Is Fiction a form of lying?

[Coleton Bryce Ritmanich]

Thanks for all of the replies and feedback everyone!

 

[toLiJC]

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?

once i wanted to make such a movie - in principle, there is nothing bad in such an idea if a person knows the truth of the true God well enough and can recreate it in such a work, but it will be much better if we reveal the Glory of the true God just as Jesus and His true disciples presented in Scripture did

Blessings

 

[W2L]

The bible uses parables (stories) to teach truth. Fiction can be used for evil however.

 

[Targaryen]

Fiction is story telling, there is nothing inherently evil about storytelling.

 

[Monk Brendan]

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.

Fiction is not lying. It is a form of communication, where you are trying to get a point across to someone else, either to make them think, or to give them an alternate view, or to entertain, or to bring someone to repentance.

 

[Monk Brendan]

I brought that up too, that Jesus used parables, but Jesus told true stories right? I really want to write this book, I know what it will do once finished, it will definitely glorify God, if I can write.

Go ahead and write it.

 

[Jennifer Rothnie]

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?

A fictional narrative would not fit the Biblical definition of lying, unless one was attempting to pass the fiction off as true (such as a made-up biography.)

Beyond that, there are many times in the Bible where people (or spirits) acting on behalf of God, used deception as a means to an end. It was not automatically considered wrong, and was even commended at times. Why did God condone lying at times when it's clear in the Bible that He hates lying?

While this seems confusing or even contradictory at first given such Biblical commands as 'thou shalt not bear false witness against they neighbor' or statements such as 'Satan is the Father of lies', the Bible does not use a 'catch-all' definition for lying as modern English does.

The Biblical idea (and jewish idea) of lying were somewhat different from what we might think of as a lie today. See What does the Bible say about lying? Is lying a sin? for some details on the culture, as well as some discussion of various types of lies.

Lies of the type the Bible condemns are those that stem from a malicious heart: False witness in court, false rumors, slander, gossip, malicious lies, distorted perception and action, lies to deceive into error, lies of false image/hypocrisy, course jesting, etc.

Deception to show love to a neighbor (jokes, games, fiction, tact, etc.) would not fall into those categories.

 

[Marvin Knox]

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?

If fiction is a form of lying - Jesus would need to recant all those stories and parables He told us.

Come to think of it - we'd have to say that a lot of the book of Revelation is written in a lying format.

 

[disciple1]

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?

but when I told my Christian friend about it, he said fiction is a form of lying

You can write any book you want, nowhere in the bible does it say that, that's wrong.
I myself don't find any book worth reading except the bible, I don't even read the paper, the bible I'm devoted to.

 

[Coleton Bryce Ritmanich]

Thanks for all of the replies!