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Theology in writing. What’s yours?
https://archive.holyworlds.org/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=10214		 Page 1 of 1
Author:  TheMadGodUnder [ August 23rd, 2019, 9:05 pm ]
Post subject:  Theology in writing. What’s yours?
What is your theology in the story, from your perspective or the characters? How do you treat gods, or the supernatural if ya got them?

Are they all fathers? Great mothers? Sacrificial? Moral and ethical? Emotional?

Inquisitive minds wish to know!
Author:  Domici [ August 25th, 2019, 4:56 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Theology in writing. What’s yours?
In the Domici War series, current and planned, God is referred to as "The Creator". In the 1429 YA series the main character's dad is a part time seminary professor. I am a fundamentalist, in the literal sense of the word, and weave that into the stories. Part of my goal is to present a loving God who people can actually have a relationship with.
Author:  Minstrelgirl451 [ September 18th, 2019, 12:11 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Theology in writing. What’s yours?
I haven't strayed very far into creating my own worlds, actually partly because of the theology. I can't really improve on perfection. ;) So, in my "fantasy" stories set on earth I may have dragons or other creatures or alter the earth in different ways, but I try to make sure that it works according to Biblical standards. For instance, perhaps an ancient manuscript in one of my countries was found to be a translation of the Bible. No missionaries actually went there in real life (since the country is, dare I say, not real) , but the scripture is the same.

In Lensbearers of Huargia I've set things in a rather allegorical style, substituting spiritual spiritual truths for more tangible things. Still, though, the scriptures I reference are the same. "Your word is a lamp to my feet" in a figurative sense becomes a literal light in a dark or evil place, etc. I'm still working on how to flesh out the story world, but the goal is to present Bible truths in a new way, so that we can see them with the wonder we had at first.

My current Science-fiction Christmas musical is similar. The consensus, according to an article I read by Dr. Jason Lisle, is that (in theory) one could travel forward in time, but he would not be able to come back. He gave both scientific and Biblical support, but I do have time travel in both directions in my story. It's fiction, and I rationalize my use of it in a way that doesn't conflict with scripture. (At least according to my understanding) :)

And you have used polytheistic cultures as your inspiration, correct? Or rather modern fantasy stories that follow that model?
Author:  kingjon [ September 18th, 2019, 7:05 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Theology in writing. What’s yours?
I have also, so far, tried to avoid inventing any theology :) as I take the truth of the Christian faith as a fundamental (but unspoken in my text) premise. The world in which my stories are primarily set is inhabited by descendants of people from our world who stumbled through portals thither, many of whom were Christians. The details of the structure of the Church as it developed there (and its position on any more-peripheral doctrinal questions) are still waiting for me to think them through :)

There are a few points of worldbuilding where my speculation arguably wanders away from strict orthodoxy (I take "witchcraft," "sorcery," and "magic" to be technical terms for forbidden forms of "applied metaphysics" and posit the existence of exactly one permitted form; that world also has a race that's like humanity in some ways and like angels in others;and some of the stories I've planned depend on the existence of worlds that are just like ours except that their history diverged at one point or another ...), but I'm trying to limit those. I also made significant changes to my plans for the sub-series set in our world's future when my understanding of eschatology was abruptly upended, to make their premise plausible to me again.
Author:  Alias Ember [ September 24th, 2019, 6:17 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Theology in writing. What’s yours?
Aye. Theology in writing is a tricky thing. My current project is set in our own world, which makes things a bit easier. Not entirely, though, as there is always the question of how much of one's own religion does one put into a story. I don't want to use my book just as platform to preach from, but that being said, I don't know how I could write something without putting my one and only hope in the universe into it. My POV character is not a Christian, but a lot of the characters she interacts with are. How much of that Christianity seeps out into the story remains to be seen, but I can assure that it will, because that's who my characters are, and who I am.

As for fantasy stories, there's one I also have in the works that I still haven't quite worked out the religious elements. The current world power, a country called El'helore, worships a sun god, Helore, (from whom they derive their name) who at this point in the fictional history has become mostly a political and cultural symbol. Helore is a false god, but whether there is any spiritual power behind his worship, I don't know. I've gone through multiple ideas of what the true theology to this world is, and I haven't settled on anything. I've always had in my mind for this story a group of powerful beings, which sometimes I've envisioned as size-shifting giants who people later made stories about and called gods, or as angel-like beings who serve one God, or as actual Gods who created the world.

The problem with theology in fantasy is that, as someone stated here before, it's hard to beat perfection. The Trinity is the best, most, amazing deity ever, and no writer can really improve on that. But in this story I don't want to have a Trinity, because, as Christians, we're very familiar with that, so I want to use something unfamiliar to make us take a deeper look at right and wrong, truth, and faith. Sort of like what C.S. Lewis did with Till We Have Faces, though I make no pretensions to be that good. And as you can tell, I still haven't figured out how I'm going to pull that off.
Author:  Riniel Jasmina [ September 28th, 2019, 3:01 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Theology in writing. What’s yours?
Actually, I really like to keep mine Biblical, even in a fantasy world. It really changes the way we see things. For example, I was thinking the other day when I was watching Pilgrim's Progress that dragons are so often depicted as breathing fire when in Scripture, it is Christ who is said to have a flaming sword in His mouth. With dragons being a symbol of evil in Scripture, I wondered if that breathing of fire could be another way of using their power to try to subvert the glory and godhood of God. So I try to see even the fantasy elements through a Biblical lens. What if a repentant dragon decides to give up breathing fire? That sort of thing. I really can't get away from the fact that God is the God of everything, the world or any other.
Author:  TheMadGodUnder [ October 2nd, 2019, 9:43 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Theology in writing. What’s yours?
Minstrelgirl451 wrote:

And you have used polytheistic cultures as your inspiration, correct? Or rather modern fantasy stories that follow that model?


You asking about my theology in my world?
Author:  Minstrelgirl451 [ October 2nd, 2019, 10:37 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Theology in writing. What’s yours?
TheMadGodUnder wrote:
Minstrelgirl451 wrote:

And you have used polytheistic cultures as your inspiration, correct? Or rather modern fantasy stories that follow that model?


You asking about my theology in my world?


Yes. ;) Looking back, I need to learn to write straightforward sentences! :rofl: The way you contrasted my writing style is hilarious! (Was that intentional? If so, great job! If not, it's likely sleep-deprivation kicking in... :blush: ) And asking what stories or sources have influenced/inspired your theology.
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