When I was a child, I never found the fantasy genre that interesting, much to the dismay of my best friend who loved fantasy books. It just confused me that people could be entertained by things as obviously unrealistic as fairies and dragons—or even dream of fake worlds where good and evil battled it out in dramatic spectacles of supernatural ability.
And yet I grew up a Christian, which to many of my friends seemed absurd considering my attitude towards fantasy fiction. For many, the stories we tell as Christians often sound just like fantasy.
We tell of a talking serpent who tricked the first woman to eat a “poisoned apple” (of sorts), which plunged all humanity into chaos (like Pandora’s Box).
We refer to the Holy Spirit as living inside us and giving us supernatural powers to heal and transform—even to bring people back to life.
We talk about angels covered in wings and eyes that terrify men and relay important messages from God to humans (like the Greek god Hermes).
We talk about demons who shapeshift and possess people to wreak havoc (shapeshifting characters are found in practically all mythologies).
We explain God as existing outside of time and space and being so holy that His presence is like an
all-consuming fire.
We describe Satan as a dragon who seeks to destroy all humanity out of jealousy, pride and hatred.
You must admit, believing in Christianity can sound a bit fantastical, all things considered. But I never thought the two were comparable while growing up. The big question for many is why? Why do people accept such “fantastical” ideas about God as truth?
Theologian and philosopher CS Lewis loved myths and fairytales and thought of Christianity as being of a similar nature to such mythologies. Although he loved (and wrote) fantasy, he nevertheless considered such stories to be “lies breathed through silver”, including Christianity. His close friend, JRR Tolkien, disagreed—he said that the fact that we can imagine a world beyond material reality is the first clue that there may, in fact, be such a place. In his words, “We have come from God, and inevitably the myths woven by us, though they contain error, will also reflect a splintered fragment of the true light, the eternal truth that is with God.” Lewis was converted to Christianity through conversations with his friend Tolkien.
For Tolkien, the very fact that humanity has evolved stories and myths through the ages is evidence of our attempt to understand the truth of the spiritual world around us which we cannot clearly perceive. The similarities we find between biblical truth and myths from antiquity are not a result of human imagination. Rather, myths are rooted, to some degree, in truth and are an attempt for our imagination to make sense of the spiritual realm around us.
So, is there really a spiritual realm around us which we cannot perceive? Undoubtedly, the answer must be yes.
the truth behind the stories
All stories, from real events to fantasy, reveal this truth: every story contains good and evil, light and darkness, love and hate. There is an undeniable certainty to these concepts, sourced from greater truth.
One of the beliefs core to all Seventh-day Adventist Christians is that there exists a “Great Controversy”, or spiritual battle, and that it rages on in the spiritual realm and affects our everyday lives, though we do not always perceive it. This battle contrasts the two opposing sides of God and the devil, good and evil, truth and lies, salvation and destruction. CS Lewis wrote about this in The Screwtape Letters. In this book, he tells of the universal battle over each human’s soul from the perspective of a senior demon training a junior demon on how to trap and corrupt everyday humans. The book attempts to draw out the truth that our lives are precious beyond our understanding—so much so that the God of the universe chose to die in order to rescue us from the devil’s traps—and bring us true freedom and peace. To better explain this battle over our souls, I would like to make use of ideas from fantasy fiction.
mythological struggles
Mythology and old fishermen’s tales speak of siren mermaids; mystical creatures with elegant and alluring beauty on their top half but a fish-like tail for their bottom half. These creatures are almost exclusively female and have beautiful singing voices such that fishermen and seafarers would often become entranced by their songs. Sailors would become so mesmerised by their serenades that they would leap from their ships into the ocean—only to meet their deaths.
Some myths tell that sirens would drown the men, whereas others suggest that sirens viciously ate their flesh. Still others insinuated that the men died from starvation, being unable to escape the entrancement of their lullabies. Ultimately, the seafarers would never reach the shore they were headed for, because they had been lulled into death by the sirens’ seductive promises.
Let’s continue with the metaphors. Each of us are on a journey through life. Jesus is the boat by which we receive safe passage to our destination and safe haven—the shores of heaven, where death, suffering and evil will no longer ruin our lives. However, the devil has many tactics by which to tempt us to abandon ship in favour of alluring lies we are told will bring us satisfaction.
Many people hear the beautiful lies told by the devil about how we can achieve happiness, success and fulfilment if we dive into the exciting unknown waters where the sirens dwell. But little do we consider that the ocean is a dangerous place and that we cannot tread water very long, nor breathe underwater! These promises whispered by the devil end up drowning us, rather than making good on their promise.
The teachings of the Bible expose the truth about these sweet-sounding lies that are sung to a sleepy world. It is the mission of heaven to prevent people from willingly stepping off the boat into the abyss, as well as rescuing people already in the waters from the siren song.
Christianity is far from fantasy. Instead, the Bible is the basis of all truth—truth from which fantasy evolves. The Bible helps us understand the reality of the spiritual battle raging around us, of the great battle between God and the devil over our very lives. One seeks to destroy while the other seeks to save. This battle is not far-fetched or far away; it is personal to each one of us.
But it is up to us who we will listen to: alluring sirens singing us to death, or the captain of the ship leading us to safety.
Olivia Fairfax is an eager student in all things psychology, theology and literature. She enjoys spending her time writing, learning and investing in people. She writes from Sydney, Australia.
