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@kate-flournoy Well, I don’t hold it against you. And at least now you know my sensitivities better. It was just such a vivid scene, and when the dragon said, “Our gift to you” and then Eragon fell into a trance or whatever it was, the irony of it was just so bitter it pulled at me like a leech.
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- Rank: Wise Jester
- Total Posts: 77
Hi! I’m the silent one here… but this discussion about the Inheritance Cycle has compelled me to speak, if only briefly.
@Daeus (how do you tag people???) where is the scene that you stopped reading at? My younger sister is reading the series and I’d like to stop her, just wondering where that is. Thanks!Hi @aysia-serene. Nice to see you again.
You get people’s tags by clicking on their profile. The tag is listed right next to their profile picture.
I can’t remember which chapter the scene is from, but it’s in book two, about 2/3 or 3/4 of the way through if I’m not mistaken. The name of the event the scene chronicles and I believe the name of the chapter, though I’m not sure, is “the blood oath celebration”.
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- Rank: Wise Jester
- Total Posts: 77
@Daeus Okay, thanks!
@kate-flournoy @daeus @warrioroftherealm
Hi everyone! I apologize for the extended silence. I’ve been thinking and praying about this conversation a lot, and I’m finally ready to present my answer. It does not honor or please God when we entertain ourselves with evil. As Christians, we are to walk in the light, and not play in the darkness. Our entire culture has been so inundated with witchcraft that the church has been desensitized to it, our discernment has been dulled and we don’t even see evil as evil anymore. Oh, how I wish the church would burn their witchcraft books like the early Christians did in the days of Paul! How I wish they would love God with all their hearts, and hate the works of Satan with equal fervor! God hates witchcraft, and He wants us to stay far away from it. Satan has made the darkness seductive and attractive; he uses things like action and compelling plot lines to lure Christians into that world. The fiction is just a mask; there are real demonic forces lurking behind it, with the power to deceive and attack whoever enters. Let us not be deceived into thinking we are “mature enough” to enter that world without being defiled! True maturity is seeing things the way God sees them, and if God hates something, then we should hate it too. We are supposed to live pure, holy, clean lives, set apart for God, with His passion in our hearts and His fire in our eyes. How can we fight the darkness if we allow it to enter our own hearts?
“What agreement can there be between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God – as God said, “I will house myself in them, and I will walk among you. I will be be their God, and they will be My people.” Therefore Adonai says, “Go out from their midst; separate yourselves; don’t even touch what is unclean. Then I myself will receive you. In fact, I will be your Father, and you will be My sons and daughters, says Adonai-Tzva’ot.” Therefore, my dear friends, since we have these promises, let us purify ourselves from everything that can defile either body or spirit, and strive to be completely holy, out of reverence for God.” (2 Corinthians 6:16- 7:1 CJB)Amen to that @sarah-h
@Sarah-H I appreciate your concern and the thought you put into this, and I have to say I agree for the most part. However, once again I believe you are assigning Satan more power than he actually has.
Believe me, I am not ignorant of the presence of evil in literature. I don’t read blindly or blindly accept the worldview of anyone if I see that it lies. I steer clear of books saturated with things I disagree with— which is why I personally have chosen not to read the Harry Potter books, no offense to those who like them— and I certainly do not ‘entertain myself with evil.’ With a series like the IC, there are snippets here and there I disagree with strongly and for that reason (among many others) they are not my favorite books, but I still found redeeming elements in the story that made it worth reading, though just barely in some cases. If there had been nothing redeeming about it, I would have tossed it without a second thought. No plotline or strong character can make up for a bad, mistaken worldview.
As far as being ‘desensitized to evil’ I do not believe that is the case. Personally, I know evil when I see it and I hate it and I have never been at a loss to put it in its place. But I am not frightened of it. Satan has no power over God’s children, Sarah. Call me crazy, but I believe God is, was, and always will be stronger.
