1. Excellent and comical predictions. I particularly love the logic for the world ending on 2020. It works for English-speakers familiar with the simile, anyway!

    The writers of Doctor Who will leak a memo confirming that Doctor #12 will be female.

    This is not entirely implausible. Perhaps you saw that one feature in which actress Helen Mirren said she’d like to be the next Doctor. (The story, true to silly form, erroneously referred in its headline to “Doctor Who” as if that was the character’s complete name. Also, ‘ware British-tabloid nastiness at that link.) However, the suggestion is mostly implausible, and not only for the geek-outrage that would result. Casting the Doctor as a woman, permanently, in canon, not only violates imaginary law, but an even more vital constraint: television series demographics. And that line must not ever be crossed.

    Frustrated critics of Rob Bell’s Love Wins will attempt a more nuanced and aesthetically-sensitive strategy, beginning with an essay posted on Facebook, titled, “Yes, Virginia, There is a Hell.”

    Uncanny. I had just been considering this review of that situation from doctrine-wonk blogger Trevin Wax, who in one of his most popular posts of 2011 wrote this:

    Bell’s book is troublesome, not because it is a thoughtful representation of the optimistic inclusivist position. (See Clark Pinnock’s work if you’re looking for that!) It’s troublesome because it is seeking to make inclusivism beautiful. Bell succeeds at “dressing up” falsehood. Meanwhile, his evangelical critics aren’t even bothering with the wardrobe. We are Nixon, and he is Kennedy. From a purely rhetorical, debating standpoint, we win. But Bell understands the medium.

    What is needed is a response that takes into consideration the beauty of Truth. We’ve got the truth portion down when it comes to propositions. What is needed is a beautiful and compelling portrait of Truth – the Person. God is inherently beautiful, but many times, we don’t do well at drawing out the inherent beauty of Truth with a capital T.

    God is inherently beautiful, but many times, we don’t do well at drawing out the inherent beauty of Truth with a capital T. (re-quoting for emphasis).

    Hmm. Sounds like the realm of the Christ-honoring writer/artist/poet to me, and not just for yet even more mathematical-proof-style nonfiction doctrine-wonkery (though all of us certainly also need that, and I do not mean to disparage it).

    Trevin Wax himself seems to think that, and later he specifically mentions storytelling:

    The problem with the responses to Love Wins is that, while we are experts at critiquing Bell’s vision of God, we aren’t stepping up with a more compelling portrait of God’s magnificence. We are scribbling down our thoughts under Bell’s chalk drawing instead of taking up the paint brush and creating something that reflects the beauty of biblical truth.

    We can write 50-page criticisms of The Shack. Meanwhile, men and women like William Young continue to craft great stories. We grasp the issues, but others grasp the medium.

    […] The gospel shouldn’t shut down our imagination, but rather fuel it and direct it toward the beauty that is inherent to the truth. We need more than analysis; we need artistry.

    And now, if I’ve done my job right, Fred, I’ve completely twisted your hilarity into dour seriousness — the very thing I was just lamenting. Ha ha!

    Finally, a moment of nitpickiness, brought to you by New Line Cinema and MGM:

    Bilbo Baggins’ memoirs will appear on the big screen in November

    December, methinks. Also known as: That Month That Is Much Too Far Away.

    • Fred Warren says:

      This is not entirely implausible. Perhaps you saw that one feature in which actress Helen Mirren said she’d like to be the next Doctor.

      She’d be on my short list. And who said I was trying to be implausible?

      Uncanny. I had just been considering this review of that situation from doctrine-wonk blogger Trevin Wax

      Not so uncanny. You mentioned the idea on Facebook last week. It’s a lot easier to do this sort of thing with inside information.

      And now, if I’ve done my job right, Fred, I’ve completely twisted your hilarity into dour seriousness — the very thing I was just lamenting. Ha ha!

      Well, somebody’s got to keep the kids under control, and off the lawn. That’s okay, I can always come back later with some toilet paper for the trees.

