What Makes Fiction Christian?
This entry was posted on Monday, February 26. 2007 and is filed under Christian SF Definitions,Posts by Rebecca Luella Miller.
During our recent Christian Science Fiction and Fantasy blog tour, the question came up: What makes Christian fiction “Christian”? Christopher Hopper posted on the subject because of a comment to his earlier article.
Elsewhere, J. Mark Bertrand discusses the topic from the angle of the term “Christian worldview.”
Most recently Mike Duran is discussing the same issue in multiple posts.
I suppose, because I’ve named my own personal blog, A Christian Worldview of Fiction, I have some vested interest in the subject.
Mike and I exchanged comments at his blog, I suggesting we do not define “Christian” the same way, and he suggesting we do not define “Christian fiction” the same way.
Well, he’s right I suppose, but I can’t help thinking it is because we don’t understand the word Christian.
Acts 11:26 first used the word: “... and the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.” The disciples. That would be the people who Jesus said must hate their mothers and fathers and even their own life, take up their cross, and follow Him. (Luke 14:26, 27).
There are two other uses of the word “Christian” in the Bible, none as an adjective.
So what does the adjective form mean?
When I was younger and it was quite the fad to put a fish symbol on one’s car, I remember driving around and identifying “Christian cars.” Until a friend pointed out that cars can’t become Christians.
Point taken. People become Christians. But is all that a Christian undertakes then to be labeled “Christian,” i.e. “Christian plumbing”? (Why do the plumbers so often get singled out for these examples—why not the Christian electrician? That’s mine from now on. ;-) ) That idea seems humorous.
So why “Christian education” or “Christian radio” or "Christian music"? Why “Christian fiction”?
What those particular things seem to have in common is communication.
I believe the terms are appropriate if the particular object exists to communicate the core value of a disciple of Christ. Therefore, “Christian fiction” identifies the core values the stories will communicate—ones a disciple of Christ adheres to.
In my opinion, anything less demeans the name of Christ.
That some people have attached a list of “thou-shalt-nots” to stories written to lift up the core values of a disciple of Christ, is a shame. That we should stand by and let that list become the definition of Christian fiction is worse than a shame—it is allowing a lie to stand unchallenged.
Christ’s name is attached to this term. It is paramount, in my opinion, that we rescue it from misuse.
Comments
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Monday, February 26. 2007
Daniel I Weaver wrote:
Very well put, Rebecca. I agree whole-heartedly. In all of the circle's I've travelled, I come across this argument against being "too Christian" in stories and it irritates me because it always comes across that we are trying to "sneak" in the Christian element so we can please the world. Often, we're told to limit the "Christian" element so we can broaden our appeal to secular audiences, etc. I understand the concept of not preaching, but that shouldn't mean Christ shouldn't be an element in the fiction attached to His name.
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Monday, February 26. 2007
Rebecca LuElla Miller wrote:
Well, Daniel, I think we're on the same page but not the same paragraph. Hahah. I actually DON'T think it is necessary to name the name of Christ. I think it is absolutely fine to symbolize Him or allude to Him or to use a type for Him. (Think Abraham with Isaac discovering the lamb trapped in the bushes).I think it is also fine to do some John-the-Baptist work--the soil preparation work.
In other words, I think there is a pretty broad scope of what makes something Christian.
What I don't think is Christian is having a Christian character who doesn't act like a Christian but in some last second, unmotivated decision commits a sacrificial act—and readers call the work "redemptive."
Now if the Christian character had been developed in such a way that it was obvious his love of God motivated him, then I think such an ending could be seen as redemptive.
Some people talk of Frodo as a Christ figure. I don't. I do think there is a strong theme of redemption in LotR, but I don't see Frodo playing the part of the Redeemer, by any means.
Becky
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Monday, February 26. 2007
Rebecca LuElla Miller wrote:
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Tuesday, February 27. 2007
mike duran wrote:
By defining Christian fiction as "stories written to lift up the core values of a disciple of Christ," aren't you inferring your own list of “thou-shalt-nots”? Furthermore, that list will differ according to how each individual defines what those core values are. So, once again, the problem resides in our definition of Christian fiction. Great discussion, Becky!
