By Daisy Torres
Ah, Fantasy.
If you're a writer, you have likely either written or read at least one book under the fantasy genre. *cough* It was probably Narnia *cough*
They're usually amazing, right? They have action, magic, plot twists, romance, dragons, and all those wonderful things that inspire our imagination.
But how much is too much? Should a Christian writer even write Fantasy? When should we be worried that we’re going to lure teens into witchcraft?
-- That, Dear Writer, is why I wrote this article.
Keep in mind, my convictions are going to be different from yours, so this article may not answer your questions at all, but I really hope it does. It makes me sad when people are afraid to write something that they really want to write.
I have been in your shoes before. I know the struggle you’re battling. You want to write a Christian fantasy novel or just a clean fantasy novel. You have all these AMAZING ideas swirling inside your head, but one question is stopping you:
What is "the line" for magic in Christian fantasy?
Let’s delve into that.
Why is it important to draw a line?
We, as Christians, live in a world where we have to stay awake and alert to the enemy’s tools. There is a world of darkness out there and there is a world of light.
We are the light, and as children of the light, we should always strive to keep ourselves in line with what is Light.
This includes checking not only what is in our own Fantasy novels, but whatever we read and write. What you feed your mind on, your heart will speak -- and this is especially true in writing.
Satan uses things like magic to lure people into the darkness, but that doesn't mean that we can't use the concept of ‘magic’ for the reverse effect. Just like there is good music and bad music, good movies and bad movies, or good books and bad books, we can use fictional implements of magic, as long as we take care to avoid the real stuff.
There are real spells used by real witches.
This is part of why it is so important to take care of what we portray as good and evil, and what we write as being magic. We don't want to lead anyone astray, but the same rule can be applied to any theme or plot idea in general. Not just Fantasy. Heavy themes should be used with the same cautiousness.
The Root of Magic
Why is magic bad? Is writing fantasy a sin?
Sure, it’s from the devil. Sure, God says not to use it, but why is it really bad?
Ask yourself why Satan fell from Heaven in the first place. Satan is the ultimate evil being, so let’s go back and look at where he goofed.
When Satan (who was called Lucifer at the time) messed up, it was because of one thing: Greed. The devil was over all of Heaven’s worship, and yet he wanted more. He wanted to become like God, so that he could have the ultimate Power. What he had wasn’t enough.
God, in His greatness, gave mankind the power of free will. We have the choice to worship any time we wish. We have the choice to come and go as we please. We aren’t dictated by God.
Satan does the opposite. He seeks to devour. He wants to lure and trap those who seek power, just like he did. He dictates and torments those who choose to follow him.
God’s ultimate plan is for us to have free will and to choose Him anyway, in spite of it. So shouldn’t it be wrong if we seek to control the lives of others? That’s what people who actively seek magic out do. Magic is a tool used by the devil to control and manipulate people, and those who want that power are following in Satan’s footsteps. Even the people that claim they only use it for ‘good’.
When the Bible tells us not to desire these things, it’s for a reason. Turning to Magic as our source of power instead of turning to God means that we are rejecting God’s ultimate Payment for our sins. We are rejecting His plan, His son, and His ways.
It then becomes Idolatry.
The quest for magic starts with greed. In fact, I think most wrong things start out because of greed. It’s what caused the fall of Lucifer, and even Mankind.
Satan was a creation of Light at one time. He had extraordinary powers given to him by God, but he wanted more than that, and in the end, all of the world had to pay.
However, Satan isn’t the only one who has powers. God also has power, and His is more fantastic than anything Satan has to offer.
When we become greedy, or impatient, and stray from the path God has set before us, we are closing ourselves off from the power that God freely offers and we begin seeking a path that seems right to our flesh, but in reality, is a lie.
All sin should be handled with wisdom when writing about it--not just magic. Perhaps your character is not a wizard, but a thief. Even then, we must still keep our balances in check. That which is wrong is wrong, and that which is right is right.
Positive magic vs negative magic
Just being creative and coming up with things to fill a plot hole is fine. There’s nothing wrong with that.
But when you take evil things and give them the appearance of being good, you are twisting what is wrong to make it seem right.
The Bible warns against that in Isaiah 5:20,
"Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who turn darkness to light and light to darkness..."
