Maybe this year I’ll find some really great, current, Christian fantasy to review.
I have to be careful about going into the theology shop, because I’m not a theologian, I might break something.
But a demon-hunting hit squad? If that seems a familiar motif, it’s from a book called Pax Demonica about “a demon-hunting soccer mom.” I know, I know–but really, it wasn’t as bad as it sounds. But the theology was way, way off.
Is it really necessary to warn anyone that learning Christian doctrine from paperback novels is probably not a good idea?
I find the problem with most “Christian” fantasies is their gnostic foundation. I saw the same thing in the Indiana Jones films; that is, whether it was the Ark of the Covenant or the Chalice of Christ, it was its POSSESSION that mattered. One got power from it by possession alone! It was not a matter of whether one was good or bad but whether one had physical possession of the “talisman.” Of course, that is nonsense! The symbols of God whether physical (the Cross) or spiritual are GOD’S and cannot be used counter to His will.
Many of these fantasies treat good and bad as two equal forces competing. In a way, Tolkien did this in his great myth, but not altogether. We remember when Sam and Frodo in the midst of the horrors or Mordor see the Evening Star and realize that there is a good and a beauty above and beyond their present situation whatever its result.
Of course, it is very, VERY difficult to write an interesting narrative when one side is all powerful and the other side is able only to produce suffering in the short term. I am reminded of Constance Cumby writing about the New Age Movement (very gnostic!) who said, “I looked at the back of the book and we win!” Of course we do, but that is like knowing the murderer in the first chapter of the mystery story!
It would be presumptuous of me to add anything to this: very well said.
Everything old is new again. As Valerie points out, Gnosticism is endlessly recycled and presented anew as an enlightened view of Christianity. It would seem that there are a lot of people whom seek to declare their writings Christian, then make a beeline away from biblical Christianity.
Moses made the same error when he said, “Must *we* [not God!] fetch you water out of the rock?”
… and they will have the same results. Moses paid a dear price for that error.
Goodreads puts out their top 100 Christian fiction books each year – there are plenty of them. How many are worth reading?