I want to serve God through fantasy, creativity.

[AgapeBible]

I liked fairy tales as a child and then I read other fantasy books, along with the Bible, mythology, folklore, history, etc. I have read Christian fantasy like Narnia and I want to write my own Christian fantasy stories. I have come up with different ideas. Some of my stories are romantic, some are not. A lot of my stories have fictional royalty, my heroines are princesses. I have decided to write about ordinary girls, servants, artists, fashion designers, musicians, teachers, humble house wives, young girls like teenagers. I want to keep the violence to a minimum. I hate violence and bloodshed. I am into old fashion, historical stuff, I would make God most important in my stories. I draw, want to illustrate what I write.

I would like to write Bible story books for children, illustrate them, draw Bible scenes and characters, I want to write about Bible women as role models for girls, maybe draw Bible paper dolls. It's hard to tell what clothes people wore in Bible time days, but I have an idea. i wanted to draw a book of angels, that would not be angel worship, just showing some beautiful angels. I want to draw a book about Jesus Christ for children, explain to children who God is.

Does anyone think fairies, I mean the imaginary magical creatures with butterfly wings, not gay, lgbtq people, are ok? I heard they were actually demons, that were neutral during Satan's rebellion war in heaven, they took neither God nor Lucifer's side, so God threw them to the earth, If they failed to follow God they would be treated like the rebel fallen angels, I heard that was what the early Christian church explained the pagan minor spirits. that used to be 'gods'. But I wanted the fairies to be more like God's angels with butterfly wings, heavenly angels have feathered bird wings, I like butterflies, so what if they had butterfly wings but were good angels who obeyed the Lord.

Ok, I liked imaginary, fantasy creatures, I used to like dragons, before I admitted to myself that Satan was a dragon, and they were evil. I like unicorns and Pegasus. I am not sure how I feel about mermaids. I like medieval and Renaissance fashions pompadour, and Victorian. I am not sure if unicorns are approved of by God. Not sure if fairies are good or evil. In most of my good vs. evil stories, the bad guys practice magic. The good guys are Christians.

 

[PsaltiChrysostom]

There are a number of Christian fantasy authors out there. Stephen Lawhead wrote Byzantium, about a Irish monk who travels to Constantinople. He also wrote the Pendragon cycle. They are more historical fantasy with Christianity as a major backdrop.

Madeline L'Engle is another one with her most famous being "A Wrinkle in Time".

James Blish, a noted Sci-Fi author, not necessarily Christian, wrote an intriguing novel about an space-faring race who has no concept of sin, in A Case of Conscience.

Arthur C. Clarke, obviously not Christian, wrote a short story, "The Star", about a group of explorers who come across an Pluto-like planet with a vault of the people from an inner planet. They start translating things and discover that the people knew their planet was doomed and since they had no means of escape, they set up a vault to save their artifacts and culture for someone to discover. The team then calculates the date of the nova and how it would have looked on Earth. The light from the nova would have shown up in 2-3 BC, thus being "The Star of Bethlehem".

 

[oikonomia]

I am a very creative person who wanted all to be a great composer.
Since I came to the Lord I used my talent all the time to make music to serve God.

Now here I had to learn, and learn, and learn.
I had to learn how not to introduce distractions FROM the Lord because of things I loved to create.
Through hearing some felloship of others I was balanced and tempered and learn more how not to let
my styles and inclinations conquer by their sheer presence the word of God.

The Word and the truth must conquer our creativity so that the latter SERVES the former.

I am still learning. And I find it a process of learning to heed the Lord saying "Don't do that." or "Simplify this" or "This distracts from Me. And THIS helps enhance the love of Me."

Going back over earlier creations and removing some distractions has been a joy rather than a grevious thing.
So we have to subject out natural talent to the Lord and the Body of Christ.
Listen to others who love the Lord. Every creative person is stubborn and of necessity has to believe in themselves.

So to belanced is humbling. But it is good. And eventually the Lord must gain all the glory.
Imitation of what is edifying is good.
If you know of someones who have gone ahead and served as you wish to - LEARN from the best of them.

And you have to bring things back to the Lord Jesus and ask Him in fearlessness what HE thinks about your creations.
The trap of too much self serving does not bring as much joy as learning others were truly blessed.
The cross leads to resurrection. And resurrection can never be put down.

If you write children's stories for spiritual edification you have to be really well grounded in the word of God.
I have seen children stories I thought edifying and some I thought not as much.
Pray for guidance of a good model.

