Praying for guidance

[Kamille]

I'm writing a sci-fi novel and I often thought about putting scritpure into to it (specifically parts of Jeremiah and Proverbs). But I've recently been having guilty feelings about this because I'm not sure whether or not it's blasphemous. I have a Christ-like character in my story, but not Christ or even the Bible. Though I have thought about making a footnote citing where these passages really came from.

My story takes place about 1000 years from now and though no knows about the Bible a few of the characters are taught passages of an "ancient text" from a mysterious old woman.

I guess I've really been driven to put some scripture in my book because the Bible has recently become my favorite book. Plus I've dedicated my book to the Lord. However, I realize if it doesn't help to spread His glory, it's really not worth pursuing.

I'm praying to God for guidance on this matter. Could you all tell me what you think?

Thanks, and I'm sorry if this is in the wrong forum

[Danderson]

If it's fiction or being told in allegorical form that's probably not blasphemous....I'll still pray for you...

[AsianBlossom]

You could probably ask a pastor or someone who deals with theological matters. But though I can't say for sure myself, I'll still keep you, a fellow writer, in my prayers.

[Tenshi no Ai]

One of the biggest reasons my own novel has been on hiatus for years, is for act of *possible* blasphemy. I mean, it's 100% fiction, give or take an idea or two taken from reality, but I was just worried that it would go in the wrong direction. Already Christians tsk tsk at it, although fiction. Sooo I'm not sure myself on what to do :/ Haven't been in the right mood set to work on it either, anyways. It has Christiany themes and spiritual doings, but like I'm even portraying it to being something real :/ It's kinda... I dunno. But I know how it is. The other half of my hiatus is perfecting it... Still so much I'm unhappy with, but wish I had someone else to help work on it to make it the BEST it could be. 2 heads think better, sometimes (look at CLAMP's team^^)

Praying...

[Kamille]

Thank you all so much for your prayers and understanding. Also, Tenshi no Ai, I could take a look at your novel if you'd like.

[Tenshi no Ai]

It's VERY incomplete^^ I have much to work on with it and the thing is although I'm a writer, I am no way a grammatical master^^ I think it's my ending I'm mostly worried on since it's my grand masterpiece. Always been hard since I've always wanted to keep it a secret, but at the same time I REALLY need to work on perfecting it... somehow :/

[Kamille]

It's VERY incomplete^^ I have much to work on with it and the thing is although I'm a writer, I am no way a grammatical master^^ I think it's my ending I'm mostly worried on since it's my grand masterpiece. Always been hard since I've always wanted to keep it a secret, but at the same time I REALLY need to work on perfecting it... somehow :/

I understand completely. Thanks for being so open and truthful. God bless you always.

[Sheol777]

I certainly see no issue with interjecting some scripture into a writing. As a matter of fact many modern cliches come from scripture. ("Seek and ye shall find"; "A child shall lead them" etc...etc) These are used all the time, and even Jesus used metaphors to point the way to scripture, heck C.S. Lewis made a career of it.

Unless you are using it to profane God...I really don't see an issue with it.

[Amzi Live]

I'll be praying.

[Pinecone Tortoi]

Hi!

I know what you mean. I had a lot of angst a while back over whether it was or wasn't okay to proceed with a particular story. Turned out that the time I spent wondering and pondering was a real blessing - it gave me time to think through the moral issues tangled up in the story and once I understood what was giving me problems, I knew how to get around it.

I don't quite agree with Sheol777. Outright mocking/profaning isn't the only thing to be careful of. Sometimes sheer ignorance on the part of the author can lead to promotion of falsehood/heresy. One sci-fi-ish idea I'm considering at the moment was originally intended to be a really neat story with a deliberately Christian message presented in a way that would hopefully get non-Christians thinking and questioning. Sounds grand, right? Well, not quite. I'm not going ahead with it yet because there's still bits about it that I don't think are right. It feels awkward and I suspect there's something fundamentally wrong with it that will either need tweaking or mean that I need to abandon that idea altogether. It's a rough point to be at and more than once I've felt I was bordering on blasphemy/heresy. When that happened, I backed off fast. But something about idea as a whole still seems to have potential, so I haven't completely dropped it yet. The point of this? It's very possible to create something bad without meaning to. We all need to be careful.

