Christian Fiction- different or the same?
When I first came across the idea of Christian fiction it was in a Christian bookshop. I was attracted to the cover- a dragon curled up with one eye open- as it reminded me of the sort of books I liked to read. It didn't really matter to me that the author of Dragonspell was a Christian, or that there was a Christian anaology within the pages. What attracted me to Donita K. Paul's work was simply the fantasy world which she had created.
Its easy to forget that C.S. Lewis was a Christian when we look at the popularity of the Narnia tales. These two are a fantastical allegory. And yet they are taken at face value by so many non-Christians and, indeed, have truly become mainstream novels. So far in fact that, when one youngster at one church saw 'The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe' on their messy church bookshelf he went as far as questionning that it had anything at all to do with Christianity.
And yet, Christian fiction is often considered to be something very different from that which the general populace read. When I first went looking for books with a Christian message to read I was shocked by the lack of ones that interested me. Most seemed to be filled with 2-dimensional characters whose message about God was shouted at the reader in defiance of any relevance to real life. Go to many Christian bookshops in the UK today and, sadly, you will still find too many (in my opinion) of these books- if you find any Christian fiction at all!
But, gladly, there is some fiction out there which just happens to be Christian. I guess there always has been, its just that few have known about it. I'm glad that authors such as Ray Ellis for being willing to put a little realism alongside a Christian message within their writing. And I hope that I will soon discover more books that do the same.
Do you know of any?
