Inspirational fiction
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| - | + | '''Inspirational fiction''' is a sub-category within "inspirational literature," or "inspirational writing," defined in various ways in the United States and other nations. More and more bookstores (including online booksellers) and libraries consider inspirational fiction to be a separate genre, classifying and shelving books accordingly. | |
| - | '''Theological fiction''' is fictional writing which shapes people's attitudes towards [[theological]] [[beliefs]]. It is typically ''instructional'' or ''exploratory'' rather than descriptive, and it engages specifically with the theoretical ideas which underlie and shape typical responses to [[religion]]. Theological fiction, as a concept, is used by both [[theists]] and [[atheists]], such as in fictional pantheons and cultures in theological fantasy literature. | + | |
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| - | ==Theological and religious fiction== | + | |
| - | The subject matter of theological novels often overlaps with [[philosophical novels]], particularly when it deals with issues from [[natural theology]] (also called [[philosophy of religion]]). For example, Roger Olsen notes that the [[problem of evil]] is a feature of some significant theological fiction. | + | |
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| - | Theological fiction also overlaps with [[religious fiction]] or [[Christian novels]] (also called [[inspirational fiction]]), especially when dealing with complex ideas such as ''[[Redemption (theology)|redemption]],'' ''[[salvation]]'' and ''[[predestination]],'' which have a direct bearing on attitudes towards religious practices. Some authors try to distinguish a ''[[theological]] novel'' as one which denotes a more idea driven plot, rather than a novel which is about people who happen to be interacting with religion, but the distinction often proves difficult to sustain when ideas and actions are closely interwoven, each influencing the other. | + | |
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| - | ==[[Theological]] [[short stories]]== | + | |
| - | Examples of the genre (also called [[novella|novellae]]) include: | + | |
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| - | *''[[Candide]]'' (1759) by [[Voltaire]] | + | |
| - | *[[Book of Judith]] (1st Century BC) by Anonymus | + | |
| - | *"[[Hell Is the Absence of God]]" (2001) by [[Ted Chiang]] | + | |
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| - | ==Theological long fiction== | + | |
| - | Examples of theological long fiction include: | + | |
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| - | *''[[Philosophus Autodidactus]]'' (originally ''[[Hayy ibn Yaqdhan]]'') (12th century) by [[Ibn Tufail]] | + | |
| - | *''[[Theologus Autodidactus]]'' (originally ''The Treatise of Kāmil on the Prophet's Biography'') (1268) by [[Ibn al-Nafis]] | + | |
| - | *''[[Divine Comedy]]'' (1320) by [[Dante Alighieri]] | + | |
| - | *''[[The Pilgrim's Progress]]'' (1678) by [[John Bunyan]] | + | |
| - | *''[[The Brothers Karamazov]]'' (1880) by [[Fyodor Dostoevsky]] | + | |
| - | *''[[The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe]]'' (1950) by [[C. S. Lewis]] | + | |
| - | *[[Silence (Endō novel)|''Silence'']] (1966) by [[Shūsaku Endō]] | + | |
| - | *''[[The Shack]]'' (2007) by [[William P Young]] | + | |
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| - | ==Linked series of theological fiction== | + | |
| - | Individual stories can be linked in series to constitute a [[composite novel]] or a [[short story cycle]], where a group of stories interact to convey a richer or fuller story than any of the single elements can.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Harper |first1=Baird |title=5 Essential Linked Story Collections That Are Better Than Novels |url=https://lithub.com/5-essential-linked-story-collections-that-are-better-than-novels/ |access-date=10 November 2019 |publisher=Literary Hub |date=8 Sep 2017}}</ref> | + | |
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| - | Examples of linked series of theological fiction include: | + | |
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| - | *''The Journey Series'' by Richard P Belcher. It comprises 20 novels exploring [[Calvinist]] [[Theology]].<ref>{{cite web |title=The Journey Series |url=https://graceandtruthbooks.com/category/journey-series/ |website=Grace and Truth Books |access-date=10 November 2019}}</ref> | + | |
| ==See also== | ==See also== | ||
| *[[Christian novel]] | *[[Christian novel]] | ||
| *[[List of Christian novels]] | *[[List of Christian novels]] | ||
| - | *[[List of Catholic authors]] | ||
| *[[List of religious ideas in fantasy fiction|Religious ideas in fantasy fiction]] | *[[List of religious ideas in fantasy fiction|Religious ideas in fantasy fiction]] | ||
| *[[List of religious ideas in science fiction|Religious ideas in Science fiction]] | *[[List of religious ideas in science fiction|Religious ideas in Science fiction]] | ||
| - | *[[Religious fiction]] | + | *[[Theological fiction]] |
| {{GFDL}} | {{GFDL}} | ||
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Inspirational fiction is a sub-category within "inspirational literature," or "inspirational writing," defined in various ways in the United States and other nations. More and more bookstores (including online booksellers) and libraries consider inspirational fiction to be a separate genre, classifying and shelving books accordingly.
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See also
- Christian novel
- List of Christian novels
- Religious ideas in fantasy fiction
- Religious ideas in Science fiction
- Theological fiction
Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Inspirational fiction" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.
