I find myself wondering why men tend to put limits on God. We have rules and standards we live by as Christian. There is a reason for that. We are fallen with sin and we need Christ as our redeemer. We have the Word and it reveals the nature of our Creator. We have the Spirit which allows us to speak to God through Christ if we ask it too. We have angels, which are the warriors strengthened by our prayers so they may combat evil that wishes to harm us. We have Christ that loves us so much that He defeated death to save us. But even with all the knowledge we have of our Creator, do we know all of what He is? No. Why? We are unable to comprehend All of God. He is too big. He is too complex. Yet, He comes to us on a personal level.
The reason I bring this up today is I have witnessed a lot of people trying to cram what God is into a neat box and tie it with a crisp, starched bow. I find that rather arrogant and maybe a little dangerous. I’m guilty of this offense as much as the next guy, BTW. Don’t want anyone thinking I am picking on them. I just like writing it out to better understand.
There is a topic in my novel that I knew would cause some people to raise their brows and point their fingers. It wasn’t my intent when I wrote the story and when my publisher brought it up, I prayed about it. I decided I would not change it and I would live with the consequences of my choice. If you have read I Am Ocilla, then you might know what I am speaking of. If you haven’t…go buy the book and see for yourself. I will give no spoilers here.
The thing about writing Christian fantasy is there will always be a few people that get their undies in a bunch and scream foul. Fairies, Elves and Dwarves were not in scripture so they must be a product of evil, right? I’d like to tell them that my book is not represented as Scripture…it is a Fairytale…a work of fiction…not real.
That thing you do with time is not true to how the world works. You must be trying to lure Christians away from the Bible.
No, bright one. I am trying to tell a story that entertains while glorifying God at that same time by speaking basic truths. If a non-believer picks it up, it may touch a part of his soul and cause him to want to seek out God. He’ll do that through the Word, not my work of fiction. If a believer picks it up, they should have common sense enough to know it is a work of make believe. Stop judging me and putting me in your box, thank you very much. God sees somewhere inside of us all that tells Him what our intentions are. Remember that before you go throwing accusations like stones.
Like I mentioned in my post Stupid is as Stupid Does, don’t judge a book by its cover.
Just because God hasn’t done something, does that mean He is unable to if He so desires?
I am of the belief that if God wanted to do something, He could. I refuse to box Him into the parameters of what my tiny mind is capable of accepting. I believe His Word is the Law of my heart because I choose so, and I take it at face value, but know God is so much more than I will ever understand.
Peace, love and God’s will.
Hmmmm. I have a feeling I know what that “eyebrow raiser” might be, as I have just read that section of Ocilla recently. Why there is an insistence that everything written in fiction must exactly mirror real-world truth is a great mystery to me. The bible has already been written–perfectly written, in fact. For me to try to re-render it strikes me as fallacious arrogance.
I can certainly point to God’s nature, and I think He appreciates that. After all, like you said, He is far too complex for us to grasp, let along explain in the confines of a story. It seems to me, we speculative fiction writers have to learn to let a lot of the “this isn’t how God works” stuff roll off our backs. It’s between us and Him in the end, and we are the ones who have to be confident of what He will say to us regarding our writing on the day we face Him.
*nodding*
It is frustrating but I know what my heart meant and so does God. Thank you for stopping by, my Swan. It is always a pleasure having you around.
The problem many people have/had with “The Shack” is that the writer pulled God out of that Godbox. How dare the author portray God as a black woman? If you read the book, you’d know that the reason that God showed Himself to the MC in that form was because the MC had major daddy issues. In the end of the book, when the MC had worked through his issues, God shows himself as a man. The same argument about fiction/non-fiction came into play.
Good post! -Pauline
Thank you, Pauline. I agree. You know this already because we discussed it. Thank you for your friendship and your support. It really means a lot to me.
My Dearest Youngest Daughter,
May God be with them and take the blinders from their eyes. We all know there is no Easter bunny but we still enjoy reading about Peter cottontail, we read about Veggie
Tales. but we don’t truly believe that a carrot can pray to God. Some people are just scared that’s all. Pray for them and feel good in the fact that you know the truth.