Are Fantasy books, movies, and toys sinful? 

A collection of idols never hurt anyone.

Appreciate the nuanced answer as always! I wonder in the kingdom if we will, to God’s glory, be producing fantasy in books, plays, film, and various other media. It’s just one of many things that could potentially be a part of eternal life.

Really appreciate your input. Are their any specific fantasy or sci-fi authors you recommend or any you think we should avoid?

So: 1. If reading or watching fantasy and sci-fi is sinful because these "could" lead one away from God, then reading or watching almost anything "could" do the same. Reading ir watching non-fiction like a book about atheism or a book about evolution or a book about another religion like Islam, or a documentary that explains pagan practices or what the Nazis did, etc., "could" lead one astray as well. In fact, resding certain parts of the Bible "could" lead one astray too! Like what if reading the Song of Songs leads one toward lust and related temptations! What if reading about Saul's encounter with the witch of Endor leads to witchcraft! What if reading Ecclesiastes leads one toward existential despair and even nihilism! So we should not read or watch these parts of the Bible and maybe ee should even get rid of these parts of the Bible! We're never safe! Not even Scripture is safe! But seriously this argument against reading fantasy and sci-fi proves too much. 2. A better way to go is to consider common grace. That is, God gave us many gifts in this world to enjoy. Even gifts written or made by non-Christians. Like there's good and beautiful music and art and architecture and even books that were made by non-Christians that we can appreciate and enjoy because they do reflect something of God's glory. Perhaps not ss clearly as a beautiful stained glass window in a magnificent cathedral, but still a lot of light can shine through even a dusty window. Anyway not everything done by non-Christians is necessarily sinful. So there's good fantays abd sci-fi and there's bad fantasy and sci-fi. Good is that which corresponds to biblical values and bad that which is against the same values. There's much that's in between too. And it takes wisdom to discern the differences.

Scientology. You know a group is messed up when they tried to recruit Charles Manson & he left after 2 weeks calling THEM "creepy"

How do these nations serve their gods THAT I MAY ALSO DO LIKEWISE? They need to finish the verse. Intention matters. If they are going to use Deut 12:30 to say you can't read fantasy then Christians also can't study world religions. Unless of course you actually finish the verse then there is no reason a Christian can't do these things unless their intention is inquiring after the gods of the nations SO that they can engage in their practices.

Phantasy is tough. It means both fantasy and imagination. It is a balance. Mythos are the stories we tell and live.... As opposed to the identity: stories other people tell that you live... Authenticity includes experience and imagination. Creativity and inspiration both influence and influenced...

Intent and purpose are so important.

The only time I think a Christian should avoid fantasy as a genre is if the author or series you're reading is.... spicy... I think is the vernacular bookies are using right now? Or if you find yourself ACTUALLY getting invested in the fantasy themes, magic, gods, telepathy, etc. I don't see why a Christian can't enjoy a pretend story, with pretend themes.

Thank you for this, because Iron Man and Spider-Man are my favorite!!!

When the original lord of the rings movie csme out my parents wouldn't let me watch it because of the wizards. Now it's my dad's favorite movie.

Throughout my high school years, and to a minimal extent part of my early 20s, I played D&D. While I do not see a problem as such, because I deliberately played my characters as a Christian, I can see how "fantasy" can surreptitiously blur peoples focus on what is important. Alot of it has to do with the maturity of the individual, 1 Corinthians 13:11 is important here. Yes understanding the historical background of various cultures can be extremely helpful in our Christian life (I am a school teacher who specialised for many years in an Anthropoligical course called Society & Culture) we need to balance our behaviour and actions so that we do not stray from Christ. Knowing about fantasy and actively practising it are 2 very different things. As with all things there is surface level attention which is part of being a living being in a multicultural society and there is much deeper attention that can lead us to go against God's word.

Thanks for your words, JM. I like to read fantasy and science fiction too. What I have noticed though is that most of the YA fantasy is filled with characters who are homosexual and lots of pronouns thrown around. It make the books confusing to read and those characters never really help the story. I wonder if the editors and publishers make it a requirement to include these characters and themes. Seems like a formula that the writers abide to.

Well said! There are even people in the Amazon reviews of the excellent NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible legitimately freaking out because that Bible is cultural exegesis: describing the myths of the area and including photos of pagan temples and idols to show the world the Bible was written in and how Jews/Christians were to be different in it. Is it a sign of someone whose "faith is weak" (a la Romans), do you think? People e.g. frightened that Marvel movies or museum exhibits will somehow trick them into worshipping these things?

Who's sacrificing to Batman or Bilbo🙄?

Excellent video. ArleneAdkinsZell (below) said it very well, "intent and purpose are so important." You have fun plastic toys on the shelves behind you. You don't leave offerings to them every night. You aren't creating a religion around superheroes in the way Hubbard created Scientology. When my children were growing up, they read about Greek, Roman, and Norse gods. It helped them understand the cultures of the people who wrote them. Both never worshipped those gods and are still Christians. They loved C.S. Lewis, Tolkien, etc.

Can Christians watch Game of Thrones: House of the Dragon?

I would love to hear your thoughts on role play games like Dungeons & Dragons. Thanks for another great video.

I agree that Fantasy is ok as a Christian so long as we have discretion in what we're watching, but that applies to everything in life. However, I've had a nagging thought and recently seen an opinion on the idea that any fictional world without God as it's creator is sinful. This is because supposedly because having a world that does not include God is rebelling against him. The exact point is, But, what you’re really telling God when you play any game that glorifies what God opposes or ignores His existence is - “Thanks for creating the World, dying for my Sins, saving my soul, sealing me with your Spirit, and preserving your Word for my instruction; but, I’d rather spend my time pretending to explore an imaginary world whose authors rebel against Your existence by not including You. I know you understand that I need to have my fun.” I don't think this is true myself but it does bother me, does anyone have any opinions on this? P.S the full article is Escaping Reality: The Dangers of Role-Playing Games on way of life literature, just in case you wanted to see the rest.

I don’t know, is it something Christ would do? Not sure Jesus would have pagan figurines in his home.

Stories. It is all stories. Including the stuff you don't want to be just a story. Pay attention.