Note: This article, my first ever piece of published commentary on any topic, appeared in the Bob Jones University student newspaper, The Collegian (Vol 12, No 7), for which I was a staff writer my third and final undergraduate year. I don’t remember writing the piece, and if I had not had the opportunity recently to peruse the bound back issues of The Collegian at the university library, it would have remained forgotten. It is a good snapshot of my mindset during that period in my life, and the core issue of avoiding moral poison while interacting with fictional worlds has continued to be of interest to me, especially in the context of video games and shows. My current feelings toward shows like Game of Thrones and The Idol closely track my feelings then towards Anne Rice and Stephen King. (I have reduced the number of paragraphs in the original to better suit the wider columns of this format.) (DL, June 6, 2023).
Almost everybody likes to settle in with a good book every once in a while and forget the frustrations of the day. A well-written book paints a picture for our imagination in a way few things can. Unfortunately, while enjoying the pleasures books have to offer, we sometimes drop our guard and forget to consider what we read. As Dr. Bob pointed out in chapel recently, the world likes to hide its philosophy in sentimental packages that even Christians may find appealing. While this is an often-noted problem with Hollywood films, it’s equally so with worldly books.
Every Sunday The New York Times publishes its bestseller list, a listing of the 15 most sought after titles currently in bookstores. This last week, Anne Rice and Stephen King both had another bestseller near the top of that list, a fact that Christians should find disturbing though not surprising. Unfortunately, too often Christians look to the same books for their leisure reading as the rest of the world.
We know that the blasphemous language peppering the pages of John Grisham and Tom Clancy is completely unfit for our use. But many objectionable elements are more subtle. Philosophical errors like those found in many of today’s most popular fantasy novels that present a world where evil is just as powerful and appropriate as good can make a book inappropriate for a Christian’s recreational reading.
Some Christians dismiss such objectionable elements as nothing more than disagreeable parts of the story that they’ll ignore. After all, it’s only a story. While this is true, sin is still sin, and our attitude toward fictional sin affects our attitude toward real-life sin. When it is handled properly, God uses this relationship between written sin and real sin to teach us valuable lessons. By presenting sin in a negative light in Scripture, God teaches us how to respond before we meet sin face to face. We don’t have to learn by personal experience that a particular way of life is harmful.
Leisure reading can have genuine benefits; but in order for us to profit from what we read, we have to read critically for objectionable elements and respond to them correctly. J. R. R. Tolkien was a scholar-author who treated his evil characters from a Christian perspective. The story of the origin of evil in his fictional world is very similar to the scriptural account of Satan’s fall, and throughout his works evil actions are presented in a condemning light. His fantasy narratives are well worth reading.
In “The Good Earth,” by Pearl S. Buck, the selfish protagonist consistently chooses to fulfill his own lusts. As he achieves monetary success, he begins to indulge himself more and more. The behavior depicted is not glorifying to God, but by reading about the harmful results of that behavior, the discerning reader can appreciate an important lesson on the danger of living for self.
There are limits to what is acceptable, however, and there comes a point where a responsible Christian reader must recognize the objectionable elements in a book as too explicit or too gratuitous for his consumption. The satanic elements in Anne Rice and the explicit immorality in many romance books do not teach any valuable lessons. They are inducements to what they depict.
“Now set your heart and your soul to seek the LORD your God.” King David’s admonition in I Chronicles 22:19 is applicable to our attempts to channel our pleasure reading in a way that honors the Lord. If we truly desire to please our God, and if we seek him in his word, he will give us the discernment necessary to have a proper appreciation of the things we read.