The ones I raised my kids on were not too flighty into fantasy. But Ethel Barrett's (spelling?) story tapes for kids were very good.
I raised two kids who are now adults and some nephews and nieces on these children Christian materials.
A Hive of Busy Bees was a series my wife and I used for our kids. It is not too flighty in the imagination though.
I Like the older Brethren children books.

It was solidly character building with a Christ centered content.
Tales of Narnia may be good for older kids IF they are well read in the New Testament.
Pilgrim's Progress of something LIKE that is good.
Learn from OLDER examples because some were more solidly edifying then the vast amount of inferior stuff in today's Christian book stores.

Somethng newer and more relevant to this age LIKE Pilgrim's Progress would be good.
There is too much voodo, witchcraft, and soul power in Star Wars for me to recommend something like that.
But then again it was probably not Christ centered though unintentionally there are many parallels imo.
Find out who is doing this kind of thing with the blessing of God and learn from them.
And be ready to deny yourself in favor of going the Lord's way of life and peace inwardly.
I mean inwardly you have to sense His smile.

I thought Veggie Tales seemed to be by Christians and had some great lessons.

 

[DragonFox91]

Fantasy is a very popular genre & I do see an audience that would be interested in Fantasy stories that mix in Christian themes.

I would be very interested in a series that mixes the 2.



I once questioned why I chose my user name. Aren’t Dragons supposed to be evil?

Actually, the Book of Job in the Bible describes a sea monster that some have described as a Sea Dragon (& I agree w/ that interpretation). It’s shown as one of God’s creations, listed alongside other animals like eagles, horses, etc. The Leviathan / Dragon doesn’t seem directly opposed to God’s goodness any more than eagles & horses are. What humans intend for evil, God creates for good. In many Eastern understandings of Dragons, Dragons aren’t evil but wise. This is of course against Job’s teaching of the Leviathan being dangerous, but Job doesn’t describe it as evil.



Mermaids & other half humans are hard b/c you’d have to bring up the ‘do they have souls’ questions.

Magic is hard as well b/c of the OT forbidding magicians. This didn’t stop CS Lewis from having it in his allegory. I think it could work for magical items if it’s clear God created the magical item, or a saint blessed it (a lot of believers believe in the power of items that have been blessed or trace back to Jesus), or it’s a result of obedience to God like Samson’s strength was.

I haven’t looked into the mythology of Fairies.

Unicorns are just a kind of ‘fake’ animal. I would see nothing wrong w/ including a horse w/ a horn on its head.

Are you wanting to do a Fantasy set in a completely different world? Or set in a largely historical Earth as we know it w/ a Fantasy twist?

 

[AgapeBible]

I like to invent my own fantasy world. I come up with places of natural beauty. I come up with royal families that are a lot nicer then historical royalty and a lot less formal. The men and women are equal and the laws more fair. People are kind and polite. There is more prosperity than the middle ages. But I have to have something bad happen, some kind of action or friction some excitement or else the story would be so boring no one would like it or want to read it. So I have some ideas in mind. I need to write down basic plots. Thanks for the encouragement.

 

[DragonFox91]

I say there’s an audience for it b/c most sci-fi & fantasy is written by atheists & agnostics. For whatever reason, the genre really attracts them. Maybe they view it as an escape from a world they see as very religious? So the industry’s dominated by their works. I think believers tend not to be as interested in sci-fi & fantasy as well for a variety of reasons.

t’s like, no, 2 of the creators of the genre CS Lewis & Tolkien were devout Christians & Lewis wrote straight-up retreads of the Bible, just set in a different world. Would love more Christians in the industry. Maybe someday we'll win it back.

 

[Petros2015]

Does anyone think fairies, I mean the imaginary magical creatures with butterfly wings, not gay, lgbtq people, are ok? I heard they were actually demons, that were neutral during Satan's rebellion war in heaven, they took neither God nor Lucifer's side, so God threw them to the earth, If they failed to follow God they would be treated like the rebel fallen angels, I heard that was what the early Christian church explained the pagan minor spirits. that used to be 'gods'. But I wanted the fairies to be more like God's angels with butterfly wings, heavenly angels have feathered bird wings, I like butterflies, so what if they had butterfly wings but were good angels who obeyed the Lord.

