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Resurrection, Part 1: Prelude

Every good hero in fantasy and science fiction must experience some kind of death and rebirth. Only one Hero has truly done it. And only He can share the joy of His Resurrection. · E. Stephen Burnett

What Makes Fantasy Work? Part 2

I hope our readers here at Spec Faith are thinking about the Christian speculative novel–fantasy, science fiction, supernatural, or whatever–they would like to nominate for the Clive Staples Award. Let’s find the books that work and pick the best of the lot to honor. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

Listening To Left Behind: Prologue

Skip the “Left Behind” movies (likely including the upcoming “Caged” remake). The audio-drama series is much more fun. And I hope to re-explore them in a new series. · E. Stephen Burnett

How Can They Hear?

A common complaint with Christian fiction is that it’s too preachy. Personally, I’m more apt to be dissatisfied because it’s not preachy enough. · Yvonne Anderson

Magic In The Story: Written In The Stars

Today we continue our series on Magic in the Story with a form of so-called “magic” I believe many are confused about. This post, entitled “Written in the Stars” is an exploration of the difference between Astrology and Biblical Star-Reading […] · Christopher Miller

Perseverance and Philippians 2:12-13, Part 2

If you are at all familiar with the difficult time Christian speculative fiction has had getting a foothold in the market, you understand our need to persevere—both as readers and as authors. · Robert Treskillard

Fiction Christians From Another Planet! VIII: The Invisible Body

Why do some Christian novels treat local churches like they treat characters going to the bathroom? Why in effect say “ew” to the body of Christ? · E. Stephen Burnett

Magic In The Story: The Two Faces Of Magic

This week we delve deeper into the mysteries of ‘Magic in the Story’ and find ourselves confronted by the fact that there are two faces of magic in Narnia. · Christopher Miller

Perseverance and Philippians 2:12-13, Part 1

The confusing phrase is “work out your salvation.” What in the galaxy does that mean? Does it mean that we must “work” for our salvation? Does this mean that we are under “law” and not under grace? Am I responsible for my own salvation? Is my salvation contingent upon my behavior? · Robert Treskillard

Fiction Christians From Another Planet! VII: Attack Of The Spiritoids

From the misquote “you are a soul, you have a body,” to spiritual-warfare “only unseen realities matter” assumptions, to end-times evacuation-from-Earth tropes, Gnostic spiritoids infect some Christian fiction. · E. Stephen Burnett

Where Are All The Superheroes?

From the halls of Odin to the exploits of Beowulf, the graphic-art mythos of Superman, the school day victories of colorful Power Rangers—why are superheros so super? · Yvonne Anderson

Magic In The Story: What’s The Big Deal?

Magic — just the mention of it can cause many a “good Christian” to draw dividing lines, take sides and ready for attack. Are we being discerning or just overreacting? Join our new series: Magic in the Story. · Christopher Miller

Idolatry And Reading-Fandom

Religion scholar David Chidester has famously argued that baseball, Coca-Cola, rock ‘n’ roll, Tupperware—and even the Human Genome Project—serve, for their biggest fans, as “religious fakes,” meaning they play the role of religion, though they aren’t the real thing. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

Riding The Negative Waves Of Dystopian Fiction

From dystopian genre’s long past to fears of our own futures, “Mask” author Kerry Nietz explores why such stories are so popular. · Kerry Nietz

Fiction Christians From Another Planet! VI: Alien Love Slaves

Even in many speculative-novel subplots, the bad Christian-fiction romance is coarse, and rough, and irritating, and it gets everywhere. · E. Stephen Burnett

Dust You Are

One of the things I’ve gotten used to, being a Lutheran in an industry filled with . . . well, mostly not-Lutherans, is that there are times when I’ll reference a belief or practice of my denomination, only to have […] · John Otte

Teaching Story Transitions 5: Middle-Grade Exploration

As parents transition children from the early tools of discernment, they may challenge middle-grade children to discern more on their own. · Jared Moore

Fiction Christians From Another Planet! V: Pagan Straw Men

Lame theology may lead to alien non-Christian characters. They’re made of straw that’s been cut from official-ministry “manuals” about how pagans think and built on un-Biblical foundations of “ministry platforms.” · E. Stephen Burnett

More About Characters

The subject of characters in Christian fiction has been coming up on this blog a lot recently. I’ve appreciated E. Stephen Burnett’s excellent series “Fiction Christians From Another Planet” — Patrick Carr’s guest post about writers using real people as […] · Yvonne Anderson
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