Is Fiction a form of lying?

[Sketcher]

Only if you seriously tell it as an origin story (i.e. in the comic Calvin and Hobbes, some of the things Calvin's dad tells him).

 

[unfinishedclay]

You can always make an opening statement right after your cover page about why you wrote your "fiction".

Purpose for lies: to deceive or in King James terms, to "bear FALSE witness". To keep your own conscience clear, make the opening statement clearly stating it's fiction to glorify God.

Two of my favorite movies, Fireproof and WarRoom, are fictions.

 

[grandvizier1006]

Your friend sounds horribly sheltered. Don't let his paranoia destroy your passion.

 

[Instrument150]

I usually don't ask questions on CF, seeing how God's word is good enough for me, but I just want another opinion.

I was writing a book, "Hope" I was writing the story for a graphic novel about a Christian Superhero who fights demons and demonic beings, but when I told my Christian friend about it, he said fiction is a form of lying and that I should stay away from that.

I asked God in his word, and he directed me to Esther chapter 6.

Is Fiction a form of lying, if you write it to the Glory of God, or if you open in prayer before you write, like I did?

I struggled with this too. I wrote two fiction books that fell by the wayside.

Albeit, mine weren't being used to Glorify God, but what I learned was that you cannot glorify God with a falsehood. If your work was admired, it would likely bring glory to you first, for your imagination. Instead, why not begin sharing your own testimony of how God has actually worked in your life. I'm sure that's a story that anyone would provide edification from: GOD wrote that story.

 

[psif]

I usually don't ask questions on CF, seeing how God's word is good enough for me, but I just want another opinion.

I was writing a book, "Hope" I was writing the story for a graphic novel about a Christian Superhero who fights demons and demonic beings, but when I told my Christian friend about it, he said fiction is a form of lying and that I should stay away from that.

I asked God in his word, and he directed me to Esther chapter 6.

Is Fiction a form of lying, if you write it to the Glory of God, or if you open in prayer before you write, like I did?

God bless.

Hey. It's cool that you enjoy writing graphic novels.
Your question has 2 answers. There are 2 perspectives.

First, define what a lie is. For example, telling a half truth is a lie.
A lie is anything that is not 100% accurate. Reading Genesis 2-3 will clarify that for you.
That even in subtleties there is space for a lie. Hence why the snake is so effective.

Fact or fiction? True or false? Fiction is a lie. However, now you are presented with defining "fiction".
You can see where this leads. We all know God is not the author of confusion.
Whether your lie is with intent or "innocent" makes no difference to the fact that a lie is a lie.

Ask yourself: in your graphic novel, are you illuminating God as the function of worship?
Does it contain constructs that lead to idolatry (this can be the envy of material things and demons)?

In my opinion, and simply, it's wrong (and although strict and hypocritical since I watch superhero movies myself). However, I also wouldn't go as far as calling it sin either. Just because I admire God's creation (especially God's design of animals) does not mean I do not hold God at the highest esteem.
However, here is where the enemy (Satan) can have a possible access to enter and this is where it gets dangerous because of compromise. This fulfills the passage of Romans 1:25. Vis a vis, "Idolatry".

"They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator--who is forever praised. Amen."

In the strictest sense, any thing that is not the Holy Bible is idolatry because nothing else was ever divinely inspired by God (other than creation itself). However, this also nullifies God's gift of endowing us with creative abilities and gifts. This simply cannot be. God (the Creator) created creators. lol

Anyway, it's dangerous. Your work of art must glorify God. It's that simple. Your exegesis must be accurate and cannot be anything different than what the Holy Bible teaches. Therefore, adding things in your graphic novel such as "the demons had mythical bows with death arrows", though innocent on the surface, implies adding to the Holy Bible something that isn't there and glorifying demon strengths rather than God's strength.

Dangerous indeed. I am a musician / artist myself. I made the decision of creating instrumental music for this very reason. God forbid I should speak words that might detract a believer from the faith!

Point #2 (it must be somewhere in the text I wrote). Pray. God created creators. Music is not sinful. However, even the most popular songs glorify sex and totally destroy the beauty and sacredness of sex.

I hope this helps.

 

[CGL1023]

I usually don't ask questions on CF, seeing how God's word is good enough for me, but I just want another opinion.

I was writing a book, "Hope" I was writing the story for a graphic novel about a Christian Superhero who fights demons and demonic beings, but when I told my Christian friend about it, he said fiction is a form of lying and that I should stay away from that.

I asked God in his word, and he directed me to Esther chapter 6.

Is Fiction a form of lying, if you write it to the Glory of God, or if you open in prayer before you write, like I did?

I do know from posting on CF about the evils of the Harry Potter that people dismissed Harry Potter as harmless fiction. In other words, fiction can provide cover to propagate something evil as something relatively benign.

 

[Dawnhammer]

I opened up in prayer before I ever wrote a word, and I pretty much let God Almighty write it for me

Don't deceive yourself at this point. God didn't write that.

From writing viewpoint the text is bland, repetitive and unimaginative. I would imagine God could come up with something better than

“Synchronized Holy ARROWFIST.”


