| Science fiction and Fantasy (SF/F) novels and stories | | | | about his new faith in books like Dianetics: The Modern |
| often use religious themes as an integral part of the | | | | Science of Mental Health. |
| story. This may be due generally to the experimental | | | | C. S. Lewis' Space Trilogy C. S. Lewis' Space Trilogy, |
| or exploratory nature of the Science Fiction and | | | | consists of the novels Out of the Silent Planet, |
| Fantasy genre. Of course, the use of religious themes | | | | Perelandra (Voyage to Venus) and That Hideous |
| by SF/F authors does not mean that religious faith is | | | | Strength. Lewis, an outspoken Christian, uses |
| necessarily being promoted. Often, the stories are | | | | characters with motives and actions that appear |
| critical of religion as a human institution and theology as | | | | based upon Biblical examples. Oyarsa is like Lucifer, |
| a relevant way of thought. However, in this article we | | | | Maleldil the Young is like Jesus, and the Old One |
| consider the use of religious themes in SF/F to achieve | | | | seems to be God the Father. If you remember, the |
| different storytelling perspectives using stories that | | | | reason the planet Earth is silent is that only its |
| deal with questions of a spiritual or religious nature. | | | | inhabitants have rebelled against the Old One. |
| Religious themes cataloged in SF/F as follows: | | | | Elsewhere in the universe, all of creation rejoices in |
| - After life, eternal state | | | | Him. Book 2, takes place on Venus where a new |
| - Angels and Demons | | | | Adam and Eve (Tinidril) live in a new Garden of Eden. |
| - Church | | | | A human physicist, Professor Weston, travels to |
| - Eschatology, end times | | | | Venus to corrupt her innocence. The story focuses on |
| - God(s) | | | | the hero Elwin Ransom's attempts to prevent another |
| - Hell and punishment | | | | "fall". In his battle with Professor Weston, Ransom |
| - Humanity, what it means to be human | | | | goes beneath the earth in a struggle that has some |
| - Jesus (divine, human, fictional) | | | | parallels to Dante's Inferno. In Book 3 an exploitative |
| - Messiah, who saves humanity | | | | agency N.I.C.E. threatens to destroy humanity, with the |
| - Metaphysics, forces, powers, and knowledge | | | | help of evil spirits (fallen Eldila). The protagonist Dr. |
| - Morality | | | | Elwin Ransom, with the help of good spirits, forms the |
| - Sin and evil | | | | St. Anne group to opposed to the progressives of |
| - Theocracy, political governance by religion. | | | | Bracton College who are allied with N.I.C.E. There's a lot |
| Within these themes, some characters assume a | | | | of drama about propaganda and political intrigue, |
| Creator exists while others are agnostic or atheistic. | | | | however pagan elements like the speaking severed |
| But they all operate and behave in ways that shed | | | | head of Alcasan are intermixed with Christian ones like |
| light on the author's use of religion. | | | | the wounded heel of Ransom. A final Armageddon of |
| The Big Questions | | | | blasts and earthquakes destroys evil people and gives |
| There is almost a kind of religious dialogue conducted | | | | victory to the St. Anne group and their animal allies. |
| by SF/F authors across the years as one author's | | | | Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials Of course, in the His |
| story is responded to by that of another author. One | | | | Dark Materials trilogy, Philip Pullman gives us three |
| example is C.S. Lewis' stories being an inspiration for | | | | stories that oppose Lewis' tale. In Pullman's story it is |
| Philip Pullman to write His Dark Materials. Lewis is very | | | | the church that is evil and the struggling professors and |
| Christian, while Pullman hates the church and Lewis | | | | scientists that are good. The universe is filled with |
| almost as much as atheists like Richard Dawkins hate | | | | many parallel dimensions and universes the church |
| every religion but their own peculiar kind of Scientism. | | | | wants to ensure the common man never discovers. In |
| It is interesting that a discussion of the "Big Questions" | | | | Pullman's world everyone has a "daemon" and |
| of life are carried on more within a literary genre rather | | | | daemons are good. The moral struggle is against |
| than within the halls of academia. With the rise of | | | | control by the Supreme Being who is revealed to be a |
| analytic philosophy and logical positivism, academic | | | | worn out old man, barely kept alive by a crystal box |
| philosophers began ignoring the big questions, | | | | he lies in. |
| emphasizing instead the tiny logical clarification of | | | | Baptist SF/F Writers There is a surprising wing of |
| thoughts, asserting that the big philosophical questions | | | | Baptist SF/F story tellers. Stephen R. Lawhead |
| no longer exist. This kind of postmodernism is typically | | | | Pendragon Cycle tells an Arthurian story with |
| atheistic or agnostic. Some prefer to follow eastern | | | | decidedly Christian overtones. Theodore Beale The |
| religion thoughts and practices which do not promote a | | | | War in Heaven tells of angels fighting for control of a |
