Magical and Supernatural Elements

[SallyF]

Fantasy is a genre of literature that features magical and supernatural elements that do not exist in the real world. Although some writers juxtapose a real-world setting with fantastical elements, many create entirely imaginary universes with their own physical laws and logic and populations of imaginary races and creatures. Speculative in nature, fantasy is not tied to reality or scientific fact. https://www.masterclass.com/articles/wh ... literature

Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction set in a fictional universe, often inspired by real world myth and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became literature and drama. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fantasy

Fantasy is a genre in literature that includes magical and/or supernatural elements as part of the plot, setting, or theme. Mythology and folklore often play a strong part in fantasy literature. There must be an internal consistency to the magical elements in a work of fantasy and a logic that, if not completely explicable, is understood to be reality by the characters. http://www.literarydevices.com/fantasy/

Do biblical writings fit definitions of fantasy fiction ...?

[Athetotheist]

Do biblical writings fit definitions of fantasy fiction ...?

I would say that biblical writings don't qualify as fantasy because "fantasy", as a genre, isn't written with the intention of having it taken as literal history.

Then we have the Book of Job.

It has supernatural themes.

It has magic.

It has Jehovah - the mythological Middle East deity that created the universe and the mud-man and indiscriminate acts of genocide … you know, the "God of Love".

It even has …

In Job 40-41, God introduces Job to two new characters. Behemoth is a powerful beast with strong legs (Job 40:16), a stiff tail (Job 40:17), and a carefree riverside existence (Job 40:20-23). Leviathan dwells in the sea (Job 41:1, 7), breathes fire (Job 41:18-21), and crushes hunters (Job 41:25-29). Who are these two creatures? https://www.knowableword.com/2015/08/14 ... ok-of-job/

Just like the dragons and such in modern fantasy fiction ...!

Call me a Skeptical Atheist (please) but I can't see this fantastical make-believe in the "Word of God" being "written with the intention of having it taken as literal history".

But you have to remember: the climactic message in the book of Job is, "Who are you to question God?" Behemoth and Leviathan are those big, powerful things which a tiny man can't control, and with them the tiny man is reminded of his weakness so he'll mind his place. Again, it isn't put forward for its entertainment value; it's to reinforce an orthodox way of thinking.

[SallyF]

But you have to remember: the climactic message in the book of Job is, "Who are you to question God?" Behemoth and Leviathan are those big, powerful things which a tiny man can't control, and with them the tiny man is reminded of his weakness so he'll mind his place. Again, it isn't put forward for its entertainment value; it's to reinforce an orthodox way of thinking.[/quote]


You've taken a great leap from "literal history" to "entertainment value" in what you mean by "fantasy fiction".

Chasing our tails in definitions gets us nowhere.

My major point is that - given the complete and total absence of evidence for the influence of Jehovah or Jesus or the Holy Ghost in biblical "scripture" - the human authors of ancient times were imagining fantastical things in very much the same way as modern authors of fantasy fiction do today.

Just making up thrilling tales.

[SallyF]

I suggest that both these images are fantasy fiction from human imagination …






As depicted ...

I suggest that both have entertainment value.

I suggest that neither has anything to do with the real world.

I suggest that both are derived from folklore.

[SallyF]

Christians brainwashed me in Sunday school with tales of magical events from a culture that was not of my own.

And I coloured in pictures of Jesus dying on the cross for my sins, and other fantastical happenings from "scripture" ...



The brainwashing was called "faith".

As I grew up, I realised that the magical biblical fantasies were just as fantastical as those I had been told were just fantasies

[Menotu]

Fantasy is a genre of literature that features magical and supernatural elements that do not exist in the real world. Although some writers juxtapose a real-world setting with fantastical elements, many create entirely imaginary universes with their own physical laws and logic and populations of imaginary races and creatures. Speculative in nature, fantasy is not tied to reality or scientific fact. https://www.masterclass.com/articles/wh ... -of-fantas...












REVELATIONS ... all the elements of Fantasy Fiction.

And not a shred of evidence that "God" had anything to do with its authorship.

It's interesting, to me, how Christianity and Scientology have so many things that seem similar.
And yet, so many laugh at Scientology (rightfully so as has been my experience with them).
People believe what they want to believe - what fits their fancy and lifestyle.

[Menotu]

I suggest that both these images are fantasy fiction from human imagination …






As depicted ...

I suggest that both have entertainment value.

I suggest that neither has anything to do with the real world.

I suggest that both are derived from folklore.

Well, one is clearly 'better' than the other. Can we guess which one?

[SallyF]

This is an image of Jesus' human mother (still a virgin at the time, according to some) flying through the air (in the Dome of Heaven from Gen 1)as she is "assumed" into Heaven.

A pope declared - INFALLIBLY - that it is not fantasy fiction.

There is no "scripture" to back it up.

For me, it - like many other biblical tales - fulfils many elements of fantasy fiction.



And this is another image from fantasy fiction.

Both images depict magic and supernatural events.

Neither image is shown to be anything other than the product of human imagination.

[SallyF]

Tammuz was a Sumerian god of vegetation who is supposed to have started out as a mortal king. When he was taken as a lover by the goddess Inanna things became rather tricky. According to the Epic of Gilgamesh, all of the beings loved by Ishtar (a Babylonian parallel of Inanna) end up worse off for the love.Tammuz was no different: he ended up in the kingdom of the dead. Inanna supposedly relented, and went to rescue Tammuz and turn him into a god. She did this not just once but many times. Each year Tammuz dies and the world (at least in the Near East) is hit by droughts and extreme heat, and when the rains come and the crops begin to grow, it is a sign that Tammuz has once again been resurrected. https://listverse.com/2013/03/30/10-res ... s-figures/

For me, this fulfils elements of fantasy fiction.



Jesus, a Jewish man whose propaganda claimed him to be descended from King David.

And whose later propaganda elevated him to the status of "God".

For me, this fulfils elements of fantasy fiction.

[SallyF]

Superman came to planet Earth from Krypton.




Jesus came to planet Earth from Heaven.


Both contain magical and supernatural elements.


Neither is EVER shown to be anything other than fantasy fiction …

In my experience.

Evidence of any sort whatsoever would sort fact from fiction.

[JehovahsWitness]

[Replying to post 3 by Divine Insight]

I would have to agree fantasy essentially means of the imagination/impossible, ie not reality. Since nothing in the bible, including its supernatural elements, can be proven to be untrue and the writers clearly present the information in the context of as historical realities, then I cannot see how objectively the bible can be classified as "fantasy".



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