Other than some form of personal therapy that book fails.

If you are really passionate about writing take up some training courses, practice more and be willing to learn from your mistakes.

 

[SolomonVII]

I usually don't ask questions on CF, seeing how God's word is good enough for me, but I just want another opinion.

I was writing a book, "Hope" I was writing the story for a graphic novel about a Christian Superhero who fights demons and demonic beings, but when I told my Christian friend about it, he said fiction is a form of lying and that I should stay away from that.

I asked God in his word, and he directed me to Esther chapter 6.

Is Fiction a form of lying, if you write it to the Glory of God, or if you open in prayer before you write, like I did?

Fiction that lies is called propaganda.
It exists, and its purpose is to delude people into believing in a lie.
The best fiction is a higher form of truth. The artists creating it often does not even fully understand the message that he is delivering, but the very nature of creativity has the artist going to the depths of his or her soul in order to present the truths that are driving him and his society.
A good example of this is many current television series, from How to Get Away with Murder, to Ten Reasons why. The art is created in a leftist milieu with a libertine point of view, where morality is deemed an individual choice
And yet, the message that resounds over and over again is the complete and utter failure of those libertine values, and a longing for something of substance, namely love and family and stable relationships spanning a life time and where the moral code is absolute, with dire consequences happening to all that breach it.
What we are seeing is artists with a leftist bent creating art with a decidedly conservative message, in spite of what they believe in in their own lives. An actual artist cannot help but deliver truth because the truth inhabits a more visceral fundamental level of his psyche than the superficialities he voices in his own day to day life would indicate.

 

[SolomonVII]

I usually don't ask questions on CF, seeing how God's word is good enough for me, but I just want another opinion.

I was writing a book, "Hope" I was writing the story for a graphic novel about a Christian Superhero who fights demons and demonic beings, but when I told my Christian friend about it, he said fiction is a form of lying and that I should stay away from that.

I asked God in his word, and he directed me to Esther chapter 6.

Is Fiction a form of lying, if you write it to the Glory of God, or if you open in prayer before you write, like I did?

Fiction that lies is called propaganda.
It exists, and its purpose is to delude people into believing in a lie.
The best fiction is a higher form of truth. The artists creating it often does not even fully understand the message that he is delivering, but the very nature of creativity has the artist going to the depths of his or her soul in order to present the truths that are driving him and his society.
A good example of this is many current television series, from How to Get Away with Murder, to Ten Reasons why. The art is created in a leftist milieu with a libertine point of view, where morality is deemed an individual choice
And yet, the message that resounds over and over again is the complete and utter failure of those libertine values, and a longing for something of substance, namely love and family and stable relationships spanning a life time and where the moral code is absolute, with dire consequences happening to all that breach it.
What we are seeing is artists with a leftist bent creating art with a decidedly conservative message, in spite of what they believe in in their own lives. An actual artist cannot help but deliver truth because the truth inhabits a more visceral fundamental level of his psyche than the superficialities he voices in his own day to day life would indicate.

 

[mindlight]

I usually don't ask questions on CF, seeing how God's word is good enough for me, but I just want another opinion.

I was writing a book, "Hope" I was writing the story for a graphic novel about a Christian Superhero who fights demons and demonic beings, but when I told my Christian friend about it, he said fiction is a form of lying and that I should stay away from that.

I asked God in his word, and he directed me to Esther chapter 6.

Is Fiction a form of lying, if you write it to the Glory of God, or if you open in prayer before you write, like I did?

I see this the same way as I see dreams. There are dreams worth sharing which edify , affirm or add some kind of value to our lives and there are dark dreams which do no one any good. Much that is on TV or modern literature is very dark these days and has moved outside a Christian world view or understanding of reality. There are no such things as vampires or zombies for instance and the demonology of Netflix is deeply flawed. The superhero characters that dominate a good % of TV have also gone dark and their motives been sabotaged by a deep worldliness in the media industry. From the sound of it what you are writing is an attempt to glorify God. Good art can include error but the heart of it really needs to be right and the basic framework in which it is written needs to be Christian. Christians can spoil the art with an over attention to the letter of the law rather than the spirit of it.

 

[DreamerOfTheHeart]

I usually don't ask questions on CF, seeing how God's word is good enough for me, but I just want another opinion.

I was writing a book, "Hope" I was writing the story for a graphic novel about a Christian Superhero who fights demons and demonic beings, but when I told my Christian friend about it, he said fiction is a form of lying and that I should stay away from that.

I asked God in his word, and he directed me to Esther chapter 6.

Is Fiction a form of lying, if you write it to the Glory of God, or if you open in prayer before you write, like I did?

Is metaphor a form of writing? No. Jesus used metaphor, aka, parables to teach.

Truth can often be extremely dynamic and abstract, so metaphors are a very good way to express them.

 

[Mountainmike]

The test is " by the fruits you will know"

Now consider the fictional works of CS Lewis , which have been very influential in promoting an allusion to the Christian narrative, of self sacrifice and resurrection of Aslan and those stories are promoting the essence of the story of Christ, in a fictional narrative that engages youngsters.