      December, methinks. Also known as: That Month That Is Much Too Far Away.

      Peter Jackson recently announced the world premiere will be November in New Zealand. If you mean the U.S. debut, yes, that’s December. Sorry–I keep forgetting we’re the bright center of the universe. 🙂

    • Peter Jackson recently announced the world premiere will be November in New Zealand. If you mean the U.S. debut, yes, that’s December. Sorry–I keep forgetting we’re the bright center of the universe.

      Nitpicked the nitpicker! Success. Yes, I had forgotten about that, and perhaps indeed re-bought the silly Ameri-centric assumption.

      I’ll simply remember to avoid spoilers by staying off the internet for about a month.

    • Fred Warren says:

      […] The gospel shouldn’t shut down our imagination, but rather fuel it and direct it toward the beauty that is inherent to the truth. We need more than analysis; we need artistry.

      This sets up a very important discussion that I think we should defer until you’re ready to introduce it properly in its own article. I think Wax sidesteps the issue a bit. We’re dealing with a very specific and unattractive truth here–he’s asking the creative community to somehow portray a beauty in an eternal Hell that is superior to and more compelling than Bell’s vision. How might this be accomplished?

    • It may take a bit before I get to that. First, a series that name-drops Tolkien. No, I’m not kidding; that’s what I’ll start this week. However, it will mainly be about the films.

      I think Wax sidesteps the issue a bit. We’re dealing with a very specific and unattractive truth here–he’s asking the creative community to somehow portray a beauty in an eternal Hell that is superior to and more compelling than Bell’s vision. How might this be accomplished?

      Though I agree that a comment discussion can’t do this deep topic justice (we’d need a whole column to resolve it completely!), here’s a further summary thought. Hell itself is not beautiful. It’s ugly. What is beautiful and should be lauded is God’s justice. In response to all the evil men do, against the world and against their fellow men — but mainly against their Creator — though God is holding back justice, it does exist and “He will repay” (Rom. 13). That’s the beautiful part. That’s also why we love to see bad guys getting their due, such as those Orcs created by Tolkien Tolkien Tolkien.

      • Kaci says:

        If we wanted to nitpick, Hell is a prison of torment that results from the wrath and justice of God. God is just and altogether good, which means his penalties are also. I don’t think there’s a comfortable way around that. Personally, I don’t find the idea of “Hell is really just Purgatory” compelling, good, or desirable, because it annuls “The righteous live by faith” and “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”  All physical actions aside, it’s problematic to strip away even the spirit of the Law – Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength; and love your neighbor as yourself – just to placate sensitivities. 

        • Fred Warren says:

          The nature of heresy is that it circumvents a truth we find inconvenient, uncomfortable, or inexplicable. Don’t believe Jesus was God incarnate? Hey, we’ve got a heresy for that. The idea that human beings are fallen and need redemption gives you hives? No problem. We’ve got a heresy for that. Think a loving God and eternal punishment are mutually-exclusive? We’ve got a heresy for that, too.

          The argument with Rob Bell isn’t going to be won by out-aesthetic-ing him because, as you’ve both observed, Kaci and Stephen, you can’t prettify Hell. However, I don’t think singing the praises of justice is going to work with the general public either, and it hasn’t, so far.

          It’s like the old Bill Cosby skit where he has to fix the kids breakfast and decides to go with chocolate cake–milk, eggs, flour…sounds pretty balanced, and Bill’s a hero to his kids, until his wife comes down the stairs like Medusa in full rage, hissing, “Where…did you get…CHOCOLATE CAKE FROM?”

          Yeah, Bill is totally in the wrong here, but everybody wishes they could live in the world where you could have chocolate cake for breakfast and it would be okay. So who seems like the mean-spirited villain?

