How Christian Should Christian Speculative Fiction Be: CSFF Blog Tour – Offworld
This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 19. 2009 and is filed under Posts by Rebecca Luella Miller,Science Fiction,CSFF Blog Tour,Christian art.
During the current CSFF Blog Tour for Robin Parrish's novel Offworld, the question has come up again: How Christian should Christian fiction be, and in particular how Christian should Christian speculative fiction be? Should there be room for "seed sowing" fiction that introduces the concepts of God and a universe run by Him? Or must Christian fiction point inexorably to a Biblical understanding of God?
To both these questions, I say, Yes. Yes, there should be seed-sowing fiction. If a reader, for example, does not believe that Man, by nature, is a sinner, that he is actually good and capable of finding within himself all that he needs for life, then a Christian novel that points to a Savior who died for sinners will fail to impact the very reader it is targeting.
Some Christian books need to introduce Biblical concepts in their embryonic state, else there will be no audience for the full grown gospel.
I think of my own work, a four-book epic fantasy called The Lore of Efrathah. God does not come into the story. Neither is it allegorical. There are some key symbols, however, but the Christianity is far from heavy-handed or overt. Isn't that the kind of book a "seeker" is more apt to pick up?
However, when a story is set in our world, past, present, or future, it seems to me that a writer can't ignore God or have Him missing because that in itself is a statement about God.
Which brings me to Offworld. How did Robin Parrish handle the religious aspects?
First, none of the characters, apparently, is a Christian. One man, the main point-of-view character, seems to have a belief in a higher power. At some point, as crisis after crisis mounts, he begins to call for help. Not out loud, so the reader would have to conclude these are prayers. here's a sample:
A little help, please?Later in the story, during the "reveal," the character comes to the belief that Someone must have been seeing them through a sequence of impossible escapes because they really were ... impossible.
Anything?
I'm willing to beg.
However, this supernatural power is never clearly attached to the Biblical concept of God. More troubling, from my perspective, is a misrepresentation of Him. Here's the most telling passage, a portion of an explanation about the power behind the machine that made all the people of the world disappear. These lines are in a shared vision in which the astronauts are talking to central character's deceased father:
"What language is that?" whispered Trisha, studying the symbols as closely as she dared.
"I don't recognize it," replied Owen.
" 'Course not," said Chris' father. "It's a language from the other side of the veil. The divine language."
"Dad," Chris said, his voice just above a reverential whisper now, "what is this thing?"
"It's a shard of the infinite," replied his father, and suddenly he sounded less like the man Chris remembered. "A piece of the primordial. The tiniest sliver of the Word that was breathed to bring the universe into being."
..."You said this thing came from your side," said Owen. "How did it get over to our side?"
"Something ... has pierced the veil that separates our realities," said Chris' father. "I don't know what, but it's happened before, and more than once. And when it happens, powers and principalities and objects from our side begin to leak into yours."
And the story continues from there.
However, I do not see a Biblical view of "the Word that was breathed to bring the universe into being." From Scripture, I know this to be Jesus Christ. Also from Scripture, I know Jesus to be indivisible. And very much a person. How could a "shard" of Him be used to power a machine? How does writing this kind of an image of Him, especially in the mouth of someone on the other side of the veil who would presumably know, serve to point a seeker to Truth, even in an embryonic state?
Though I think seed-sowing fiction is appropriate and necessary, I don't see a lesser, but a greater, need for that fiction to be faithful to Scripture when revealing anything about God. I wish Offworld had been more careful.
And now the others participating in this tour:
Brandon Barr/ Jim Black/ Justin Boyer/ Keanan Brand/ Gina Burgess/ Canadianladybug/ Melissa Carswell/ Valerie Comer/ Karri Compton/ Amy Cruson/ CSFF Blog Tour/ Stacey Dale/ D. G. D. Davidson/ Jeff Draper/ April Erwin/ Karina Fabian/ Linda Gilmore/ Beth Goddard/ Todd Michael Greene/ Katie Hart/ Ryan Heart/ Becky Jesse/ Cris Jesse/ Jason Joyner/ Julie/ Carol Keen/ Krystine Kercher/ Dawn King/ Melissa Meeks/ Rebecca LuElla Miller/ Mirtika/ Eve Nielsen (posting later in the week)/ Nissa/ John W. Otte/ Lyn Perry/ Steve Rice/ Cheryl Russell/ Chawna Schroeder/ James Somers/ Stephanie/ Rachel Starr Thomson/ Steve Trower/ Fred Warren/ Dona Watson/ Elizabeth Williams
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Wednesday, August 19. 2009
John wrote:
Like I said in my post yesterday, the Christian content in Offworld was largely a MacGuffin. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but I do agree that it could have been better handled.
