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(I’m sincerely sorry if y’all got this duplicated…)
I’m not entirely certain how to word this, but here’s my question: how should I portray a character reading the Bible even though my story is in a fantasy world? I want to include strong Christian elements in my novel, though I can’t help but feel a little nervous since it’s fantasy and takes place in a different world. Would it be odd to write about the Bible even though it’s in a fictional universe?
So a little history: one of my characters is, in the beginning, an atheist. But throughout the story, I want him to slowly learn about God, learn forgiveness, repentance, and redemption through Christ, and by the end, he gives his heart to Jesus and gets saved. It’s a huge part of his character arc. Of course I’m going to reference Jesus, but what about the Bible? The Bible is filled with real people and realplaces, so would it be odd if I included that even though my story is set in a fictional world? I don’t want to draw parallels between the real world and my fictional world, so would that be confusing, or does anyone have any suggestions how to write that properly? I hope that made some bit of sense. I’m just a little stumped on how to portray this… *sigh* I’m going to tag some people for advice:)
@gracie-j @abigail-m @joy-caroline @issawriter7@scripter-of-kingdoms @devastate-lasting @daisy-torres @mkfairygirl @sorry-if-I-am-forgetting-anyone@writerlexi1216 I’d just typed out a whole answer to this and the page disappeared….no matter. I shall try again.
So I myself am writing a fantasy where I have portrayed characters reading the Bible or going to devos or praying. The real world exists alongside my fantasy worlds, and since heaven and hell are also part of that world, there is the fundamental assumption that God exists, Christianity is true, etc, etc. I don’t go into that all that much, however. The premise of the story is “sinners who have eaten from the Tree of Life”, which means that not everything is going to be theologically correct as according to our world, since this is a fantasy, after all. So I’d say that you could include the Bible in your book, though be aware of how it integrates into your world building.
Lately, it's been on my brain
Would you mind letting me know
If hours don't turn into daysFunny, that just happened to me, too. Let me try again…
God gives His hardest battles to His strongest soldiers.
TeenWritersNook.comWell, maybe somehow your fictional world is connected to other worlds, including our reality, so that it sometimes is exposed to the cultures of other worlds? Then that would explain being able to have the Bible with real people and events in your fictional world. Or maybe you make it more of an allegory with characters that represent God/Jesus.
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www.jennaterese.comOkay, my comment disappeared so let me try this again. 😉
First off, I think your ideas about the Christian elements and atheist who converts to Christianity are AWESOME ideas!!!!!! I LOOVE how you’re going to include it in your novel.
Second, I think it’d be totally okay and not weird to include the Bible since Jesus and the Bible go hand in hand. If you’re concerned about the real people being mentioned in a made-up world, then you could always just not focus on the stories about the people but instead on the message. So yeah, I don’t think it’d be odd, I think it’s just kinda one of those choices where you do what you think is best for the story. <333
God gives His hardest battles to His strongest soldiers.
TeenWritersNook.comOoof. Okay, thank you for the tag but I can’t help you because I have the same exact question and dilemma XD I will definitely be keeping an eye out for y’all’s answers though!! Great question!
"It's easy to be caught up in stardust and whispers when reality is so dark and loud."
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First off, let me say your story sounds epic! And I’m super glad you asked this question, because I think I may have a piece of useful advice for you.
I believe there is absolutely no problem with having Jesus and the Bible as a part of your fantasy storyworld. First of all, it’s a really unique idea and it may even get your readers more excited about Christ than if you didn’t include him for fear of the fantasy world/real world issue. (Which I don’t think is an issue.) It’s exciting BECAUSE it’s connected with a fantasy world! It could also be a symbol of how Christ exists even in situations that seem impossible. (Like a fantasy world that couldn’t realistically exist.)
