We have been using science to illustrate how you will encounter anti-Christian ideas in the university and how you might deal with them, but anti-Christian ideas can come in connection with any subject in the curriculum. Many of them are less obvious, but they exist even in courses in mathematics and foreign languages. After all, we are dealing with not only numbers and sounds, but with depraved people. How about classes in philosophy, religion, politics, and economics?

It is impossible to provide illustrations and suggestions for the whole curriculum, so we will conclude the chapter by making a brief note about literature, or fiction in particular. Keep in mind that at this time we are interested in only those texts that contain anti-Christian ideas.

Assuming that the author has at least a minimal level of competence, when he presents an argument in non-fiction prose, his purpose and position will tend to be relatively clear. First, the reader will realize that he is reading an argument, and he will find it easy to locate and understand the conclusion that the author is asserting. Then, the premises that support and lead to such a conclusion should be obvious also.

Now, since the asserted conclusion is so clear, right away the reader notices whether it is something that he accepts or rejects. And if it is something that he rejects, he puts up a resistance against it. But because the premises are clear as well, the soundness of the argument and the validity of the reasoning process are easily examined. The reader must either be persuaded by the argument, or he must point out its flaws. Since the argument is so plain and direct, to reject its conclusion without finding any fault with it would expose one's irrational prejudice. In other words, when presented in this fashion, the substance of an argument resembles its appearance.

Things are not so clear when an opinion or argument is presented through fiction. This is because the conclusion is often unstated, and if there are supporting premises at all, they are also hidden, or described rather than explicitly stated. A person might not get the impression that the author is arguing for anything at all, but he might notice either an approving or unsettling feeling after reading the story. The author is indeed making a point, although he is doing this indirectly, in a way that bypasses the analysis and resistance of careless readers.

This is not to say that the author is always trying to deceive, or that his conclusion is necessarily false, but it is to point out that only gullible individuals are directly affected by fictional stories, when they communicate their points indirectly. Instead of speaking to our beliefs first, they attempt to generate certain feelings in us, which in turn might influence our beliefs.

What readers often forget is that the author possesses omnipotence in the context of his story – he can make anyone do or say whatever he wants. If he desires to make a character appear heroic, he can make him perform heroic deeds. And if he wishes to generate hatred toward a character, he can make this character do all kinds of despicable things. The readers must never lose sight of the fact that all details in a fictional story are given by the author – he made up everything – and as he does this he is not necessarily reflecting reality, but only how he perceives the world.

Therefore, when dealing with a piece of fiction, you must become a more active reader and thinker, taking an extra step to translate it into an argument. You must find the conclusion that the author is trying to assert and the premises that he uses to support it. If you confuse fiction with non-fiction, then you will tend to apply what happens in the fictional story to the world outside of the story. The author wants you to ask, "Given this is what happens in the story, what should I think about the world outside of the story?" But instead you should ask, "Why does the author make this happen in the story? Why does he make this character do such a thing? What is the author's agenda?" Once you have made the story into something direct and explicit, you have also made it something that you can confront and refute.

With stories that advance anti-Christian ideas, you might read of preachers and believers that act as despicable hypocrites, committing murder, theft, and adultery behind the scenes, while presenting a holy front for all to see. Of course it is true that many professing believers are hypocrites, but here we are also dealing with fictional stories, in which the author can make anything happen.

And what does this say about Christianity anyway? Does the Bible deny that some professing believers are not believers at all? And does the Bible say that true believers are perfect and sinless? A story about Christian hypocrites produces ill feelings toward Christians, and that is all there is to it. In any case, for every preacher who commits adultery in fiction, I can make an atheist pillage fifty villages, murder two hundred thousand children, and rape five million women. One story is just as easy to write as the other, and neither one proves anything.

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