God as the bad guy

[lovemyskinnyjeans]

What do you guys all think of the representation of God as a more villainous figure in fiction?

Do people feel very strongly about this in the context of fictional work, or do they just not care?

I don't care as I see God as a fictional character anyway.

I'd only really come across it in The Gospel according to Jesus Christ by Jose Saramago; I found it a very thought provoking book which made me question commonly held beliefs. So I feel strongly that it's a good thing as I don't believe anything is beyond the realms of discussion.

It is a completely fair and fascinating interpretation - One man's loving creator is another man's vengeful, unpleasant pyschopath.

Which books were you thinking of? Philip Pullman?

Hi there, not any author in specific, anything which addresses this subject, really.

I was thinking about works which have provoked huge furore even though they are fictional (The Da Vinci Code springs first to mind), and I confess I'm struggling to put my finger on where they cross the line from inoffensive fantasy to "attacking Christianity."

But the DaVinci Code has the churchy types as the bad guy, not god, doesn't it?

Anyway, questioning god and his motives is an old theme in literature (e.g. the boring old despot in Paradise Lost) , and if executed well I can't see anything wrong with it.

I was going to suggest going back to basics with Paradise Lost but I see WidowWadman has beaten me to it