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- Rank: Eccentric Mentor
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Come one, come all, and welcome to the very first topic in the Biblical fiction forum!
To celebrate the fact that this amazing forum was just added (thank you so much, @kathleenramm), I thought it would be fun for you Biblical fiction writers to share how you make your Bible characters real, raw, and relatable! And if you’re not a Biblical fiction writer, I’d love it if you commented and told me what you think Biblical fiction writers can do to make these seemingly otherworldly figures more relatable to us.
This is one of the things I struggle with most as a Biblical fiction writer, and I’m sure I’m not the only one. Our job of making Bible figures relatable is tough. Why? Because oftentimes, these saints commissioned by God feel distant to us. As if they were perfect. As if they never erred. As if they were the ultimate people and we can never reach their level. And after all, they DID live thousands of years ago, right?
I strongly believe that one of the most important duties of a Biblical fiction writer is to help readers understand that these figures were no less human than we are today. They were people just like us, and they were far from perfect. (David and Bathsheba, anyone? Yet David was a man after God’s own heart.)
I’m definitely still learning as a writer, but here’s my experience:
Flaws. Yup, you heard me right – flaws.
Please don’t shy away from giving your Bible character flaws! (Just as long as they are scripturally supported flaws, of course… I’ll have to make that another topic sometime.)
In The Apostle’s Sister series, Paul’s biggest flaw – which at points in the story proves extremely destructive and even fatal – is his frantic desire to validate or redeem himself from his past as persecutor of the church. He strongly believes a lie that some things are just too repulsive to be forgiven by God, and a result he’s driven to desperate measures to somehow earn forgiveness. It even affects his ministry – because you really can’t help others believe in their salvation and the mercy of God if you don’t believe in it yourself.
Equally destructive is how his flaw affects his relationship with his sister Temira (the protagonist of the series). He ends up hurting and alienating those he loves most, especially Temira. Because of his guilt, he is ashamed of his love for and closeness to her, and he withdraws from her, usually in the form of treating her with seeming heartlessness and callousness. Because Temira doesn’t fully understand his trauma, she is led to believe that his harshness stems from a lack of love and care. In short, Paul has some major issues in that he is unable to make true connections with others because he feels guilty over being close to them.
Another flaw of Paul’s is his tendency to jump quickly to exasperation and anger, a trait left over from his persecuting days. Still another is his desire to take control of every situation, which can come across as disregard for others. (His nephew Seth actually calls him out on this, one of the many reasons I love their relationship dynamic!)
Please do share your thoughts on Bible character flaws and relatable traits! Anyone is welcome to join in on the discussion – again, you don’t have to write Biblical fiction yourself to tell us your opinion.
@lydia-s @elanor @libby @elishavet-pidyon @koshka @keilah-h @elfwing @godlyfantasy12 @gracie-j @jenwriter17 @issawriter7 @trahia-the-minstrel @maryg3 @kayleigh-idea @lucy @madelyn @anatra23 @scoutfinch180 @mkfairygirl @precious-y @beth-darlene @abigail-m @seekjustice @nova21 @hallie-jean @daisy-torres @jodi-maile @devastate-lasting @e-k-seaver @r-m-archer @ribbonash @calidris @scripter-of-kingdoms @writerlexi1216 @lewilliams @anyone @everyoneOk, hi! This is so exciting! Anyway to make them relatable…
Have you ever noticed how personal the last verses in the Epistles are? They speak of Tituses and Demases like, wonder of wonders, they were real people. 😉 For example, II Timothy 4:13, Paul asked Timothy to bring him a cloak he left at Troas and some books and parchments. These New Testament characters came alive to me while reading the Epistles.
Maybe if we incorporate the tangible, like forgetting something, take Pauls cloak for instance, or perhaps even misspelling a word (things we’ve all done), we will make a subconscious connection with these Biblical characters.
You have listened to fears, child. Come, let me breathe on you... Are you brave again? -Aslan
Thank you for tagging me. I haven’t read much biblical fiction, but I’ll be happy to share what I’ve noticed.
They were people, they had emotions, and the Bible records many of these. Most these are referenced in their actions. The entire book of Jonah (It’s better for me to die!). Ezekiel’s wife dies and he isn’t allowed to grieve, although he clearly loved her very much.
First Grand Historian of Arreth and the Lesser Realms (aka Kitty)
Fork the Gork@joy-caroline
Have you seen The Chosen? It’s quite good biblical fiction and does what you were saying with making the characters believable and have flaws and all that. It’s a great series about Christ’s disciples and the struggles they might have faced following him during the years of his ministry. It’s really cool, and they have two whole seasons already!
I’d be interested to know if anyone else here likes The Chosen, either? @elishavet-pidyon @koshka @keilah-h @kathleenramm @scripter-of-kingdoms @jodi-maile @anyoneivemissed ?
The end of a story, a beautiful picture; a feeling of longing yet hope~
That’s my wish to create.I haven’t seen it, but I’ve heard of it from a very trusted source that is was fantabulous.
You have listened to fears, child. Come, let me breathe on you... Are you brave again? -Aslan
I have never seen it, and (is this bad?) I honestly don’t want to. I have heard it is amazing, again from a trusted source. I just don’t watch much of anything (a bit too much of a book person with a vivid imagination and accidental history snob/nerd).
