The Christian faith is relevant not only in the sphere of religion and belief; it has also influenced a great number of authors who have used some of the main themes and subjects present in the Christian dogma in their own works. Here is a top of the 10 most important works of Christian fiction.
10. “A Wrinkle in Time” by Madeleine L’ Engle
“A Wrinkle in Time” is very interesting because of the way it mixes religion with science. Despite often being considered opposites, L’ Engle succeeds in appeasing the contradictions and finding harmony between the two in this very interesting sci-fi story. The main character, Meg Murry, and her family of scientists discover a way to fold time and space and travel anywhere in the Universe. They soon become involved in an adventure which takes them to planet Camazotz, where the evil and tyrannical IT controls all of the inhabitants and demands complete uniformity. There is a wider plot to the book which involves a mysterious and destructive creature called the Black Thing. The Black Thing is slowly engulfing the Universe while Meg tries to save her father and her brother from IT. The story is full of very interesting characters, such as Mrs Who, Mrs Which and Mrs Whatsit and the reader often encounters Christian themes.
9. “Piers Plowman” by William Langland
This is a medieval allegoric al tale in which each character is named after the emotion he/she represents. One day, a man named Will (as in freewill) dreams of a tower on a hill, symbolizing Heaven, and a Fortress in a valley, symbolizing Hell. The next day, he sets on a journey to reach the tower. On the way, he encounters several characters which guide him and talk about some of the most prominent religious and philosophical concerns of the day. The aim of the book is to showcase how a Christian should behave in order to reach Heaven.
8. “The Canterbury Tales” by Geoffrey Chaucer
Written in approximately the same period as “Piers Plowman”, “The Canterbury Tales” are a set of stories which criticize certain social facets of England during the age of the Black Death. A group of very diverse characters (a cook, a friar, a knight, a nun, a miller etc.) meet while travelling and start telling stories to make the time pass faster. Different religious interpretations are present throughout the stories of the characters, but in the end, they all find a common understanding. It is believed that Chaucer wanted his stories to symbolize the final unity of the Christian Church despite its temporary division. At that time, the Catholic Church was confronted with the Great Schism, having one Pope in Rome and another in Avignon.
7. “Psychomachia” by Aurelius Prudentius Clemens
“Psychomachia”, or the “Battle for the Soul”, is believed to be one of the first allegorical Christian tales. It is an epic poem written in the style of the Aeneid. Grand battles take place inside the soul of a nameless character which is supposed to be the reader, battles which are waged between the virtues and the deadly sins. The final battle is waged between Hatred and Wrath against Love, which defeats its enemies in the name of the Savior.
6. “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” by C.S. Lewis
The entire Narnia series is in fact full of Christian subjects and themes. One of the main characters, Aslan, follows a narrative line that is quite similar to the life of the Christian Messiah. He eventually saves the world from Jadis, the White Witch, after offering to sacrifice himself for the mistakes of one of the human characters. This, of course, finally leads to the defeat of the White Witch and the return of the natural balance.
