Comments on: What’s Faith Got to Do with It? http://www.booksandsuch.biz/blog/whats-faith-got-to-do-with-it/ Sat, 31 Jul 2010 14:06:23 -0500 hourly 1 By: LeAnne Hardy http://www.booksandsuch.biz/blog/whats-faith-got-to-do-with-it/comment-page-1/#comment-3102 LeAnne Hardy Fri, 29 Jan 2010 22:05:14 +0000 http://www.booksandsuch.biz/?p=5396#comment-3102 I agree with Samantha (and with Madeleine L'Engle) that writing as a Christian comes out of who we are. To avoid showing a gnostic gospel, I need to be thoroughly grounded in Scripture myself, so that my story comes out of an authentically Christian worldview, not merely 'nice' civic religion. The trick then is to leave it without explaining even at the risk of some readers missing my point. (I talked to one woman who loved the Chronicles of Narnia but never picked up that Lewis was a Christian!) If I want to spell it all out, I should write non-fiction. I don't agree with everything Madeleine L'Engle wrote, but she always makes me think. I agree with Samantha (and with Madeleine L’Engle) that writing as a Christian comes out of who we are. To avoid showing a gnostic gospel, I need to be thoroughly grounded in Scripture myself, so that my story comes out of an authentically Christian worldview, not merely ‘nice’ civic religion. The trick then is to leave it without explaining even at the risk of some readers missing my point. (I talked to one woman who loved the Chronicles of Narnia but never picked up that Lewis was a Christian!) If I want to spell it all out, I should write non-fiction.

I don’t agree with everything Madeleine L’Engle wrote, but she always makes me think.

]]> By: KC Frantzen http://www.booksandsuch.biz/blog/whats-faith-got-to-do-with-it/comment-page-1/#comment-3097 KC Frantzen Fri, 29 Jan 2010 21:10:23 +0000 http://www.booksandsuch.biz/?p=5396#comment-3097 I also pray over my work as I write and revise. Since Biblical Christianity is my "worldview" surely it shows in how my characters react to various situations. For years I had no idea Ms. L'engle was a "Christian" writer, not until I came across "The Glorious Impossible", which I purchased on the spot and still enjoy perusing to this day. :) Great food for thought today Ms. Etta! As always! I also pray over my work as I write and revise.

Since Biblical Christianity is my “worldview” surely it shows in how my characters react to various situations.

For years I had no idea Ms. L’engle was a “Christian” writer, not until I came across “The Glorious Impossible”, which I purchased on the spot and still enjoy perusing to this day. :)

Great food for thought today Ms. Etta! As always!

]]> By: Etta Wilson http://www.booksandsuch.biz/blog/whats-faith-got-to-do-with-it/comment-page-1/#comment-3094 Etta Wilson Fri, 29 Jan 2010 19:59:40 +0000 http://www.booksandsuch.biz/?p=5396#comment-3094 Brian, what a great idea! I wonder how many other adult teachers have kids memorize King's "I Have a Dream" speech. I hear it was composed in short order like Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, but I haven't verified that. Etta Brian, what a great idea! I wonder how many other adult teachers have kids memorize King’s “I Have a Dream” speech. I hear it was composed in short order like Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, but I haven’t verified that.
Etta

]]> By: Etta Wilson http://www.booksandsuch.biz/blog/whats-faith-got-to-do-with-it/comment-page-1/#comment-3093 Etta Wilson Fri, 29 Jan 2010 19:54:27 +0000 http://www.booksandsuch.biz/?p=5396#comment-3093 Samantha, you've reached into my favorite book by M. L'Engle--Walking on Water. For my taste, she is better at writing about Christians who write than she is in writing books for middle-graders. But I have the same feeling about C.S. Lewis's work. Part of it is that I'm sort of nuts and bolts and not much on fantasy, in spite of feeling that imagination is so critical to good fiction. Etta Samantha, you’ve reached into my favorite book by M. L’Engle–Walking on Water. For my taste, she is better at writing about Christians who write than she is in writing books for middle-graders. But I have the same feeling about C.S. Lewis’s work. Part of it is that I’m sort of nuts and bolts and not much on fantasy, in spite of feeling that imagination is so critical to good fiction.
Etta

]]> By: Jean Hall http://www.booksandsuch.biz/blog/whats-faith-got-to-do-with-it/comment-page-1/#comment-3091 Jean Hall Fri, 29 Jan 2010 17:04:17 +0000 http://www.booksandsuch.biz/?p=5396#comment-3091 Wonderful post. I've been a Christian and student of the Bible for more than 40 years. I hope that it's so well integrated into who I am that it naturally bleeds through everything I write--whether I mention the name of Jesus or not. I pray as I write & revise that the characters in my PBs don't stand on soapboxes or pulpits, but that their struggles and choices reveal the truths of God's Word, the truths that I hope my readers absorb from the stories. I hope. But I also plan and pray and work hard to create story "veils" through which the readers can peek into the truths behind them. Wonderful post. I’ve been a Christian and student of the Bible for more than 40 years. I hope that it’s so well integrated into who I am that it naturally bleeds through everything I write–whether I mention the name of Jesus or not.

I pray as I write & revise that the characters in my PBs don’t stand on soapboxes or pulpits, but that their struggles and choices reveal the truths of God’s Word, the truths that I hope my readers absorb from the stories.

