wrong use of such, absolutely. Reading or writing trash (or even greatly mediocre tract-like fiction), spending family time on books, etc.–all these and more are problems for the Christian. Reading and writing books is not automatically a problem. Those who would chase writers and artists out of the church as sinners are proving themselves “more righteous than God,” because He would do no such thing.
Ask the questions–yes. We need to be challenged. But asking the questions with an assumed answer of “books are bad” seems to me like a form of gnosticism, not biblical Christianity. And unless God Himself has placed a certain profession off limits (as He did with a few jobs), then it seems to me un-Christian to judge another of God’s servants as somehow operating outside an approved list of careers. Seriously, many artists end up leaving the church because they’re considered sinners, and I think God would be offended by such a church. (He’d also call the artists themselves to attend church, not to leave, but that’s a different point. What God has not called sin, we must not judge as sin, or we ourselves risk sinning.)
BTW, I have a brother who is a full-time evangelist. In recent years he has written a series of books for kids, a series he has had to self-publish because it’s in a genre no publisher will consider. He sees the writing as part of his evangelism, and perhaps ultimately of greater value than his evangelistic meetings–partly because books can outlive an author, as meetings cannot do.
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Cheryl
Fiction isn’t true, its mearly a story someone has manufactured in their mind. Truth teaches truth – An account of a TRUE story to illustrate a point has impact, – the reason? – because its TRUE, its not a fiction.
As long as you use the word “fiction” in connection to the parables which Christ brought forth during his ministry on earth, I find no credibility in what you say. Your determination to gird up fiction in comparison to the LORD Jesus Christ’s parables is unbelievable.
You are also mixing up the works of art for the temple – it doesn’t work, its a sham to even try and compare anything to the parables which Jesus taught, which were inspired by GOD the Son, part of the Trinity. To continue to use these ideas to substantiate ‘little mans’ fictional writing is a complete impostor –
I don’t find anything sinful in writing fiction – I no longer read fiction, I find it boring to read what someone else has fantasized in their mind – it holds no interest for me in the least.
FICTION
Definition:
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Victoria,
The parables were fiction, which is my starting point. In what sense aren’t they fiction? I don’t follow you. They didn’t actually happen, like a news story actually happens. Now, chances are things similar to them actually did happen–a son took his inheritance and misspent it, and his father forgave him. But the “truth” of the story doesn’t depend on whether those particular details actually happened to one particular family, but on the comparison between a Father’s love and the Father’s love. Jesus wasn’t intending to tell the story of a specific family, and not pretending He was doing so, but He told the story to make a comparison. A Sunday school teacher might do the same thing today, by making up a story about two brothers, one of whom got a chance to steal and didn’t take it, the other of whom stole. The story is fiction, but not “a lie,” just as with Jesus’ parables.
To take an example from kids’ lit: Little House on the Prairie is based on the childhood of Laura Ingalls Wilder. Parts of it are probably “precisely true,” and parts are undoubtedly fictionalized. Must we know which parts really happened (are “true”) and which didn’t in order to gain from reading it (if we find the series profitable reading)? I don’t think we do. The whole series can tell us what life was like in that era, can teach us gratitude because we see we have much easier lives but we tend to complain about them more, can give us tips on how to plant crops, etc. The books can train kids in compassion and empathy, etc. The exact truth of the stories thus isn’t relevant for that purpose. That they be “true to life” and accurate in how they portray prairie life is, however, important.
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Cheryl – you are off base as far as I’m concerned comparing the great PARABLES of Jesus Christ to mere mortal man’s fictional writing –
I don’t respect your ‘elevated’ use of fiction and then compare it to the Parables of our LORD –
I have found that those who feel their imaginations and fictional writing are of such importance are hard pressed to understand that they aren’t able to deal with the realities of this world, but rather live in a make-believe world which doesn’t exist. It’s a solitary world of make-believe when one continues the quest for something other than reality.
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Victoria — Do you believe the parable of the prodigal son describes a series of events which actually happened to a particular family at a particular time? And the Sower — was there an actual farmer who sowed on three kinds of ground? If so, what’s the meaning of the word “parable” as used in the Scripture? If not, how are they not “fiction”?
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Victoria, I made clear that mortal man’s writings aren’t the same…any more than a mortal’s poetry is equal to the Psalms or mortal news reporting is equal to Genesis. I merely said the parables are in the genre of fiction, which says fiction isn’t innately sinful (you’ve agreed yourself that fiction isn’t sinful, so that point doesn’t need to be “argued” with you–but it does with some people).
Yes, some people CAN get so wrapped up in fiction that they have a hard time dealing with the real world. I think we see that in many people who like soap operas and romance novels. But any good thing can be taken to excess. I myself read fiction (not a lot, but some) and have written some, but I’m very much involved in the “real” world. I actually think fiction can help a person be better informed and more compassionate in the real world. A quick, personal example and then I’ll close: When I read novels written from a black perspective, I developed a greater understanding of some of the history and human feelings involved in the lives of black people I knew and loved, and I think that empathy helped me love my neighbors better in the seven years I lived in a black community in Chicago. I read nonfiction on such issues too, but it didn’t get beneath the skin as much as fiction did.
It could be argued that that’s the power of story more than the power of fiction per se, and that could be true.
But that’s a discussion for a different time!
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Stubob – 27
You write:… ” If so, what’s the meaning of the word “parable” as used in the Scripture? If not, how are they not “fiction”?”
The short answer to your question is; the LORD used parables, but they were in direct relation to what HE meant regarding sin, wayward children, the four seeds, etc., that is a far cry from those who proport to call what they write – fiction as comparison to parables – there is no comparison.
