Navigating Christian Romance Novels: What’s Acceptable? part 2

By Elizabeth Prata

Navigating Christian Romance Novels: What’s Acceptable?

In part 1 of this short series about Christian Romance novels, I’d gone over the dilemma many women feel when seeking a clean, good, historical romance book. There are many thorny issues within the Christian publishing arena among novelists who discuss whether to go clean (tame), spicy (edgy) or just explicit (obscene). If it’s true that one man’s trash in another’s treasure, one woman’s clean book is boring to another, but an acceptably spicy book to one is too racy for another.

Is it OK to read romances (like Harlequin & its ilk) if the sex isn’t explicit? Are Christian romances a good substitute for secular romance genre reading?

I had explored the complexities of Christian romance novels and the challenges of balancing faith with engaging narratives, avoiding sin and idols, and invite deeper contemplation. It isn’t just a sex scene that might instill sinful lust in a reader’s heart, but the subtle instillation of romantic expectations from these books that then lead to an idol of marriage, or romance, or husbands. These idols weren’t speculative, I’d found many comments on chat boards opining about this very issue of romantic marriage becoming an idol for some.

KimG on the Puritan Board said, “However, I find that these kinds of books allow Christian women to vicariously relive the emotional high that comes from falling in love without actually finding someone new to fall in love with. It promotes envy and lust by producing a longing for a storybook romance that no husband can ever live up to“.

The bottom line is, what Christian readers want, especially the sub-genre of Christian romance, is a well-written story that presents characters wrestling with life and coming to solutions based on biblical principles- without going into the arena of ‘too graphic’.

How to navigate this issue?

Let’s go to the Bible. While the Bible doesn’t tell us specifically what to read, there are many guiding principles in the good book for us to live by.

Principle #1: Permissible but not beneficial?

Should Christian women read Romance Novels? Well, we know that the Bible says that ‘All things are permissible to us, but not all things are beneficial. (1 Corinthians 10:23). So while the Bible doesn’t tell us explicitly what to read, we understand that while we may read anything, not all things are good for us.

Principle #2: Think on these things

We are admonished to do the following in Philippians 4:8, “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, think about these things.“

Is this romance book worthy of praise to Jesus? Is it commendable? Is it pure?

Principle #3: Conforming or transforming?

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2).

Is this book helping my mind or presenting a stumbling block? Is the book showing me a good way to negotiate a relationship in a Godly way, or is it raising unrealistic expectations of how romantic relationships operate?

Principle #4: The Conscience

Hebrews 13:18 reminds us of the importance of our conscience: Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a good conscience, desiring to conduct ourselves honorably in all things.

While reading one romance book may not violate your conscience, reading a bunch of them may begin to instill an idol…is your conscience starting to speak to you? Are you reading too many and neglecting devotionals and Bible study?

Principle #5: Guard your heart, eyes, and mind

Guard your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life. Proverbs 4:23 says. 2 Peter 2:14 warns of false teachers “having eyes full of adultery”. Are these books causing you to lust after a fictional character, a known person, or anyone other than your husband? Your eyes are full of adultery. Are your eyes full of jealousy because someone you know seems to have a relationship like in the books, but you do not?

Principle #6: Stumbling block to others

Romans 14:13 says Therefore let’s not judge one another anymore, but rather determine this: not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in a brother’s or sister’s way.

Do you know of a younger sister in your life (younger chronologically or spiritually) who is weaker than you and by these books will succumb to stumbling?

So what good books are out there?

What are some alternatives to Christian romances? Some of the classics are mentioned frequently as a substitute, such as Jane Austen, Louisa May Alcott, Lucy Maud Montgomery, Charlotte Brontë…

Other clean Christian books not particularly of the romance genre are Charles Martin books. Below is a page with a synopsis of each of his Christian books, some of which have romantic relationships, and some not.

All Charles Martin book synopses- https://rebeccajwhitman.com/2021/12/01/the-power-of-the-written-word-charles-martin-books/

Clean books that aren’t romance or Christian are the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series by Alexander McCall Smith, Agatha Christie, Mrs Pollifax book series, All Creatures Great and Small series, and many others.

We can read biographical books about marriages of the saints from the past, such as Susie: The Life and Legacy of Susannah Spurgeon, wife of Charles H. Spurgeon by Ray Rhodes Jr., Marriage To A Difficult Man:The Uncommon Union Of Jonathan & Sarah Edwards by Elisabeth D. Dodds.

The Christian Lover is a book by Dr. Michael A.G. Haykin where we read love letters from saints of the past. The book blurb says, “Each letter gives us a glimpse of what marriage should be: joyful companionship, deep passion, and unfailing commitment through the ups and downs of life.” More here

To conclude, reading Christian romances is a matter of personal liberty. As with all decisions you make, it is a personal one, but hopefully you are making decisions based on Godly principles.