King and faith.
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Stephen King
Hanz-Willhelm2 — 9 years ago(October 27, 2016 06:53 AM)
I just finished Desperation and for the first time he actually included faith, not as some psycho, evil, babbling idiot wacko character and concept but he actually made it the hero aspect of the story.
I was sure he hated faith and that's why he so often includes some raving lunatic, psychopath religious nut in every other story. I'm kind of shocked he went the other way this time.
Was ist der Sinn des Lebens? -
MatthewKeen — 9 years ago(October 28, 2016 06:42 AM)
http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/06/02/the-gospel-of-stephen-king/comment-page-21/
The Gospel of Stephen King
By John Blake, CNN
(CNN) - When the horror novelist Stephen King was once asked why he wrote such gross stories, he said he did it because he had the heart of a small boy - which he kept in a jar on his desk.
With his beady eyes and I-just-killed-the-cat grin, King looks and sounds like a horror novelist. But when the Rev. Paul F.M. Zahl read several of Kings novels, he learned something new about the author: Theres a lot of faith behind his fright.
Zahl says some of the most stirring affirmations of Christian faith can be found in the chilling stories of King. The horror master has been preaching sermons to millions of readers for years, only most of Kings fans dont know it, he says.
People tend to think that Stephen King is anti-religious because he is a horror writer, but thats completely mistaken, says Zahl, a retired Episcopal priest who has written about Kings religious sensibility for Christianity Today magazine. Several of his books are parables of grace in action.
Want to read a powerful meditation on Jesus sacrificial love? Check out how King links the death of the mammoth death row inmate John Coffey (note the initials, J.C.) to Jesus crucifixion in The Green Mile. Kings Storm of the Century is a creepy retelling of Jesus eerie encounter with the demon called Legion in the Gospel of Marks fifth chapter. And Kings epic apocalyptic novel, The Stand, reads like a contemporary retelling of the Book of Revelation, with a little Exodus thrown in, Zahl says.
Zahls claim about King's faith may sound ludicrous. King, who just released his latest novel, The Wind Through the Keyhole, has written at least 50 horror novels such as Carrie and Misery.
Yet there is an actual body of literature devoted to Kings religious sensibility. Several pastors and authors say King displays a sophisticated grasp of theology in his books, and his stories are stuffed with biblical references1ebc and story lines taken straight from the Bible.
If God brought lawsuits, Stephen King would face a charge of plagiarism, says J.M. Rawbone, an English horror novelist who has written an essay about the Christian themes in The Stand.
King, whose publicist did not answer a request for an interview, has talked about his faith before. He describes himself as a Christian on his website and elsewhere has said he was raised as a hard-nosed Methodist taught to believe in the Antichrist.
Some of his literary influences are Christian authors. In one interview, King said he was shaped by C.S. Lewis, author of The Chronicles of Narnia, and J.R.R. Tolkien, author of The Lord of the Rings. Both Lewis and Tolkien were devout Christians who layered their fiction with Christian themes.
Ive always tried to contrast that bright, white light of real goodness or Godliness against evil, he said in a 1988 interview. Im not a proselytizer, and I hate organized religion. I think its one of the roots of real evil thats in the world. If you really unmask Satan, youll probably find that hes wearing a turnaround collar.
The best way, though, to understand Kings faith is not through his words, but through his stories. There are at least three biblical themes that run through them.
A child shall lead them
Every horror writer seems to write a vampire story eventually, and King is no exception. Salems Lot is one of Kings most popular novels. It depicts a vampires attempt to colonize a modern-day New England town.
Traditional vampire stories are loaded with Christian symbolism, but King inserts another biblical theme into Salems Lot that would reoccur in many of his books.
It comes in a scene showing a standoff between a priest and vampire. Father Callahan tries to protect a teenage boy with him by brandishing a cross. The vampire dares the priest to toss the cross away and face him on faith alone.
Father Callahan hesitates, his faith long diluted by alcohol and skepticism. The vampire wrenches the cross from the priests hands, while the boy escapes and becomes one of the vampires most formidable enemies.
When the Rev. David Squyres read this passage from Salems Lot, one of Jesus most popular sayings flashed before him: Unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
In the moral universe of King, children get God better than the adults, Squyres says.
The vampire humiliates the priest because the priest doesnt have real faith, but the kid has real faith, says Squyres, pastor of the Palms Baptist Church near Palm Springs, California.
The priest represents the Pharisees. They believe in relics. But the children, and the teenager, have a simple faith. They dont put their trust in institutions. They trust in the Lord, says Squyres, who has written about Kings Christian sensibility at his website, "talkstephenking."
Many of Kings most popular novels are filled with young heroines driven by faith. Its a reflection of