I think you should read this - it was by the man who inspired C.S. Lewis to use his imagination for Christianity and I hope you do the same.
He wrote many others but this is my personal favorite. When C.S. Lewis wrote the Great Divorce, this author, George MacDonald, was the spirit who guides the main character (himself) through the book.

Lilith, by George Macdonald

Incidentally, if you ever read That Hideous Strength by C.S. Lewis, you will find "the good guys" get an unexpected ally. But I don't want to spoil the surprise.

Chesterton too had something to say of the magical

As long as you have mystery you have health; when you destroy mystery you create morbidity. The ordinary man has always been sane because the ordinary man has always been a mystic. He has permitted the twilight. He has always had one foot in earth and the other in fairyland. he has always left himself free to doubt his gods; but (unlike the agnostic of today) free also to believe in them. He has always cared more for truth than for consistency.

 

[Petros2015]

Does anyone think fairies [...] are ok?

I have found that that depends entirely on the fairy. For myself, I have learned not to rely on them

==
Tink was not all bad; or, rather, she was all bad just now, but, on the
other hand, sometimes she was all good. Fairies have to be one thing or
the other, because being so small they unfortunately have room for one
feeling only at a time. They are, however, allowed to change, only it
must be a complete change. At present she was full of jealousy of
Wendy. What she said in her lovely tinkle Wendy could not of course
understand, and I believe some of it was bad words, but it sounded
kind, and she flew back and forward, plainly meaning “Follow me, and
all will be well.”

What else could poor Wendy do? She called to Peter and John and
Michael, and got only mocking echoes in reply. She did not yet know
that Tink hated her with the fierce hatred of a very woman. And so,
bewildered, and now staggering in her flight, she followed Tink to her
doom. ~Peter Pan https://www.gutenberg.org/files/16/16-0.txt
==

 

[Petros2015]

Lewis wrote straight-up retreads of the Bible, just set in a different world.

Perelandra, more adult than Narnia, is of the Garden of Eden temptation, but taking place on Venus. Ransom, the hero from the first book in the series is sent there. It is a favorite of mine. Here he is talking to the Green Lady, the Eve of Venus (but he doesn't realize this yet)

Perelandra, by C. S. Lewis

=====
"The beasts in your world seem almost rational," said Ransom.

"We make them older every day," she answered. "Is not that what it means to be a beast?"

But Ransom clung to her use of the word we.

"That is what I have come to speak to you about," he said. "Maleldil has sent me to your world for some purpose. Do you know what it is?"

She stood for a moment almost like one listening and then answered "No."

"Then you must take me to your home and show me to your people."

"People? I do not know what you are saying."

"Your kindred--the others of your kind."

"Do you mean the King?"

"Yes. If you have a King, I had better be brought before him."

"I cannot do that," she answered. "I do not know where to find him."

"To your own home then."

"What is home?"

"The place where people live together and have their possessions and bring up their children."

She spread out her hands to indicate all that was in sight. "This is my home," she said.

"Do you live here alone?" asked Ransom.

"What is alone?"

Ransom tried a fresh start. "Bring me where I shall meet others of our kind."

"If you mean the King, I have already told you I do not know where he is. When we were young--many days ago--we were leaping from island to island, and when he was on one and I was on another the waves rose and we were driven apart."

"But can you take me to some other of your kind? The King cannot be the only one."

"He is the only one. Did you not know?"

"But there must be others of your kind--your brothers and sisters, your kindred, your friends."

"I do not know what these words mean."

"Who is this King?" said Ransom in desperation.

"He is himself, he is the King," said she. "How can one answer such a question?"

"Look here," said Ransom. "You must have had a mother. Is she alive? Where is she? When did you see her last?"

"I have a mother?" said the Green Lady, looking full at him with eyes of untroubled wonder. "What do you mean? I am the Mother." And once again there fell upon Ransom the feeling that it was not she, or not she only, who had spoken. No other sound came to his ears, for the sea and the air were still, but a phantom sense of vast choral music was all about him. The awe which her apparently witless replies had been dissipating for the last few minutes returned upon him.

"I do not understand," he said.

"Nor I," answered the Lady. "Only my spirit praises Maleldil who comes down from Deep Heaven into this lowness and will make me to be blessed by all the times that are rolling towards us. It is He who is strong and makes me strong and fills empty worlds with good creatures."

"If you are a mother, where are your children?"

"Not yet," she answered.

"Who will be their father?"

"The King--who else?"

"But the King--had he no father?"

"He is the Father."

