If you're a Christian, why aren't your books "Christian" books?
The term "Christian fantasy" is something of an oxymoron.
Fantasy is defined as "a genre of imaginative fiction involving magic and adventure, especially in a setting other than the real world," and also as "an idea with no basis in reality". "Christian" literally means "little Christs", people who were disciples of Jesus and emulating His teachings. Jesus Christ is the greatest reality there is, so to create a world that is not real and attempt to inject Christ into it in disguise is problematic to say the least. Allegory, like Pilgrim's Progress, must have a one-to-one correspondence between the plot elements and characters and the reality it is mirroring. CS Lewis defined his stories as "suppositional" rather than allegorical, and his books are not marketed in a Christian category, although they are found in Christian bookstores. Christians writing in the fantasy genre struggle with this issue. If I define my work as "Christian", it must conform to certain industry and consumer expectations, even though my worldview will come out no matter what. If I don't, then I exclude myself from "Christian" authors and readers groups. My audience is "clean fantasy", which can include Christians, and my stories have themes consistent with biblical morality. Check out my full video explanation on Facebook at Amber Gabriel: Author!
Fantasy is defined as "a genre of imaginative fiction involving magic and adventure, especially in a setting other than the real world," and also as "an idea with no basis in reality". "Christian" literally means "little Christs", people who were disciples of Jesus and emulating His teachings. Jesus Christ is the greatest reality there is, so to create a world that is not real and attempt to inject Christ into it in disguise is problematic to say the least. Allegory, like Pilgrim's Progress, must have a one-to-one correspondence between the plot elements and characters and the reality it is mirroring. CS Lewis defined his stories as "suppositional" rather than allegorical, and his books are not marketed in a Christian category, although they are found in Christian bookstores. Christians writing in the fantasy genre struggle with this issue. If I define my work as "Christian", it must conform to certain industry and consumer expectations, even though my worldview will come out no matter what. If I don't, then I exclude myself from "Christian" authors and readers groups. My audience is "clean fantasy", which can include Christians, and my stories have themes consistent with biblical morality. Check out my full video explanation on Facebook at Amber Gabriel: Author!
Published on August 08, 2020 08:37
No comments have been added yet.


