The Church and the Fantastic

As many of you may or may not know (I'm pretty sure the preceeding sentence means nothing), I am both a writer, and studier, of Fantastic Literature with a particular emphasis on J.R.R. Tolkien (in the area of study. I can't write Tolkien, as I am not Tolkien).

I have recently noticed something very interesting about the creation of Christian Fantasy. The good works of Christian Fantastic Literature are those that are Fantasy that happens to be Christian and not Christian Fantasy.

Tolkien said "The Lord of the Rings is of course a fundamentally religious and Catholic work; unconsciously so, at first, but consciously in the revision" (Letters 216-17). When discussing the Chronicles of Narnia, C.S. Lewis said "[e]very thing began with images; a faun carrying an umbrella, a queen on a sledge, a magnicent lion" and not with an allegory in mind (Of Other Worlds 36).

My own writing has worked much in the same way. Recently I was working on an intentionally pagan mythology with which to stand against a 'Christian' history when I began to notice distinct Christian themes, particularly in the divine figure of Peritaduhr, who protects man and is their advocate. The mythology is still clearly pagan (four levels of gods, the value of cunning, etc.) but it has a Christocentric feel to it.

On the flip side, some of the worst works of Fantasy I have ever read have been Christian Allegory written with the Allegory as the soul purpose of existence. In the collection of essays mentioned before Lewis discusses how all stories should both entertain and teach and a lot of Christian Fantasies I have seen fail on the first count because they are trying so hard for the second. If no one enjoys reading a work, they will not do it.

To answer the first part of my unasked question: these works are Christian because an honostly Christian author (one who desires to be a Christian) can write nothing else. One exalts what one believes and a Christian will present a Christian world view in his writing. The degree to which it is effective depends on his skill as a writer and formation as a Christian, but it will always end up being Christian. If they heroes are all admiriably pagan then the author truly does not believe Christianity to be a better way, for no admiriable true pagan can be born of a truly Christian mind.

The second half of the question is answered thus: good Christian Fictions are good because Christianity is the ends and not the means. What I mean is that the Christian thought occupies the story, not the other way around. If I want to write something in which Christianity is the means, I can do so, but I ought to call it a devotional or theology. One should not try and confuse a story into a collection of Christian thought and call it fiction. Rather, Christian thought fleshes out and fulfills an older ready viable story.

Middle-Earth is Christian because Tolkien was. The Christian must tell a Christian story.