Christian Fiction discussion

This was a question on the board when I took over, but the thread got moved. I thought I would re-ask it, cause its an interesting question.

Is Christian Epic Fantasy an Oxymoron?

While I am an author of Epic Fantasy, I would not call it specifically Christian. On many levels it is Christain-like...as in there is a value set, and the omnipresence of the Creator. But I would describe my own story as Pre-Abraham, Pre-Moses, and Pre-Jesus. And as such, they understanding between God and his creation is not so cemented in. Many can read that and say, I don't see much Christian in it, and others may think it is too Christian for their tastes.

I go back, LOTR, which is widely regarded as Christian fiction, but suffers a bit when given scrutiny. Yes, it has themes that come from Christian beleifs, the Return of the King for instance could be seen as a preamble for the Return of Christ to his Kingdom, but the story itself does not have Christ actually in it, and make no attempt to include him.

I think Fantasy, by its nature, cannot wholly line up with Christian Fiction, because the fantasy nature of it, magic and spells and monsters, cannot match with what Natural Law, and the Natural nature of the universe, and so it cannot ever be a completely True rendition of Gods Creation, and his natural/supernatural relationship with it. But Fantasy can be very close, and can serve to deliver and reach audiences that other genres cant.

So...to some regard, Fantasy Christian Fiction must be a step away from pure christian fiction, and cannot bridge the gap.

But on another, grander scale, I'd say all of fiction is in this boat. We are creatures of story, and our stories can display and tell of many values, and contrast them in ways that serve to inform, and hopefully, lead us to truth.

I think Fantasy can play a big role in that, because Fantasy has the advantage of getting to ask big questions and showing things in the archetypes that other genre's don't really share. Other genres don't really have Dark Lords and Demons the character must actually wrestle with, and through it black and white nature, we can learn and piece out a lot about what must be true.

A good example of this, I think is the Screw tape letters. Totally Fantasy...two devils discussing how they might corrupt the world, but a wealth of thought and material to keep us thinking and grow our understanding.

Personally, I don't require everything I read to be Christian, and in fact I think the exposure to things outside is often the stone on which we make ourselves sharp. But I do love Fantasy, and I don't like things that don't ring as true. You can't be too far from it, and keep me.