Are you a Christian?if so,did the fact that you are a Christian influence your interest in Twilight in any way,whether negatively or positively?how so?
Twilight allows Christians like myself to explore the subject of vampires without feeling like I've betrayed my faith because, first of all,they don't drink human blood--at least the Cullen family don't(which is really the only inherently evil thing about vampires because, in the bible, the Law of Moses clearly forbids the Jews from drinking human blood.However Jesus' blood is MORE than human,It is divine.) and,unlike vampires in most vampire stories,the Cullens make a real effort to redeem themselves.Vampires are not evil unless the person was evil before he or she was turned-Evil lies in the heart of the individual.The Cullens clearly prove that.vampires in other stories usually either embrace the fact that they are vampires or,if they don't, they don't do anything to make up for it.Even Louis in Interview with a Vampire,as much as he hated what he was, didn't even make any effort to redeem himself.Stephanie Meyer has created the type of vampire you can respect-with dignity, integrity and, above all,CONVICTION.Carlisle himself said in New Moon "By all accounts,we're damned,regardless.But,I hope,maybe foolishly,we get some measure of credit for trying."He also said "In the 400yrs since I've been born I have never seen anything that has made me doubt whether God exists in one form or another"This proves that Carlisle still has faith in God and that he and the Cullens still have a chance at redemption despite what they are-otherwise,he would just raise his family as other vampires-with no remorse or respect for human life.Also,considering the fact that Stephenie Meyer is Mormon(even though I dont agree with that particular form of Christianity),I think she intended for the vampire and the lust for blood to be a metaphor for the everyday temptations that we as human-beings face.And the Cullens not conforming to the vampire lifestyle of drinking human blood is a metaphor for Christians who don't conform to the rest of the world in order to follow a higher purpose.And,even though I am not a wolfpack fan,If you think about it,they are a metaphor for the gay and lesbian community who feel they didnt have a choice to be who they are(I myself believe eveyone has a choice,but then again,who am I to judge?.I firmly believe in "let he that has no sin cast the first stone"-I am certainly not without sin so I am not one to throw stones)You can see alot of Christian undertones in the Twilight story-including the Cullens belief in the exsistance and value of the soul.Thats why I am a twilight fan
Tags: Christian
Views: 72
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Jane Angel on -
well my take on twilight is that they try there there hardest every day and i dont see anything evil in the books!
THey even have a cross in there books :)
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Permalink Reply by Rose L. Sutton on -
This is one issue that has bothered me for a while now. I am a Christian and sometimes I worry that I obsess to much over this story. Every since I started reading Twilight for the first time I have been so into it that nothing else really mattered. I didn't want to do anything except read the books or surf the web for pics and stories. For a long time I was in that place. Now I think I have gotten past it and I still love the story and everything about it, especially Edward, but now I can do other things and every once in a while I can put it out of my mind for 20 minutes or so. I just keep telling myself that I am not worshiping these actors who play these fantasy people and vampires I am only interested in the fantasy of it all. I do have all of the books, the movie companions, magazines and posters, I am now able to put those things away and do something different. No, I am sure that I am okay and God knows he is first in my heart and soul. I will love the character of Edward forever.
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Permalink Reply by TwilightTrinity AKA Shaun on -
Alright D.I wasn't judging you.You have the right to believe what you believe and if you are a Christian,God bless you.Please don't take offense.All I was doing was stating what I got out of the Twilight story
Daidalos Falvius said:Oh please, who are you to judge me? Or any other of the bretheren. As the Apostle Paul himself stated God is my judge. And I am secure in my faith in him and his mercy. Tell us all, were you there when the stars were hung in the heavens? Where you there when God laid the foundations of the earth? Was it you on the cross spilling your blood for the repudiation of mankinds sins against God?
No, then you have no right to judge the faith or testimony of anyone else you judgemental viper sent to sow strife among the bretheren....yes I am one of those "christians" who will call evil evil. Ut oh now run away servant of the fallen one as youre kind always does when confronted by those secure in Gods hand and his word.
As for "taking the scriptures" to the extreme. No I take God at his word as written within the scripture a testimony in and of itself which speaks volumes more than your so called weak faith.
