1. H.G. Ferguson says:

    The admonition “abstain from the appearance of evil” has absolutely nothing to do with the presentation of evil in fiction. It has everything to do in its biblical context as a warning against paying heed to false prophecies. The Thessalonians are enjoined to not count as nothing prophetic utterances; to judge all things and hold fast what it is good, and to abstain from the appearance of evil, i.e., an evil unclean spirit manifesting itself in a false prophecy. This is the most natural way to take it in the Greek. Imprimatur. Nihil obstat.

  2. Galadriel says:

    I can’t enjoy stories without swear words and neither should you”
    —um, I think WITH swear words would be a more logical sentence, though I could see it both ways.
    Grammar aside, I think your point about feelings is a good one. The line between feelings and thoughts can be a blurry one, however.

    • I think WITH swear words would be a more logical sentence

      You would think. But equally as often I see the “without” sentences. E.g., “If you leave out the swear words then non-Christians will think you’re a legalist.”

  3. bainespal says:

    “Now hold on,” a critic may rightfully say. “If you’re judging that someone is legalistic based on appearance, because it appears to be evil judging, isn’t that more of the same sin? A sin on top of a sin on top of a sin?”

    That seems to be our condition. Human interaction is an endless cycle of sin on top of sin on top of sin, and we are not free from it. I think part of the problem with Christian legalism is that some Christians are desperate to believe that they have transcended the cycle of endless sin, but because they really haven’t, they stay away from activities and places that appear evil in order to hold on to the belief that their new birth is real.

    I can sympathize with this. It’s part of my story — trying to prove to myself that I’m really saved. I gave up on that struggle and decided to believe that, as a Christian, I am cursed and damned. The irony is that from a position of death and despair the offer of hope is clearest in the Bible. Hope is simply a different perspective on total despair, because when we totally despair of ourselves, God gives us hope. I am no longer comfortable thinking of people as “unsaved” and “saved” — only as the ignorant lost content to be lost, and the enlightened lost who hate their lostness and hold on to the promise of some day being found. That is how my understanding of Christianity has changed.

    • I think part of the problem with Christian legalism is that some Christians are desperate to believe that they have transcended the cycle of endless sin, but because they really haven’t, they stay away from activities and places that appear evil in order to hold on to the belief that their new birth is real.

      Agreed.

      For a while I’ve wondered: is the fight against sin really “against sin” as much as it is for Christ? In other words, if we focus proactively on Christ, will that in some ways “automatically” reduce our focus on sin, even to fight sin — a fight against sin that can so easily lead to even more sin? Again I recall the example (which I may have made up, or may have borrowed from somewhere) of breathing: If we try to remember to breathe, the task becomes tiresome and even frightening. Yet if we’re simply focused on our task at hand, the tasks of living, breath comes automatically. It’s not a duty or even a task in itself, only an unconscious condition.

      Surely this cycle of sin is what Paul was getting was getting after when he said, “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (Romans 7:14) Christ is the only proactive answer. And that is what keeps me so interested in stories, because for me, stories and imagination are a simpler way to “lose myself” and think more about Christ’s story and therefore also the Author. I’m convinced this is the chief goal of fiction freedom, which may be next week’s topic.

  4. Very good article Stephen.

  5. Kirsty says:

    Excellent article!

What do you think?