A Question, and a Question Answered
In commenting on Gen's post, I made the remark that it was our own faith, bubbling up and spilling over, that would make our stories truly Christian stories, stories that would encourage others to move closer to God, and that would shine light in a dark world. (Well, all right, I didn't say exactly that. But it's close enough.) I follow that up with a question:
Can a story be truly Christian if it never mentions God?
After all, Tolkien's work never mentions God, or even an Aslan-like representative of God, until the Silmarillion, and then it's in the company of an entire Parthenon of lesser gods. Modern Christian writers seem to think that unless a story takes great care to mention God many times throughout the story, it isn't "Christian". The result is too often a nauseating, didactic mess, where bad preaching takes the place of a good story. Personally, I find such "Christian" books make me sick to my stomach. (No, I'm not going to name names, and yes, I do have an actual book in mind.)
Those of you who read my columns probably already know where I'm going with this. But the answer to the question above is a resounding Yes! A book need not mention God by name to be filled with examples of His holy power, to draw readers closer to Him, to uplift, enlighten, exhort. Look at the book of Esther.
Out of all the 66 books of the Bible, Esther is the only one that never mentions God, yet no one who had ever read it could deny that He was the most important character in it. Compare the two quotes below (both very rough paraphrases, I'm afraid).
"It may be that you have been placed here for just such a time as this."
"All I can say is that Bilbo was meant to find it, and not by its maker"
One is from Esther, the other from Tolkien, but note how pivotal God is in both of them, without being mentioned even once. Until we can say that Esther, a book of the Bible, is not Christian, we can never say that any other book is not, or at least not on those grounds. (Of course the majority of books being published aren't Christian; I would go so far as to say that some of the books published under a Christian title aren't Christian; the author merely inserted a few morals and stuck God into it because Christian fiction, at present, is a booming business, which is a sad thing if I've ever heard of one.
At any rate, the point I want to make is that the love we have for God, the faith that touches every area of our life, what C. S. Lewis calls "the bubbling", is what will make our stories Christian--and, ultimately, what will give the most glory to God.
Can a story be truly Christian if it never mentions God?
After all, Tolkien's work never mentions God, or even an Aslan-like representative of God, until the Silmarillion, and then it's in the company of an entire Parthenon of lesser gods. Modern Christian writers seem to think that unless a story takes great care to mention God many times throughout the story, it isn't "Christian". The result is too often a nauseating, didactic mess, where bad preaching takes the place of a good story. Personally, I find such "Christian" books make me sick to my stomach. (No, I'm not going to name names, and yes, I do have an actual book in mind.)
Those of you who read my columns probably already know where I'm going with this. But the answer to the question above is a resounding Yes! A book need not mention God by name to be filled with examples of His holy power, to draw readers closer to Him, to uplift, enlighten, exhort. Look at the book of Esther.
Out of all the 66 books of the Bible, Esther is the only one that never mentions God, yet no one who had ever read it could deny that He was the most important character in it. Compare the two quotes below (both very rough paraphrases, I'm afraid).
"It may be that you have been placed here for just such a time as this."
"All I can say is that Bilbo was meant to find it, and not by its maker"
One is from Esther, the other from Tolkien, but note how pivotal God is in both of them, without being mentioned even once. Until we can say that Esther, a book of the Bible, is not Christian, we can never say that any other book is not, or at least not on those grounds. (Of course the majority of books being published aren't Christian; I would go so far as to say that some of the books published under a Christian title aren't Christian; the author merely inserted a few morals and stuck God into it because Christian fiction, at present, is a booming business, which is a sad thing if I've ever heard of one.
At any rate, the point I want to make is that the love we have for God, the faith that touches every area of our life, what C. S. Lewis calls "the bubbling", is what will make our stories Christian--and, ultimately, what will give the most glory to God.
posted by Keesa | 6:05 AM
5 Comments:
Ditto, Keesa. I completely agree. The Lord of the Rings trilogy is the most Christian, Christ-centered fantasy epic, and yet God is never mentioned by name; still, though, He is the center of everything, and the mover of all things. No matter how dark things get, you somehow always know that light will rise up victorious in the end. All sufferings have a purpose.
And I know that Rose and Liz and I have talked about it, but did you know that three LOTR characters are a symbol of Christ in their own way? I am not saying that they were meant to BE Christ symbolically, but they were what you would call 'Chrsit-figures': Frodo symbolizes the Passion of Christ, Gandalf symbolizes the Resurrected Christ, and Aragorn symbolizes Christ's Second coming. Isn't that neat?!
But again; Keesa, you said that some books, whose authors feel that God has to be mentioned every paragraph, turn out to be ridiculous books. You are so right. These over-done books are quite the pathetic novel, and the preachings and ideas that are tried to be expressed are very.....well, let's just say they aren't very good. ;)
:grins: I know. And that is what we must guard against in our own writing.
I didn't know that, about the symbolism. That's awesome!! But there are a thousand other little things in it that just show what he believed. It's really amazing. Wouldn't it be lovely to be able to write like that? We will, if we're faithful to the calling we've been given!
Yes. Tolkien is the main author that I aspire to be like. He is, to me, the most incredible writer, and his powerful way with words never ceases to floor me. I hope to at least come close to his level of writing one day.
I do remember reading that column, Keesa; but it's just as true a message now as then!
And yes - the many little symbolisms in LotR are there for the finding; and I betcha Tolkien didn't realize half of them existed til afterwards. :) It just adds another level of depth to his work, making it the wonderful work of art it is. Of course - for what art not aiming for God (knowingly or not) will truly find the beauty it seeks?
:nods: I doubt Tolkien himself ever saw some of the things that are there. He wasn't looking for them, you see...he wrote a story from the beauty within, and even though those elements couldn't help but be there, he didn't "intend" to put them in; they simply 'bubbled'. :-) That's why I put so much emphasis on developing your walk with God first. We want to write out of the overflow of our faith!
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