"You mean," said Ransom slowly, "that you and he are the only two of your kind in the whole world?"

"Of course." Then presently her face changed. "Oh, how young I have been," she said. "I see it now. I had known that there were many creatures in that ancient world of the Hrossa and the Sorns. But I had forgotten that yours also was an older world than ours. I see--there are many of you by now. I had been thinking that of you also there were only two. I thought you were the King and Father of your world. But there are children of children of children by now, and you perhaps are one of these."

"Yes," said Ransom.

"Greet your Lady and Mother well from me when you return to your own world," said the Green Woman. And now for the first time there was a note of deliberate courtesy, even of ceremony, in her speech. Ransom understood. She knew now at last that she was not addressing an equal. She was a queen sending a message to a queen through a commoner, and her manner to him was henceforward more gracious. He found it difficult to make his next answer.

"Our Mother and Lady is dead," he said.

"What is dead?"

"With us they go away after a time. Maleldil takes the soul out of them and puts it somewhere else--in Deep Heaven, we hope. They call it death."

"Do not wonder, O Piebald Man, that your world should have been chosen for time's corner. You live looking out always on heaven itself, and as if this were not enough Maleldil takes you all thither in the end. You are favoured beyond all worlds."

Ransom shook his head. "No. It is not like that," he said.

"I wonder," said the woman, "if you were sent here to teach us death."
====

 

[DragonFox91]

I think sci-fi / fantasy attracts atheists / agnostics b/c they see it as a way to poke holes in religion. 'See I can make up fantasy just like religious do'

Perelandra, more adult than Narnia, is of the Garden of Eden temptation, but taking place on Venus. Ransom, the hero from the first book in the series is sent there. It is a favorite of mine. Here he is talking to the Green Lady, the Eve of Venus (but he doesn't realize this yet)

Perelandra, by C. S. Lewis

=====
"The beasts in your world seem almost rational," said Ransom.

"We make them older every day," she answered. "Is not that what it means to be a beast?"

But Ransom clung to her use of the word we.

"That is what I have come to speak to you about," he said. "Maleldil has sent me to your world for some purpose. Do you know what it is?"

She stood for a moment almost like one listening and then answered "No."

"Then you must take me to your home and show me to your people."

"People? I do not know what you are saying."

"Your kindred--the others of your kind."

"Do you mean the King?"

"Yes. If you have a King, I had better be brought before him."

"I cannot do that," she answered. "I do not know where to find him."

"To your own home then."

"What is home?"

"The place where people live together and have their possessions and bring up their children."

She spread out her hands to indicate all that was in sight. "This is my home," she said.

"Do you live here alone?" asked Ransom.

"What is alone?"

Ransom tried a fresh start. "Bring me where I shall meet others of our kind."

"If you mean the King, I have already told you I do not know where he is. When we were young--many days ago--we were leaping from island to island, and when he was on one and I was on another the waves rose and we were driven apart."

"But can you take me to some other of your kind? The King cannot be the only one."

"He is the only one. Did you not know?"

"But there must be others of your kind--your brothers and sisters, your kindred, your friends."

"I do not know what these words mean."

"Who is this King?" said Ransom in desperation.

"He is himself, he is the King," said she. "How can one answer such a question?"

"Look here," said Ransom. "You must have had a mother. Is she alive? Where is she? When did you see her last?"

"I have a mother?" said the Green Lady, looking full at him with eyes of untroubled wonder. "What do you mean? I am the Mother." And once again there fell upon Ransom the feeling that it was not she, or not she only, who had spoken. No other sound came to his ears, for the sea and the air were still, but a phantom sense of vast choral music was all about him. The awe which her apparently witless replies had been dissipating for the last few minutes returned upon him.

"I do not understand," he said.

"Nor I," answered the Lady. "Only my spirit praises Maleldil who comes down from Deep Heaven into this lowness and will make me to be blessed by all the times that are rolling towards us. It is He who is strong and makes me strong and fills empty worlds with good creatures."

"If you are a mother, where are your children?"

"Not yet," she answered.

"Who will be their father?"

"The King--who else?"

"But the King--had he no father?"

"He is the Father."

"You mean," said Ransom slowly, "that you and he are the only two of your kind in the whole world?"

