M. D. Boncher
Well-known member
- Dec 9, 2021
- 579
- 641
This is why I'm leaning into the label that's been thrown on me: Dark Christian Fantasy.
I'm not writing about pristine squeaky clean constantly repenting and making the right choice characters that I see in the vast majority of Christian fiction. Or the everyone is redeemed in the end because they see the light of salvation. My protagonists are zealous in their walk with God and yet still sin, still think they did the right thing, and still struggle with doubt, fear and whether they made the right choice despite evidence of it all laying at their feet.
I'm running right at subjects of spiritual warfare, discernment, church corruption, racism, genocide, apostacy, betrayal, and inter-Nicene strife. Not subjects that people who want light entertainment want to touch on. But then again, how often do I see this being played out in current Christian fiction where it hasn't been utterly sanitized, ultra-pasteurized and homogenized for the reader's protection? Almost never. I want raw grit. The stuff I feel when dealing with these issues. The dirt of my faith under my fingernails. When the shadows are this dark, the light is so much brighter.
I'm actually working on a presentation (slowly) on the idea of "Story before Sermon" for when I start doing live events because this is one of the most key elements for every storyteller right now in this world of dogmatic chaos and artistic sophistry. Any philosophy or faith that puts their sermon and evangelism before the story will die on the vine to everyone but the most ardent true believers of that dogma. But everyone will open their minds and imaginations to good storytelling and entertainment if that is the primary focus of the creator.
I'm not writing about pristine squeaky clean constantly repenting and making the right choice characters that I see in the vast majority of Christian fiction. Or the everyone is redeemed in the end because they see the light of salvation. My protagonists are zealous in their walk with God and yet still sin, still think they did the right thing, and still struggle with doubt, fear and whether they made the right choice despite evidence of it all laying at their feet.
I'm running right at subjects of spiritual warfare, discernment, church corruption, racism, genocide, apostacy, betrayal, and inter-Nicene strife. Not subjects that people who want light entertainment want to touch on. But then again, how often do I see this being played out in current Christian fiction where it hasn't been utterly sanitized, ultra-pasteurized and homogenized for the reader's protection? Almost never. I want raw grit. The stuff I feel when dealing with these issues. The dirt of my faith under my fingernails. When the shadows are this dark, the light is so much brighter.
I'm actually working on a presentation (slowly) on the idea of "Story before Sermon" for when I start doing live events because this is one of the most key elements for every storyteller right now in this world of dogmatic chaos and artistic sophistry. Any philosophy or faith that puts their sermon and evangelism before the story will die on the vine to everyone but the most ardent true believers of that dogma. But everyone will open their minds and imaginations to good storytelling and entertainment if that is the primary focus of the creator.
