Beauty In Dark Fantasy

- A Christian Defense For Fantasy - Pt 2

What is it in a story that draws us in? For some, it's historical, others say mystery. And some, like me, it's fantasy. And yes, I've heard the statements by others saying fantasy is evil, it promotes witchcraft, etc. I could easily make you nervous by using the Bible to show the correlation between a Jewish priest's ephod they wore around their necks as a means of communication between them and God.... and how it's not unique. It's also used by pagans for the same exact reason. In those circles, that would be considered....MAGIC.

Before we all get into a fit of hysteria, I want to simply point out, there's much more behind fantasy than just promoting magic and witches. I pointed out before that George MacDonald, the 18th century Scottish pastor, wrote an essay on defending why he wrote fantasy. He wrote that sometimes, ideas and themes are easier to explore when you take away the limits real life puts on the subject. Fantasy can become the vehicle of which we explore big ideas and themes without the constraints we find in life. There is nothing wrong with imagination. God gave us this gift. It's how we invent things. It was first an imaginary idea.

I want to propose something more. Dark Fantasy can be a vehicle as well to explore themes. Darkness in and of itself is neither good or bad. It's not something given moral value to. It's the ideas within that determines the value. Night is dark but is it bad? Of course not. In fact, night time can be one of the most beautiful things to explore. Why? The stars! It's this contrast of dark and light that is enhanced because of the consuming dark. The light stands out.

The same can be said of dark fantasy in that when done right, the characters we come to love live within a dark reality and face difficult situations. But then the light of hope shines and we cheer for the character to overcome, more so because the themes presented are heart wrenching.

I know people read fantasy to escape the real world. But there are times when fantasy can take you on a journey of truth and self reflection within some of the darkest places.

Traumatic abuse, rape, extreme violence... the ideas that can be explored inside a dark fantasy isn't very limited. It can span many different avenues and make for an interesting storyline.

A good story, however, doesn't try to just write a good plot. It presents a message. I think, at heart, every author does this without even trying. There will always be part of the author's core beliefs within the story told because it's from the author's imagination that is built around principles.

For the Christian author, one could ask, what consists of dark writing that is acceptable? What isn't?

Personally, I think this varies for the reader. Everyone is on the same journey but not every path taken looks the same. Our stories are not identical. There are those of us who have been abused and the reading of such things are just too painful. Others have had an easy life in this area so it has no real impact. We are all different and things affect us differently.

With this said, I believe there's a place dark fantasy can serve as the "In whatever you do, do to the glory of God."

It is precisely the darkness that can enhance the glory of God's truth and love just like the blackness of night highlights the moon and stars.

If we present a picture that is easy on the eyes and aren't challenging, we don't give too much attention to it but a passing glance. But if the picture is detailed and within the framework we are drawn to, we aren't going to walk by but pause and ponder. This is where dark fantasy can shine for a Christian author.

Let me illustrate this by switching the arena for a second to real life.

Steiger International is a global missionary group started by David Pierce and his wife. What's the connection? David Pierce started as part of a ministry team in Amsterdam, standing on the bridges in the 1980's having absolutely no influence. In fact, they stirred up hatred. Nobody listened to them at all. It was a time where the streets were run by gangs and society as a whole hated the church. The church had sided with the government that the people disagreed with heavily and so became the enemy of the people as well. Christians were given a bad reputation. And in this period of time, the streets were littered with needles, drugs, prostitutes in the red light district.

David writes in his book, "The Rock Priest", he realized he and everyone else had no effect whatsoever so with a few friends, went into the fields outside the city and prayed all night for God to reveal to them what to do. And in so doing, God gave David an answer. But the answer was insane.

The answer was art. In fact, it was very specific at first. He was to form a band, reach out to the local people in the nightclubs, understand what was the most pressing matters people had. He wasn't going to find this going to church. He had to go where the people were. That meant in the bars, in the streets, in the nightclubs where people hung out.

And what came about was "No Longer Music" consisting of rock or punk rock as was the style of the day combined with theater. The stories surrounding this group is nothing but astounding, the places they have gone to, were invited to play in. These places made the group fast and pray day and night before they even traveled. They were fearful of going but being this was an invitation and God was faithful, they obeyed and played at some of the hardest anti-God places in the world. They were literally a light in the darkest of places. And their conviction and obedience paid off big time.

They are now a global ministry that travels across the world with campuses everywhere. Their main goal is to equip the churches with the tools to reach the youth. And these tools are primarily in the area of art and imagination. This is key, as David points out time and again. The vehicle most responsive to when Jesus, when presented in artistic form like theater, flash mobs, music. One of David's first theatrical acts was to have a group follow behind as someone dragged a coffin down the middle of Amsterdam's streets. This drew the attention of a bigger crowd. When at a certain point, David jumps out of the coffin dressed in dead man's clothes and they proceed to have a conversation. Another time, he partnered with a play company.

People from outside the church have a much different view than Christians. We tend to forget they aren't going to crack open a Church door anytime soon. But they will go see something artistic. And for many today, the darker the art, the better. We aren't in the church age of America. We are in a pagan land with an ever increasing pagan view that keeps getting darker.

