Yes, I realize this is not in the just section, but, unfortunately, no one has taken the time to glance at their profile to answer my questions. Before I dive right into the short stories, I was wondering if anybody here knew of some Christian fictions I could pursue in reading. If there is not, which I hope is not the case, is there any stories on here that does not involve: •Cursing/Swearing •Sex •Drugs •Suicide •Provocative material My desire is to stay clear of anything involving these type of elements. Thank you!
Whatever floats your boat. Me personally I cannot think of many that fit the bill. It might help if you specified a genre that your interested in. Or are you looking for writing that is Christian based (inspirational)?
We live in a frivolous age where graphic details of sex, drugs, death, etc are thrown around with gratuitous swearing as if in themselves these matter or are even interesting... The books I can think of that avoid these types of things are 19th century novels. Dickens, Twain, Austen. My favourite is Antony Trollope who managed several entertaining (and funny) volumes about life of the clergy in 1850s England. (The bishop’s wife is a terror.) But maybe you don’t like big, thick, old books, either? I do believe that Anne Tyler avoids these topics. She writes family dramas, ordinary families but multi-layered problems, typical of modern American life. And of course Susan Howatch who writes very readable “airport” books people living in and around a 20th century Christian community/church. She’s written dozens of books. My partner – who is a Christian – says “Mystical Paths and “The Wonder Worker” are his two favourites.
I am not sure if you should include Mark Twain on that list. His books were graphic, and controversial. He frequently swore in them and more than likely would have swore more if he could have got away with it. His most famous words from Huckleberry Finn were “All right, then, I’ll go to hell…” He wrote repeated novels condemning God, as well as mocking biblical stories. I also would not say the books of today were any more frivolous then those of the past after all the Marquis de Sade wrote stories of incest, murder, rape, and things I don't feel comfortable to mention even today. Another point to mention here the Bible also contains stories of incest, murder, rape, and things I don't feel comfortable to mention. If you want to find a part of this forum that is pretty safe from those subjects I would suggest checking here It might be a good idea of suggesting setting up a specific forum for Christian Writing, but be warned such stories are usually lightning rods for content arguments.
Hmm not sure most of my stories are free of drugs, sex, have the occasional minor sweear word (would probably avoid Sherlock Foam), if my characters do get frisky I close the door at last minute. However they are often gay, which probably knocks them out. There are plenty on the library shelves from Gervaise Phinn, Robert Neill etc There have always been dirty books like Papa Smurfberry says - Shakespeare has plenty of sex and swearing. Jane Eyre has an attempt at bigamy etc
C.S. Lewis' Narnia books are clearly Christian, but you probably know that already. I haven't read his space trilogy (Out of The Silent Planet, Perelandra, That Hideous Strength), but it's said to contain Biblical and mythological themes.
