As a guy, I find TWILIGHT rather interesting, my mom read them all and told me that it was all true to how the teeenage girls think, so I read the first book. It was a very good book, but I've read much better books in the past. A lot of chriatians went into "we are perfect little christians that go to church and read our bibles and you are filthy sinners that God will damn to hell because you read this book and watch this movie, and dress like that, and listen to this music" mode including dovetales. STOP IDOLIZING YOURSELF FOR BEING A CHRISTIAN AND STOP TELL TEENAGERS THAT THEY ARE SINNERS AND GOING TO HELL LOVE THEM AS CHRIST LOVED YOU! Also there is nothing wrong with a work of FICTION as preacher_nathan said. I find these books to be very good.

As a Christian, a teenager, and a preacher
I see not one thing wrong with these books.

Being a senior in high school... I see what all my peers have to go through (including some of the trials I have to go through). I see the temptations in school to be "popular" by doing drugs, having sex, and drinking like a fish.

My stance on Twilight is the same my stance on Harry Potter.
If the Christian Community, churches, and adults would spend more time pushing "Don't have sex outside of marriage, don't do drugs, and don't drink" and less time pushing "Harry Potter and Twilight will condemn you to Hell" then I believe there would be a significant difference in my peers.

What's more of a real threat? A fictional book? Or the temptations of our everyday life in high school?

And here's a good Webster's definition for everyone:
fiction |ˈfik sh ən|
noun
literature in the form of prose, esp. short stories and novels, that describes imaginary events and people.


In Christ,

Nathan

I'm being too hard on VAMPIRES??

And as for reading the books, forget it. Im too busy to waste any time reading about VAMPIRES no matter how hard they are trying not to suck peoples' blood.

I said that glorifying the VAMPIRE could 'perhaps' be blasphemy, as eternal life through the sucking of human blood is a horrible mockery of the sacrifice of Christ on the cross when He shed HIS REAL BLOOD to give His children REAL eternal life

I never accused any reader of blasphemy.

You say the VAMPIRES are trying to be good and had no choice but to become VAMPIRES. That sounds disturbingly familiar somehow.

We need books that glorify the REALITY of JESUS and HIS birth and sacrifice... not all shmaltzy and smothered over with nicey nicey.. but the REAL story with all its pain and agony, betrayal and anguish. The REAL shedding of blood by the very SON of God!! And for a totally UNDESERVING lot ... all of us ~~~

We need to teach our young people to WORSHIP GOD...not VAMPIRES

(This is continued from below, please read previous post first.)

I'm not saying that vampires do have souls, or that by choosing to not feed off humans they are harmless or "Christian" vampires by any means. I'm just pointing out that you are calling the books blasphemous based on two points which, in these stories at least, are not true.

Also, if the link in the previous comment doesn't work, try this one: http://www.advancedministry.com/sites/index.cfm?i=4353&mid=1000&id=157855.

After several parents had asked me for my opinion on sharing the Twilight series with their daughters and one parent in particular asked me about this review, I wrote a review of the book. It is too long to post on here, but hopefully provides a balanced perspective. You can find it here: http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=43413726460&ref=nf&.php%3Fref%3Dhome&_ecdc=false#/note.php?note_id=43413726460&ref=nf.

A brief note to "dovetails." If you read my review you'll find that I neither praise nor condemn the book. However, your comments are not only overly dramatic, but reflect a larger problem within the Christian community. Obviously you haven't read the books, but are quick to condemn them (and it sounds a bit like their readers also) as being blasphemous. According to legends most vampires don't have a choice in loosing their humanity. These books are about a group of vampires who don't feed on humans and want to choose moral actions in the hopes they still have souls.

MEGAN are you saying that VAMPIRES are just 'confused humans'?

I may be wrong, not having made a point of studying vampires but I believe a vampire is no longer human having chosen eternal life through the sucking of blood from actual live human beings. Am I wrong here? Please correct me if I am.

In any case, any story where a VAMPIRE is the 'hero' CAN'T glorify GOD can it? Doesn't it glorify the OPPOSITE? Isn't it saying that one can find eternal life by sucking blood from other living beings and becoming a VAMPIRE oneself?

