Christian Art as General Revelation

“Christian fiction” and “Biblical worldview fiction” are not synonymous. Their differences, however, are not always acknowledged.

“Biblical worldview fiction” is a broad category. It could be applied to much art crafted by believers — film, music, storytelling, etc. The term has come to mean stories that reflect, assume, or allude to foundational biblical truths or realities about our world. For example, a storyworld wherein a monotheistic Deity exists, morals are absolute, humans are flawed and sinful, redemption is possible, the afterlife is real, intelligent invisible agents exist and seek to influence people and events, sin and evil have consequences, human worth is intrinsic, etc., are all elements of a biblical worldview. Biblical worldview fiction is framed by implicit biblical truths.

Christian fiction, on the other hand, is framed by more explicit biblical truths or religious expectations — Christian characters or potential converts, a Gospel message, clear redemptive themes, G/PG content rating, references to Scripture, church, prayer, Bible reading, etc. (Likewise, Christian art could be distinguished from that of a biblical worldview by its explicit religious content.) In this sense, all Christian fiction is written from a biblical worldview. However, stories written from a biblical worldview are not always categorized as “Christian.”

Biblical worldview fiction is significantly broader than the category of Christian fiction. (The diagrams below are slides from presentations I’ve previously used at writers conferences.)

Many Christians conflate biblical worldview stories with Christian fiction. I once had a discussion with an industry professional who suggested that “Biblical worldview fiction is the same as Christian fiction.” I countered with one simple question: “So can biblical worldview stories contain profanity?” to which they replied, “Absolutely not!” However, profanity and the people who use it can still exist within a biblical worldview.

Christian art is often defined in terms of “clean” and “family-friendly” fare. The absence of vulgarity, gore, violence, and nudity are seen as crucial elements of the genre. However, stories framed within a biblical worldview are not required to be “clean.” Vulgarity, violence, profanity, or sex do not  prevent a worldview from being biblical. Indeed, in real life, very bad things can happen to and through those who profess a biblical worldview.

Whereas many people embrace a biblical worldview (often unbeknownst to them!), Christian art often appeals to only a narrow subset of consumers.

In the diagram above, biblical worldview stories are pictured as existing inside the blue pyramid. That pyramid could be divided into two halves, top to bottom, containing General and Special Revelation. General Revelation is “common grace,” described in Romans 1-3 as an intuitive awareness of God, His attributes, and the Moral structure of the universe. This “awareness” makes Man “without excuse” (Rom. 1:20). Special Revelation, however, is a more specific, refined, understanding of God and the Universe. It involves the revelation of Scripture, an awareness of our own guilt before God, a basic understanding of His plan of salvation, repentance, faith, etc.

My going theory is that Christian art (film, fiction, and music) should operate as both General and Special Revelation; it should appeal to implicit biblical worldview elements as well as explicit Gospel truths.

The Psalmist wrote that “The heavens declare the glory of God” (Ps. 19:1). This is General Revelation. It is evidence for Order and Beauty that is available to all humans. Special Revelation goes hand-in-hand with General Revelation; it builds upon our intuitive sense of God, moral accountability, human worth, judgment, and eternity.

In the same way that “the heavens declare the glory of God,” so should Christian art. But how does Nature proclaim God’s glory? There are no sermons floating about the Milky Way. The Sea does not quote chapter and verse, nor is the Forest preachy. The Mountains are not a Bible tract. However, much Christian art is!

Nevertheless, we’ve come to see Christian film and fiction as a sort of Special Revelation. We demand that its message be explicit, narrow.

This is unhelpful, in my opinion, because it fails to acknowledge the valuable nature of art created from a biblical worldview. It bifurcates art into a Sacred / Secular paradigm, dismissing art that is less explicit as being “un-Christian.”

• Biblical worldview art relates more to General Revelation than Special Revelation; it appeals to implicit Gospel concepts
• Christian art relates more to Special Revelation than General Revelation; it appeals more to explicit Gospel content

My sense is that Christian writers should write across the spectrum. We should be appealing to General Revelation, sowing seeds into ground that the Holy Spirit is tilling, and providing glimpses of Special Revelation. Readers without an explicitly “Christian” worldview should be able to engage our stories and catch glimpses of the biblical scaffolding.

Much like a religious denomination emphasizes certain doctrinal distinctives (baptism, communion, eschatology, spiritual gifts, etc.) while sharing biblical “essentials” (see: Nicene Creed, Apostles Creed, etc.) with the larger Church, Christian fiction functions more like a denomination within the larger Body of fiction writers / readers. It shares their worldview, but chooses to emphasize specific distinctives. So while all Christian Fiction should contain a biblical worldview, not all Biblical Worldview Fiction will be recognized as CBA-worthy Christian Fiction.

Nevertheless, an explicit biblical message / worldview is just a small part of what constitutes Christian art. What separates most Christian fiction and films from their general market equivalents is NOT just a biblical worldview. It is a G/PG-rated presentation of an explicitly outlined biblical worldview. As much as we’d like to believe that a “Christian worldview” is what distinguishes Christian from secular fare, nowadays, worldview distinctives are really only a small part of what’s required for a story to be considered “Christian fiction.”

My conclusion is that these two elements should not be be viewed as adversarial but as complementary. In the same way that Special Revelation builds upon General Revelation, more explicit Christian art should build upon biblical worldview art.

God’s glory is found in both Nature and Scripture. Likewise, His Truth and Presence should be found, whether implicitly or explicitly, in our art.