So The fruits of fiction can be positive , and have surely been positive in well written fiction, which in Lewis's case have reached out to many who are disconnected from Christian life.

A mild worry is whether fiction might sow some misunderstandings as well, setting expectations that may not be met in this life.

And for me at least there is so much to read , of rewarding factual accounts, e.g. The lives of saints, I have no time for fiction!

I usually don't ask questions on CF, seeing how God's word is good enough for me, but I just want another opinion.

I was writing a book, "Hope" I was writing the story for a graphic novel about a Christian Superhero who fights demons and demonic beings, but when I told my Christian friend about it, he said fiction is a form of lying and that I should stay away from that.

I asked God in his word, and he directed me to Esther chapter 6.

Is Fiction a form of lying, if you write it to the Glory of God, or if you open in prayer before you write, like I did?

 

[mukk_in]

I usually don't ask questions on CF, seeing how God's word is good enough for me, but I just want another opinion.

I was writing a book, "Hope" I was writing the story for a graphic novel about a Christian Superhero who fights demons and demonic beings, but when I told my Christian friend about it, he said fiction is a form of lying and that I should stay away from that.

I asked God in his word, and he directed me to Esther chapter 6.

Is Fiction a form of lying, if you write it to the Glory of God, or if you open in prayer before you write, like I did?

Not sure. I think the author's are merely trying to be creative and imaginative for a "what if" scenario. I don't think they lying deliberately.

 

[lastofall]

[for me anyway] fiction is likened to hypocrisy which in plain talk means an actor on a stage, which fits like a hand in a glove with fiction.

 

[Catherineanne]

I usually don't ask questions on CF, seeing how God's word is good enough for me, but I just want another opinion.

I was writing a book, "Hope" I was writing the story for a graphic novel about a Christian Superhero who fights demons and demonic beings, but when I told my Christian friend about it, he said fiction is a form of lying and that I should stay away from that.

I asked God in his word, and he directed me to Esther chapter 6.

Is Fiction a form of lying, if you write it to the Glory of God, or if you open in prayer before you write, like I did?

Fiction is not lying, it is telling stories. The Lord spoke in parables, which are a form of story with a hidden (or not so hidden) message to believers, and if he did it you are fine to do the same.

 

[Catherineanne]

[for me anyway] fiction is likened to hypocrisy which in plain talk means an actor on a stage, which fits like a hand in a glove with fiction.

Does this apply to the Lord telling the story of the Good Samaritan? The Prodigal Son? The Pearl of Great Price?

Need I go on?

 

[Catherineanne]

Your right that is dangerous, but I opened up in prayer before I ever wrote a word, and I pretty much let God Almighty write it for me, so I don't think I have to worry about teaching false doctrine.

That comment is far too close to blasphemy for comfort.

God did not write your book; you did. Simply wanting to follow appropriate doctrine is not enough; you have to be very careful and check if you are not sure.

Please don't give God the blame.

 

[chilehed]

I usually don't ask questions on CF, seeing how God's word is good enough for me, but I just want another opinion.

I was writing a book, "Hope" I was writing the story for a graphic novel about a Christian Superhero who fights demons and demonic beings, but when I told my Christian friend about it, he said fiction is a form of lying and that I should stay away from that.

Is your friend often in the habit of saying stupid stuff like that? I sure hope not...

 

[Coleton Bryce Ritmanich]

Don't deceive yourself at this point. God didn't write that.

From writing viewpoint the text is bland, repetitive and unimaginative. I would imagine God could come up with something better than

“Synchronized Holy ARROWFIST.”


Other than some form of personal therapy that book fails.

If you are really passionate about writing take up some training courses, practice more and be willing to learn from your mistakes.

That's harsh, but it's what I needed. It was meant to be a graphic novel about a Christian Superhero who fights demons with the help of God. I was never going to publish the words alone. But thanks. I opened up in prayer before I wrote a single word, so God would give me the words to write, but thanks for your feedback. And Thanks for taking the time to actually read it. I needed that.

Now I can progress.

The whole point was to glorify God, and tell a story about a Christian superhero. Superhero movies nowadays have a lot of bad things like cursing in them, I just thought, What if there was a superhero who had God on his side? Instead of my favorite superhero Spider-Man having 25 and a half curse words in his movie, Spider-Man Homecoming. I'm thankful I did the research on the movie before I decided not to watch it.

I will learn from my mistakes. And thank you for pointing that out. Do you have anymore feedback? With God's help, do you think it is possible for a Christian superhero genre to work out?

 

[JackRT]

I usually don't ask questions on CF, seeing how God's word is good enough for me, but I just want another opinion.

I was writing a book, "Hope" I was writing the story for a graphic novel about a Christian Superhero who fights demons and demonic beings, but when I told my Christian friend about it, he said fiction is a form of lying and that I should stay away from that.

I asked God in his word, and he directed me to Esther chapter 6.

Is Fiction a form of lying, if you write it to the Glory of God, or if you open in prayer before you write, like I did?

Fiction is not different from truth it is only different from fact. Jesus told fictional stories in the form of parables in order convey truth.