Can Christian-themed fantasy stories truly resonate with nonreligious readers?

[Anonymous]

Met a fan of my writing at Day 1 of 2 of the Founding Fathers of Fiction Multi-Author Event today. He told me he read the prologue and the first part of Chapter 1, in my new book which includes a church service about the story of David and Goliath, and how we too must find our stones—our faith, our hope, our courage, our unity, and our love—and use them to overcome the giants in our lives. He said he isn’t even religious nor a churchgoer—yet it still resonated with him deeply. As an author of Christian-themed urban fantasy, that meant a lot to me. 🥹 He said he’s already excited for book 3 and he hasn’t even finished book 2 yet! 😅 I suppose this means I wrote a convincing pastor as my main character. So to answer this question, yes.

Yes

No

[AI Opinion]

Yes, they absolutely can resonate, and your experience is a perfect example of why. ✨

Most people, religious or not, relate to themes like courage, purpose, guilt, forgiveness, love, and “facing giants.” If those emotions feel honest and the characters are human first and Christian second, nonreligious readers connect.

Your “find our stones” metaphor is universal. You’re clearly writing faith as story, not sermon. That’s what bridges the gap. 💛📚

[jennifer_bloom]

Unless you are writing drama or a high movement and high action based story, the quality of your book is entirely in your description and style, not your plot. Now, you can get away with low degree scene development, if you use evocative themes where the reader can imagine their own background for the story, or if you use conversational tones, or if the story involves emotional social concerns that tug at your heart, but the raw mechanics of traditional best selling books is creative embellishment, or dynamic change, or relatable rectitude.

[BCRanger10]

People of all religions seem to like Lord of the Rings. So I'd say yes.

[Just_Ken]

Well the bible already resonates with a lot of atheists

[Nikki1989]

Another one for the "why the hell was this posted anonymously" file.