Worldbuilding Christian Fantasy: Writing Religion in Fiction
This is such an incredible and unique topic! I feel so blessed to be able to bring some attention to it and offer any tips or advice I can, as Christian and a writer. Before we get started, I’ve got to plug this in here; The Rebel Christian welcomes writers of all backgrounds to read and learn and be encouraged, but I am always looking for good Christian books to read and review. If you think you’ve got something I might enjoy, I urge you to check my submissions page to see how you can be featured on my website.
Now, this article is going to discuss and breakdown key aspects of worldbuilding specifically for Christian writing. I do have other articles on worldbuilding you can read here, but this article is best suited for Christian authors.
If you’re here then I’m going to assume you already know and understanding what worldbuilding is, but I’ll list the definition just in case.
What is worldbuilding?
A simple search on Google will tell you it’s the process of constructing an imaginary world, sometimes associated with a whole fictional universe.
How does this tie into Christian writing?
If you look back at some of the most legendary fantasy books out there, you’ll realize that Christianity and fantasy actually go hand in hand. Lord of the Rings, The Chronicles of Narnia, Descent into Hell—believe or not, these are all books rooted in Christianity. If you look back at the books which laid the foundation for what fantasy has become today, it would be difficult to find a book that didn’t connect with Christianity on some level.
Popular fantasy today doesn’t lean on Christianity as much, if at all, the way it did 50 or 100 years ago. But, to me, that’s only because we now live in a world where being Christian is no longer socially acceptable. It isn’t cool to go to church on Sundays anymore, it isn’t inclusive to believe that only Christians will go to heaven, and it is somehow wrong to stand up for the Bible truth—but I digress.
Entertainment studios have taken Christ out of modern fantasy, but they have not totally escaped the notion of religion. Game of Thrones worshipped many gods—the old gods and the new, if I remember correctly, and the NYT bestseller, Children of Blood and Bone takes advantage of African mythology. Religion is all around us in fantasy, its simply not Christian anymore.
So, what is it about Christian fantasy that’s seemed to have lost its luster? Why aren’t readers gobbling down the latest Christian fantasy series the way they ate up CS Lewis and Tolkien?
There will be hundreds of readers lined up to tell you that Christian fiction just isn’t good, but that is a matter of opinion that I will not entertain.
For one, Christianity in entertainment has changed. When CS Lewis and Tolkien roamed this earth, Christianity was in the spotlight. Almost everyone attended church and almost everyone was familiar with Christian stories and Biblical references. Christian fantasy wasn’t even a genre during Lewis’s time because almost all writing was Christian. Tolkien himself attended church regularly and had his work edited by his own son—who was a Priest!
Today, things are different. Christian entertainment has become a niche; Christian books, movies, and music are no longer a regular thing. Instead anything that mentions Jesus is immediately labeled and shoved out of the spotlight. Unless you are Christian you wouldn’t even know of any Christian books out there—and yes, they do exist, and I’d rather read Christian material than any other books out there!
So how do we approach worldbuilding from a Christian’s perspective?
The first thing you need to do is determine the story of your fantasy. You cannot come up with a story and then throw Jesus up in there as a last-minute thought. If you are a Christian, you should be writing Christian fiction. Does that mean you should have a story of salvation with scriptures sprinkled throughout the story? No! This is fantasy, you are allowed to come up with fictional elements to blend into your world.
Your creativity can be used to emphasize elements of your faith.
There are two types of Christian fiction: books that are openly Christian and books that are broadly Christian—I’d say vaguely Christian is probably a better term but vague feels rude and I’m not here to spark debate so we’ll stick with broadly for now.
Openly Christian books do not hide their faith—they are Christian books fit exclusively for the Christian market and they make no apologies for it. You won’t have to guess at biblical references or wonder if the spiritual element in these books are simply nods to the author’s faith. They are Christian books which proudly showcase the Christian faith and are meant for Christian readers.
Broadly Christian books do not necessarily hide their faith, but they are certainly not open about it. These books showcase Christianity in ways where the material is still appealing to secular readers and gets little complaint of there being too much religion in the book. You might find elements of faith emphasized here and there and perhaps a vague belief in God that could be interpreted as God Almighty of the Christian faith or simply a higher power. Often, these books are not considered Christian fiction and readers are likely surprised to find out the author is Christian.