~ Isaiah 5:20
We should never show evil as good, or good as evil. The world does enough of that without us trying to do it too. We can have a morally gray character and still show that what they’re doing is wrong.
Witches, wizards, necromancers, etc. are bad things (Leviticus 19:31) and should always be shown as such.
We wouldn’t say a murderer is a good person. Maybe the murderer takes a journey from being evil to being a born again Christian, but while the murderer is in sin, he/she shouldn’t be shown as good. This same logic is what we apply with witches, or anything else. These things can be shown, but they must be shown as bad until they change.
But enough about people. What about powers?
Well, here on Earth, there are two things concerning the supernatural. There are God’s Miracles, and there is Satan’s magic.
When someone does something supernatural, it is either because God is giving them the ability, or Satan is.
We know that God sends prophets (who are also called the Two Witnesses) in the last days with the ability to burn people with fire from their mouths. This is a prime example of God giving someone supernatural abilities to accomplish something.
If God can take prophets, bring them back from the dead, and give them supernatural, fire-breathing powers, doesn’t that mean we can write the same things?
The problem comes when the devil is responsible for the powers gifted to our character. The origin of your character’s powers can be as vague or as detailed as you’d like it to be, but if you decide to show it, keep your Line in check. Remember, is what they’re doing good, or evil?
Having a magic doorway in the bottom of your cellar that takes you to a magical land where you fight a dragon and save a princess is fine. You are using that to tell a story that could not be told otherwise, and you’re not intending to take what is evil and call it good. It’s simply something you came up with to fill the gap of how your protagonist stumbled into an alternate universe.
In contrast, 1 Samuel 28 talks about a woman that used demons to “show” people the spirits of those who were dead. The Bible talks adamantly about avoiding wizards, necromancy, and witchcraft, which means that these things are not okay to show positively in our books.
That being said, let’s look at the positives of what we can do with Fantasy.
Positives of Using ‘Magic’ in Fantasy
I have a friend who wanted to write. I was so happy to finally have a friend who wanted to write with me, but she was so afraid of writing her story because it had a magical cave that transported people to other places. She never finished it because of that fear.
She could have been a great writer for the Kingdom of God. She wanted to write for God--but she was so afraid of that line and what others would think, that she couldn’t finish it.
Yes, Fantasy can be used for evil. But we can also use it to draw people to Christ through themes that we have, just like C. S. Lewis did in Narnia.
Putting magic in your book isn’t always bad, sometimes it can be really good! It can carry the reader’s imagination into the truth we’re trying to show them, whether it is the Gospel or a message you’ve placed in your writing.
While we should be cautious about what to show positively and negatively, don't let it completely limit your imagination either. I can’t tell you how many stories I threw away as a new writer simply because I thought they were "evil" for having a character with fire powers, or a race of elves.
(I now really wish I had a time machine to stop myself from trashing a few things 🙃)
Magic can be a positive tool to hook your readers and draw them into your world, where you can show them whatever message God has placed on your heart. Just like themes, or characters, or anything else you write, it can be bad or good. It’s up to you and God to decide if you’re using it correctly.
I hope this has helped you! Keep writing for God and never give up. He’s taking our words somewhere, we just have to be patient on our journey.
What is another fear about Christian Fantasy that you’ve had? Do you have any input on what I’ve said? I’d love to hear it!
Daisy Torres
Daisy Torres used to be afraid to write Fantasy. She wrote boring things instead, which was why she used to hate writing. However, ever since she became infatuated with writing down her daydreams, she decided she needed to dig deeper and find out what was safe and what wasn’t. Now she loves writing Fantasy. You can find more of her on her blog at https://daisytorres15.wixsite.com/writingdaisies/my-blog And if you’re curious about her most recent novel, that can be found here: https://www.amazon.com/kindle-vella/story/B097NSN7PY
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This has really been on my mind lately.. I’ve actually written a bit about it myself in an article on my blog. Thanks for talking about this, Daisy.
Haha same here, girl! I realise my point may not be what God has for every person, but in my own convictions, this is what I feel is right for me. Thank you for reading this!!
Great article! I have a ‘magic’ system in the stories me and my brother come up with, but it is only for chosen characters who were given the power by the deity of our fantasy world, and it doesn’t work using spells or that kind of thing. Anything beyond these powers is considered sorcery and is condemned as evil. There are also characters who seem to have magic, but it’s actually clever usage of science and technology.