Now, does that mean we can go reading absolutely awful stuff and get off scott-free? No. Of course we should be careful what we read and allow into our world, because we’re humans and we can be tempted and we can fall. But I would by no means classify the Inheritance Cycle as evil literature. There were many admirable things about it. The importance of friendship. The value of family. The strength to stick up for what’s right under persecution, and the humility to seek redemption even after a lifetime of wrongdoing. The parts I disagreed with didn’t make the parts I liked any less admirable. As I said, I would not have kept reading if it had been only soulless entertainment and bad worldview.
I suppose it’s possible some do read only for mindless entertainment and don’t pay attention to what they’re putting in their heads, and yes that’s dangerous and yes that’s not a Christian way to approach books. No one should ever thoughtlessly accept everything they’re fed through a story. But I would argue it can be equally dangerous to surround yourself with a cushion of things you totally agree with and ignore what you don’t. Yes, we are called to be separate from the world, but we are also called to be in it and to try and save it, which means we need to be able to know what we believe and what we don’t and how to think critically when debunking the millions of myths existent in our culture. Reading should never be just entertainment. Reading improves your mind and makes you think, and if you don’t agree with some of it it makes you think all the more. I’m not say this is the sole reason to read— no. Books are lovely and when you do find the rare ones you agree with completely they’re inspirational. But to never read anything you disagree with in the slightest seems a waste of a good intellect to me. I personally would not be anywhere near as strong in the faith as I am today if I hadn’t gone through countless books I disagreed with and debunked their myths one by one with the help of prayer and the Scriptures.Again, I appreciate your earnest concern and your courage to keep sticking up for what you believe about this. I respect your right to believe this and I respect your right to a single-minded devotion to it. But I believe differently and I do not believe that is a sin. We can continue to discuss it if you like; I’ll be happy to if that’s what you want. But based on past conversations of this nature, I don’t think either of us will get anywhere, so I’m fine whether you choose to pursue it or not. 😉
@Sarah-H Ok, good stuff here. I guess I mostly agree. We could use some good ‘ole book burnings and all. We shouldn’t think ourselves impervious, yes.
I guess the disagreement arises because it sounds like you are saying we should avoid all darkness whatsoever. I’m not sure that’s exactly what you meant, but if that’s so, I find it problematic. The bible says if we were to be totally separate from the world, we would have to come out of the world.
Now, the other thing was that you claim there are demonic forces behind books of this type. Now, maybe it’s just the way you worded it, but that sounds really weird. It sound like, “Yeah, demon agent T47 is assigned to this book. If you look hard enough, you can see him trying to hide behind the fine print.” Of course, I doubt you mean that, but it kinda sounds like it. I mean, how do you know there’s this demonic connection with these books, and if there is, how do you know it’s the same for each and every book of this type?
What I’m hoping you mean is simply that these books can have a tempting power that might lead someone to become interested in demons. If that was your point, I basically agree. I don’t think that absolutely means we shouldn’t read such books though. As far as I can see, either you have to believe that it is wrong to encounter any temptations or that it is ok to wrestle with temptations as long as they are not ones that easily ensnare you. Kind of like how Jesus and his disciples drank wine, even though to some people that could be a huge temptation. So, I would generally agree that such books should be avoided, but if someone has a strong fortitude in such an area, I don’t see any problem with them studying a book or two like this to become stronger in their faith. Unless, that is, you think agent T47 is attached to the book and he’s one of those demons that if you resist him, he’ll just come nearer to you, which I find a really weird concept.
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@daeus who on earth is Paolini?
ENFP - "One must be sane to think clearly, but one can think deeply and be quite insane."
@Daeus exactly.
@Anne-of-Lothlorien author— Christopher Paolini. He wrote the Inheritance Cycle; the one we’re debating here. 😉Kay thanks @kate-flournoy I looked him up, and he looks a little past what I read.
ENFP - "One must be sane to think clearly, but one can think deeply and be quite insane."
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