Something to ponder...?
First of all, like the responses on previous posts, makes me want to post more.
Secondly, here is a thought...what makes a Christian Fiction book Christian. What makes it sellable in a Christian Bookstore, Rather than a Stephen King book.
This would never be a thought in my head except for this 'no TV rule' on teh missions team. I have resorted to reading. AHHHHHHHHH. Have not gotten into a fiction book in at least 8 years. And i ddi not miss them, lol.
Now I stareted reading Skin, by Ted Decker, A Christian Author. It is very good. I am about to finish it in record time. It is captivating. But it is just as gorey as some secular suspense books, that would probably be judged if they were sitting on my desk at church. Things like a guy getting his finger cut off, and having to chew on it, etc. If this were made into a movie, it would be one that would be disturbing to watch. One that would fall under the list of 'A Christian should not put this into their mind', or is that a true statement? I have seen my share of bad horrow movies, adn one in the past few years. I was channel surfing (first mistake0 and ran across one that looked so messed up, as far as the situation the peopel were in, that I wanted to see if there was any way for it to resolve. Most north american movies do, and I did not believe it possible with this one. I watched, and now pray for images to leave my mind.
So, what makes a Christian Thriller christian? Metaphorical references to biblical stuff? No explicit sexuality? An ending that glorifies God? (I don't know the endign to this book so i do not know that yet.)
Please, offer your thoughts. I am not being judgemental about these books. I just really thought about thsi after reading until midnight a couple nights ago, and having similar feelings in teh house, by myself, that the disturbing movies would give. Can i handle it, sure, i slept fine. It jsut left me wondering.
Stupid no TV rule, this reading thing never should have happened, lol
Mike
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7 comments:
p.s., I know this post is uneditted, and would love to hire an editor one day. It is not as big a deal to me, sinc eI wnat to post but have very little time sometimes, I just type and post. Sorry for readability, or lack there of.
Comments are great, aren't they! :)
I know second hand what you mean about the whole "Christian book" thing. I've read a few that were "wholesome" or had an undoubted Godly point to express throughout, but my wife has told me about a few as she read them that seemed to have no reference to God, Jesus or Christianity until the last page or so. A few less pages and they would turn from a Christian novel into a collection of wrongdoing, immorality and waywardness and certainly would never have made it into the church's library.
I enjoy reading, I prefer historical fiction or non-fiction or biographies. I would answer your question by saying that what makes a book Christian is the person reading and what they take away from it and how they read it. Reading (or listening to music or watching tv or movies, or viewing art) doesn't have to be a passive experience during which one allows their mind to be filled. Instead, it can be an experience to engage your intellect. Wow, I need to make my own post on this topic... please visit my blog I'll have a post on this sometime today.
isoscelesstorm.blogspot.com
i agree that the content is often very similar between "christian" and "non-christian" fiction. Other than the use of those terms to refer to inanimate objects (no book is gonna get to heaven through belief in Jesus...) i think one of the differences is in the intent of the author. What's the purpose of the book? Most of Dekker's stuff is to get people to think about and engage with Christianity's principles or tenets on some level, which distinguishes it from the Stephen King book.
Now, that intent does not always come through clearly for all authors, and i think some just do a butcher job of it - think of those blatantly "evangelising" tripe books we may have read from time to time, where the "holier than thou" main character tells everyone about Jesus every chance they get. I avoided "christian fiction" for years because of this approach to the writing.
I have come to love and appreciate dekker's books & writing, because he engages the reader in very gripping ways, meets them where they're at, and is LOW on the cheese factor when he does introduce the Christianity aspect into the books.
I tend to agree with everyone a little bit. I do enjoy Dekker's books, but have sometimes wondered why they are in the church's library. One in particular was called House and it took until almost the end until I saw some allusion to Christianity and Christian morals in it. Then there was Monster by Frank Peretti about big foot....wasn't quite sure what to make of that. I am a pretty avid reader, but I would rather stick to books from the church library because you are pretty sure not to run across explicit sex, bad language or too much gore (though there is definitely some in Dekker's books).
Mike you should check out Black, Red and White by Ted Dekker. They are really good and definitely have some Christian parallels in them.
First, this is NOT a reaction to any of your comments... i have been thinking about this a lot since mike posted this blog, and just wanted to get some thoughts out there...
If you think of a non-christian reading any "christian fiction" books, i'd say dekker has a great little niche going in writing books that aren't blatantly "christian" in their focus or theme, but still get the point across and get people to think about Christian values/beliefs. Most of these other books i suspect would turn off a non-chr reader pretty quick with their blatant evangelistic slant and cheese factor.
I also realized today that i feel the same way about a lot of "christian" music - sometimes i think a lot of it is written to make us feel good about what we're listening to, not necessarily to engage and draw us deeper or challenge us, or pique the interest of non-christians. (i know a lot of it has to do with intended audience too - some of these artists/authors are not intending to try to target/reach the non-christian realm per say)But sometimes (often?)i am challenged in my faith more by listening to U2's lyrics than something like casting crowns or MWS, etc.
Not to say there's no value in that music, but i wonder sometimes if "christian" music, books, etc. serve to make ourselves feel good that we are not 'polluting' ourselves with 'worldly things' - thus reinforcing the christian bubble and exclusivity and huddling off in the corner protecting ourselves from the bad bad world.
In response to Lyn's last comment I would like to add that I agree about a number of Christian songs that can be very warm & fuzzy, but my preferences lean towards heavier stuff and my favorite band, Pillar has some excellent challenging songs like Just to Get By and All Day Everyday. Not what you'll hear on Free 100.3.
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