For a few of the things they can do, there are characters with fire and ice powers, there is one who can turn himself into an animal (his favorite form is a huge eagle), and there is one who can talk to animals—and when she plays her flute, she is able to see the people she cares about if they’re far away from her.
@keilah-h Aww that’s really cool that y’all come up with stories together! I totally agree with not using spells. That to me is just no XD Ooo the flute idea sounds really cool!! Good luck with y’all’s story!
Thanks! Yeah, a lot of thought went into Feather’s character and her Hunterclone Flute.
And my brother’s villain group, the Icebreakers, seem to have “magic”–like their leader Kelvin’s ice powers–but I think it’s mostly it’s actually a clever use of science.
Ohh that’s really cool! I love when people can pull stuff like that off!
this is really good, and so true! Thank you for writing it!
This is where the LoTR and Harry Potter differ; Harry Potter is wizards abd witches and gained magic and a lot of very odd things that are very dark and have no redeeming value.
In the LoTR, there is ‘magic’ but it’s called that by the ignorant people like Hobbits, or even the Gondorians and Rohirrim. Bad magic is there as well, no doubt about it, but it is defined as such and treated as dangerous and evil.
I have heard people say there is no difference with Harry Potter and LoTR
I disagree, and they bring up Gandalf.
He is not what we’d normally think of as a wizard/witch/sorceror; Gandalf is known as a wizard, but in reality, we could say he is like an angel; extremely powerful and dangerous, he is given a mortal form that limits him, but he is a servant of the Creator, as was Saruman before his fall to evil.
To be fair, most of those people who I’ve talk to who think that, have only seen the movies or read LoTR and the Hobbit and have never read the histories and such behind these things, so they have no idea
that was long haha, sorry and hopefully it made sense
Yeah, that’s exactly what I think too! I like the LOTR series but I wouldn’t read a Harry Potter book if you paid me a thousand bucks to do it.
Yeah I have no interest in Harry Potter, but I have friends who have no problem with watching and reading it. I don’t agree with it but I try to be respectful of them.
In a way its not much different to watching Avatar the Last Airbender. Its full of ‘magic’. Karma and chakra are not in any way Godly or good. Its false religion and some people would say its it is evil and even demonic.
My personal convictions on this is the reason that although I liked ATLAs characters and storyline, I probably won’t watch it again. The chacra and karma is something I cannot ignore.
So its sometimes a matter of perspective.
I’ve seen, like, one episode of that, and that’s only because it was on at my grandparents’ house (and I switched it to a show I liked better afterward), and as far as I can tell it didn’t have much of the religion stuff, although I wasn’t paying attention enough to point it out. Thanks for the warning though! And yes, some of my friends like Harry Potter, but they don’t mention it a lot around me and I respect their decisions, I just don’t read it myself.
@elfwing Thank you so much!! I definitely agree with you there.
Personally, I’m still not exactly sure how I feel about LoTR. I see your point about Gandalf and the similarities to an Angel, and I agree, but I also think the same think could be shown with Harry Potter, since it also has a ‘good wizard’ and a ‘bad sorcerer’. (I’ve never read the books of HP or anything, so this is all just assumptions haha)
I’m not ready to call it ‘evil’. but I don’t know that I’m ready to call it ‘good’ either lol. I’m still figuring stuff out, myself XD
I definitely agree about Avatar though. It’s sad when there’s something you really want to watch something, but it has something you just can’t ignore like that.
Thank you for reading!! I really enjoyed your comment! And it wasn’t too long at all! I actually like reading long comments a lot of times XD
Great thoughts here!
One way that I often look at stories is with a “what if” question. So Narnia could be described as “what if 4 English school children wandered through a portal into a magical land?” The answer to a what if question is often the story’s premise.
When it comes to magic I often apply the same system. So “What if this set of magical gifts existed in a fantasy realm?” forms the backbone of one of my stories. As Christians, a lot of discernment is necessary when deciding where the line is when it comes to magic systems, and I’m especially leery of magic systems that reflect real world magic. Too often, though, I think that Christians miss the mark and fail to realize that magic can simply be a story element as part of another world. They look at magic and decide that since it’s evil in our world, it must be evil in all stories as well.
