Talk:Christian novel/Archive 1

This is an archive of past discussions about Christian novel. Do not edit the contents of this page. If you wish to start a new discussion or revive an old one, please do so on the current talk page.

Archive 1

Definition

this is just the definition of christian applied to novel. there is nothing wikipedia worthy about this entry. Magdela 19:47, 15 February 2006 (UTC)

Expansion

I've expanded this article a bit more, while still keeping most of the material that was originally there. I'm not quite sure that "Christian fiction" or "Christian novel" are well-defined terms, though. Radagast3 (talk) 01:27, 11 April 2009 (UTC)

Author list

I don't think we need the list of authors, particularly as it's (a) unsorted, (b) not wikified, and (c) massively incomplete.

It could perhaps go to a "list of Christian authors" page, but I doubt we could ever get agreement on inclusion criteria. Radagast3 (talk) 12:49, 11 August 2009 (UTC)

Thank you Louis.manuel for creating the two list articles. I have completed the job by merging the list material from this article into those two. Radagast3 (talk) 11:59, 13 August 2009 (UTC)

Other novels by Christians

Perhaps there is a gradient from "Christian novel" to "novel with Christian themes" to "novel used by a Christian author to bring out certain points about life". Having read LOTR eight times, I must confess that I struggle to find anything specifically Christian in it. It seems more mythological or fantastic than a simple resurrection (which presumably a Catholic would find blasphemous).

Could we call Swiss Family Robinson a Christian novel, or is it just that the family happen to be a parson whose entire family prays and thanks God a lot? I tried to call them a Christian family but was reverted here and there.

One might even question whether all 7 stories in the Narnia Chronicles are Christian. I daresay most of these stories were written by a Christian author, for Christian children, but perhaps not specifically as "Christian stories", although The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe drew more than a few specific parallels to Christ and his resurrection.— Preceding unsigned comment added by Ed Poor (talk • contribs)

It seems like what you are struggling with is how to include your own personal views or interpretations in the piece. What you should be doing is researching for reliable sources discussing the matter and using that to expand the subject of the article. You know around here it doesn't matter what we may personally feel after reading a piece of literature, but what has been written about it by WP:RELIABLE sources. You were an admin here at one time Ed, you know what our policies are. He iro 04:36, 1 January 2012 (UTC)

No, if I'm struggling at all it may be to distinguish between what I honestly consider to be common knowledge and what I know to be my own opinion. Many other Wikipedians have the same difficulty.

The biggest problem we have cooperating on controversial topics is that no one recognizes their own, unconscious bias.

I don't want any of my personal views included in this or any other piece; I want solid, factual information, or at least reliably sourced "outside opinion" (i.e., the POVs of non-Wikipedians). Note that "Editing from a neutral point of view (NPOV) means representing fairly, proportionately, and as far as possible without bias, all significant views that have been published by reliable sources." (see WP:NPOV) --Uncle Ed (talk) 18:12, 1 January 2012 (UTC)

Several years ago just before kindle, I read a book by a Christian young woman. I would love to buy the book. Would telling part of the story would be enough to find it. This young woman had won some title from the Christian community and her mother in law. Would this be impossible?

Delia2019 (talk) 07:11, 31 March 2019 (UTC)

WorldCat Genres

Hello, I'm working with OCLC, and we are algorithmically generating data about different Genres, like notable Authors, Book, Movies, Subjects, Characters and Places. We have determined that this Wikipedia page has a close affintity to our detected Genere of christian-fiction. It might be useful to look at [1] for more information. Thanks. Maximilianklein (talk) 23:05, 5 December 2012 (UTC)

External links modified

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recent disputes

In November of 2020 I edit the page to (a) make clear that "Christian novels" is a publishing term used for a certain species of Protestant Evangelical fiction, and (b) to flesh out the section on Christian novels which are not from this genre (much as one would distinguish category romance from the broader one of romantic relationships in fiction), for example, by referencing authors like Leo Tolstoy or Harriet Beecher Stowe. I added many examples, only to have them all reverted by another editor, citing unnamed Wikipedia policies. Most of my edits are below: EDIT: Or just click here: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Christian_novel&oldid=989971284

A Christian novel is any novel that expounds and illustrates a Christian world view in its plot, its characters, or both, or which deals with Christian themes in a positive way. In contemporary English-language publishing, a "Christian novel" (or "Christian fiction") is assumed to carry an Evangelical Protestant message.

