Biblical Fiction: Where Do We Draw the Line?

My love for biblical and Christian fiction stems from the fact that I am a believer and an ardent reader of books. I also find stories that capture the essence of Christianity and what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ mostly inspiring and a booster to my faith.

I would first of all start by distinguishing from my own understanding the difference between biblical fiction and Christian fiction. Biblical fiction is a sub-set of historical fiction based on stories set in biblical times or reference certain books/stories in the bible. This could be from either old or New Testament times therefore some of it may not be “Christian” based but would mostly feature people who practiced the Jewish religion. On the other hand, Christian fiction covers both historical and modern-day Christian stories that are based upon the Christian faith and values. I have always found Christian fiction to be very insightful and learnt a lot as a Christian especially when I was a really young Christian. Then, I later discovered biblical fiction which at first, I enjoyed reading as it encouraged me to study my bible more and gave me a better understanding of the cultural contexts which in turn opened my eyes to why certain decisions were made, or things were done which wasn’t always clear to me.

However, in the recent past, I have come to read a few biblical fiction novels which have left me questioning whether the author has gone too far with fictionalizing the story or not. I would like to specifically comment on books based on minor biblical characters who very little was said about them in the bible and the authors have to basically create a fictional story around their lives. While this is an enjoyable read most of the time, I begin to wonder how and why the author has decided to choose the particular narrative they chose and not go down the other 10 possible paths the character may have gone. I find that the more I read these types of biblical fiction books, the more I feel dis-satisfied with the narrative no matter how interesting the story turns out to be (which they usually are). I also wonder if we are meant to create these types of stories in the first place that do not have enough real truth to hold the story together and most of it is from an author’s imagination. In my opinion, when too much fiction is added to these stories, it poses a risk of distorting the original message that was intended in the bible or misrepresents the biblical character in question. One of my major worries is where non-Christians or Christians new to the faith read these narratives and believe them to be factual therefore leading readers away from the intended message of the scriptures.

Having said that, I have read some really good stories that didn’t take away the biblical message from the story and also added an author’s note at the end to clearly distinguish the biblical accounts from the fictionalized elements in the story. In my opinion, authors who write biblical fiction based on minor characters in the bible need to strike the delicate balance between creativity and faithfulness to the biblical account by thoroughly researching the historical and cultural contexts to enhance the story rather than take away from it. As someone who wants to continue to explore reading more Christian and biblical fiction, this is quite an important concern for me especially because I have a platform dedicated to recommending books and writing book reviews. Although my experience in reading biblical fiction novels based on minor characters where the authors went wild with the fictionalized account have left me with a bad taste for this sub-genre, I hope to search out the good ones and give you reviews on them.

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