Looking at stories through a “what if” lens can be helpful because it allows the possibility that things are simply different in this fantastical world, without having to in any way mirror the real world. The entire premise of a “what if” question is that things are different, and the story flows from those differences. When a story stems from a “what if” question about magic, the story rests on the idea that this isn’t like earth. From that perspective, it’s a lot easier to allow fantasy as an element in stories, without having to be evil. (Magic does of course need to come with a cost, but that’s a different topic entirely :P).
Ooh! I like your point.
Haha, ngl, in my opinion, I do agree with “magic is evil in all stories”. But I do see your point here, so I might need to think about this one. Thanks for commenting about this.
Agreed! I like the ‘what if’ question. I’ll have to apply that to my own stories!
Magic, in real life, is bad. But Fantasy is not real life, so in my opinion, it makes sense to use ‘fantasy elements’ (like Magic, but I don’t really like the word ‘magic’ for stuff like that when it’s not bad) to develop and carry across a point or idea.
I enjoyed your comment! Thank you for reading.
*applause sounds* THANK YOU, DAISY. THIS POST IS GOLD. I highly agree with you and I am SO GLAD that you have opened this topic for discussion! I feel like so many Christians and writers shy away from this subject, so thank you, thank you, thank you for bringing it up!
Girll, thank YOU!! That makes me so happy to hear that you enjoyed it!!! A lot of prayer and google searches went into this post, so thank you XD
This is so very true and very close to the way I look at fantasy (I write historical fantasies).
Yesss I love historical fantasy! Thank you for reading!!
This article is wonderful! So wonderful I had to add my own input… anyway, I agree wholeheartedly.
There is no magic in my books, and to be completely honest I never thought to add any. I grew up with Narnia, and was never disturded by the magic. I think I was always too interested in following Lucy and Aslan, and perhaps… just perhaps, that’s how it ought to be.
My favorite uses of “magic” (and I also don’t like using that word) is that found in Narnia and the Wingfeather Saga. I love that in Wingfeather, it’s used to describe the Maker’s power, not because that’s what it is, but because there are no words that can describe it. It’s not magic, though, none of His is.
And that’s why I never thought to use it.
That’s why I won’t; I want to find a better word.
I have a friend who is using it, and her books are beautiful.
I like the idea of using the “what if” view for planning books. I’ve used it in my daydreams, mostly like “what if this character from such and such book met these from this other book”, but I haven’t used it for my acual stories.
Maybe sometimes when we portray the impossible, we realize Luke 1:37 all the more. “For with God nothing shall be impossible.”
Yeah! Narnia and The Wingfeather Saga are both great books!
I was actually just having a discussion about this topic in another Christian writing forum. It’s a really interesting and important conversation for writers to have, and I think your points are spot-on.
In your opinion in a fantasy world where magical and supernatural powers are considered normal enough to be present on the planet itself (in that world instead of humans there are horses and all of them are endowed with a weak telekinesis, it is a common feature of them breed. In reality, however, it is only a pretext to allow them to perform human actions such as taking an object, driving a rudder or building a castle. Among these, however, there is also a minority of certain families who are also born with magic (more like a superpower than real magic) which is considered a genetic ereditary thing and a gift from their God (who is like ours), however this magic is under free will and could do good and bad depending on how it is used (this magic is always a one elemental powers such as creating and generating fire, smoke, ice etc. And there is nothing occult or imitable in reality. It is pure fiction). This is why I could not represent all wizards as evil. The protagonist (and not only) he is a wizard but he is good and empathetic with the fantastic animals that live in his world of him (common animals in their world which everyone considers only dangerous and undesirable monsters to kill), a bit like St.Francis. But he is also half the son of a Pooka, a type of fairy of the fairy folk, and for that he has a second magic (he can generate and control fire and plants). These creatures in the comic are not demons, finding them too gray to be, but still I don’t represent them as totally positive creatures but as chaotic and unpredictable beings that you should never fully trust due to their moody and capricious disposition. We could consider them something between angels and demons (that also exist in this fantasy world) and therefore capable of doing true good as well as true evil. I know that if these beings were real, and they aren’t (fairies don’t exist while angels and demons exist), they would always be demons in other forms but in my world it wouldn’t work because no demon would do any good things without other shady reasons behind it. But the “hybrids” like the protagonist remain mortal with soul and free will. The protagonist is not a pooka or a half pooka but a horse like all the