In December, I wrote a post about the joys of reading nonfiction. Everyone can benefit from good nonfiction, but there are many delights in reading fiction too.
I have always loved novels, and I still enjoy a good page turner that can take me to some new and interesting place. There are so many fun stories in the world!
Enjoying fiction is one great reason to read fictional stories. God has given us many wonderful things in this world that we can enjoy. Our greatest delight should be found in God, but enjoying what He has made can show our love for Him!
Even fictional stories that the authors “create” come from God. We can never invent something that God has not already made. Even imaginary worlds and creatures are created for our minds by God! There is nothing that we can think up that He hasn’t already thought of. Isn’t that amazing?
But fiction is not just for enjoyment. It has other value as well.
There is something that Christians like to call “The Cultural Mandate” or the “Creation Mandate.” 1 To very briefly summarize, it is the command to “Be fruitful and multiply, to fill the earth and subdue it.”
When God created the garden of Eden, there were three types of trees: those that were good for food, those that were pleasing to the eye, and the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
But what does this have to do with reading books? One aspect of the cultural mandate is that we should cultivate culture that is full of goodness, beauty, and truth (like the three types of trees God put in the garden). The desire and ability for culture, goodness, truth, and beauty are ways we are different from animals and shows that we are made in the image of God. They are one way we fill and subdue the earth and one way we worship God.2
Stories are a big part of every culture, and fictional stories portray goodness, truth, and beauty in ways that are different than nonfiction.
In his book The Christian Imagination, Leland Ryken explores why Christians should read and write fiction.3 While this book does not specifically talk about the cultural mandate or “Goodness, Truth, and Beauty,” many of the ideas below are taken from points made in the book.
Fiction portrays truth. Every story contains universal truths. Whether a story is written by a Christian or not, it will contain truth, because we are all made in the image of God and we know what is right and what is wrong. The amazing thing about fiction is that by definition it is not true but it is full of truth. History tells us what happened, philosophy tells us what should happen, but stories tell us what happens. Stories tell us that though there are dragons, there are also brave knights; though there are evil kings, there are also strong heroes; though there are dark tunnels, there is always a light.
Fiction can clarify real life by separating us from it. We may not be in a world of hobbits, elves, and rings, but we can certainly see that too often we too “Don’t want any adventures here, thank you very much.” We would rather stay in our comfy little life than pursue the joy and growth that comes from every kind of adventure.
Fiction is beautiful. This why we love stories, isn’t it? They activate our imaginations and the childlike spirit in all of us. It’s why we want to create and see what others have created. Because God has given us a sense of what is beautiful. The amazing thing about books is that you can combine a story that is beautiful and writing that is beautiful. Some people are more gifted in one area or another, but so many authors are well loved both because their stories are intriguing and their prose eloquently delivers their story. It takes time and effort to create something of beauty, but beauty has much worth.
Fiction is good. I saved this one for last, because in the cultural mandate, what makes something good is how full of truth and beauty it is. So while all fiction may have some goodness, truth, and beauty, not all fiction is created equal. If a book is “bad” is is probably because we either didn’t like the content (it was in some way untruthful) or it was delivered badly (it was not beautiful).
There are literally thousands of books out there, and many of them could be described as “good.” So how do we choose? Well, for one, we can only read books we know about, and second, we should read what interests us. There are many important and truthful themes to explore and many different ways to portray beauty. With so many books out there, we should choose to read only the best books. The ones that are the most truthful and the most beautiful are the most worth our time.
- Edgar, William. The Creation Mandate. The Gospel Coalition. https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/essay/the-creation-mandate/ ↩︎
- Voddie Baucham. #WieldTheSword: Culture. Founders Ministries. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXneDMa9gbA ↩︎
- Ryken, Leeland. The Christian Imagination: The Practice of Faith in Literature and Writing. Waterbrook Press. ↩︎