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Re: Does Fantasy “Tinker with Contemptible Imitations of Godâ€™s Power”?

Marcus — Thu, 28 Dec 2006 19:21:38 -0000

Laurie, thanks for the comment. I still wish I had bought that game I mentioned on your blog. Oh well.

I read Harry Potter too. I even went to see Eragon (Never got the memo that it isn't so good.) I read Neil Gaiman, but I wouldn't read that to my kids.

My daughter and I enjoy the Magic Tree House books--and they have all sorts of "good magic" vs. "evil magic" stuff. She knows it isn't real.

I think fantasy is very important to some kids, as long as they know that kind of magic isn't real. Neither are superheroes. Neither are talking animals. Neither are the technological edens we find in science fiction.

Re: Does Fantasy “Tinker with Contemptible Imitations of Godâ€™s Power”?

Laurie — Thu, 28 Dec 2006 15:57:08 -0000

This is why I'm often wary of surveys--even those done by Christian groups. It's too easy to slant the results and use them to bolster up a preconceived idea! And for the record, we do read Harry Potter, although I felt a few twinges of uncertainty at times, trying to explain to my daughter why I thought it was ok.
Thanks for your comment on my "First Lines" post. I just saw it tonight.

Re: Does Fantasy “Tinker with Contemptible Imitations of Godâ€™s Power”?

Marcus — Wed, 27 Dec 2006 10:02:15 -0000

Ted, thanks for the comment. After I posted this I worried that it was too, um, snarky or something.

Interesting idea to think about apocalyptic literature as a kind of fantasy. It's a dangerous way to talk in CBA circles though. Most people misunderstand what we mean by fantasy. (I have to be careful when I'm talking about C. S. Lewis's take on myth, too.)

As for occultism... I had many students that dabbled in the occult with disastrous results--because heavy drug use was often involved.

Re: Does Fantasy “Tinker with Contemptible Imitations of Godâ€™s Power”?

Ted Gossard — Tue, 26 Dec 2006 19:57:01 -0000

Mark, I agree. We need far more sanctified imagination that is free to roam the world of fantasy. Even Scripture, to some extent, arguably (and I think it does) does the same. In the apocalyptic stuff from Zehariah, etc.

I am afraid also that this obsession can blind us to the real dangers of occultism, that though not common place, are nevertheless present and indulged.