Artistically, Christian fiction will never reach a major portion of people, especially those of this generation. They are like Amsterdam in the 80's where Christianity is a curse word.

To combat this, we need to meet them where they're at. And that's not in a church setting! It's in the arts. It's in the pagan lands of their minds.

The truth is, the Church has for centuries, did a disservice by stifling the content of the Bible. We don't hear what the early church fathers actually said about this stuff. And yet, they had much to say. They affirmed what was already in the Bible but never touched. In seminary classrooms, I know for a fact that when it comes to discussing angels and demons, it's almost non-existent.

And yet, this is exactly the world we live in today with emphasis added. But the church has either sidestepped or wandered into the weird or fallen in step with the world. The true church, those who actually care what the biblical text says, needs to get into the scholarly material. We need to rediscover what we lost.

To this end, I'd recommend beginning with Michael Heiser. I can't emphasize this enough. The world around us is growing darker by the day and as a church, we've left it up to others to decide our fate because of ignorance.

We face a spiritual war every day but it seems the enemy doesn't need to hide anymore. They can walk in daylight without fear. The church lost its' fangs in the USA.

Might I suggest we understand what it is we are up against instead of burying our heads in the sand? Know your enemy!

The truth is, the Biblical text is much deeper, much more supernatural than you are led to believe. And it has deep ties with pagan people. The imagery used within the Old Testament will shock you once you understand the worldview. It's not words that are alien to everyone else but very familiar to the point nobody would have trouble understanding what was said. It drew on ideas and themes already known throughout the known world. And a lot of these ideas are steeped in very dark practices. Some of these stories presented in the Bible aren't PG. They are rated R with heavy emphasis on evil deeds that make modern storytelling a children's story.

Why are Christians afraid then to write of dark things? The world is dark! Stop pretending it's not by writing all cookie-cutter friendly content! The church is already looked on as a joke. We need to retake the reigns of how we're viewed by stop pretending we're weak. Write dark things with Jesus the blinding truth at the heart of the story. The darker the plot, the more He shines with powerful truth.

Testimonies like my own are exactly this. I was at one point the enemy of God with a vengeance. I hated Him and saw the world as something that needed to be burned. I craved death and to cause pain. I lived in the darkness like a blanket. All the while, I wished for death myself, was suicidal and miserable. But I couldn't bring myself to see God as a Father of love. It took me to the brink of life and murder for God to miraculously give me a hundredth chance out of second chances. My story is of coming from darkness to light and it includes praying to Satan, supernatural aspects of a dark nature. Are Churches even allowing such testimonies anymore or is that too contradictory to modern traditions?

But in a dark fantasy setting, it works perfect. If we can write true life in a fantasy setting, a lot of this would include some very dark scenes to make it truer to life. Because in the end, this is a supernatural story and the antagonists are very, very evil.

My aim in writing my short story, "The Ansville Gatehouse", is to introduce the reader into a world of darkness that could possibly be on par with Genesis 6. As in the days of Noah...the saying goes for some today. I play on this idea with ideas based on reality and some speculation. But in the end it's fantasy. But the heart of the story is the heart of two central people.

In a dystopian future Earth, Daren Cole doesn't know the truth of his own heritage. All he knows is that his parents died brutally as Christians and that made them fools and God an uncaring murderer in his eyes. He doesn't know what to believe other than that life is pain and misery.

Alicia Alcorin is on the run from persuers of her own family. At their hands, she was horribly abused as a child, a ritual sacrifice to their gods. She had done some evil things in her own life as part of following her family's footsteps. But an encounter with a forbidden God changes her future.

But a lifetime of abuse and pain doesn't magically change one's view on life, especially one born out of traumatic violent abuse.

The reader is introduced to Daren and Alicia as broken people. Their lives are shattered like everyone else's and the elite and powerful rule like gods.

As the story progresses though, we see that Daren's parents have influenced him as he is different and Alicia can see this. Their relationship is turbulent at first as Alicia trusts no men. There are scenes that are violent, sometimes disturbing. But at the core of the plot is the journey of two hearts.

And of a God who reveals His heart and purpose for them.

The whole premise of this story is to show a dark dystopian future that is almost hopeless. The light of hope and the One behind this hope burns through the lives of those broken.

In conclusion, I want to ask, have we addressed our current age and what's behind all the crazy things going on? Are we even entertaining the idea of write on it? If so, how can we if the church never addresses the supernatural powers? Sure, we have Satan as an enemy. But he is not God, is not everywhere at the same time. But somehow, we paint this picture all the time as though he's on par with God Himself. He isn't.

And the Bible sheds a ton of light on this aspect of spiritual warfare. Who is the Prince of Persia the angel tells Daniel he fought? Who was behind Pharoh's magicians doing magic? In the New Testament, Paul affirms we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against powers of darkness. He didn't say we wrestle just Satan but RULERS. These spiritual forces are spirits who rule the nations. What more are we missing? This and more are very dark aspects of life that is showing itself more and more.

I for one, intend on showing them for what they really are in a dark and disturbing world they rule. And yet, in the end, they are only pretenders as God is on His throne and ruler of all. And in love, He sees us and calls us to be adopted heirs of His own.

Mind blown!