1. Because too many Christians have been brainwashed into thinking that persecuting authors for taking liberties with ambiguities in Scriptural text is their divine duty.

    • Travis Perry says:

      I know there is a perception that this a major issue–but is it really? I’m wondering if authors are more afraid of what could maybe happen than what really would happen.

      • Yes, it’s absolutely a real issue. I experienced it with my own publications. I know other authors who have experienced the same. The reason you don’t see more books like this is that the audience won’t buy it, or if they do, they won’t like it.

  2. notleia says:

    Personally, I’d want more Ben Hur and The Silver Chalice over reheated Bible stories.

  3. Well, if I recall correctly, there’s a whole fanfiction.net archive dedicated to the Bible. Though not all of that is written by Christians. Some of it is by atheists who want to mock the Bible, or by atheists that see the Bible as a good story and nothing more. I don’t bother looking into that archive, even if there’s probably plenty of gems in there.

    You talked about time travel Biblical fiction, and it reminded me of those old Flying House and Super Book cartoon I saw as a kid.

    Biblical fiction would be nice to see more of, especially if it accurately delves into the culture of that time a little more. Still, though, people need to make sure they understand that the story is the author’s interpretation, rather than letting it get too subconsciously absorbed as the reader’s interpretation of events. And it would be nice if people picked more obscure parts of the Bible, instead of rehashing the famous parts over and over.

    At one point I also saw a movie (The Red Tent I believe) And it was a little annoying since the main char came across like a Mary Sue.

    • Travis Perry says:

      I saw some Super Book cartoons. Maybe their somewhat bad quality storytelling has had a role in scaring off time travel storytellers from Biblical times, so as to prevent seeming like Super Book.

      As far as picking more obscure parts, I think that would be great. Or tell more familiar parts from an unexpected perspective…

      • Or telling the ENTIRE story of certain biblical chars, or at least parts of it that are less common. I wouldn’t mind seeing an anime or something based off the entire story of King Davd, for instance, so long it was up to the quality of Fate Zero in terms of art style, storytelling, characterization, etc.

      • You should check out the new Superbook series. Much better.

        Also, pretty sure Randy Ingermanson is working on a time travel book series about Jesus.

    • You folks did not just diss “Superbook” on my watch … ?

      Well, okay, the first series was fairly subpar for some episodes. But that second series? With multi-part episodes for biblical accounts? Better animation? A time-traveling computer and legit teleporting robot?

      I literally wouldn’t be here writing this now if it weren’t for that series.

      But. I still need to see more of the rebooted series. 😀

      • Travis Perry says:

        I guess I only saw the first series. I suppose I should check out the second–I’ve never seen it. (So, thanks!)

      • Which reminds me, Stephen. I’m a loser and never shipped any episodes to you. On my honor, they’ll go out tomorrow, if you email me your address one more time. Blessings!

        • Can do. My wife and I had already been thinking about the series (old and new) thanks to reading through the Bible in one year. Each time I hit a particular account, such as in Judges or 1 Samuel, the correlating “Superbook” version instantly flashes back into my imagination.

  4. Kathleen J Eavenson says:

    Re speculative stories set in Biblical times:

    Randall Ingermanson wrote several books about a woman who time travelled back to the time of the Crucifixion. There were 3 books in the series. Sorry I can’t remember the titles right now. May check back if I find the info.

    EDIT – Transgression, Premonition, Retribution are the three Ingermanson titles.

    There was also the Cradleland trilogy by Douglas Hirt set in pre-Flood times covering that society as well as Noah’s family. He created a fairly scientifically advanced society which I found sorta tantalizing. Flight to Eden, Quest for Atlan, Fall of the Nephilim are the titles.

    • I’ve read both series and loved them.

      Unfortunately I don’t believe either of them sold well, so they’re now out of print. I would love to see a publisher, such as Enclave, take them back up, in the same way that Enclave now publishes Kathy Tyers’ works and even Ingermanson’s and Olson’s two Oxygen novels.

      • Kathleen J Eavenson says:

        At least the first of the Hirt novels is on Kindle; that’s where I did my checking. (When I googled Douglas Hirt, it kept defaulting to Douglas Hurt, a lawyer!) ?

    • Good job pulling out those examples! Brian Godowa also wrote Biblical fiction which he self-published. One was called Noah. I don’t know the other titles, but I’m pretty sure they’re in the Spec Faith library.

      Becky

  5. Hi Travis
    Thank you for the article. An interesting read.
    “Or why are there so few Biblical tales retold in the context of alien or future culture?” This is exactly the sort of story I am writing; using speculative fiction to retell biblical theology. A change in setting and genre, but drawing the story inspiration from the Bible in order to explore theological themes – Temple, Creation/New Creation, Exile/Election and Image of God. I’m currently working on a series of short stories (ten in fact!) that use speculative fiction to retell the Ten Commandments.

  6. FYI and related to the first (or second?) tangent. I capitalize Bible and Biblical for the very same reasons you do, Travis! Glad to know someone else thinks along the same lines. I could not understand why the noun was capitalized (and I think Chicago Manual of Style says that should be done) but the adjective should not. No, I say, as long as the adjective forms of these other proper nouns should be capitalized, by all means, I am capitalizing Biblical.

    Becky

What do you think?