I like Tenshi no Ai and AsianBlossom's suggestion of talking about it with someone wise and well grounded. If there's something subtly (or, I suppose, glaringly) wrong with your story that you haven't noticed, perhaps they'd pick up on it and explain it.

I think it's good that you're concerned about it. Experience tells me when I feel there's something iffy, there probably is - which means that rushing it would likely create more problems than it solves. Mind you, the 'iffy bits' may not be outright barriers to going ahead with it. Could just be things you don't quite understand which can be easily avoided/straightened out once you do. I suspect that if I'd gone bulldozing on ahead before I'd properly grasped what was making me squirm in the past, I'd have taken a wrong turn very quickly.

I guess my suggestion is to take the time you need to sort it out but not use this as an excuse to procrastinate. From the sound of your idea, it could turn out to be something pleasing to God and helpful to others. That's not something to put off, but also not something you want to dive into except as God wants you to. I know I find it hard to remember that if it's not God's will for me to do something, then there's no point in me doing it - no matter how 'good' I think it might be. Prayer, cautious pondering and input from others helped me. I'll be praying for you!

Piney.

[Kamille]

Hi!

I know what you mean. I had a lot of angst a while back over whether it was or wasn't okay to proceed with a particular story. Turned out that the time I spent wondering and pondering was a real blessing - it gave me time to think through the moral issues tangled up in the story and once I understood what was giving me problems, I knew how to get around it.

I don't quite agree with Sheol777. Outright mocking/profaning isn't the only thing to be careful of. Sometimes sheer ignorance on the part of the author can lead to promotion of falsehood/heresy. One sci-fi-ish idea I'm considering at the moment was originally intended to be a really neat story with a deliberately Christian message presented in a way that would hopefully get non-Christians thinking and questioning. Sounds grand, right? Well, not quite. I'm not going ahead with it yet because there's still bits about it that I don't think are right. It feels awkward and I suspect there's something fundamentally wrong with it that will either need tweaking or mean that I need to abandon that idea altogether. It's a rough point to be at and more than once I've felt I was bordering on blasphemy/heresy. When that happened, I backed off fast. But something about idea as a whole still seems to have potential, so I haven't completely dropped it yet. The point of this? It's very possible to create something bad without meaning to. We all need to be careful.

I like Tenshi no Ai and AsianBlossom's suggestion of talking about it with someone wise and well grounded. If there's something subtly (or, I suppose, glaringly) wrong with your story that you haven't noticed, perhaps they'd pick up on it and explain it.

I think it's good that you're concerned about it. Experience tells me when I feel there's something iffy, there probably is - which means that rushing it would likely create more problems than it solves. Mind you, the 'iffy bits' may not be outright barriers to going ahead with it. Could just be things you don't quite understand which can be easily avoided/straightened out once you do. I suspect that if I'd gone bulldozing on ahead before I'd properly grasped what was making me squirm in the past, I'd have taken a wrong turn very quickly.

I guess my suggestion is to take the time you need to sort it out but not use this as an excuse to procrastinate. From the sound of your idea, it could turn out to be something pleasing to God and helpful to others. That's not something to put off, but also not something you want to dive into except as God wants you to. I know I find it hard to remember that if it's not God's will for me to do something, then there's no point in me doing it - no matter how 'good' I think it might be. Prayer, cautious pondering and input from others helped me. I'll be praying for you!

Piney.

Whoa, thanks a bunch. I'll tell you what happened when (and hopefully if) I get a Pastor or someone like that to read my synopsis.