First, truth comes by revelation. All acts of men that are in harmony with truth are right, and all that are not in harmony with truth are wrong. All that is written that is in harmony with truth is helpful and beneficial, regardless of the literary form.
Truth may be expressed in prose or in poetry. It may be in the form of didactic verse, prose, story, drama, allegory, or any other form of literature. The same is true of error. It may be expressed in any literary form. Some pages of history are false and give wrong impressions. And there is many a page of theological lore that is as false as false can be.
A loose definition of fiction much used by our people is, "that which is not true"—meaning that which has not actually occurred. The definition would be a good one if by "that which is not true," was meant that which is not in harmony with truth—that which does not teach true principles of life and conduct.
Fiction is often narrowed down to mean the novel. True, fiction in its narrowest sense, meaning the novel, has been almost invariably used as a vehicle for error. But I can conceive of a novel that might be written which embodied only divine principles of truth. I do not know that such a novel ever was written. My only point is that the literary form does not necessarily make a production untrue to truth. and therefore detrimental to the moral nature.
The question by which every literary production is to be tested irrespective of its form is, What does it teach? Place it beside the revelation of truth—the word of God. Does it teach the same principles as does the Bible? If it does, it is good, helpful, beneficial. If it teaches principles or leaves impressions contrary to the Bible, it is dangerous, damnable, and must be let alone if we value our soul's welfare.
In regard to whether the events narrated actually occurred, this should never decide the question of whether a story is good or bad. Most things that have actually occurred in this old world have been and are bad. And some things wholly imaginative have been very good, so good indeed that they have been the means of grace to many. "Pilgrim's Progress." for example, is wholly imaginary, yet full of truth, and it seems to me that it is really inspired.
So then to sum it all up, all truth is of God given by revelation. Every word written or spoken by man in whatever literary form he may be moved to express himself, if it be truth, is helpful and beneficial. Every word written or spoken by man in whatever literary form he may express himself, if it is not truth, is dangerous and must be shunned. And finally, a story is neither good nor bad simply because it is a story, but because of what it teaches.—From a letter, December 31, 1928.
