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What Does it Mean to “Read with Discernment”?

Posted on September 9, 2025May 13, 2025 by R.M. Archer

If you’re a Christian reader, you may have heard the term “reading with discernment” tossed around, or something like it. Read carefully. Choose your books wisely. And this is good advice. The problem is… it’s vague. What does it mean to read with discernment?

Ultimately, I think reading with discernment will lead to different readers choosing different books. There is no one-size-fits-all result when it comes to reading with discernment. But there are a few principles to keep in mind as you consider what reading with discernment means for you and how you can choose your reads wisely.

Expose the Works of Darkness

“And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.” – Eph. 5:11, NKJV

The world is broken, and fiction Continue reading “What Does it Mean to “Read with Discernment”?” →

How Should Christians Write About… LGBT Issues

Posted on February 4, 2025February 13, 2025 by R.M. Archer

This post topic has been on my “to-write” list for a long time now because, frankly, it’s a scary topic to broach. I expect it will offend people (possibly those from multiple directions), and I don’t prefer to intentionally make people uncomfortable. That said, I believe this is an important topic that Christian authors should be addressing, one that Christian authors have largely ignored and abdicated the conversation around, and since it recently came up again I decided it was time to actually post about it.

As always in this series, this post is meant to be food-for-thought, to lay out the scriptural guidelines for a particular topic and what we do or don’t have the freedom to include in our stories (or how we do or don’t have the freedom to portray it) based on that scripture. I’ll put forth my interpretation, but all of these topics are ultimately between you and God and the intention is not to bind or to violate your conscience.

The Biblical View on Homosexuality

The most important question to ask is (as always): What does the Bible say about homosexuality?

(Verses are in NKJV, and I encourage you to read the broader context as well, on your own.)

While we have Continue reading “How Should Christians Write About… LGBT Issues” →

How Should Christians Write About… Allegorical Religions?

Posted on November 28, 2023February 13, 2025 by R.M. Archer

One of the earliest installments in this series covered how to write about false religions, those that aren’t even real within your world. But today I want to cover the separate issue of how to write about religions that are designed to reflect the truth of who our God is within the context of a fictional world.

As always, this is intended to be food-for-thought, not the one proper Continue reading “How Should Christians Write About… Allegorical Religions?” →

How Should Christians Write About… How God Speaks

Posted on June 20, 2023February 13, 2025 by R.M. Archer

Last year, I read two books back-to-back (Wishtress and Once I Knew) in which God or the allegorical God figure speaks directly to the characters. (Actually, I’m not sure I’ve read a Nadine Brandes book in which this isn’t the case.) As such, this topic was near the top of my thoughts and I mulled over it quite a bit because the idea of God speaking directly to characters in a work of fiction is something I always wrestle with to some degree or another when it comes up.

This post might sound familiar to those who follow my social media or are subscribed to my newsletter, since I wrote out my thoughts sometime last year, but I wanted to compile and expand on them here as part of my “How should Christians write about…?” series. As always, these posts are intended as food for thought and your conclusions should be guided by Scripture and your conscience, not Continue reading “How Should Christians Write About… How God Speaks” →

How Should Christians Write About… Magic?

Posted on October 18, 2022February 13, 2025 by R.M. Archer

Magic can be a hot-button topic in Christian fantasy circles. Is magic ever okay? What is the difference between the magic in Lord of the Rings and the magic in Harry Potter? Should we just avoid it all? Does the faith of the author make a difference?

As with the other topics addressed in this series, magic in fiction is a matter of personal conviction and the intention of these posts is not to tell you what to think but rather to pose food for thought and my personal understanding of the topic based on what I see in Scripture.

To start with, I want to highlight a few different categories of “magic,” because I think a lot of conflict arises when we’re unclear about what we mean by “magic.”

I tend to see Continue reading “How Should Christians Write About… Magic?” →