1. sherwoodsmith says:

    *clapping hard*

  2. Galadriel says:

    To quote Owl City “reality is a lovely place, but I wouldn’t want to live there.” And most stories have elements at least as unrealistic as elves and unicorns, but we pretend not to notice.

  3. Moreover, the notion that a Christian should eschew the fantastic for fear of somehow rebelling against God’s created order is predicated on the fallacy that an escape from that order is even possible. One of the limitations imposed by our nature as created beings is that we can’t create squat ex nihilo (out of nothing). We can only work with the raw materials provided to us by our Creator. No matter how hard I try, I cannot describe an entity that exists in five dimensions. The human mind cannot contain such a thing. Though my prowess with words be matched by none, I cannot create a world in which wrong is right and right is wrong. The human heart — upon which is graven the law of nature and of nature’s God — cannot accept such a thing. There are limitations to creativity: the boundaries within which God constructed reality itself. It’s not sinful to transcend these so much as it’s impossible. To even imply that it is possible is to assume that we’re all a lot more godlike than good theology would dictate.

    • Randy Streu says:

      Great thoughts! This is something I would have liked to touch on more than I did, time permitting (one of SEVERAL aspects of this conversation I’d have liked to touch on, actually).

  4. Bethany J. says:

    Applause! Loved this article.

    It occurs to me that if writing “normal” fiction is like building with the blocks God gave us, writing speculative fiction is like building our own blocks…from the wood of trees that God also gave us. 😉

  5. Adam Weisenburger says:

    Fantastic thoughts, Randy. I’m glad you’re on our side. 😛

  6. THIS. It’s much more succinct than my blog’s version (over 2,000 words to say something very similar) but, this. Fantasy doesn’t take us out of reality, it helps us to understand reality and gives us better coping mechanisms for it. There’s a reason that children are given fairy tales and talking animals — not because it’s new to them, because EVERYTHING is new to a child, but because it can penetrate more deeply and be understood more clearly. We need fantasy, and we need to create.

What do you think?