Neither of these books are right or wrong—as a Christian writer myself, I prefer to read and support books that are open about Christianity, but The Rebel Christian proudly showcases Christian entertainment of all levels. I hope and pray that Christian writers reading this will be encouraged to be open about their faith—the secular market has plenty of bestsellers already, why not use your talents exclusively for the Christian market? Our job as Christian entertainers is to showcase God, if Christ is truly the center of our lives it shouldn’t be difficult for our faith to bleed through the pages. In fact, it should be tough not to include your faith in your work!
Now let’s get to the meat of the topic. How can you build a fantasy world as a Christian author?
Let’s sit down and come up with a story right now: A story about a flourishing kingdom that gets overthrown by evildoers who possess a strange power. In the midst of this war, a hero rises up to defend the flourishing kingdom and take back the throne—simple enough, right?
How can you include Christianity in this? It’s very easy, actually.
Does this flourishing kingdom have a religion? A culture? A set of beliefs?
You can easily and seamlessly tie in Christianity in an open or a broad way if you include it in your culture.
Think of how your flourishing empire was formed; was it formed by people who trusted and believed in God? Were evildoers able to take over because the empire had somehow lost their faith?
Think about the setting in the Bible—the exotic foods they ate and ethnic clothes they wore. You can easily add more fantasy-ish elements to your story by swapping the name God for some of His other names like Yahweh, Jehovah, Elo Him, etc.
Your world doesn’t have to be the same as ours here on earth, and if you’re having a difficult time thinking of something new, remember there are many cultures and rituals and customs explored in the Bible. Some are Christian and some are pagan but there’s so much material available for you to use whether you’re looking for inspiration for your protagonists or antagonists.
Now, let’s think about the evildoers—or the antagonists.
Ask yourself why they are evil and why they want to overthrow the empire.
It can be as simple as “they are evil because they’re the bad guys”. Or maybe they’re an empire who has always been at war with the protagonists.
Perhaps these evildoers are evil because the source of their strange magic is darkness, whereas the flourishing empire has always used God as the source of their magic. This would lead to a classic good versus evil storyline, in which the good magic is sourced from God and the dark magic is sourced from evil—an obvious reference to the devil.
So here you have the good guys as God worshippers and the bad guys as worshippers of evil. How can you take this a step further?
Maybe your protagonist is tempted by dark magic—its stronger, easier to use, and looks so cool.
Use this conflict to plug in a reference to the struggle Christians face with temptation. Isn’t it easier to lie sometimes? Aren’t we fooled to believe that a sinful life is cooler than a Christian life? Your elements of faith can be open or broad, its all up to you as the author!
Christian fantasy is about much more than light and dark magic, demon hunters, and talking animals. We have been handed a book that describes some of the most incredible stories I’ve ever read. Think of the epic battles King David fought, of the brave little boy who took down a giant. Think of the dark cellar the Apostle Paul sat in as he scribbled out the New Testament in the ashen moonlight, his chains clanking against the cement ground, chaffing his wrist with every stroke of his pen. Remember the entire Book of Revelation—how a third of the moon was destroyed, leaving only darkness on the earth. This is fantasy people! I’ve never read a greater story than the Word of God and the best part is it is all 100% true! Its amazing and its beautiful and it’s a shame if it isn’t your number one source of inspiration as a Christian writer. The closer you get to Christ, the more amazing your talent becomes—He gave it to you after all!
Do not ever be afraid or ashamed to write for the Christian market. God gave you your talent to use as a tool to worship Him; don’t be fooled into thinking no one will read your work if it is Christian—that’s simply not true! A Christian author can flourish in this society; you have Christ on your side, and you have millions of Believers backing you, eager for another great Christian book to read. Write for those readers, write for the people who share your beliefs.
These are some of the most basic ways to include your faith in your writing, but they are steppingstones you can certainly build on. I can go on for pages and pages about worldbuilding in Christianity, but I’ve already gone past my personal word limit for this article so I’m going to cut it here and pick things up in my next article—Writing Christian Fantasy. Subscribe to my newsletter below to be notified when it goes live.
Be inspired and be blessed!