In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. We are not told much about how He did it, nor are we told why; but we are told that He did it, and that it was good. From the dust of this earth the Maker created us in His image and likeness; thus we are little makers, and to honour Him we must make and enjoy works of our own. That sentence alone is the basis for a wholesome outlook on the reading and writing of Fantasy.

Sometimes we are wary of Fantasy, and perhaps rightly so: it is a type of writing that is too often used wrongly. Like music, wine, or sex, Fantasy can be abused; but when used rightly it is a great blessing. Abuse never precludes proper use – and I believe Fantasy can be used properly. More than that, I believe it is necessary for us to read or write good Fantasy.

Strange as it may seem, the purpose of good Fantasy is to help us better understand the real world. We step into Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings and meet splendid trees that can talk: when we step out again, we are better able to appreciate trees that cannot. We step into C. S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia and meet the powerful yet fatherly lion Aslan, king of the beasts: when we step out, we realise that Lewis has been teaching us about the lion Christ, King of the world. Good Fantasy forces us to stop and think about the greatness of creation, about right and wrong, about faithfulness and love, about strength and beauty.

Fantasy is Founded in Reality⤒🔗

The only reason this works is because Fantasy is founded in Reality. In both we have sun and moon, day and night, good and evil, beauty and ugliness, wisdom and foolishness, God and His enemies – all the great themes in life. Nevertheless, it is not hard to tell the difference between Fantasy and Reality: If we really could not distinguish between a frog and a prince, we would never have invented the tale of the frog-prince. But the fact is, we can distinguish. Good Fantasy, then, is not “deceit” or “lies,” but rather an expression of life’s truths, and a call for us to wake up and see the trees clapping their hands in praise of God (Isaiah 55:12).

As we look at the reality of this world and then make worlds of our own, we are imitating our Maker’s Creation. Francis Schaeffer said that “Art is a reflection of God’s creativity, an evidence that we are made in the image of God,” and I believe this also applies to Fantasy and to stories. Still more importantly, a Christian’s life should be his greatest and most imaginative story. It should be one which speaks volumes of truth, beauty, and goodness; it should be one which directs people to God Himself.

C. S. Lewis’s story The Voyage of the Dawn Treader pictures a boy whose imagination had not been cultivated. Eustace Scrubb had stumbled into a dragon’s lair, but had no idea what it was: “Most of us know what we should expect to find in a dragon’s lair, but, as I said before, Eustace had read only the wrong books. They had a lot to say about exports and imports and governments and drains, but they were weak on dragons.”

We Christians talk often of governments, but rarely of dragons. And the irony is that the Holy Bible has a lot to say about dragons and giants, but very little to say about exports and drains. The True Story of Scripture is ten times closer to Lewis’s so-called “fantasy” than to a book of “101 science facts.” What modern “true book” has talking snakes, great giants, sea monsters, talking trees, virgin births, and lions sleeping next to lambs? But God’s Word does, and God’s Word is truth.

Several Examples←⤒🔗

Some specific examples might be helpful.

First, the Scripture constantly uses metaphors and pictures. Christ is the Lion of Judah, and also the Lamb that was slain. The Church is Christ’s bride. Every few verses in the Psalms contain a metaphor of some sort. Daniel and Revelation are full of pictures. Wisdom is a lady (Proverbs 8). Jesus (who is the Truth) constantly spoke in stories. Trees even talk: in 2 Chronicles 25, Jehoash king of Israel tells a Fantasy about a thistle talking to a cedar. Strange tales are told so that strange truths may be taught; and that is exactly what happens in worthwhile Fantasy.

Second, Fantasy, or what we would usually call Fantasy, abounds. Satan appears as a snake who speaks to Eve (Genesis 3). Giants inhabitated this earth (Numbers 13:33). Pharaoh’s army is destroyed in the Red Sea, just after Israel has passed through the same sea dry (Exodus 14). A great carpenter-turned­-preacher changes water into wine (John 2). This same Man is then crucified, dies, is resurrected, and in so doing saves the world.

In a very real sense, the Bible is a dragon-slaying story on a cosmic scale. God’s enemy starts out as a good angel, then becomes the evil serpent of Genesis 3, and finishes up as the full-blown dragon of Revelation 20. Christ came to earth as King and Dragon-slayer, crushed the beast’s head, and now rules over the earth. If we are to imitate and follow Him, we must learn about great kings and evil dragons, and about giants and talking trees.

Like most anything, Fantasy can be bad, used for evil purposes, or simply low quality. The thousands of churned-out “science fiction and fantasy” books are probably good examples of this today. Churning out novels is far from the standard Philippians 4:8 gives: “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.” For us to even think about it, our Fantasy must match up to all that. The sky is not the limit; the sky must be our starting point!

The place to start is with the classics, and it so happens that the classics are Christian. The more you discover about the worlds of Lewis and Tolkien, the more Christian symbols and themes you find, and the more truth they teach you. So open the wardrobe to Narnia, and set foot in Middle-earth. Hear the beasts, learn about Aslan, fight the battle against evil, discover the courage of Peter and the kindness of Lucy, talk to the Ents, and make Sam’s loyalty your own. Then take note of our own world and praise the Lord!

As we know well, the greatest book ever written is the Holy Bible. It is a fantastic book (with all meanings of that word involved), and in it God has arranged the marriage of History and Fantasy. Our stories, which are much lesser ones, are the children of that union. And so we must make them living and creative works which imitate His story in a fantastic way. This is no small task, so may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.¹