Christian Action Novels

[HappyChristian]

If Phil 4:8 was the only thing in Scripture touching the subject - I would be 100% anti-fiction.

Jesus used "fiction" - parables, fictional (made-up) stories. Used for a purpose of conveying very real truth.

Example of historical fiction that is decidedly Christian - "Twice Freed". The story of Onesimus is historically accurate, the details of conversation and movement are author created.

Agreed!

[HappyChristian]

The best Christian fiction I know of would include "Pilgrim's Progress" and "The Holy War" by John Bunyan. They ARE fiction. "The Holy War" is a Christian Action Novel complete with warfare and casualties.

They are two books I could read over and over!

[Salyan]

This discussion reminds me of old ones with Annie! 

[HappyChristian]

This discussion reminds me of old ones with Annie! 

[Cancelled Membership]

Back during the 1980's I read Christian Action novels before

the words Christian and Action become mutally acceptable

in the same sentence.

 

"The Jordan Intercept"

 

"The Omega Document" and,

 

"The Rahab Link".

 

These novels featured two heroes, Alan Hunt born-again and

his unsaved Jewish partner Joshua Bain. Together they worked

as what we would call contractors, for the CIA, and occassionally,

the FBI. Their cover was a privately owned aviation service

somewhere in the California desert.

 

Trouble is, I forgot how these book plots went. All I remember is

the bad guys (and a few bad girls) got wasted by the good guys.

[Anon]

When I was a teenager, I LOVED reading the "Margo Mysteries" by Jerry B. Jenkins, one of his earliest (?) Christian mystery series. Geared more towards girls, I think. But I read those things over and over again. I think I still have my old, worn out copies.

[KiwiChristian]

There are two ways of looking at books, just as there are two ways of looking at music, movies or whatever.

 

One is the carnal way: how did this book/movie/song please me? How much was I entertained by it? How much was my flesh gratified by it? How well was it written and how did this affect the way I enjoyed it? What was the style? What was the main theme? Etc. You may prefer to use a word other than carnal, but I use that because when it all boils down to it, you're analysing that book/movie/song or whatever from the standpoint of how much it entertained and gratified your flesh.

 

The other is the spiritual way: did this book/movie/song glorify God? Did it edify my spirit? Did it make me think more about God, and the things of God, and how I should live? Did it present a solid Scriptural message, or was there mostly worldly language and activity with a little bit of Bible sprinkled on top to make it seem more "spiritual"? Did the characters behave in a God-honouring way (such as being respectful to their superiors, parents etc., keeping themselves pure, resisting temptation as far as possible), or did they walk after their own lusts and say that others should do likewise? Etc.

 

Once upon a time, I only used to look at books, movies, TV shows, music and so on from the carnal standpoint. But since being born again, I am looking at them increasingly from a spiritual standpoint and starting to come to very different conclusions about them quite often.

 

For example, I used to think a lot of TV shows were great. They were so funny, or so exciting, or just generally so entertaining, and I judged them by how much they gratified my flesh (and they gratified it a good deal). But now that the Lord has opened my eyes, I see the wickedness in them, the unholy lifestyles and ways of thinking being promoted, and now instead of craving them, I can barely stomach most of them. It's the same with rock and pop music. There was a time when I couldn't get enough of it, but now I see how spiritually toxic it is. I see how CCM, for all its "veneer of godliness", caters to the flesh every bit as much as secular rock does; it just throws enough of God in there so you can fool yourself into thinking you're being spiritual even while you sway your body to that sensual beat.

 

I've read a lot of books in my life, many secular (including some of the classics), and a number that were Christian, or at least purported to be so. I still read a lot, although I tend to read more Christian non-fiction these days. But I have a number of Christian novels by different authors: Brock and Bodie Thoene, Jack Cavanaugh, Ellen Gunderson Traylor, Paul Hutchens, Terri Blackstock and Frank Peretti. I also had most of the "Left Behind" books at one stage, but sold them in part because their theology was a bit questionable and in part because they were big bulky hardbacks and I needed to free up some room (for more books, naturally).

