Christianity and Fantasy Literature

The Christianity and Fantasy Literature course is not the usual Language Arts course. Are there elements of reading literature? Yes! Will we have opportunities to reflect on symbolic aspects of our reading through writing? Definitely! So, what makes this course unique? In this class, we will take the best of both worlds – the world of Language Arts and the world of Biblical Studies – and weave them together to study God’s Truth at greater depths, using various fantasy works. We will begin by studying the foundational characteristics of fantasy literature. Through our studies, we will learn how to recognize God’s voice and His Truth through themes of good triumphing over evil, the development of Godly attributes in characters, or even the interactions between character community groups. We will delve into the world of Narnia that C.S. Lewis so masterfully created, as well as look at the colorful characters of Tolkien. What intentions did these authors have with how they pieced their plots, their characters, and their levels of symbolism together? With different tools of discernment, we will begin to recognize the Biblical worldview intentionality of these beloved authors, and then apply what we learn to other works of fantasy literature. By the end of the course, we will use these tools to create our own examples of fantasy works, demonstrating our knowledge and discernment of God’s Truth within this genre. The equipping of a Biblical worldview lens will be a skill that students can carry on beyond the world of academia, and into a life of pursuing God and the things of Him.