Silver Saint said:
I do not mean to break in unannounced with contradiction, but I had to make my thoughts known.
The vampires we all grew up with, while entertaining, are not scripturally sound creatures at all; they cannot exist. This fact alone is the biggest turn off for me any time they're involved with horror: any fear they create is irrational, and doesn't survive logical scrutiny. Same with the noble, ageless, angst that people romanticize them with nowadays.
No one, not even God himself, can alter the nature of a thing (God by his choosing, not inability).
As far as our fascination with the vampire, I believe that we fear something that is more human then ourselves. A vampire most certainly is, if you take 'human' to mean sinful nature. A creature who has everything that you have, plus a strength and ruthlessness to affect you whether you like it or not. That being said, that a vampire should be overwhelmingly human brings me to my next point.
A man cannot ever be anything other than a man, because to do so would be to end the original creation. A man can choose what to be, but he can never 'be' as a demon is. By this I mean the transformations and the like. Now, a demon in human form is one thing, and I don't doubt that happens from time to time. Why not? But the idea that anyone can be turned into a creature like the ones discussed here is pointless writing. It has been my experience that we are to be creators of 'what if's, not 'if only's. Writing about things that God would never allow to exist is a form of disobedience, for why imagine something that is contrary to the nature of all that is good? It can only be evil. I say this tentatively, of course, because then there's the whole 'How do you know God's will?' or 'Who are you to discern creation?' arguments, but I don't think we want to get into that today.
I say all this in the hope that you might take what you can from them. I do not mean to sound cold, or damning, though I often come across that way. I speak as if I believe what I am talking about, because... Well, what other way is there?
I do, however, have a work in progress that takes everything I've said here to heart. I've gotten a lot of good responses in the college I'm attending, and hope to have the book published by the end of next year. I'd be glad to let you judge for yourselves, but I'd rather have my name in print before I give anyone in the general public access to the ideas that are to be my livelihood. You understand, of course. But as you've no doubt noticed, I'd love to debate the core of the issue to resolution if you so wish.
Go with God.
I am Aware,
Christopher
When you wrote:
No one, not even God himself, can alter the nature of a thing
I immediately thought of the new birth. If being born again is not having your nature altered, I don't know what is.
The vampire is a Satanic counterfeit of that miracle. God has given us an innate desire for immortality. If we are not seeking God or don't believe He can give us eternal life, we try other ways to fulfill our God-given desires, even if it is only in the fantasies of our minds. I hope my book will reach that audience and turn them to the true immortality of Christ.
It is also an evil counterfeit of the Resurrection. I was on a website on Easter and somebody referred to "zombie Jesus."
If we must not write about things that cannot be, what does that "cannot" encompass? Some people have condemned me for writing fantasy simply because it is not real life. Well, no fiction is. All fiction is fantasy, in that sense. Jesus told stories about sheep and goats that talked. Joseph shared dreams about sheeves of wheat bowing in obesience to another sheef of wheat and heavenly bodies doing even more impossible things. Surely fantasy has its uses! But I do agree that we need to pray, search the scriptures, and check our consciences about our writing, preferably before we write it. I've learned that the hard way!
RE:
a strength and ruthlessness to affect you whether you like it or not.
It does bother me to imagine a creature who can make you evil against your will. I believe we have free choice, and I think that needs to be taken into account in fiction. What if an element of choice is involved in becoming a vampire? That would better represent the reality of humanity and evil. But at the same time, we really don't have free choice in the sense that we are all born with the sin nature. We are, in a way, all vampires. It is our nature to take more than we can give. We have a deep need that we try to get from others, but really only God can fulfill it. If you look at it that way, the vampire can be humanity under a microscope.
Regarding
A man can choose what to be, but he can never 'be' as a demon is.
Thinking of vampires as reanimated corpses, people have sometimes thought of them as containing the original soul. Why it would be dead still if its soul had returned doesn't make sense to me. Others have believed that it is a demon who inhabits the body. We know they can do so with live humans. I hate to think they can do so with dead ones, but can we know it's impossible? If they do, they are not the human that inhabited the body at all but may deceive people to believe they are--just like they do in the form of "ghosts." It's possible the vampires that people reported seeing, etc., were demons making such appearances.
You wrote:
By this I mean the transformations and the like. Now, a demon in human form is one thing, and I don't doubt that happens from time to time. Why not? But the idea that anyone can be turned into a creature like the ones discussed here is pointless writing.
My response:
We know that a live human being can be possessed by a demon and that he can act like a demon. This is certainly one of Satan's aims. Whether transformation into animals is possible I prefer to doubt, but some people in the occult claim it happens. How can we know for sure what demons can drag people into if they commit themselves to the demons? Especially if they are willing and wanting to do these things. I don't know. I haven't done a lot of research into the subject. Being wise as a serpent and innocent as a dove is a tall order when it comes to learning about the occult, because it can open me up to powers that give me problems.
The following is confusing to me:
It has been my experience that we are to be creators of 'what if's, not 'if only's. Writing about things that God would never allow to exist is a form of disobedience, for why imagine something that is contrary to the nature of all that is good? It can only be evil.
My response:
Is not Satan contrary to the nature of all that is good? And yet he does exist. If we are forbidden to write about him, we can't write much that matters in this world, and we have to throw the Bible itself away, because it tells about Satan.
I'm afraid your argument gets muddy at this point. It feels to me more like the old "You can't write fantasy because it's not real, so it's evil" regardless of any specific criteria to judge the subject matter. We definitely should judge our subject matter. I gave up two fantasy serieses because I could not in good conscience write of the good guys performing magic, which is strictly forbidden in the Bible. I prayed a long time for inspiration for fiction that would uphold and not go against God's principles. I feel God gave me the dream for the vampire story and the opportunity to communicate a Christian message through it. Of course you have a right to your opinion on it, and you also don't know the details of what my vampires are and are like. But your insights are still valuable to me, and if you have more to say about this, I would like to hear it.
As for your current writing project, best blessings on it. I understand your not wanting to divulge the plot before publication. I worry that I've said too much about my own stuff. But if I don't divulge some of the information to some people, I feel I won't get the help I need with it and know what I need to know about marketing it.
You are a very good thinker for a 19-year-old, by the way! Keep it up. But do let the Spirit lead and balance your heart with your head. Without love, we are nothing. Thanks.