I hope. But I also plan and pray and work hard to create story “veils” through which the readers can peek into the truths behind them.

]]> By: Sally Apokedak http://www.booksandsuch.biz/blog/whats-faith-got-to-do-with-it/comment-page-1/#comment-3090 Sally Apokedak Fri, 29 Jan 2010 16:42:03 +0000 http://www.booksandsuch.biz/?p=5396#comment-3090 See? This is what you people do. You ask these questions about topics I'm passionate about and tempt me to jump in with a thousand-word comment. I'm not getting sucked in, Etta. :) I did blog on this topic yesterday, kind of--on preaching in fiction and telling the truth while we lie. So, fortunately for you, I have spent my passion and don't have to repeat it all here. But I will throw out one quick thought. I'm sure we've all heard it, but it bears repeating: Telling is preaching and showing is allowing the reader to draw his own conclusions. In Bridge to Terabithia, Katherine Paterson got across her theology just fine. She didn't tell readers what to conclude but she showed the smart, loving character believing one thing and the stupid, obnoxious six-year-old, spouting out a hateful-sounding statement, "If you don't believe the Bible, God is going to damn you to hell." Because she picked that character to say that in her obnoxious and hateful voice, the reader is pretty much forced to say, "No way is God going to damn anyone to hell because she believes Jesus' life and death and resurrection is a pretty story but not a literally true story. No way would God damn Leslie to hell. She's so sweet and wonderful. If anyone deserves to be damned to hell, it's the obnoxious, intolerant, Bible-thumping little sister." It was very effective. Most Christians don't even realize that the book preaches against a God who will judge people for what they believe about the Son. That's how skillfully she planted her message. ACK! I've done it again. I'm crawling back into my corner now. See? This is what you people do. You ask these questions about topics I’m passionate about and tempt me to jump in with a thousand-word comment.

I’m not getting sucked in, Etta. :)

I did blog on this topic yesterday, kind of–on preaching in fiction and telling the truth while we lie. So, fortunately for you, I have spent my passion and don’t have to repeat it all here.

But I will throw out one quick thought. I’m sure we’ve all heard it, but it bears repeating: Telling is preaching and showing is allowing the reader to draw his own conclusions.

In Bridge to Terabithia, Katherine Paterson got across her theology just fine. She didn’t tell readers what to conclude but she showed the smart, loving character believing one thing and the stupid, obnoxious six-year-old, spouting out a hateful-sounding statement, “If you don’t believe the Bible, God is going to damn you to hell.”

Because she picked that character to say that in her obnoxious and hateful voice, the reader is pretty much forced to say, “No way is God going to damn anyone to hell because she believes Jesus’ life and death and resurrection is a pretty story but not a literally true story. No way would God damn Leslie to hell. She’s so sweet and wonderful. If anyone deserves to be damned to hell, it’s the obnoxious, intolerant, Bible-thumping little sister.”

It was very effective. Most Christians don’t even realize that the book preaches against a God who will judge people for what they believe about the Son. That’s how skillfully she planted her message.

ACK! I’ve done it again.

I’m crawling back into my corner now.

]]> By: Brian T. Carroll http://www.booksandsuch.biz/blog/whats-faith-got-to-do-with-it/comment-page-1/#comment-3086 Brian T. Carroll Fri, 29 Jan 2010 03:29:57 +0000 http://www.booksandsuch.biz/?p=5396#comment-3086 I once had a 5th grader memorize King's "I have a dream" speech (yeah, the whole thing) and hold three different audiences spell-bound. Everybody around her was edified, and kids in the audience watched their parents and teachers cry. I'm less excited about "A Wrinkle in Time." It may quote a handful of verses, but each time they are presented to imply something the verse didn't mean in the original. It also manages to score on every major point of gnosticism. I'd rather a story not touch on spirituality than touch it in misleading ways. I once had a 5th grader memorize King’s “I have a dream” speech (yeah, the whole thing) and hold three different audiences spell-bound. Everybody around her was edified, and kids in the audience watched their parents and teachers cry. I’m less excited about “A Wrinkle in Time.” It may quote a handful of verses, but each time they are presented to imply something the verse didn’t mean in the original. It also manages to score on every major point of gnosticism. I’d rather a story not touch on spirituality than touch it in misleading ways.

]]> By: Samantha Bennett http://www.booksandsuch.biz/blog/whats-faith-got-to-do-with-it/comment-page-1/#comment-3085 Samantha Bennett Thu, 28 Jan 2010 15:25:19 +0000 http://www.booksandsuch.biz/?p=5396#comment-3085 Great post! The concept of faith-infused writing reminds me of Madeliene L'Engle's response to a college senior who asked her about being a Christian writer. "I told her that if she is truly and deeply a Christian, what she writes is going to be Christian, whether she mentions Jesus or not. And if she is not, in the most profound sense, Christian, then what she writes is not going to be Christian, no matter how many times she invokes the name of the Lord." (from Walking on Water) Great post! The concept of faith-infused writing reminds me of Madeliene L’Engle’s response to a college senior who asked her about being a Christian writer. “I told her that if she is truly and deeply a Christian, what she writes is going to be Christian, whether she mentions Jesus or not. And if she is not, in the most profound sense, Christian, then what she writes is not going to be Christian, no matter how many times she invokes the name of the Lord.” (from Walking on Water)

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