Perhaps you should try it sometime, Oh now there's a novel idea....Christians who actually accept the scripture as written for what it says, rather than placing their own interpretations upon it. Christians who actually serve God rather than their own itching ears. And yes this is a very novel idea ladies and gentlemen. In my nearly three thousand years of existence, I"ve only known a few who actually did..
Of course this is why those same scriptures tell us the way is narrow and there are few who find it..
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Permalink Reply by TwilightTrinity AKA Shaun on
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Rose,that's great.Thank you for your response. God bless
Rose L. Sutton said:This is one issue that has bothered me for a while now. I am a Christian and sometimes I worry that I obsess to much over this story. Every since I started reading Twilight for the first time I have been so into it that nothing else really mattered. I didn't want to do anything except read the books or surf the web for pics and stories. For a long time I was in that place. Now I think I have gotten past it and I still love the story and everything about it, especially Edward, but now I can do other things and every once in a while I can put it out of my mind for 20 minutes or so. I just keep telling myself that I am not worshiping these actors who play these fantasy people and vampires I am only interested in the fantasy of it all. I do have all of the books, the movie companions, magazines and posters, I am now able to put those things away and do something different. No, I am sure that I am okay and God knows he is first in my heart and soul. I will love the character of Edward forever.
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Permalink Reply by TwilightTrinity AKA Shaun on
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Thank you for your response Kaitlin.Yes,there are those of us openminded enough to appreciate fiction.Unless it directly goes against or mocks God.I believe that Steph meyers incorporated Mormon faith into the story and the values of the cullens which is what I love about twilight the most.
Kaitlin Keifer said:Im not a christian nor do I follow a religion but its so nice to see there are believers out there that don't want to burn the books. I have heard of catholic schools taking these book off the shelves and banning them from the school. The same thing happened with Harry Potter. Its nice to see people with an open mind and heart. Thank you all so much for this. Its nice to see people wanting to see their children and people in general turn away from a tv and pick up a book.
Thank you
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Permalink Reply by TwilightTrinity AKA Shaun on
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I agree Angel.If Anything,Steph meyers incorporated her mormon faith into the story and into the values of Carlisle and the Cullen family.Thats what I love about Twilight so much
Jane(Angel)=WaterBenderFullMoon! said:well my take on twilight is that they try there there hardest every day and i dont see anything evil in the books!
THey even have a cross in there books :)
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Permalink Reply by TwilightTrinity AKA Shaun on
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And as far as my comment on your picture.I apologize.I guess "Evil" is in the eye of the beholder.If you dont see anything wrong with it and that it doesn't contradict your Christianity,I respect that and I respect you for sticking by your beliefs.Please don't have any hard feelings.
Daidalos Falvius said:Oh please, who are you to judge me? Or any other of the bretheren. As the Apostle Paul himself stated God is my judge. And I am secure in my faith in him and his mercy. Tell us all, were you there when the stars were hung in the heavens? Where you there when God laid the foundations of the earth? Was it you on the cross spilling your blood for the repudiation of mankinds sins against God?
No, then you have no right to judge the faith or testimony of anyone else you judgemental viper sent to sow strife among the bretheren....yes I am one of those "christians" who will call evil evil. Ut oh now run away servant of the fallen one as youre kind always does when confronted by those secure in Gods hand and his word.
As for "taking the scriptures" to the extreme. No I take God at his word as written within the scripture a testimony in and of itself which speaks volumes more than your so called weak faith.
Perhaps you should try it sometime, Oh now there's a novel idea....Christians who actually accept the scripture as written for what it says, rather than placing their own interpretations upon it. Christians who actually serve God rather than their own itching ears. And yes this is a very novel idea ladies and gentlemen. In my nearly three thousand years of existence, I"ve only known a few who actually did..
Of course this is why those same scriptures tell us the way is narrow and there are few who find it..
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Permalink Reply by TwilightTrinity AKA Shaun on
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As a Christian.It's my responsibility to share what I believe.But I will not push my faith on others.And I have to respect others beliefs if I expect them to respect mine.Otherwise, I have gone against everything Christianity stands for.
Kaitlin Keifer said:Im not a christian nor do I follow a religion but its so nice to see there are believers out there that don't want to burn the books. I have heard of catholic schools taking these book off the shelves and banning them from the school. The same thing happened with Harry Potter. Its nice to see people with an open mind and heart. Thank you all so much for this. Its nice to see people wanting to see their children and people in general turn away from a tv and pick up a book.