          Similarly, the biggest problem with the response to Rob Bell, I think, is all the running around with hair on fire, screaming that he’s the worst thing to happen to the Church since Tetzel started selling indulgences. Regardless of the merits of our argument, we sound like the mom who’s caught dad feeding his kids chocolate cake for breakfast.

          • Kaci says:

            However, I don’t think singing the praises of justice is going to work with the general public either, and it hasn’t, so far.

             
            I was actually going to say something like “Hell is good,” but then that wasn’t quite right, either.   I just don’t think of Hell as evil, and it sort of bothers me when people tell me Hell’s existence should bother me and it doesn’t. (Say that three times fast.) It’s disconcerting, yes. But I don’t see why  “God is unjust” just because it exists.
             
             

          • Great analogy, Fred. The difference comes in our response, however. We all know Mrs. Huxtable was right even though we wish  her husband was. 

            With Rob Bell and Paul Young and the rest of the universalists and those sitting on the fence, they don’t know or won’t recognize that justice is right and God is a righteous Judge.

            Well, let me qualify that. I do think people as a whole want justice, but it’s generally justice for everyone else, mercy for me. Or it’s justice for the really bad guys, mercy for the rest of us who are good (and man is good, they think, just not perfect). In other words, I think there’s been a fundamental shift in our view of Man which makes the discussion of hell unpalatable.

             

            Becky

  2. Bob says:

    Fred,
    It isn’t really speculative to say that an alien princess with the proper number of arms and legs is smokin’ hot. They all are, even if they have a tail.
     
     

  3. Maria Tatham says:

    Really funny, Fred!

    Interesting comments, Stephen!

    Happy New Year, Gentlemen!    

     

  4. Esther says:

    Yay! Barsoom! I don’t know if I’ll watch…I’d need to go back and read the books first so I could compare the films and books. Plus, it looked quite violent and gory. But it’s such a fun story…

  5. Kessie says:

    AHHHH!! Not a female Doctor! If the companion was a woman, it’d be two chicks out on a girl date, shopping all the best spots.
     
    NO. The Doctor cannot EVER be a woman! I would have to stop watching just out of sheer gag-factor.

    • Amen to that, Kessie. But I must note that you can say this, and not me:

      If the companion was a woman, it’d be two chicks out on a girl date, shopping all the best spots.

      Or else: the really original story-trick of making — get this! it’s revolutionary — the girl behave like a big tough action hero man. Wow! What a fantastically groundbreaking concept this would be! The action heroine could also, then, do exactly as all the male action heroes do, and do all the action-hero bits, only while also being scantily clad.

      I’d best patent this one, before some hack out there goes on and steals the idea.

      Very glad to take up this subtopic. It’s so rare that we discuss Doctor Who around here, almost as rare as we happen to cite or discuss J.R.R. Tolkien or C.S. Lewis.

    • Kaci Hill says:

      If he turned into a woman, they’d need a male companion to keep the balance proper.
       
      As for the rest, Stephen, I’d need a separate post to go after that subject. At that point I steal the title “On-coming Storm.”

  6. Galadriel says:

    Scientists will discover at least three planets capable of supporting life as we know it. The short list of potential names submitted by the public will include Vulcan, Tatooine, Gallifrey, and Pizza Planet.

    Not so outrageous. There’s already a planet nicknamed after a Star Wars homeworld. I don’t remember the details though.

    The writers of Doctor Who will leak a memo confirming that Doctor #12 will be female. The Internet will crash for one week, and screams of horror will be audible on Ganymede.

    Only that far away? Come on, give us more credit than that.
    C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien will be mentioned at least once a week at Speculative Faith. As you may note, I’ve already taken care of this week

    Nothing speculative about that.
    Bilbo Baggins’ memoirs will appear on the big screen in November to much rejoicing and the public wearing of pointy ears and hairy feet. Only the first half of the story will be presented. This is another reason the world will not end in 2012.

    Thank you for that reassurance.

  7. Jeremy McNabb says:

    Fred is never going to write another funny post again. 🙁

What do you think?