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Wednesday, August 19. 2009
amydeanne wrote:
Thank-you! You really hit it for me. if they would have made it a shard of alien it wouldn't have made a difference to me, but the fact that they did as God, though not directly said I was starting to think borderline new age... and while I don't require a lot of Christian content the things you mentioned were unsettling to me as well.... to me as a Christian there was no Christian content and too much of borderline misrepresentation..
And I agree it doesn't have to be crazy preachy or over the top, it can be very subtle, but there has to be something that actually makes it Christian.. what separates this book to make it Christian from any other religion? Nothing. ... I keep thinking "Shame shame double shame " on Bethany House for publishing it lol.
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Thursday, August 20. 2009
Rebecca LuElla Miller wrote:
too much of borderline misrepresentation.
Amy, that's the thing that bothered me, too. If an author leaves God out, that's his choice. I won't quibble because a lot of people leave God out, so the story would be true to life. But to say God is like something He is not ... and fly it under the banner of "Christian fiction," well that struck me as off.
I've read Robin's answer to those who say his work isn't "Christian" enough, but I think he's missed this central point: when we speak of God, however little that may be, we need to be Biblically accurate.
Becky
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Thursday, August 20. 2009
Rebecca LuElla Miller wrote:
John, I wanted so much to leave a comment to your post because you were one of the first bloggers I saw that voiced any concern about the spiritual aspect. I thought you voiced your opinion very well.
I was in too much of a hurry that day and I knew I would have to spell out my thoughts in some detail, either here or at A Christian Worldview of Fiction, so I decided to hold off. Glad you stopped by here. I hope other visitors go to your site to read the post you mentioned.
Becky
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Monday, August 24. 2009
Jacob Potts wrote:
Here is another Christian author's foray into "Christian fiction", though I think he would want it classed as general fiction: "Angel Fall" by Coleman Luck.
"Angel Fall" a fantasy novel aimed at older teens and adults, specifically has angels, but not at all the comfy, cozy, kitschy kind. They are mysterious, powerful, free to work and to make mistakes.
Another thing "Angel Fall" does particularly well is set up the need for rescue (redemption, salvation). Both the human and the angelic characters have evil done to them, and do evil things to others. Luck does not give easy outs in anything. But if a character is rescued, I can see clearly they needed it, could not achieve it themselves, and were rescued solely by the goodness of the rescuer.
"Angel Fall" has a Christ figure, though Christ is not specifically named.
Luck has written extensively for television, specifically "The Equalizer" series and "Gabriel's Fire".
Read it and tell me what you think of Luck's foray and approach.
Jacob Potts
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Friday, September 04. 2009
Rebecca LuElla Miller wrote:
Jacob, I'm not a big fan of angel stories. For me they are hard to get right Biblically. We know only a little about them, but what we do know needs to be accurate. I don't see many writers doing the hard work to stay withing Biblical revelation.
As I've said before, just as historical fiction must be bound by the history in which the story is placed, so too stories, though speculative, with real characters.
I'll have to give Angel Fall a pass.
Becky
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Monday, September 07. 2009
Cheryl Russell wrote:
What I got from Offworld: What happens to a society that assumes science as all the answers and that man is capable of handling whatever he discovers? Answer: the mistaken belief that man is capable of handling infinite power and righting all the wrong that has been done.
What stops the totally destruction? A girl whose purpose for being is unknown to those closest to her, until the time comes for her purpose to be fulfilled. In the end, this mysterious girl, of a type that never existed before and will never exist again, shifts the paradigm if you will, by her self-sacrifice.
For me, there are Christian themes throughout the book.
As for the fragment--how does the infinite become finite? How does God inhabit a human body? How can man put God in a box? Look around--happens all the time. God is constantly put in boxes in order to do what we decide He needs to do--and He lets it happen--leaves us to deal with our choices and what they lead to--up to and including providing an unconventional way out.
I'm not going to defend what I got from the book--I didn't post to argue. I posted because I came to a different conclusion even though I read the same story.
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