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Tuesday, February 27. 2007
Christopher Hopper wrote:
Wonderful discussion, once again. Very challenging as we move forward to not repeat errors we've all made before.
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Tuesday, February 27. 2007
J. Mark Bertrand wrote:
There seem to be too separate questions: (a) what does "Christian fiction" mean? and (b) what should "Christian fiction" mean? The answer to the first is that people use the term fluidly, but there is a majority opinion (a wrong one, in my view) that is summarized in the Wikipedia entry Mike cites on his blog -- essentially, by Christians, for Christians, with an explicit Christian message. The second question is what you're approaching here -- what should the term denote. Personally, I wish it could be used in the way "Christian thought," "Christian history" or "Christian theology" are -- i.e., a record of the expression of Christians, with the understanding that some expressions are more orthodox and biblical than others. It seems to me that such a usage provides the necessary wiggle room for creative freedom, and still leaves the door open to judging Christian expression in light of revelation.
If we go with the idea that Christian fiction is fiction that communicates the core values of Christianity, I guess the next question is going to be which parts of Scripture are the core values? Would "loving your neighbor as yourself" be a sufficient theme? Would "judge not, lest ye be judged"? Would a tangential idea found in Scripture, the sort of thing that might inspire a sermon, be sufficent to make a story Christian? This seems like a hard approach when you sit down and attempt to apply it.
And what do we do with the idea, so often applied in vocation, that the way one does one's work reflects one's faith? Suppose the writer approaches his work in a Christian way, in the same sense that any layman would? If attempts to do his work as a form of worship, does that count for anything? It seems to me these are all important questions -- and an ideal definition of the term might have to make allowances for them.
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Tuesday, February 27. 2007
Rebecca LuElla Miller wrote:
Suppose the writer approaches his work in a Christian way, in the same sense that any layman would? If attempts to do his work as a form of worship, does that count for anything? It seems to me these are all important questions -- and an ideal definition of the term might have to make allowances for them.
There are so many good comments and questions here, I don't see how I can address them all.
I'll take Mark's last point, probably for the reason that it IS the last.
I work as a newspaper stringer, covering high school sports. I have a definite approach to the job that is informed by my faith. However, nothing about the stories is Christian prose. It simply isn't. You can read my stories and any other in the sports page without discerning a difference.
If writing is to be connected to the name of Jesus Christ, I believe something should set it apart.
Becky
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Tuesday, February 27. 2007
J. Mark Bertrand wrote:
I hear what you're saying, Becky. What I wonder, though, is whether we (for lack of a better term) "let the world have" things that both sides agree on, as if they weren't Christian distinctives, so that they define what's distinctively Christian instead of us (or better, God) doing it. An example would be opposition to murder. We act as if, because you don't have to be a believer to dislike unlawful killing, it isn't really a Christian distinctive, whereas I'd suggest it just happens to be an example of one that hasn't been lost. If the litmus test for calling things Christian is "nobody else would believe this," or "nobody else would have written this," then isn't there a danger of conceding some pretty major things as neutral? I'm not suggesting that some things aren't more Christian (i.e., more openly so, more accurately so, etc.), just that everything comes from a source and finds its true definition from God's perspective, so there's a danger in narrowing Christian distinctives down to only what others reject.
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Tuesday, February 27. 2007
Rebecca LuElla Miller wrote:
I agree with what you're saying, Mark, and have actually used that argument for writing Christian fantasy—that by NOT writing Christian fantasy, we are allowing the world to define "good" and "evil."
But here's the thing. I think we cannot approach a theme such as killing in the same way the world approaches the subject. Otherwise our voices are indiscernible.
And in the case of something in opposition to the culture, standing up for an opposing principle may do little else than ostracize us. Somehow we need to write from God's perspective, for surely when he told the gang-rape story in Judges, it was not meant for entertainment. Nor to enforce a "thou shalt not rape" rule (though it may actually do both).
Becky
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Tuesday, February 27. 2007
Rebecca LuElla Miller wrote:
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Tuesday, February 27. 2007
J. Mark Bertrand wrote:
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