I finished reading Frank E. Peretti’s 1986 novel This Present Darkness last night. It isn’t something I’d normally read, but someone mentioned the author on my other blog and I thought I’d try it out.

This isn’t a review. For that, you can visit my substack. However, in reading the book as well as some of the commentaries about it, I started wondering at the relative value of Christian supernatural fiction and thrillers.

The book continues to receive rave reviews and the author has been likened to as “a sanctified Stephen King” or alternately “the Stephen King of Christian fiction.”

The book is the first of a series of such novels and according to commentaries written by Jay R. Howard and Glenn W. Shuck, Peretti’s writing is considered to reflect what is considered the New Christian Right.

My understanding is that Peretti’s books are widely read by members of the Evangelical, Charismatic, and Pentecostal churches, enthusiastically consumed by both the clergy and laity alike.

The worrisome part is that some of these folks are taking fiction and using it as, at least potentially, guides on matters of prayer, spiritual warfare, and even exorcizing demons.

Continue reading Upon Reading A Christian Supernatural Thriller →