Below is Christ’s answer:
As you can see Stubob, Christ taught in parables for a distinct reason, it was HIS way, and only HIS, to give forth the Word of GOD. It is man’s foolish idea that he can trump the Word of God in trying to use fiction and then comparing it to parables, it doesn’t work – whether it is is Biblical fiction, or secular, either way ‘little man’s’ fictional works are not Parables.
Christ taught in parables. Thereby the things of God were made more plain and easy to those willing to be taught, and at the same time more difficult and obscure to those who were willingly ignorant. The parable of the sower is plain. The seed sown is the word of God. The sower is our Lord Jesus Christ, by himself, or by his ministers. Preaching to a multitude is sowing the corn; we know not where it will light. Some sort of ground, though we take ever so much pains with it, brings forth no fruit to purpose, while the good soil brings forth plentifully. So it is with the hearts of men, whose different characters are here described by four sorts of ground. Careless, trifling hearers, are an easy prey to Satan; who, as he is the great murderer of souls, so he is the great thief of sermons, and will be sure to rob us of the word, if we take not care to keep it. Matthew Henry
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Nobody’s trying to trump the Word of God, Victoria. Good grief. Fiction is fiction. Jesus’ parables are spiritually informative fiction from an unimpeachible author. Similarly, but not with the same authority, we can learn from the fiction of eloquent men the things of God. They’re not on par with the fictional stories told by Christ in the sense that the conceptions of the authors must be questioned and tested in a way that Jesus’ stories, considering their source, don’t allow. But the forms are the same. Jesus’ parables are fiction. Human novels are fiction. The authors are not comparable. Learn from the first and test your own mind. Learn from the second after testing the minds of their authors against the mind of Christ. But don’t quibble categories of communication like this sorts things out.
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SG
I strongly disagree, we will leave it at that. If you are unable understand what Christ meant in Matthew 13:10-18, there is no point in my trying to further explain it.
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David L
I would like to talk about a trilogy, J.R.R.Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. If I remember correctly, it was not a Christian allegory, nor based on the Bible. It was not a story of Christ or an evangelistic endeavor. It was a story by a Christian (And a Catholic!).
It was such a good story that when it was made into a movie that it was made very close to the book. It has not come out that any of the actors, directors or producers were or are Christian. Yet, did it not tug at many Christians’ heart strings? Did it not bring many Christians to contemplate Christ and his blessings? Did many not think of His suffering and death, resurrection and ascension?
It drew me to Christ. Was I alone in this?
The writing was good. Not, it was good writing, it was good. All of it was good.
The movie was also good. I have a longing for Home when I watch it, when I think on it. I am not of this world, I want to go Home.
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Victoria: I have found that those who feel their imaginations and fictional writing are of such importance are hard pressed to understand that they aren’t able to deal with the realities of this world, but rather live in a make-believe world which doesn’t exist. It’s a solitary world of make-believe when one continues the quest for something other than reality.
On the 10 point irony meter, that one’s about a 30.
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Whoops!
Victoria: I have found that those who feel their imaginations and fictional writing are of such importance are hard pressed to understand that they aren’t able to deal with the realities of this world, but rather live in a make-believe world which doesn’t exist. It’s a solitary world of make-believe when one continues the quest for something other than reality.
On the 10 point irony meter, that one’s about a 30!
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David L. I want to be a writer when I grow up, mainly a journalist, becuase I firmly believe that the media could use a Christian worldveiw. I also like to write stories. I’ve already written one book, and yeah it was awful. Oh well, live and learn. But someday I will publish something that has a Christain worldveiw that is entertaining and otherwise isn’t trash. What’s wrong with that? I think that Christain writing is a great occupation. Literature is a cornerstone of society. Are we just going to let that part of society be overrun by the world? Aren’t we supposed to let our light shine in all things?I think that writing as a Christian is a worthy ” cross to bear” becuase it can reach alot of people, look at Jerry B Jenkins and Tim Lahaye a lot of people came to Christ from the Left Behind series . Tolkien, Lewis, Sheldon, and Bunyan all reached people for Christ through this ” unworthy calling” Really if you think about it if there were more Christains in the media maybe our society wouldn’t be where it is. Christians for a large part have forsaken the media to the world. Which we are not supposed to do. Aren’t we supposed to minister to Jerusalem , Judea and the ends of the earth respectively? Aren’t we supposed to invest our time here at home too?
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I have not figured out how to get the rebels to leave the loyalists to themselves for even a little bit of time. The frail spots in Victoria’s fabric are so weak that if she were left by herself to talk to other Christians for a week, she would fall right off the tapestry.
I had a good friend at one time who was an evangelical feminist (and I am sure not pro-abortion just as Palin is a feminist, assertive, pro-life woman). Every church my friend joined she ended up leaving because she was too assertive for the other woman in the congregation. She was a much more interesting and likable person than Victoria probably is, but I suspect Victoria either belongs to a very eccentric church or a very very tolerant one.
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Or maybe people are just different on blogs? I find it way easier to be confrontational on blogs than in person. Except with my husband. LOL But I’m working on it.
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#37
These Little Ones, I am assuming (perhaps incorrectly, in which case, I apologize) that you are addressing me.
Or maybe people are just different on blogs? I think this is absolutely true, and very similar to how many people are more aggressive when they drive. People who wouldn’t necessarily shove their way in front of you at a supermarket line or a movie ticket queue, may cut you off as they merge their car on the freeway.
I’m not particularly tough in person so I generally avoid threatening or insulting people when I am face to face with them.
On the other hand, when a person is nothing more than pixels on my computer monitor, originating from thousands of miles away, I insult them with impunity.
Oh, oh. Somebody just knocked on our door…
(This is true. Somebody just knocked on our door, but it was a perfectly nice person who will be a neighbor of ours. Well, that’s what he said, anyway. For all I know, he’s really a member of “The Secret Agenda.”)
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