Thank you
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Permalink Reply by Daidalos Falvius on -
Obsess over God and his word, as I do. You will be much better off.
TwilightGodfather no offense taken or meant. I rarely harbor a grudge, and if I do it's not for long.
Rose L. Sutton said:This is one issue that has bothered me for a while now. I am a Christian and sometimes I worry that I obsess to much over this story. Every since I started reading Twilight for the first time I have been so into it that nothing else really mattered. I didn't want to do anything except read the books or surf the web for pics and stories. For a long time I was in that place. Now I think I have gotten past it and I still love the story and everything about it, especially Edward, but now I can do other things and every once in a while I can put it out of my mind for 20 minutes or so. I just keep telling myself that I am not worshiping these actors who play these fantasy people and vampires I am only interested in the fantasy of it all. I do have all of the books, the movie companions, magazines and posters, I am now able to put those things away and do something different. No, I am sure that I am okay and God knows he is first in my heart and soul. I will love the character of Edward forever.
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Permalink Reply by TwilightTrinity AKA Shaun on
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I don't take the existance of vampires literally either.Call me ignorant if you will.But, I just see twilight and vampires as very interesting and unique fiction.Not that I have anything against those who do believe in them.It's a belief like any other.The way I see it,you're not harming anyone--more power to you.I'm glad we have come to an understanding D,if I may call you "D". God bless
Daidalos Falvius said:Jessica wife of Emmett said:I’m a bit confused. Does being interested in other vampires make you betray faith? Vampires like werewolves, mummies, gremlins, etc are all fictional representations of “evil”. Just because you read about something like that doesn’t constitute a betrayal of faith and I wouldn’t dare base the term evil on a creature’s ingestion of blood. Vampires have been used to represent evil, but I don’t think that means a Christian shouldn’t read about them or be entertained by stories with Vampires. Vampires also were used as a tool for propaganda against foreigners way back when, but ignoring the literature doesn’t help bring awareness to the problems with that sort of writing. If anything reading about it and exploring the meaning behind such “evil” creatures and the popularity behind them can only help expand your knowledge and in turn strengthen your faith. I guess I can understand your connection with the desire for redemption being similar to Christian values, however it’s the image of what you are saying makes a vampire respectable and able to redeem itself that I’m not really agreeing with. As a Christian, the need to redeem one’s self is unnecessary, and frankly impossible if you believe Christ died to save you. Obviously I’m only speaking in general terms because what one considers to be Christianity has many different interpretations these days. However for the most part, Christianity is more of a faith based belief system with the need to redeem one’s self being pointless because as imperfect beings, Christ was sent to be the redeemer because our actions aren’t enough. I guess I tend to lean more along the lines of the “by grace are we saved through faith” and “not by works” sort of ideas (Eph 2). I tend to see Twilight as more of a loose interpretation of Mormonism. I personally saw a lot more connections with that belief system than Christianity. Here is a website a found that connects Twilight to some Mormonism practices, it’s pretty interesting stuff. It’s not some scholarly site, but it’s someone like you exploring the connections they saw. I love looking into the meaning behind stories and it’s always interesting to see what someone else thinks. Thanks for the awesome discussion topic!
http://writetools.wordpress.com/2008/11/22/twilight-preaches-mormon...
The bible itself tells us about evil, and evil beings. Guess we should throw that book away too while we are at it ridding ourselves of everything which mentions evil right TwilightGodfatherTrinity . :lol:
Seriously I am always amused by mormons, especially those mormons who with their precious false teaching known as the "book of mormon" violate the utmost commandment of God, that being not to add to, or take away from his word, who then presume to preach to me about God. Take heed ladies and gents this is what the Lord warned us about when he mentioned the "blind leading the blind".
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Permalink Reply by Daidalos Falvius on
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Are the nephilim just a myth?
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Permalink Reply by TwilightTrinity AKA Shaun on
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I wouldn't know.I mean I have heard of them,but don't know very much about them,so in respect for you and you're beliefs,I won't comment on what I know nothing about.Fair?
Daidalos Falvius said:Are the nephilim just a myth?
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