Why Read Fantasy Fiction Written By Christians?

Notice that I did not say “why read Christian fantasy fiction?” What’s the difference? The focus. I don’t want to focus on the books themselves, as good as they are. I want to focus on the authors.

After all, the reason that books are termed “Christian Fantasy” is because they are written by Christians. I suppose I could conceive of a non-Christian writing a book that could pass as Christian fiction, but I still would be careful in reading it.

Why? Because it’s the author who matters. Trust does not lie firstly in a book. Trust begins with the author of the book. That is why I personally have never read the Harry Potter series. Yes, you can, “find God” in Harry Potter, and that is good if you are stuck like a friend of mine. How is he stuck? He doesn’t let his kids read J.K. Rowling’s books, but his wife, who divorced him, does. In a situation like that, he uses the “finding God in Harry Potter” to help his kids through.

But why should I myself read Harry Potter? If I don’t trust the author, why should I trust the books? That is why I was not surprised by Ms. Rowling’s recent announcement about Dumbledore. She is not a trustworthy author in terms of Christian morals, and therefore if you read her books and fall in love with any of her characters, you risk getting a nasty surprise later on.

As the fox said to the gingerbread man in the middle of the stream: “But you KNEW I was a fox before you jumped on my nose!” And then he ate the gingerbread man up!

Can we ignore all this hullabaloo and just enjoy her craft? Yes we can. If you choose to read her books that is fine. Just remember that the integrity of an author should not be ignored because a book is “fun”.

Which brings me back to “The Bark Of The Bog Owl” by Jonathan Rogers. From what I can tell so far, here is an author that you can trust. Buy his books and spread the word!!

p.s. And don’t forget the Author of Life and his book, the Holy Bible. To Him we owe all our trust, and His word is infallible not because of itself—but because of the One who wrote it!

p.p.s. This focus on the author should also speak to anyone, including myself, who is writing a book for publication. Am I trustworthy? Do I have integrity? Am I worthy of the trust of my readers? This is a heavy weight, as James says “we who teach will be judged more strictly”. May we as authors, and I, be worthy of this high calling!