First Grand Historian of Arreth and the Lesser Realms (aka Kitty)
Fork the GorkIt is amazing! I think the best thing for me is being able to like nerd about Bible characters, especially Jesus! And the relationships between the disciples, especially brother-brother relationships like Simon and Andrew, James and John, are really great!
I get where you’re coming from. The Chosen does try to be historically accurate and never do anything that wouldn’t be plausible, though. But fair enough — I’m currently tossing whether or not to watch the movies of a book series I enjoyed, because I’m certain it’s going to destroy my mental image of the characters and locations. So yeah, I can totally identify with your opinion.
The end of a story, a beautiful picture; a feeling of longing yet hope~
That’s my wish to create.- Rank: Eccentric Mentor
- Total Posts: 1379
Oh yes, I LOVE the personal tone of the epistles! (Not to mention that I love the epistles so much in general.) I wholeheartedly agree with you.
That’s a great suggestion! I can totally relate to forgetting something. XD
Jonah is definitely up there in relatable Bible characters. And oh, my heart ached for Ezekiel. I’m actually reading the book of Ezekiel right now for Bible class, and wow… it’s a hard-hitting and beautiful book.
My Bible teacher showed us a clip of The Chosen. I’m not sure about some parts of it, but the show overall seems very good!
@joy-caroline
Hi, JC! I adore this topic and everything you said in the description! You described writing and giving flaws to Biblical characters extremely well. It’s so true what you said that people from the Bible often feel distant and in a different universe than we are in. Which is true to an extent since they lived so long ago and dealt with problems of that day. But at the same time, they were human with the same fears and flaws that we have.
I loved hearing more about The Apostle’s Sister and where you went into detail about Paul and his persona. Who he was, why he was that way, and his problems that are in our day and age as well. I am a TAS fan for sure:) Which is something I normally wouldn’t say since I’m not always been the biggest Biblical fiction fan ever. I think the reason for that is because the characters seem so otherworldly and perfect and none relatable. But TAS in contrast to a lot of stuff out there, is a wonderful story that I genuinely can’t wait to read someday.
I think it’s important to always focus on character, making them accurate, but making sure to not leave out their flaws and the things that actually made them humans. The doubts and smaller actions and curiosities.
And though I don’t write Biblical fiction, I know that it’s a backbreaking and glorious undertaking and when written well, it can be magnificent.
So, that’s just kind of where I stand on this awesome topic:) Hi again, btw:) It feels like I’ve been gone from KP for some time now.
@trahia-the-minstrel My family loves The Chosen! It’s such a great series. Having the characters act the way real people do rather than portraying them as distant and far-off makes them interesting. I want to see if the show will extend to the book of Acts! I’d love to see how they do that!
Where'd I get ya this time? The liver? The kidney? I'm runnin' outta places to put holes in ya.
@joy-caroline That’s interesting how you thought of that! I can’t think of anything right now, sorry…But if I come across an idea while writing my own stories, I definitely will tell you!
Where'd I get ya this time? The liver? The kidney? I'm runnin' outta places to put holes in ya.
- Rank: Eccentric Mentor
- Total Posts: 1379
Thanks!
Hey, Abigail! You worded that so beautifully. Exactly. 😊
Aw, thank you SO much! You don’t know how much that means to me. I really, really hope you love the TAS series when it’s published and you get to hold it in your hands… there I go, being all sentimental. But it really does mean a lot, and I’m so appreciative of the encouragement!
Oh yes, it’s so great to see you around again!
@Joy-caroline
I know that I’m going love TAS. I already do:) But it will be so amazing to be able to actually hold it, the pages solid paper, print in black ink and- I get pretty sentimental about that sort of stuff too XD 🙂 It’ll be awesome.
Thank you! It’s great to be back:)
- Rank: Eccentric Mentor
- Total Posts: 1379
Aww, girl, you’re just such an encouragement to me!! Thank you. <3
@joy-caroline
Although my commenting history seems to say otherwise, I have not left the universe nor have I died. I’m so sorry for the late reply! *facepalm* Juggling high school and a job takes up most of my week, so I don’t have much time for the forum, unfortunately. 🙁
Anywho, wonderful topic to start the discussions for this genre! I know exactly what you mean by the apostles seeming distant. They feel so unattainable. But they were human, and the life of Simon Peter definitely proves that. 😉
Because I have not yet started the trilogy, I don’t have everything figured out. I do have some ideas, though. 🙂
Simon Peter- Surprisingly, even though he’s the main character, I have a bit of trouble pinpointing his exact flaws. He’s a sensitive person, but, rather than that trait making him quiet like it makes Andrew, he can be a bit blustering and impulsive. He says things and does things without really thinking it through. He feels his failures keenly and has issues forgiving himself when he messes up. He also sharply feels things others say and tends to brood over his mistakes/bad things.
Simon the Zealot- Ah, poor fellow… I put him through a lot. 🙂 Due to his past, Simon cannot, does not, and will not trust anyone. Period. Not himself, not his family, no one. He also cannot bring himself to forgive the people who have hurt him. And, as if that wasn’t enough for one man, when we first meet him, he is an alcoholic (That changes after he meets the Deliverer 😉).
I don’t have all of the other disciples’ flaws picked out yet, but I have ideas for several of them (For example, because of all the cruelty he has been subjected to from his fellow Jews, Matthew can be cruel to others). 😀
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