(contents)

Christian novels have a rich tradition in Europe, which goes back several centuries, and draws on past Christian allegorical literature, such as Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy and John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress and The Holy War. The fiction of Herman Melville (Dutch Reformed), Nathaniel Hawthorne (unaffiliated, raised Puritan), Leo Tolstoy (an Orthodox Christian with Christian pacifist leanings), and Fyodor Dostoevsky (Orthodox) includes some of the greatest examples of Christian fiction, broadly conceived. Twentieth century proponents of the Christian novel in English include J.R.R. Tolkien (Catholic), G. K. Chesterton (Catholic), C.S. Lewis (Anglican), Graham Greene (Catholic), Evelyn Waugh (Catholic), Madeleine L'Engle (Episcopalian), and Mary Doria Russell (raised Catholic, converted to Judaism). Although allegory no longer predominates, noteworthy exceptions include Lewis' The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (in which the lion Aslan represents Christ) and L'Engle's A Live Coal in the Sea (which explicitly references Piers Plowman).[2]

Many novels with Christian themes also fall into specific mainstream fiction genres. For example, J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings is viewed as mainstream fantasy, while Julian May's Galactic Milieu Series is viewed as mainstream science fiction, in spite of the references to the work of Jesuit priest Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. Similarly, G. K. Chesterton's Father Brown stories are mainstream detective fiction, even though the main character is a Catholic priest.

A number of novels feature Christian characters, settings and themes, but would not be considered "Christian novels," perhaps because they are insufficiently didactic, or primarily critical of religion, or because secular themes predominate. In Huckleberry Finn, for example, Mark Twain (an irreligious Presbyterian) has his protagonist curse God for allowing the institution of slavery. "Uncle Tom" of Uncle Tom's Cabin, by Harriet Beecher Stowe (Congregationalist), is a devout Christian who is motivated to endure torture by the example of Jesus; the novel's Abolitionist message contains a clear appeal to Christian religiosity. More recently, The Thorn Birds, by Colleen McCullough (Catholic), features a love affair between a priest and a laywoman, and references the parables of Jesus and the Crown of Thorns in its title. Octavia E. Butler (not religious, raised Baptist) borrows the names of two parables for the titles of her books, in which Christian teachings evolve into a future spiritual message called Earthseed. Stephen Kumalo, the devout protagonist of Cry the Beloved Country, by Alan Paton (Anglican), is a Zulu Anglican priest; the novel is celebrated for its depiction of South Africa under apartheid. Silence, by Shūsaku Endō (Catholic), is a fictionalized version of events from the suppression of Christianity in Tokugawa Japan, and is a meditation on the "silence of God" in the face of human suffering. The novels of Andrew Greeley (a Catholic priest) and Morris West (Catholic) challenge institutional religiosity, even as they suggest a deeper, more honest faith. Much the same could be said of The Word, by Irving Wallace (Jewish). The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood (agnostic), is set in a future Protestant dystopia and is often read as anti-religious, although its narrator-protagonist, Offred, privately prays (using language from the Lord's Prayer). The Exorcist, a novel by William Peter Blatty (Catholic) about demonic possession, was marketed and received as horror fiction, despite its apparently genuine details and positive message and ending.

In the last few decades the existence of a conservative Christian (and more specifically, Evangelical Protestant) subculture, particularly in anglophone North America [...]

So, what exactly are we disagreeing about? --Dawud — Preceding unsigned comment added by 1.169.24.199 (talk) 01:54, 22 November 2020 (UTC)