"Of course." Then presently her face changed. "Oh, how young I have been," she said. "I see it now. I had known that there were many creatures in that ancient world of the Hrossa and the Sorns. But I had forgotten that yours also was an older world than ours. I see--there are many of you by now. I had been thinking that of you also there were only two. I thought you were the King and Father of your world. But there are children of children of children by now, and you perhaps are one of these."

"Yes," said Ransom.

"Greet your Lady and Mother well from me when you return to your own world," said the Green Woman. And now for the first time there was a note of deliberate courtesy, even of ceremony, in her speech. Ransom understood. She knew now at last that she was not addressing an equal. She was a queen sending a message to a queen through a commoner, and her manner to him was henceforward more gracious. He found it difficult to make his next answer.

"Our Mother and Lady is dead," he said.

"What is dead?"

"With us they go away after a time. Maleldil takes the soul out of them and puts it somewhere else--in Deep Heaven, we hope. They call it death."

"Do not wonder, O Piebald Man, that your world should have been chosen for time's corner. You live looking out always on heaven itself, and as if this were not enough Maleldil takes you all thither in the end. You are favoured beyond all worlds."

Ransom shook his head. "No. It is not like that," he said.

"I wonder," said the woman, "if you were sent here to teach us death."
====

I didn't mean retreads as an insult in this context. I love the Narnia books & wish we'd get big budget adaptations of some of the ones they haven't done yet.

 

[Petros2015]

I didn't mean retreads as an insult in this context. I love the Narnia books & wish we'd get big budget adaptations of some of the ones they haven't done yet.

Yeah I think the (movie) franchise fell apart at some point, I remember watching a vid on "what happened to it". The Last Battle particular stuck with me when I read it. But there is A LOT of Lewis beyond Narnia that most people don't know about. A lot of scenes in Perelandra sent chills down my spine - and Till We Have Faces (set in a pre-Christian Greek'ish land) retreads a Greek myth and Greek concepts of the Gods and human concepts of love from a Christian point of view left me weeping.

Till we have Faces -- A Myth Retold

A retelling of Cupid and Psyche, based on its telling in a chapter of The Golden Ass of Apuleius. This story had haunted Lewis all his life, because he realized that some of the main characters' actions were illogical. As a consequence, his retelling of the story is characterized by a highly...

www.fadedpage.com

 

[Petros2015]

Does anyone think fairies [...] are ok?

 

[Danny&Annie&theChristmas]

I liked fairy tales as a child and then I read other fantasy books, along with the Bible, mythology, folklore, history, etc. I have read Christian fantasy like Narnia and I want to write my own Christian fantasy stories. I have come up with different ideas. Some of my stories are romantic, some are not. A lot of my stories have fictional royalty, my heroines are princesses. I have decided to write about ordinary girls, servants, artists, fashion designers, musicians, teachers, humble house wives, young girls like teenagers. I want to keep the violence to a minimum. I hate violence and bloodshed. I am into old fashion, historical stuff, I would make God most important in my stories. I draw, want to illustrate what I write.

I would like to write Bible story books for children, illustrate them, draw Bible scenes and characters, I want to write about Bible women as role models for girls, maybe draw Bible paper dolls. It's hard to tell what clothes people wore in Bible time days, but I have an idea. i wanted to draw a book of angels, that would not be angel worship, just showing some beautiful angels. I want to draw a book about Jesus Christ for children, explain to children who God is.

Does anyone think fairies, I mean the imaginary magical creatures with butterfly wings, not gay, lgbtq people, are ok? I heard they were actually demons, that were neutral during Satan's rebellion war in heaven, they took neither God nor Lucifer's side, so God threw them to the earth, If they failed to follow God they would be treated like the rebel fallen angels, I heard that was what the early Christian church explained the pagan minor spirits. that used to be 'gods'. But I wanted the fairies to be more like God's angels with butterfly wings, heavenly angels have feathered bird wings, I like butterflies, so what if they had butterfly wings but were good angels who obeyed the Lord.

Ok, I liked imaginary, fantasy creatures, I used to like dragons, before I admitted to myself that Satan was a dragon, and they were evil. I like unicorns and Pegasus. I am not sure how I feel about mermaids. I like medieval and Renaissance fashions pompadour, and Victorian. I am not sure if unicorns are approved of by God. Not sure if fairies are good or evil. In most of my good vs. evil stories, the bad guys practice magic. The good guys are Christians.

I wanted my book to be a children's book, but I was told it was too advanced and it needed to be categorized as general reading. I am working to make my book into a screenplay. My the Lord bless your endeavor.