Frequently Asked Questions
It’s not uncommon for me to have concerned readers when they see the words “Magic” or sorcery on the back of a book. This concern typically stems from the Christian audience and since my book is largely for them, I felt like I should layout some of the things I’ve explained so frequently. Everyone has different personal convictions and if a book that contains fantasy or supernatural elemetns offends or disturbs you, by all means—don’t read it. However, this article is not so much to convince fellow Chrisitnas to read my book but rather to simply put forth where I’m coming from with my choice of content for this series. This Q&A doesn’t really contain any heavy spoilers, but it does contains some smaller ones as to the character’s abilites and a few dettails of the world. If you’d rather read the book before learning some of the dettails mentinoed in this article, please do. You can check out this article after you’ve finished and then it may even be more insightful to you to have what you’ve read explained in greater dettail.
If you don’t mind small spoilers, and are interested in the themes or my approach to magic and the supernatural in this series this is for you. Disclaimer, I never mind explaining the rules of my world to those who take an interest or what inspired me to write them how I did. However, more often than not the concerned parties are parents of young readers who take a liking to the book cover or blurb etc. If you’re a parent wondering if this is a book you should get your child, or a teen with some personal reservations about the themes discussed or elements in the book, I hope this is helpful for you in seeing how I as a Christian, delve into this.
1. What is magic in the world of Avengers of Light and what makes it light or dark?
· Magic in this world is a gift from God, given to the commissioned with specific uses and abilities. It exists primarily under the “What if” concept—what if God gave believers special abilities like elemental control, levitation, or powers (labeled as magic in this fictional context) by which they could fight the forces of evil? It’s simply the term for a specific gift that some commissioned have. And to be perfectly clear on that in the book, all of the creatures of darkness are burned by the protagonists magical abilities. This is to make a clear distinction that the main character’s gifts are from God—and therefore the demons ar harmed by it and afraid of the power she has. If the magic in the book is dark, meaning—it comes from some other form of conjuring or diviniation and is not a direct gift from the Lord, then the antagonists in this book would be perfectly at home with it. In the same way demons in the Bible recognize God and fear him, in this story they recognize the gifts He’s given His children to fight evil and they fear those powers.
2. Where in the Bible do you pull inspiration from for believers having miraculous gifts?
· In Exodus 7:10-12, Moses turns the staff into a snake because God gave him the ability to—it was a gift given for a divine purpose of freeing God’s people and striking fear into the hearts of the Egyptians. But the Egyptians do the same thing only with witchcraft—God’s power is proven stronger but there is a juxtaposition between the two. Samson, defeats hundreds of men because God gave him the strength to—he took it away when Samson sinned and told Delilah about his weakness and his birthright (Judges 16:20). We don’t call what God did with Moses’ staff “magic” but what do we call it? It was a direct act of God, but also an ability he gave a believer that he might be used to free God’s people. That’s a very lenghty name for what was done and in the context of this book I needed a name for what to call a character’s gift if they had supernatural abilites over natural elements—magic.
In most cirlces I speak to it’s the word that offends people because of what they associate it with. But never in the book is good magic reffered to as “Witchcraft.” There are witches in the book and they are clearly belonging to the enemy and have demonic powers. They’re not protrayed in a positive light. Rather, witches and warlocks in this world are portrayed as mortal’s who’ve lost all sense of self to the darkness because of how much humanity they sacrificed for the sake of ungodly power.
3. How is it dark if the commissioned have their own kind of magic?
· The magic would be dark if the abilities were found anywhere else besides God. If unbelievers go to dark powers or conjure up things themselves that would make it witchcraft and of the enemy. All of the users of good magic in the book are Christians and submit to Biblical authority and acknowledge God, any others of darkness would serve the devil. Galatians 1:6-12, “But though if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other Gospel unto you than that which we have preached—let him be accursed.” The story is meant to pose a what if in this allegorical scenario too. And it’s how can we discern good from evil when the enemy might attempt to come with similar powers? It’s what they profess to believe. And if they preach anything other than Christ crucified it’s not the truth. I don’t get too into detail with that in this book but all the character’s at Raziel make it clear who God is and whose law their submitted to.