 

Paul Hutchens, as you might know, wrote the Sugar Creek Gang series of books. From a carnal standpoint, they tick boxes for being exciting (there is often quite a lot of danger for the boys) and funny at times. But I would rate them reasonably highly from a spiritual standpoint too. There's usually some good Biblical teaching in most of the books (although this seems to decrease as the series progresses). In some books, though not all, the Gospel is presented reasonably clearly. There is some strong preaching and teaching against assorted sins and social ills like alcoholism, gambling, racism and so on. The books can sometimes be very educational in general - nothing wrong with that. On the down side, the boys celebrate Halloween without seeming to be aware of its evil origins or caring that much, and a modern Bible version is used (although it's at least a fairly conservative translation). But on the whole, I think this is a reasonably safe series. Moreover, it depicts an America that is becoming an increasingly distant memory, although maybe that America still exists in parts of the heartland.

 

The Thoenes are best known for their historical fiction, in particular the Zion Chronicles and Zion Covenant series (there is now also the new Zion Diaries series). They have also written series set in the USA (Shiloh Legacy) and Ireland (Galway Chronicles). From a carnal standpoint, you can't really fault these books. They're very well written and highly suspenseful. Educational too, quite often. From a spiritual standpoint however, they have some issues. For one thing, Roman Catholicism is treated very sympathetically (especially in the Galway Chronicles). There is no hint of it being a false religion. It is basically treated as just another Christian denomination. For another thing, there is some very graphic violence in most of the books. People get shot, stabbed, blown up and otherwise brutally murdered. Not very edifying. Then there is all the romance, some of which can get quite steamy (OK, the steamier bits generally involved couples who are married, but do we really need to be privy to their marital intimacy?). There's not much clear presentation of the Gospel. Moreover, some of the theology can get a little weird at times, e.g. in the latest Zion Diaries book there is a suggestion that maybe some of the saints who rose from the dead when Jesus died on the cross are still alive today. Bodie Thoene herself seems to have rather Pentecostal leanings. On her Facebook page recently, she was talking about praying in some Bethel church in California, and when I looked this church up, it was very radically charismatic. So for all that the Thoenes' books are a great read (you can't put them down!), there are some quite serious problems with them from a spiritual perspective.

 

Jack Cavanaugh wrote the American Family Portrait series (8 books in that altogether) and has written other mostly historical fiction. Generally pretty well done. Offhand I can't remember enough about them to critique them Biblically. I know I really enjoyed reading them, but that doesn't necessarily make them sound.

 

Ellen Gunderson Traylor writes (or used to - not sure if she's still going) Biblical fiction, that is fictional novels involving Biblical characters and Biblical settings. Some of her books cover people like Noah, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Samson, Ruth, John, Mary Magdalene and one or two others. Now, from a carnal standpoint, these books are all great reads. But from a spiritual standpoint, I believe they are quite dangerous, because they introduce a lot of ideas that are not in the Bible, and if you're not careful, they could adversely influence your theology. There's a bit of sensual romance in there as well. So I really can't recommend them nowadays.

 

Frank Peretti is best known for his novels This Present Darkness and Piercing the Darkness. Are they great reads? Absolutely! Very exciting. But are they spiritually good? Hmm. Peretti's theology is pretty Pentecostal/Charismatic in nature. There's a lot of stuff in his books (particularly regarding the precise nature and organisation of angels and demons) that's not actually in the Bible. Still, they do kind of help make you aware of the very real dangers of the New Age, and the fact that there is a spiritual war going on all the time. Another book he wrote was Prophet. That was quite well done, but again, leaned in a Pentecostal sort of direction. I've also read The Oath and The Visitation by him, which frankly I didn't enjoy much even from a carnal standpoint. These are basically "Christian horror" novels, with a heavy emphasis on the supernatural, but very little Bible (from what I can recall).

 

I haven't actually read anything by Terri Blackstock yet, but I've bought a couple of her books on my Kindle.

 

Christian fiction that I can recommend wholeheartedly from a spiritual standpoint is anything written by the Castleberrys (see Castleberry Farm Press). Their Courtship Series, Farm Mystery Series and assorted one-off books are all excellent, very Biblical and use the King James Bible too. Mind you, there's the odd thing to fault even in these (for example, one book promotes Focus on the Family a little bit). But all in all, you can't go too far wrong with them, so if you want some good Biblically sound Christian fiction without an overabundance of worldliness, you'll struggle to find much better than the Castleberrys' stuff, although of course John Bunyan's classics The Pilgrim's Progress and The Holy War are also excellent in this respect.