Confession: I Enjoy Fantasy Novels!

I have a confession to make: I’m a Bible-believing Christian and a pastor. Well, you all know that. What you might not know (unless you know me personally or follow me actively) is the following…

I love fantasy.

There, I’m out of the closet. I love reading about dragons, monsters, wizards, Jedi, sword fights, epic battles, and more. That’s right. I’m a Bible-believing Christian (and a pastor, no less), and I love reading and watching (at least some) fantasy and science fiction.

And there are many Christians who do NOT approve of this. If this is you, well…

Sorry. But it’s true. And I have no intention of changing on this point.

What I will do is explain myself.

Now, to be clear, I’m not imposing this on you. If you don’t like fantasy fiction, that’s fine. No problem. In NO way am I forcing my tastes in fiction or entertainment on you. If you don’t like fantasy fiction, that is no problem.

Your entertainment choices are between you and God.

But before you draw conclusions about me (and others who similarly enjoy fantasy), I want to take some time to politely address some of the objections that many Christians have on this matter.

The Bible’s Prohibitions Against Witchcraft

The Bible’s abundantly clear on its prohibitions against witchcraft, sorcery, and the like:

“Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.” (Exodus 22:18)

“Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God.” (Leviticus 19:31)

“And the soul that turneth after such as have familiar spirits, and after wizards, to go a whoring after them, I will even set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his people.” (Leviticus 20:6)

“There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination unto the Lord: and because of these abominations the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before thee.” (Deuteronomy 18:10-12)

Pretty clear, right? Of course, we’re not under the law today, so we don’t need to actually go out and execute anyone who practices these arts. Nevertheless…

The principles of the Old Testament policies above still apply (as made clear in New Testament passages like Galatians 5:19-21 and Revelation 21:8). Therefore, God’s people should stay away from actual witches as well as palm readers, astrologers, tarot card readers, mediums, and other practitioners of the occult and/or the so-called “New Age.”

But do these passages refer to fictional depictions of sorcery and magic?

To answer that question, we turn to one of the most controversial issues in the first-century church.

Christians Eating Meat Offered to Idols

In the first century, a major division erupted in the Christian communities of the Graeco-Roman world where many believers in Christ were purchasing and eating meat that had been sacrificed to idols. Given the Mosaic Law’s clear prohibitions against idolatry and the worship of false gods, many Christians concluded this practice was abhorrent and should not be tolerated.

Paul addresses this issue in his first letter to the church in Corinth. In I Corinthians 8, he acknowledges that there is no real danger in eating such food, as idols are “nothing.” In other words, they have no power.

While the Bible periodically suggests that demons sometimes intervened to empower the religions surrounding false gods (see Exodus 7-9), most of the polytheistic religions of the ancient world were (most of the time) powerless. This is what Paul means when he says that the idols are “nothing.” They have no life, no agency, and no power. They are “nothing.”

Accordingly, Paul says that meat is just meat. And eating it has no bearing on our relationship with God.

In other words, you’re not sinning against God or hurting your relationship with God if you eat the meat that’s been offered to idols.

Paul does acknowledge that some Christians may be weak in their faith and easily misled. Therefore, he urges the Corinthian believers to be mindful of their weaker brothers and sisters and to abstain from buying and eating this meat if it will cause them to stumble into sin.

Can Christians Read Fantasy Fiction?

I believe we can apply Paul’s teaching in 1 Corinthians to the question of whether or not a Bible-believing Christian can read (or write) fantasy. The concerns are almost identical.

Christians, in the first century, condemned believers who ate meat offered to idols because of the meat’s association with idolatry and the worship of false gods — an association that included not only the consumption of the meat but potential profits to the pagan temples when the meat was purchased!

Likewise, Christians today often condemn other Christians who read fantasy because of the fantasy genre’s perceived association with practices deemed abhorrent in Scripture.

The parallel in logic can’t be ignored, and therefore, I believe Paul would say the same thing to us today on this issue of fantasy entertainment.

Fantasy is simply a genre of fiction that tells stories about imaginary worlds and creatures. It is not real, and, therefore, the characters in the fantasy novels are “nothing.” And the act of reading those fantasy stories doesn’t necessarily hurt one’s walk with the Lord.

I say “necessarily” because it depends on the novel in question. Not all fantasy is created equal. Some fantasy novels have themes or situations not appropriate for all Christians. But this is the case with any genre! There are plenty of romance novels out there that Christians should stay away from.

The one caution Paul would raise is whether your reading fantasy (even clean fantasy) will cause a weaker brother or sister in the faith to stumble into sin.

Of course, when Paul wrote I Corinthians, there was no Internet. There was no social media.

Thus, we have a unique challenge today. Some Christians will (and do) argue that, given the times in which we live, it’s likely that weaker brothers and sisters in Christ will be misled or caused to stumble into sin with the sheer number of Christians out there who openly read and enjoy fantasy.

I acknowledge this concern and will address it more in a future article. For now, I’ll simply say that, I think, Christians should do what they can to minimize these risks and clear up any misunderstandings that become apparent.

Frankly, there are many fantasy stories available that are written by Christians or at least contain Christian themes. If a brother or sister in Christ stumbles into sin on account of reading The Chronicles of Narnia, that brother or sister is so weak in the faith that they need special care and attention.

As with many things of this nature…

The key is discernment.

So, yes, I love reading fantasy and science fiction. And I do so, with discernment. If you don’t like fantasy or science fiction, that is fine. If you choose, because of your faith, not to read fantasy or science fiction literature, that is your prerogative. But I hope you will respect those (like me) who make different choices.

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