Intricacies of Theology

The world is filled with ideas, especially in regard to its creation. You have scientific that focuses heavily on what can be proven and then theological focused on a creator or creators. When it comes to a fictional world, creating that fictional theology can be challenging. The world can be created by any means as a writer, but what do your characters believe vs. what actually happened.

I first thought of my world theology after reading Tolkien’s Simarillion. The detail of the creation of his world, as well as the amount of history that played into his later stories, was astounding. At that moment, I wondered what my own characters believed. They live in a fictional world. Are their truths about the world’s existence mingled with falsehoods? Is there a power in believing a true faith, or is it all semantics?

In this, I started to look deeper into my story. The villains. What made them so villainous? Could there be a deeper power they tapped into? The heroes. Are there ancient prophecies of their mission? Do they gain strength through religious objects or beings?

It’s interesting to really dissect it all. A lot of stories have this dynamic of world creation and active story, but they don’t relate it to religion. When you create a world, you know the difference between belief and truth. This makes it no longer religion but tradition. In reading The Lord of The Rings, you don’t ever feel like Aragon is an over religious zealot plotting to take the throne based on a divine calling. Yet here is a leader with what can only be viewed as a divine calling based on the heritage of his people.

I really began by thinking what my characters believed and realized really quickly that was not the place to start. Beliefs can be uncountable. Every single person in the world can believe something different about the creation of the world. Even generalized, you still have hundreds of religions with similarities yet significant enough differences to be numbered as their own. So I came to the conclusion that I must create the world. I was not creating a religion or a belief. I was writing the actual history of the world’s creation.

I had some hesitation initially. Was it blasphemous to base my stories’ world creation on actual theology? Was it blasphemous to create my own version of world creation that was completely unique of what I believed of our world’s creation? After overcoming those questions, I returned to Tolkien’s Simarillion. I listened to the beginning again and really absorbed how he’d created a divine being that planned out the creation of the world, but the creation was actually done by others. I enjoyed his symbolism of how certain characters were fated to be enemies by their involvement in the planning.

I didn’t want to create a copy of Tolkien, although I was deeply inspired by him. My world began on what I felt to be, more solid ground. I created a place for the gods, a heaven of sorts, yet these gods were not the gods of creation, in fact, rather than the gods considered good creating the world, it was the sins of a god that created it. I wanted the world to be built by the enemy of good. A god that eliminated anyone who could have refuted his godliness.

This burst into an expansion beyond what I could have dreamed. As I wrote the story, I realized I had questions, and because I was creating the story, I made the answers. What caused this god to rebel? Well, there is an unknowable god that resides higher than all others, and this god thought his actions honored him. Where do elves come from? Created from eternal trees by the children of this wicked god as protectors of the world against him. Each question was given an answer, then expanded into a story.

Now, I have ten periods of time that expand the history of the world. From creation to the end of time. I have gods and God’s. Beings that people worship like gods, yet don’t declare any divinity themselves. All of this just to tell a story that takes place in the tenth age of the world.

My characters believe many things about the world they live in. Some know the truth, others are far from it. Despite the challenge, it’s a fun experience building a planet from scratch and a story along with it. When it comes to creation, people have a lot of questions, but when it comes to mine, I know all the answers.