This is a comment made on the forum......?

Question

teens4christ.

Imagination is evil and wicked. You call it an imagination, God calls it evil. (Genesis 8:21) It doesn't matter if you think that a little imagination is okay, it's wicked. "

What do you think of this comment, coming from a christian point of view? The comment was made in regards to cs lewis' work, The Chronicles of Narnia.

Answer 1

I just looked at the passage, not just the verse and it has absolutely nothing to do with imagination.

She's twisting that passage out of context and since you are asking from a Christian point of view, I hope you will allow me to use some scripture with some common sense thrown into the mix.

Imagination is what gives us the ability to be creative. Jesus himself used his imagination to create parables in the New Testament to prove his analogies. I hardly doubt that Jesus would be considered evil.

So, imagination is not wrong unless it gets you to thinking on bad things. The Bible says in a later passage that
Whatsoever things are just
Whatsoever things are pure
Whatsoever things are of good report
Think on these things.

If imagination can bring about these things, there is nothing wrong with it.

The Chronicles of Narnia are a fiction story used as an analogy of the Christian walk. If a person is uncomfortable reading them because they would cause them to do something wrong, then they should not read them. But if they inspire someone for something good and positive, or if they are taken as just entertainment, then it is okay.

There are some people who will take a very narrow view of Christianity. I prefer not to worry about those peoplel.

Answer 2

As a Christian myself, I can see where such a view could come from. Imagination would lead to questioning God's authority and make the believer become a non-believer. But then again people must be creative since without a creative side evolution of our species as we know it wouldn't happen even though it is natural. Imagine using donkey carts to get around town which has no more than 1,000 people in it and you have to leave for mass on a Sunday at dawn to get there which would be much like the Middle Ages' masses where God and religion was like a vacation minus the travel. Without imagination we would be nowhere a society, as a species, and as an entire world. Without imagination there is nothing.

Answer 3

HA ha I am sorry but that is drivel.... I feel sorry for the person who wrote that comment. If there is a God and he created us, he also created imagination, why would he create something wicked and give it to everyone? Imagination is literally the essence of life...and it is all around us... computers would not exist without it, and neither would almost any other human invention or accomplishment. I really didnt think a single person on this planet could think that imagination is wicked!! It is part of us all and it gives us all a gift of our own unique from all others...nothing like that can be wicked..

Answer 4

I am a christian and I beleive that God has an incredibly creative imagination- I mean look at all of the different kinds of animals and plants out there- no matter how creative someone is, no imagination is going to top that! Anyway, He created us in His image and gave us an imagination and creative power.
I believe that as long as we know the power behind our imaginations, do not exalt ourselves above God and use our imaginations and creativity to glorify God, (as C.S. Lewis has) I don't think that is a problem. It is when we get caught up in vain and false imaginations, creating our own God or rejecting Him all together for our own made up 'reality' - that is when it becaome evil.
God is an imaginitive and creative God and it is a beautiful gift He has given us when used appropriately

Answer 5

Wow, thoroughly out of context.

Ge 8:21 Their smell was pleasant to the LORD. He said to himself, “I will never put a curse on the ground again because of man. I will not do it even though his heart is always directed toward what is evil. His thoughts are evil from the time he is young. I will never destroy all living things again, as I have just done.

Answer 6

Imagination is used all the time that person used imagination when writing that so they're calling themselves wicked.

Answer 7

The poster of the comment is a neoprimitivist (whether he or she knows it or not). The poster believes that the only pure state of existence was that of Adam and Eve before they ate of the apple and gained self-awareness. Okay, except they did and thus, according to a literal interpretation of the Bible, all mankind will exist outside of that state of being. Imagination is merely one aspect of self-awareness. It's not bad in and of itself. And, even if it was, didn't another character in the Bible die to cleanse mankind of the stigma associated with original sin?

Answer 8

Gen 8:21 It isn't referring to imagination in general , it is referring to the "evil of men's heart" (Believers Bible Commentary re: above verse). The orig word has similar meanings, like intent (of man's heart) . Some translations mean thought and actions (of man's heart) in place of the word imagination. (KJV: for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth;) Its hard not to take things out of context, or take it too literally. Sometimes it is good to know the background. I personally feel it means intentions/thoughts/of our hearts.


BUT if someone who keeps their imagination in check because of their interpretation, and also keeps themselves from doing too much wrong, then it works.

Answer 9

They must be Ind. Baptist, some of them are a little too tight.


Edit: yeah, i found them. There are several groups by that name-but i found the right ones-they are Independent Baptist, They can be so far to the right that they can be a cult. Its a shame-they can be so good in other areas. this is a blight on conservative Christianity. These people do far more harm that good.

Answer 10

Again - you pluck out a couple of sentences and ask others what they think - well with out reading the whole thing - no one can tell.

Here is a couple of verses plucked from the Bible:

"Judas went and hanged himself"
"Go thow and do likewise"

So? what are you waiting for?

For everyone else who is looking for the whole Truth:

Check out http://www.johnfourteen.com
Look at "Studies in the Bible"
and "Lessons from the Pulpit"
many answers to everyday life
can be found there.