Parallels Between The Quest for Celestia and the Bible

One of the things we love about Christian fiction is learning Biblical truths through second-hand revelation, maybe through a character or even a setting. Like Pilgrim’s Progress, The Quest for Celestia is an intentional allegory of a Christian’s journey through life. The author wrote it intending to help the reader understand spiritual truths by comparing them to physical experiences.

Here are a few that stood out to me. I’d love to hear yours!

1. After he’d been reading the Book of Blood for a while, Kadin walks past his old school, surprised by how small the building seemed compared to his memory. He had grown without even realizing the things around him didn’t keep up with his maturation. 
   1. Very often we need to stop and take notice of all the ways the world around us isn’t keeping up. We sort out what is false and hang on to what is true. 
   2. 1 Corinthians 13:11 – When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.
2. Erikon, Kadin’s initial companion, came with him out of friendship but not out of conviction. He couldn’t see the festering tumor on his neck or feel the deep desire to find Celestia. As a result, when things got hard, he blamed Kadin and went back to the village. He lacked his own conviction and desire to be free of his infirmity. 
   1. 2 Corinthians 4:4 – The God of this age has blinded unbelievers.
   2. Most of us have friends and family who don’t know the Lord. We try to share or talk to them, but it can be like talking to a brick wall. Often, there’s even mockery involved in their response. The truth is, this is a spiritual battle. Other people simple don’t see what we see, and very often Christians are blinded as well.
3. When Kadin met the hunter, the man tried to tell him other paths were just as satisfying, even though they don’t lead to Celestia. “There are many places just as good.”
   1. Matthew 7:14 – Narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
   2. We listen to the good shepherd when we hear similar rhetoric from the world. Our goal is heaven and there is only one way to get there! You can wander many easy paths without getting to your final home. 
4. When Kadin was in the cave, he had to fight the dragon with every disadvantage. The only way he could win was by listening to the little voice in his head giving him directions and courage. 
   1. John 10:27-28 – My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand.
   2. When we are in danger or in need, we can depend on our sweet shepherd to speak to us. I believe he is always speaking and it’s up to us to learn his voice in good, peaceful times so we have no problem hearing him when circumstances scream with intimidation.
5. Kadin and Leira spent several months resting in the winter castle. Not only did they get stronger, but there were several teachers to help them understand the ways of the vagabond and of King Kiral that would allow them to reach Celestia alive and with their pardons in hand. 
   1. Isiah 40:29-31 – He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted, but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; will run and not be weary; and they shall walk and not faint.
   2. The Lord loves to give his children rest. Even in the middle of the worst battles we face, he covers us with peace in the shadow of his wings. The castle in the snow is a great image of how we can be warm in the presence of our Lord while total chaos breaks out around us!
6. In the last scene, Kadin meets King Kiral without his pardon in hand. He knows he cannot enter Celestia without the pardon, but it had been stolen just before his arrival. The king, while taking the law seriously, also knew Kadin by name. He said he knew all of his subjects and could tell by their eyes who had been pardoned. 
   1. Revelation 19:12 – His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns.
   2. Our King of Kings has eyes that pierce through everything. Nothing is hidden from him. When we look into his eyes, we are totally known. He will never forget who we are and that he has pardoned us by his own blood.