I forget who it was that said, “We don’t tell children fairy tales to prove that dragons exist. Children already know that they exist. We tell them the stories to teach them that dragons can be slain.”

Love your thoughts on this, Rose! I think a great example of a near-perfect character is Aragorn. He’s believable because he has human emotions, but he’s still a role model that most of us can aspire to be like.

Love these points, Rose! I absolutely agree that characters don’t have to be dark and gritty to show truth. I think Aragorn is a great example of this in both the books and movies. He has more doubts in the movies about his role as the Chosen One, but he’s still an ultimately good character who we can all aspire to be like. And that strengthens, rather than detracting from, the story that Tolkien is telling.

We all love a good hero. I’m glad you enjoyed this.

Love this article and totally agree!

I do need to add that any writer attempting theophany should have a deep and daily fellowship with their Creator, including prayerful openness to the guidance of His Holy Spirit.

Teach me to do Your will, For You [are] my God; Your Spirit [is] good. Lead me in the land of uprightness. [Psalm 143:10 NKJV]

Writing a theophany instance of the Most High, if attempted, should always and only be done in a deep personal reverence for Him.

“When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth. For he will not speak on his own, but he will speak whatever he hears. He will also declare to you what is to come. “He will glorify me, because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you. [John 16:13-14 CSB]

The goal of a portrayal should always glorify God and especially the human touch of God in Jesus.

Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and [that] no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost. [1 Corinthians 12:3 KJV]

One of the methods I appreciated about Jerry Jenkins and Tim LaHaye, in the Left Behind depictions of theophany, was the use of God’s Word in any divine communication since we do know the ‘words of God’ reverently recorded there. (2 Tim. 2:15; 3:16)

Job’s, Abraham’s and the OT prophet’s discourse with God, shows God to be interactive and personal–relational–rather than just a sovereign who issues forth divine edicts. The ground principle, however, is God has the full detailed and timeless perspective in all things. Any depiction should never limit that awesome sight aspect.

Both Peter and Jude admonish people not to slander “glorious ones”, but be mindful of the position God has permitted them to occupy. (2 Peter 2:10-12 & Jude 1:8-10)

Finally, any depiction of a theophany must never contradict God’s Word or His Nature as represented in Scripture. This requires any writer to seek out what the Bible reveals about God, rather than what we assume we need from God to serve the story we are writing. We serve Him, not the other way around. He loves us, but that love does not make Him subservient to our whims. Anything we ask of Him should be in accordance with His Will and not our own.

Without humility and reverence and a personal deferential relationship with Him that involves pursuing and yielding to Him, it is my belief that a writer should not attempt theophany.

One other point is that God’s Power is never conjured. It always serves His Will not that of a wielder. Those in the biblical who demonstrated either “the supernatural quickening” of the Holy Spirit or we used as channels to perform miracles did so at the behest of God’s prompting. The power never came from them, only through them.

God’s nature is often to do what is unexpected by mankind’s rationale. (Isaiah 55:9)
As He told the Apostle Paul (2 Cor. 12:9), “[His] strength is made perfect in weakness”, signifying that reliance on Him, rather than operating in our own self-sufficiency, allows Him to manifest His Power to bring Him glory through us. It is in yielding to Him, that we are then empowered by Him. And that holds for all things, not just in our writing and striving to co-create with him in our offering back our writing gifts for His glory.

(This was just my two cents’ worth and an Amen!) 🙂

Thank you, Rose, for writing this article! It contains many pearls of wisdom and admonishments I will be reminding myself of as I continue to pursue the call to write for His glory.

I am looking forward to the next installment in this topical series! I very much appreciate all you and the staff of Story Embers are doing for us in addressing these topics.

God Bless!

This is such an important topic. Thanks Rose!

Thank you for the great Article, Rose! Point number four is one I’m struggling with. My book has a conversation between literal Jesus and a lowercase-d disciple who’s a bit hostile toward Jesus, and there’s a point where the character asks “Isn’t everything I’ve suffered enough?” and I legitimately don’t know how to have Jesus answer. The content of the response is fairly easy, but the I struggle with the delivery!

One note: What do you mean by Aslan not being Christ Himself? Do you just mean that Narnia isn’t the Bible? There’s that whole bit from Dawn Treader: “’I am [in your world] … But there I have another name. You must learn to know me by that name. This was the very reason why you were brought to Narnia, that by knowing me here for a little, you may know me better there.’” that makes it pretty clear Aslan was intended to be Christ.

YAY I’M SO GLAD SE IS DOING A SERIES ON THIS!! Man, did/do I struggle with this. In my first ever full-length novel I portrayed Jesus physically and called him Adonai. But that SO did not work, and when (like, 5 years later) I rewrote the book I took out my “Adonai” and instead am using the Trinity as I am experiencing him in everyday life – NOT physically. This article is so helpful as I struggle with this!! Thanks, Rose!

Great article, and I’m very much looking forward to the rest of the series! I only write supernatural type stuff in fantasy where my god-figure points to God, instead of actually BEING Him, you know? I feel more free and comfortable doing it that way.

Thanks Zachary! I hope it helps you on your writing journey

Well said Jenny. I think God is a very surprising Being on the whole.

Good post! I recently did a short story from the perspective of a mother…thanks for reminding us that the important thing is that each person is unique, no matter what role they play.

AHA!! SOMEONE ELSE NOTICED THE PROBLEM!!

I’ve gotta say that names are my favorite part of any character. Okay, maybe not FAVORITE, but they’re high on the list. I love names. In Andrew Peterson’s thrilling series The Wingfeather Saga, he had a host of names that, if you dig into them, open up new meanings. Kalmar is the name of a castle in Sweden. Ronchy (actually spelled raunchy) is a real word. Ever noticed how “Tumnus” is in the Wingfeather family tree?

Bottom line: names are awesome.

Thank you for the article, Rose!

Wow, I never really thought about this, but it makes so much sense! Totally have to apply this. Thank you, Rose. 🙂

Can I just say….FINALLY SOMEONE ELSE HAS SPOKEN!!

I have always believed that names are a vital part of creating a character, but have never found anyone who thought the same until now. I agree 100% with this article.

I’m glad you found it. I’ve always admired (and been a little envious of) Tolkien’s ability to synthesize names.