Is it a sin to watch horror movies?
The genre unsettles Christians for reasons worth taking seriously
In short
No passage addresses the genre. The concerns raised are real - what you dwell on, whether fear is a good thing to seek, and the occult content of some films - and they land differently on different films. Most traditions treat this as a matter of conscience rather than of sin.
What the text says
Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.
Philippians 4:8 was the verse of the day on January 7, 2023. See that day
Often brought inPsalms 101:3
I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside; it shall not cleave to me.
A resolution about what to set before one's eyes. The psalmist is speaking of wickedness he might adopt, not of every dark thing he might see.
The counterweightRomans 14:22
Hast thou faith? have it to thyself before God. Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth.
Paul tells people to hold their conviction on disputed things before God, and not to condemn themselves in what they allow. This is exactly such a question.
What Christians agree on
What you habitually watch shapes you, and cruelty enjoyed as entertainment is a genuine concern. Every tradition also allows that depicting evil is not endorsing it, since Scripture does exactly that.
Where they disagree
Those who avoid the genre
Fear and gore are not things to seek out for pleasure, and much of the genre treats the demonic as entertainment. Nothing is lost by declining it.
Those who distinguish within the genre
Horror at its best is moral seriousness about evil, closer to Flannery O'Connor than to torture. The judgement belongs to the film rather than to the label.
Those who treat it as conscience
If it disturbs your sleep or your peace, that is your answer and it is sufficient. Paul asks each person to be persuaded in their own mind rather than to find a general rule.
Questions worth asking
- Am I watching this with someone, or alone at two in the morning?
- Does it leave me thoughtful or just rattled?
- Is there a specific film I know I should not have watched, and do I already know why?
Christians have disagreed about the imagination for as long as there has been fiction. The useful question is not whether the genre is permitted, but what a particular film does to you - and you are the only person who can answer that one.
Also relevant
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