ADAM L. BRACKIN, PH.D ON THE WEB
Doc Brackin
  • HOMEPAGE
  • Doc's Blogs
    • Old Course Blogs >
      • Mechanics of Story
      • ARGlab 3.0
      • Game Studies
      • Transmedia Worlds
      • RPG Class
      • Narrative Video LAB
  • About Me
    • Publications
  • CONTACT ME

The Christian and Science Fiction

12/8/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
One extremely popular form of speculative fiction is science fiction. It is a broad genre, deserving of its own distinctness beyond fantasy or other forms, mostly because it has the potential to grapple with apologetic themes in not only a more compelling way, but also by striking directly to the heart of the matters at hand.

Science fiction is a complex “what if” statement. It allows us to contemplate aliens and 
their worlds, utopias and dystopias of our own human making, and interference into our normal world 
by what for many is considered the “enemy” of religion. But is science truly the enemy of religion? I 
think not, and great evidence to this effect can be seen in the genre of Sci-fi.

There is more to it than the sub-genre of Christian sci-fi, with entries like L’Engle, Lawhead, or Rousseau. For example, beyond the obvious connection of Christ-like heroes in all fiction like John Connor, Neo, or Superman; a long list of strong realistic religious and moral characters exist in even the most popular entries. Shepard Book is 
the resident Christian preacher on the Firefly class ship Serenity, various characters in The Stand, including the villain recognize God’s hand in the world, and even Dana Scully of the X-files was rarely seen without her iconic cross necklace.

​Similarly, faith is often a theme in sci-fi. The film Signs was in many ways less about an alien invasion and more about a family’s struggle with faith in the face of loss, and the Dune series of books and films asks us to ponder what the line between messiah and antichrist might be in a far-future of interstellar travel and advanced biology, wherein the “Orange Catholic Bible” is now only the text of an obscure sect.

​Finally, sci-fi challenges our notions of science and reality, and thus we must respond as Christians where we can. C.S. Lewis’ underrated Space Trilogy deals directly with the idea that earth may be alone in its fallen state against the rest of creation, while Planet of the Apes suggests that evolution is an ongoing process that may make us a mere footnote on this Earth.

Science fiction challenges us scientifically, socially, and yes, also spiritually. And that is a very good thing! 

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Adam L. Brackin, Ph.D - Doc to his friends - is an independent media consultant, writer, and sometimes professor. His teaching and research interests include: Social Media, Transmedia, & ARG, all forms of non-linear & interactive narrative, story mechanics models, and video game studies & design.

    Archives

    August 2016
    July 2016
    November 2015
    September 2015
    August 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013

    Categories

    All
    Lord Of The Rings
    Monomyth
    Questions
    Video Games

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.