You’ll sometimes hear critics of the idea that Christian authors should write compelling universal stories rather than Christian Fiction™ argue that Jesus commanded His followers to preach the Gospel, not to tell stories.
Part of the distinction originated in a misunderstanding of the nature of Christianity per se.
Historically, Christianity is seen as the light that shines in the darkness, and the darkness cannot overcome it. Tolkien and Stoker may embody Christian themes, but those themes shine against a backdrop of terror, evil, and depravity. It's not gratuitous, but it's as honest as it needs to be. That's important, because that's what our fallen world largely is. Good art must reflect that reality, or mimesis cannot occur.
In contrast, so much Evangelical culture is largely about pretending that the world really aren't very dark at all. We cannot look too directly at evil, or we might get dirty. Better to whitewash our stories and the worlds they inhabit. No swearing. No sex. No violence. We don't care that the world is full of those things; we aren't writing about the world as it is; we're writing about the way we want the world to be. Therefore it's not even art; it's propaganda.
It's the mirror image of the woke movie phenomenon. It doesn't matter that a 120 lb woman can't beat up a 250 hit man in real life. We're not writing about the world as it is; we're writing about the world as we wish it was. It's propaganda.
The fact that the moral vision at the heart of Christian Fiction™ is superior to the woke moral vision is almost irrelevant. Propaganda is borderline unwatchable, or unreadable, even if you agree with the message.
One suspcts a great overlap between the people who hold that Christians should not do fiction but just preach, and those who bemoan how corrupted entertainment and culture is (because there are so few Christians producing culture).
Part of the distinction originated in a misunderstanding of the nature of Christianity per se.
Historically, Christianity is seen as the light that shines in the darkness, and the darkness cannot overcome it. Tolkien and Stoker may embody Christian themes, but those themes shine against a backdrop of terror, evil, and depravity. It's not gratuitous, but it's as honest as it needs to be. That's important, because that's what our fallen world largely is. Good art must reflect that reality, or mimesis cannot occur.
In contrast, so much Evangelical culture is largely about pretending that the world really aren't very dark at all. We cannot look too directly at evil, or we might get dirty. Better to whitewash our stories and the worlds they inhabit. No swearing. No sex. No violence. We don't care that the world is full of those things; we aren't writing about the world as it is; we're writing about the way we want the world to be. Therefore it's not even art; it's propaganda.
It's the mirror image of the woke movie phenomenon. It doesn't matter that a 120 lb woman can't beat up a 250 hit man in real life. We're not writing about the world as it is; we're writing about the world as we wish it was. It's propaganda.
The fact that the moral vision at the heart of Christian Fiction™ is superior to the woke moral vision is almost irrelevant. Propaganda is borderline unwatchable, or unreadable, even if you agree with the message.
One suspcts a great overlap between the people who hold that Christians should not do fiction but just preach, and those who bemoan how corrupted entertainment and culture is (because there are so few Christians producing culture).