I have noticed an alarming trend among some of the book groups I read along with online...there's this new genre called "Christian Suspense." I keep wondering...how does that work? Is it like, "Oh no, John-Boy isn't saved. He lives a hedonistic lifestyle. Will he ever see the error of his ways? Oh no, now he has a terminal illness...will he ever find his way to Jesus Christ so that he doesn't burn in hell? What will happen...will John Boy ever see the light...let's wait here in the dark, creepy night... and scare the beJesus out of ourselves (because we certainly wouldn't scare the hell out of ourselves, or maybe we would?) until John Boy accepts Jesus into his heart...will he get it done? Will he make it into the eternal kingdom?"
I'm telling you being a former English major, the future of the literary canon concerns me. Sometimes I lay awake at night thinking about it (but not very often).
I could handle the Christian romances, what with the no pre-marital sex stuff and the vowing to honor and obey and the wives submitting and all that. It wasn't my cup of tea, actually made me a little queasy, but I could see the market (I mean, I do live in Indiana, home of Dan Quayle)...but suspense? This is a whole 'nother country.
So now you know what's happening at bookstores near you. Don't say you haven't been warned. But wait...what is that creeping up stealthily behind you? Is it Satan?!? The Christian suspense is killing me...
2 comments:
Is there such thing as Christian Science Fiction??? That might be uncharted territory....dare I say, "where no man has gone before?" ...saving people and aliens throughout the galaxies. Nice!
People can have no fear behind Christian Suspense. It does have the element of someone who is not saved, or is living a false christian life, and the journey that character takes. I enjoy Christian Suspense, especially Ted Dekker and Frank Peretti. They bring the wow back to the Christian fiction franchise and the message of Jesus Christ and faith.
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