1. Shawn Lamb says:

    Well written article. I would add one thing, when it comes to the portrayal of ‘supernatural’ elements, contain it to appropriate characters.

    Lewis and Tolkien confined the elements of the supernatural to character representative of the God and Satan. Dabbling beyond that is problematic and can cause a slippery slope.

    Mortal man cannot wield magic through themselves. I don’t mean objects like rings and such, rather like Harry Potter or Star Wars where the ‘physical nature’ of the individual is born to command the supernatural.

  2. Hey Shawn,

    It may be a bit more complex in settings where the world rules are intentionally different, or where apostles are written about, etc., but all things being equal, this is a great comment. It’s a healthy reminder to keep theology straight in any work of fiction, or non-fiction, for that matter.

    Now, I’m most likely going to irritate someone. I would take your thesis and advance it to say it’s problematic for Satan to be granted miracle-working power as well. False signs and wonders, yes. Genuine supernatural, miracle-working power? That would make Christ’s statement “believe the miracles, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father” arbitrary and not at all authoritative, don’t you think?

  3. I don’t know, Marc. The medium Saul went to did conjure up Samuel. Pharaoh’s magicians did turn staffs into snakes. The demon possessed girl apparently did foretell the future and the demon possessed man did have supernatural strength to break chains. I don’t think we can ignore that Satan does have power. He doesn’t have all power and what he does with his power, God allows. But he’s not reduced to tricks. He is a formidable adversary who requires the armor of God if we are to stand against his fiery darts.

    Shawn, I would suggest that Harry Potter is not in the same camp as Star Wars. The latter clearly identified the supernatural as the source of power. The former does not. Power is what wizards and witches in that world have by birth, much as we have athletic ability or competence with numbers. It was a talent that needed to be refined by education and practice. No outside force was ever called upon to bring or enhance that power. It was not supernatural, but quite natural for those born with it.

    Becky

  4. C.L. Dyck says:

    “those of you who taunt my thinning hair should be glad I’m not Elisha…you know who you are!”

    Why yes, I do…but seriously…”thinning”? Dude, that’s a bald spot. Totally. And anyway, you’d never sic the bears on me; I also know how you feel about bears.

  5. You make absolute sense. There is so much evil behavior inserted into books to make them sell, at the behest of publihsers much more than from the inspiration of the writer, that it is difficult to get a book published which deals with evil and with authentic Christian values. That’s why J.R.R. Tolkien and J.K. Rowling have done us all a wonderful favor: they were successful in dealing with the nature of evil and how it affects all of us.

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  6. […] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Timothy Stone, Speculative Faith. Speculative Faith said: Author Marc Schooley: Truly Christian novels must include evil, but not for its own sake. On #SpecFaith: http://bit.ly/hezduP […]

  7. C.L. Dyck says:

    Marc said:
    “I would take your thesis and advance it to say it’s problematic for Satan to be granted miracle-working power as well. False signs and wonders, yes.”

    Becky said:
    “The medium Saul went to did conjure up Samuel. Pharaoh’s magicians did turn staffs into snakes. The demon possessed girl apparently did foretell the future and the demon possessed man did have supernatural strength to break chains.”

    Can I go out on a limb and agree with both? I think it may depend on the definition of a miracle. I’ve heard two different ways of looking at it since entering the Christian culture. One states that a miracle is defined as a special act/intervention of God in the course of the world (which may or may not appear paranormal), and the other defines a miracle as anything which appears to act outside of or in contradiction to the known laws of the universe (emphasis on “outside” and “known”).

    The first inherently excludes Satan from the working of genuine miracles. The second groups the supernatural arena of God’s workings with deceitful paranormal phenomena (lying signs and wonders), and inherently excludes non-paranormal divine intervention.

    Either one may be a useful way of examining the question depending on the theological topic under discussion. Held as default positions from which to think, they may cause apparent disagreement where views are in fact harmonized with relative ease.

  8. Claire R says:

    Totally agree w/ the reasons for including evil in novels. Hadn’t really thought about it, but still…
    I love the “Lamb Among the Stars” trilogy by Chris Walley because his portrayal of evil insidiously creeping into a perfect society is so fantastically creepy. It made me think about how I deal with the influence of evil in my everyday life. That couldn’t have been done without putting evil in the novel.

  9. Hillary says:

    Excellent article! Thanks for linking.

  10. Tom says:

    This is a great thing for me to read. I’ve been working on a fantasy novel that I’ve actually felt God has called me to write, and I’ve really felt that the way I depict evil, raw and even creeping into the minds of certain protagonists, would make it unsalable to Christian publishers. I haven’t given up on it, since I believe God wants it shown for what it is and to those who read this genre.

  11. Jeremy McNabb says:

    I have to say this first: I don’t care what anyone says, Wesleyan Holiness types are the ones who believe we MUST face the evil within ourselves, and through our lifetime, allow the Holy Spirit to free us from the sin that enslaves.

    To the actual content of the article, I do think what you’re saying here is the theological equivalent of Orson Scott Card’s suggestion that we build the underlying principles of any science fiction we right, so that it’s consistent and believable. In the same way we must understand how we travel through space, we have to know beforehand how we’re dealing with sin.

  12. Marc Schooley says:

    Hey Jeremy,

    My mention of Wesleyan Holiness was not a criticism, nor do I think Wesleyans ignore evil. What was intended, conversely, was that in accordance with the Wesleyan doctrine of imparted righteousness, in stark contrast to imputed or infused righteousness, the sin nature is actually crucified in Christ. It’s dead and no longer present. Thus, a Wesleyan author could conceivably write a Christian character who does not face evil within her own being as exemplified by an ongoing, active, sinful nature warring against her regenerated self. For many Wesleyans, the question who will deliver me from this body of death is not simply a rhetorical device, nor is it one that describes a present reality within regenerated persons.

    • Marc,

      Thus, a Wesleyan author could conceivably write a Christian character who does not face evil within her own being as exemplified by an ongoing, active, sinful nature warring against her regenerated self.

      Alas, this example is not hypothetical.

What do you think?