As for the people of the Bible that lived in our real world (although many years ago), I’ll say again that I don’t think it’s an issue. It sounds like a very fun, exciting, and unique idea to write about the Bible and its people and events from the perspective of a fantasy character, who then decides to believe the Bible. I’m really, really excited for you right now, because it sounds to me that this is a wonderful way to really connect with readers’ hearts and show them the power of belief, no matter who you are: You can even be a fantasy character and believe Christ and His Word because it’s THAT powerful!
I think you should not fear to go this route. Try it. I think it will turn into something very powerful. Hope this helped!
Thank you for your reply, Lin!!:) And that’s a great help: I wanted to include the Bible because that would work well with my character’s arc of becoming a Christian, though I wasn’t sure if that would be odd. So thank you for clarifying, and yes, I’ll keep that in mind!! I wanted to give the idea that heaven and hell still exist in this fictional world, which would only mean that God exists as well, like you mentioned. And yeah, I suppose not everything will parallel with our world, since it is fantasy. This was immensely helpful, and might I say that your story sounds intriguing as well! Thanks for the advice!:)
Thank you, Jen, for your helpful reply!!! That’s an interesting thought to consider, and would work well with combining the two of them:) Thank you! And I like the idea of an allegory, using characters to represent Jesus. Great idea!:)
Thank you, Issa!! I was hoping that was a good decision to include, because I wanted to portray Christianity through this book and thought it would be an interesting idea:) And I think that’s an incredible idea–not using names but only referencing stories, or even some parables/lessons that Jesus taught without going into detail. Thank you for replying!!! <333333
@joy-caroline
Thanks, Joy!! I’m so glad you think so!!:) Yay, thank you for sharing this incredible piece of advice!! It was immensely helpful, and I’m especially glad you pointed that out about incorporating Christianity into fantasy–I guess I don’t see much of that done, now that I think of it. Exactly, you worded that exceptionally well!:) And thank you so much–I’m really glad to hear you don’t think it would be odd or anything, because I just didn’t want readers to begin drawing parallels between my fictional world and the real world. Aww, thank you Joy!! I wanted to portray it realistically so that it may touch readers’ hearts, because even though it’s fantasy, I still wanted to write about salvation and Christ, as well as someone actually getting saved, because I think that’s important. That was very helpful, so thank you immensely!!! <3333
@writerlexi1216 Of course, anytime! Good luck with your story!
Lately, it's been on my brain
Would you mind letting me know
If hours don't turn into days@writerlexi1216
Am I having this exact same debate with myself about my own dear WIP? Yes. Yes I am*ahem* I think that’s a really cool idea! And I agree with everyone else that’s already commented–I think it’s perfectly okay to include the Bible in a fantasy world!! Like @issawriter7 said, you can always avoid mentioning specific names if you’re worried about that.
Alternatively, you always could pull a C.S. Lewis and have your Christian elements be named something else (like how Aslan is obviously supposed to be a symbol for Christ but isn’t called that). I’ve seen several Christian fantasy authors do it that way. Personally, when I’m reading a novel like that, the themes of grace, redemption, God’s love, etc. are more important to me than an exact 1 to 1 comparison. However, if you want to have the exact 1 to 1 comparison, go for!! I think either one would be absolutely excellent to include in your book–I can’t wait to see where it goes!!! 😀
“Seven seconds till the end. Time enough for you. Perhaps. But what will you do with it?”
Thanks, Elizabeth!! I wasn’t entirely sure if I wanted to try it/if I could properly pull it off, but I think I’ll try. I knew I wanted to include Christian elements, so I thought this would be an interesting concept and sideplot:) *Phew!* I’m glad you think it wouldn’t be strange, because then I would’ve been more stumped XD And that’s an incredible idea! I remember admiring the way C.S. Lewis portrayed Christ through Aslan (that was the first time I’d ever seen that done before), so that’s definitely something to consider! (Mind if I ask what book you’re reading? It sounds interesting!:) Aw, thank you so much!!! I’ll give it my best, and the same goes for you 😉
Thanks, Lin!!:) You too!!
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