I find this a horrible MOCKERY of Jesus' blood shed on the cross which truly gives us eternal life !!! Perhaps even blasphemy.

I am shocked and dismayed by the whole concept of this book, and am amazed how many Christian parents seem to be praising it on the basis of its mention of abstinence alone.

Abstinence from sex before marriage to a VAMPIRE ??? and becoming a VAMPIRE too???? Give me a BREAK !!! Burn those books is my advice!!

My comments were so long they take up the next five posts i think but i really felt I had to say what was on my mind regarding this article. If you want to read what i had to say you'll have to go back a couple of posts and work your way to the top.

protectice of her. It is one of his faults that he constantly struggles with and eventually fixes. The reason he disables her car and kidnaps her is to keep her from a friend who is a werewolf who Edward is afraid might hurt bella accidentally.

I really dont feel like this article was backed by a good understanding of the characters it was accusing. It is true there are some faults with the characters, like Bella's lack of intrest in her soul and Edward's controling protectiveness, but both of them work through those things and I think both problems are adressed in the books. the best advice i can give is to simply read them for yourself. I can tell you as much about it as I want, but you have to make the final call.

hope this helped

he cant help himself most of the time and when he becomes interested in Bella he does everything to learn more about her. I really dont think this is such a terrible thing as the article makes it out to be. Who wouldnt want to find out more about their crush? and when you feel like you might eat her if you get too close and talk to her, listening to what other people are saying doesnt sound so bad. Edward only encourages Bella to not tell her father the truth of his species. In fact, he actually wishes she would tell he father more about them so that Edward might feel he is held accountable on some account. Edward doesnt like lying and neither does Bella but both know it would be very bad for Edwards vampire family if word got out so some discretion is needed. It is true that Edward does disable Bellas truck on one occasion and he does kidnap her on another to keep her from a certain friend but you must undertand that Edward loves Bella very VERY much and tends to get a little bit over

speed and agility. But i think she recognizes her own short commings and accepts them. Most importantly, Bella wants to loose her humanity so that she can be with edward forever, NOT because she feels weak and underpar. Her only thought is that she must stay with edward whom she loves strongly.

third, the accusations on edwards character. Edward feels that he is some sort of a monster who is completely unworthy of Bella. Truely, he is the one with the self confidence issue! To understand Edward you have to understand that He has never felt anything this strong for someone ever. He is reawakening his long dormant human instincts and doesnt quite know what to do with them. He does sneak into Bellas room to watch her sleep but I believe this is because he is simply fascinated with her and everything she does, including sleep. Also, vampires dont sleep at all so it is another way for him to reconnect with his lost humanity. Edward has the unique ability to hear other peoples thoughts..

on to the second arguement. I think Bella does have confidence, she is mature, capable and smart. She took initiative and moved herself to forks to allow her mother some time with her new husband and she also takes charge in her dads house cooking dinner and cleaning. She is at the top of her class and is the only person in the school smart enough to keep up with edward. She discribes Edward as LOOKING like and angel and a god, not actually being one. Bella could be looked at as having self confidence issues over her appaerence but i think that comes from her situation. She was just a number at her school in pheonix but when she moved to the tiny town of Forks she became a hot comodity simply because she was something new to look at and Bella, who is quiet and reserved by nature, shrinks away from all of the attention. When she begins to hang out with Edward it is easy to see why she might look down on herself for being human. Bella just cant compete against super human strength...

This article upset me because I completely disagree with what the author had to say and i feel i must explain why.

okay, so the first arguement the article brings up as being a problem is that Bella (the main character and narrator of the story) falls in love with a much older vampire. at first that might be disturbing but you have to look at the character of the person before you can really say wether or not someone is too mature for another person. Bella has a very immature and erratic mother who she has spent her whole life taking care of. this has made her mature beyond her years because she has had to be the parent rather than the child most of the time. Edward on the other hand, although he is technically 100 or something is still maturing and having to learn how to deal with his own confusing, teenage feelings over Bella. The way their characters are written make them appear to have the same level of maturity although edward is supposedly older.