| personal deity. Many substitute humanitarianism or | | | | special boy. In Robert Don Hughes' series The Wizard |
| environmentalism for traditional religion, choosing to | | | | and Dragon, the plot focuses on a wronged man |
| place their faith in naturalism and evolution rather than | | | | having to right the evil of another and protect his wife |
| a Biblical Creator. | | | | from a dragon. Calvin Miller gives us The Singer Trilogy, |
| A Sample of Writers and Their Stories There are | | | | a fantasy prose-poem retelling of the Gospel story. |
| many writers and SF/F stories that use religion and | | | | There is at least eight additional Baptist SF/F writers |
| theology as a platform. All of this bubbles up to the | | | | we do not have space to mention. |
| minds and imaginations of SF/F writers. Here's a brief | | | | Secular SF/F Writers Famous writers like Philip Jose |
| sample of some of the famous ones that use religion | | | | Farmer The Riverworld series, Lucas Cole's |
| theology in their storytelling. | | | | Resurrection Planet is connected with the Second |
| Robert A. Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land In the | | | | Coming, and J. R. R. Tolkien, George MacDonald, |
| past writers like Robert A. Heinlein (once a Baptist) | | | | Charles Williams, Arthur C. Clarke, Isaac Asimov, |
| solved the struggles of humanity in his story Stranger | | | | among many others provide Christian and |
| in a Strange Land, where his protagonist, Valentine | | | | non-Christian religious perspectives. Sorry, we did not |
| Michael Smith (raised on a Mars of the future), turns | | | | mention all the Star Wars, Star Trek, Star Gate, and |
| Martian philosophy into a human religion. As a messiah, | | | | other movies and books that have underlining religious |
| Smith has pyschic abilities and powers that set him | | | | themes. |
| apart from other humans. Heinlein gives us a Martian | | | | Stories about Jesus Before concluding, we should |
| religion based upon an eastern idea of the oneness of | | | | mention some books about Jesus. These include |
| everything. He supplies an afterlife of wise spirits and a | | | | Richard Matheson's The Traveller (1954), John |
| Holy Communion where the bereaved eat the body of | | | | Brunner's Times Without Number, Arthur Porges's |
| their dead. Heinlein creates a Church of All Worlds for | | | | story The Rescuer, Michael Moorcock's Behold the |
| his character to run that practices initiation similar to | | | | Man, John Boyd's The Last Starship from Earth, Poul |
| that of ancient mystery religions, but also teaches its | | | | Anderson's book There Will Be Time, Garry Kilworth's |
| members how to respond to suffering. It was all done | | | | Let's go to Golgotha, Jeremy Robinson's The Didymus |
| so compellingly that an actual religion was founded by | | | | Contingency, and finally Simon Hawke's TimeWars |
| Tim Zell which patterned its principles after the fictional | | | | series. Most of these stories are not particularly |
| church. | | | | friendly to either Jesus or the Church. |
| Frank Herbert's Dune The messiah in Frank Herbert's | | | | Conclusion What is amazing is that while the university |
| Dune, Paul Muad'dib, combines characteristics of an | | | | professors are off in their corner arguing about precise |
| Arab Muslim prophet and some Christian messianic | | | | meanings and logic, and the ministers huddle in an |
| concepts. Like Jesus, Paul Atreides suffers before | | | | opposite corner trying to animate the Biblical stories for |
| being elevated to Divinity. The idea of the spoken | | | | an often unmoved and diminishing audience; but here in |
| word becoming a physical weapon, the water of life, | | | | the science fiction and fantasy nation, the debate goes |
| the nun-like order of the Bene Gesserit, are a few of | | | | on. Most people don't like to have their beliefs |
| the many elements of Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism | | | | challenged. Some sit quietly in the philosophy class |
| Herbert used in the story. Some unique ideas of | | | | never asking a question of offering an opinion. Others |
| Herbet's include a God who, "likes to be surprised" and | | | | attend the church of their choice, where they hear |
| the use of the spice melange to aid both space travel | | | | nothing from the pulpit that challenges their thinking. |
| in the physical universe and omniscience in the spiritual. | | | | But it is not safe if you open a book with a religious or |
| Another SF/F writer who's ideas were directly | | | | theological SF/F theme. You are liable to read |
| responsible for starting a church was Lafayette | | | | something that will poke you on the chest and ask, do |
| Ronald Hubbard whose creation we know as the | | | | you really know what you believe about the big |
| Church of Scientology. Like many eastern religions, his | | | | questions? If you are going to write SF/F, you'd do well |
| church focused on techniques for spiritual growth | | | | to study up. Get to know what those cataloged |
| more than a set of religious doctrines. Once Hubbard's | | | | religious themes mentioned earlier are all about. A |
| ideas for Dianetics became clear, he shifted from | | | | great story may just leap to mind. |
| science fiction writing (over 138 pulp novels) to writing | | | | |