Spreading Christianity through literature is nothing new but there is a relatively new breed of disseminator- the Christian Novelist. This breed use the novel as drivers of Christian thought through the use of allegorical tales and thematic imagery.
Since the novel became popular as a past time writers have strived to get their ideas and beliefs across to people through this medium. A lot of the most famous novelists of the 20th century used the setting in themes and settings to biblical stories as a basis for their novels. They pitted good Christian styled heroes against growing evil and a society of loosening morals. Some of the bigger names who use either the message or spiritual essence of Christianity included C. S Lewis, Jane Austen and J. R. R Tolkien.
Christian writing goes back much further than the 20th century of course but for this article we are going to focus on the writing since the inception of the novel as a vehicle for spreading ideas particularly the 20th century to the current era.
Church congregations have been getting smaller in a lot of parts of the world. As a retort to this writers of Christian conscience have began to write novels to reach out to those who may believe but who are no longer visiting the Church. These novels portray the action and characters in a light that to favourable to Christianity.
At the end of the 1970s a lot of American conservative writers changed tack and began to write their novels in different genres. This enabled them to reach out to a far wider audience and this spread their message much farther afield. Thrillers, romance and even Science Fiction are all now fertile grounds for Christian novelists. This has been especially powerful in reaching younger generations for whom weekly attendance at mass is not part of their lives. It is also a very good way to get their beliefs and ideas out to non believers in a way that they do not fond obtrusive.
This is particularly evident in the rise of Urban Christian fiction. In this area the author sets the action in poor or ethnic areas where God is central to the characters lives despite the grimness that surrounds them. This movement has been especially prevalent in Latino and African cultures in the USA.
The rise in popularity of all genres of Christian novels has led to massive sales with some authors selling in excess of 20 million copies of some of their books. Many others have massive sales numbers that show how strong the market is for these books.
The smart thing now would be for Christian believers reading this who have any talent at all as writers should begin to hone their craft as Christian Novelist. Get to know your bible stories and the other facets of the faith in order and get writing. You could be the next big thing in the literary world.
Since the novel became popular as a past time writers have strived to get their ideas and beliefs across to people through this medium. A lot of the most famous novelists of the 20th century used the setting in themes and settings to biblical stories as a basis for their novels. They pitted good Christian styled heroes against growing evil and a society of loosening morals. Some of the bigger names who use either the message or spiritual essence of Christianity included C. S Lewis, Jane Austen and J. R. R Tolkien.
Christian writing goes back much further than the 20th century of course but for this article we are going to focus on the writing since the inception of the novel as a vehicle for spreading ideas particularly the 20th century to the current era.
Church congregations have been getting smaller in a lot of parts of the world. As a retort to this writers of Christian conscience have began to write novels to reach out to those who may believe but who are no longer visiting the Church. These novels portray the action and characters in a light that to favourable to Christianity.
At the end of the 1970s a lot of American conservative writers changed tack and began to write their novels in different genres. This enabled them to reach out to a far wider audience and this spread their message much farther afield. Thrillers, romance and even Science Fiction are all now fertile grounds for Christian novelists. This has been especially powerful in reaching younger generations for whom weekly attendance at mass is not part of their lives. It is also a very good way to get their beliefs and ideas out to non believers in a way that they do not fond obtrusive.
This is particularly evident in the rise of Urban Christian fiction. In this area the author sets the action in poor or ethnic areas where God is central to the characters lives despite the grimness that surrounds them. This movement has been especially prevalent in Latino and African cultures in the USA.
The rise in popularity of all genres of Christian novels has led to massive sales with some authors selling in excess of 20 million copies of some of their books. Many others have massive sales numbers that show how strong the market is for these books.
The smart thing now would be for Christian believers reading this who have any talent at all as writers should begin to hone their craft as Christian Novelist. Get to know your bible stories and the other facets of the faith in order and get writing. You could be the next big thing in the literary world.
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