4. What is the cost and the consequences of dark magic?
· Dark magic has a cost on believers and unbelievers alike. It’s like a representation of sin—when you’re saved you still struggle with sin, but your salvation is secure. However, just because in eternity you will be saved doesn’t mean there won’t be grave consequences for everything you do in this life. Like David, he was a man after God’s own heart, but his sin had horrific consequences in this life. As did Paul’s sin after he was saved from persecuting Christians—he was in prison blind for a length of time and God tells Ananias He will show Paul how much he’ll suffer for Christ’s name (Acts 9:15-16). The context is different of course, but the idea is the same. People will reap the consequences of their actions even if they’re saved from an unbeleiving life. If someone was a warlock and is saved to become one of the commisisoned, there will be consequences for what they’ve done and it will be a warning to other’s who consider falling into the same sin.
That’s where my mind was when I wanted to show the danger of characters playing with dark magic—it’s not that they can’t and won’t be saved from it, but rather that they’ll have amends to make and consequences for their actions. Chastisement, because the Lord chastises those He loves (Hebrews 12:6). There’s only one character (Dante Vaniah) who does play with dark magic, and I can’t give away spoilers on this but it isn’t being portrayed as a good thing. We just have him perceived through the eyes of a little girl who likes him, and doesn’t know any better than to think if he’s doing it, then it must be fine. The teacher characters strictly go against this but our main protagonist is a child and not mature in her faith yet.
1. How do you reconcile the Christian fantasy fiction with Biblical reality?
I believe most fiction is lacking in the Christian message and themes—so I would rather have it be there than not. In this book series I strive to pose thought provoking questions on a fictional world premise regarding many things that are very real:
-What is a Christian’s place in the battle between good and evil? Does it look the same or different for all believers?
-Does a believer have an obligation to use their gift for the glory and service of the Lord and His kingdom? Is it possible to resist God’s calling to do so?
-Do Christians have the power to face and overcome evil, even demons? If so, what makes believers able to face demons?
-Does spiritual maturity automatically come with being chosen by the Lord?
All these questions are ones that I would like to see young believers considering. I’ve done my best to weave them into this book without literally preaching a message to the reader or trying to dictate what they think. I hope for the book to reach a broader audience which would involve secular readers through sheer entertainment value.
2. Why tell a fictional story with swords, monsters, and magic instead of just preaching a message?
Firstly, I’m not a pastor but as a beleiver I make it my bussiness to share the good news with those God has placed in my path. I beleive God called me to excercise my talent in writing and I have a love of fiction. I didn’t have much Christian fiction to read as a child and I wanted to create what I would have wanted to read. I don’t believe children and teenagers will be as engaged if the book is striving to teach them a class, or preach a message—God gave us teachers, preachers, and leaders for direct Biblical education. The Bible of course should be the book we live in even if we visit many others. Additionally, books written by Puritans, faithful men and women of the Lord are available and I highly recommend them. Whatever conclusion the reader comes to regarding the questions above, falls on the reader. My ultimate resource for the answers is in the Bible—and I would direct anyone with questions about the blurs of Chirstian fiction and reality accordingly. The goal of the book is to be an enjoyable, fantastical platform to exalt valid Biblical questions, values, and truths found in the Gospel—but to do so in a way that will draw in young readers and entertain them. The Bible is not a platform for the book to be referenced or promoted but rather the other way around.
We know youth will be watching and reading fiction—the question is what kind of fiction do we want them reading? Whether it’s Marvel, DC, Anime, or Lord of The Rings the younger generation hungers for an escape from the real world and I would like to have Christian themes intertwined in their escape which make them consider valid questions to their spiritual walk. Fantasy and fiction give us a new lens through which to deal with real problems and struggles that mabye can’t be solved by defeating a monster or using a sacred scroll to destroy the enemy. In the real world, we don’t see all our wicked enemies defeated, we don’t always confess to the love of our life before it’s too late, we don’t see all our wayward friends redeemed or our broken relationships restored—fiction gives us an escape to overcome these obstacles in unforgettable ways. It’s why I love it and why I write it. And for the audience which craves exactly that—I aim to not dissapoint.