TRUTH & FICTION

Truth & Fiction

Once upon a time Truth and Fiction met for lunch. The waiter who seated them asked what type of water each wanted. ‘Distilled,’ was Truth’s considered response. ‘Sparkling,’ was Fiction’s bubbly reply. After viewing the menu, they began discussing the art and discipline of writing.

‘To be concise, to write is to communicate. Therefore, an economy of words is best.’ ‘What?’ retorted Fiction to Truth’s aphorism, ‘Then you would leave your reader circling the airport with no landing gear! I say that the wings of thought must be allowed to fly and soar with colourful embellishment, and then to alight on any chosen destination.’ Truth was pensive as he sipped his water, but replied, ‘Words and water are pure when nothing is added to them.’ Fiction then leaned forward, saying, ‘Yes, but facts are always interpreted by the beholder. The nut, in my genre of writing, always contains a kernel of fact. I merely seek to enhance the reader’s understanding in an entertaining way.’ Truth leaned back on his chair, then spoke, ‘You pass facts through the prism of your ‘rainbowic’ imagination, only producing refracted logic at best, and optical illusions at worst. In a word, your genre of writing always distorts reality.’ The waiter arrived to take their orders. ‘Rump steak rare please, with steamed vegetables,’ requested Truth. “The wagyu beefburger with the works and the swiss cheese melted! Ooh! And some of those special spice-sprinkled fries. And a large cappuccino to wash it all down with.’ The waiter left. ‘I believe facts like food ought not to be overly processed,’ stated Truth. ‘Well, I believe they need to be tasty before they will tantalize the reader’s taste buds, be chewed over, enjoyed, and thus provide intellectual nourishment.’ ‘Too many words spoil the message,’ was Truth’s rebuttal. ‘Yes, but the batter is needed to encase the fish,’ countered Fiction. So went the conversation back and forth between Truth and Fiction.

CS Lewis, for example, was able to captain the catamaran of truth and fiction, thereby skillfully avoiding the sandbars of pure fantasy and the crocodiles of hallucination, to arrive at the writer’s source of the Nile. He could write as a theologian every bit as well as a novelist. His novels were based on his theology. Thus, truth was illustrated by allegorical fiction. Is this not the very nature of Christ’s parables?

Parables and allegorical fiction are entertaining because they are engaging. They ofttimes embed the abstract in the concrete. The metaphor is the runway upon which truth lands. As fiction without a cargo of truth is empty, so truth without a store of fiction remains beyond the reach of many. That is why God reveals Himself to human beings by way of analogy resting upon the bedrock of propositional truth. Christian fiction must always have God’s Word at its base.

Having finished their meal, Truth and Fiction asked the waiter for the bill. ‘Your bill already has been paid in full,’ announced the waiter. ‘By whom’? asked our debating diners in stereo.

‘All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one, to his own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth.’ Isaiah 53:6-7.