others endowed with some more magic skills due to his birth (the fire magic, knows how to make himself understood by fantastic creatures, read the fairy language and to find and open the portals that lead to the fairy kingdom). This character will have as a companion a cold and bloodthirsty assassin who is trying to change, an angry and greedy pirate captain and a liar and opportunistic robot. These three are clearly bad characters, or at least they do or have done bad things, they are in fact among the worst scum in their society. And this is very clear. For reasons the protagonist, who is a scholar of fantastic animals and wants to write the first bestiary of his world, finds himself having to team up with them and become a pirate. But being the goodest of the group, he will be able to give a good example to his vile compaion, slowly bringing them to improve and do a more “moral” piracy. This is not to say that stealing is okay, but that they will act a bit like Robin Hood on their journey of redemption. At the end of the story these characters will no longer be pirates and we could consider them born again (the soulless robot is a bit out of this discourse but will also become very good). The story clearly seems good to me but its dubious elements (including having written “life force” in an extra about magic but simply wanting to mean the “life” of the horse and nothing else) scare me a lot and it is one of several reasons so he blocked me. There are things like fantasy magic (so no occult stuff), wizards and pirates/thieves that I really like in fiction but don’t like in reality. I think I know how to discern well but I fear that the mere fact that I like them will not be able to do it well and it could be wrong. I don’t want to do a comic against God and try to damn the souls of others because of my messages. Yes, that’s right, there are MUCH worse messages and the majority of people will see any problems in this story, but I still have a moral duty to think about it. And it hurts because this story is a part of me even if it interests few or no one. Perhaps even the simple fact that it is going so badly should be a sign that I am not working for Satan. Because when that’s the case those things often get a big hit, I don’t always say that’s the way it is or that there’s no real talent behind it, but the Devil gives the push to grab attention and gain the success. Can you help me?
(Sorry for English is not my native language)
Hi! My brother and I actually had a conversation similar to this not that long ago. Is telekinesis in fiction bad? Is it okay to have a character that controls things?
I think all people in the end will have their own ideas and stances on what they feel God is leading them to write and think, so in the end, these are only my thoughts haha, but I’ll offer them and maybe they’ll help.
To be honest, I love pirate stories. I don’t think being a pirate is good, but the story a pirate could tell is fascinating to me. The same applies with magic. If you’re going to show “Magic”, as the world calls the supernatural, then it should be shown in a bad light. But people often forget (especially since the word Magic is what everyone is accustomed to) that there is more to the Supernatural world than magic! Magic is from Satan, but God has powers too, and those are Miracles. One verse in the Bible describes it as “virtue” when Jesus heals a woman. So while Magic is bad, you can (in my opinion) create your own Supernatural system in your world that does not use the word “Magic.” Treat it like it’s a bad word and instead use a good word to replace it.
I hope this helps!! But remember, these are only my own thoughts and ideas haha. God may give you a different idea of the subject than I have.
I think that fantasy is okay, depending on the material in the book. In Narnia, C.S Lewis pictures the white witch’s’ magic as being evil and wrong, while Aslan is trying to rid the whole place of it. Now, if it showed a good guy having magic, that is another matter and that is wrong, because the Bible says that it is in Galatians 5:20 and other places. So fantasy is okay (in my eyes) if it is showing evil how it should.
So, would you think that Tolkien’s character “Gandalf” was an example of an evil written as a good character?
I am writing a story about a world where everyone is born with powers, but there is a group of people called Pythonos and their only power is Dark Magic. Their only intent is for true evil. They cast spells, perform magic, and worship their evil “god”. Dark magic in that world is feared, as are the Pythonos, and Dark Magic is never encouraged by any means.
So is it ok to have this kind of story line? Like is it ok to have the other characters have powers as long as they don’t use “magic” and I don’t show it as something good and desirable?
Christians overthink fantasy waaaaaaaaay too much and because of that, it’s fallen outside our realm of writing. Which is a shame. Authors like George MacDonald and C. S. Lewis wrote brilliant fantasy and were solid believers. I don’t know when fantasy became a taboo for Christian writers, but I’m thankful for Enclave Publishing that at least provides some sort of opportunity for people who don’t spent their lives afraid of wizards and fairies. My advice to Christian fantasy writers is to stop overthinking it. Just write, knowing that your personal faith is going to provide a foundation for the story you’re telling.