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Nomad
Reviews | Lorehaven Review Team on Mar 5, 2021

Legend of the Storm Sneezer
Reviews | Lorehaven Review Team on Mar 5, 2021

53. How Can Christian Fans React When Fantasy Creators Get Cancelled? Part 1
Podcast | Fantastical Truth on Mar 2, 2021

My Novel ‘The Mermaid’s Sister’ Arose from True Depths of Mourning
Articles | Carrie Anne Noble on Mar 1, 2021

The Icarus Aftermath
Reviews | Lorehaven Review Team on Feb 26, 2021

My Screenwriter Mom Introduced Me to Fantastic Sci-Fi in the 1960s
Articles | Jason William Karpf on Feb 25, 2021

52. Do Christians Really Need Science Fiction? | Fiction’s Chief End, part 3
Podcast | Lorehaven on Feb 23, 2021

Join Our March 11 Livestream Exploring Christian Reactions to Fandom Cancel Culture
News | Lorehaven on Feb 22, 2021

The Hourglass and the Darkness
Reviews | Lorehaven Review Team on Feb 19, 2021

Venus is More Than Just a Love Goddess
Articles | Shannon Stewart on Feb 18, 2021

Introducing Fantasy Enthusiast and New Lorehaven Writer Shannon Stewart
News | Lorehaven on Feb 17, 2021

Stories with Bad Ideas Can Still Help Us Grow
Articles | L.G. McCary on Feb 15, 2021

Gretchen and the Bear
Reviews | Lorehaven Review Team on Feb 12, 2021

The Mandalorian is a Religious Fundamentalist, and Here’s Why That’s Awesome
Articles | Josiah DeGraaf on Feb 11, 2021

Introducing Fantasy Creator and New Lorehaven Writer Josiah DeGraaf
News | Lorehaven on Feb 10, 2021

51. Do Christians Really Need Fantasy? | Fiction’s Chief End, part 2
Podcast | Fantastical Truth on Feb 9, 2021

The Death and Rebirth of Magic in Children’s Fantasy
Articles | R. J. Anderson on Feb 8, 2021

Torch
Reviews | Lorehaven Review Team on Feb 5, 2021

Fictional Magic Systems Can Go Beyond Rules and Reveal Deeper Characters
Articles | Elijah David on Feb 4, 2021

How God Uses Story Villains for Our Good
Articles | Zackary Russell on Feb 3, 2021

Introducing Sci-Fi Creator and New Lorehaven Writer Zackary Russell
News | Lorehaven on Feb 2, 2021

50. Do Christians Really Need Fiction? | Fiction’s Chief End, part 1
Podcast | Fantastical Truth on Feb 2, 2021

Frank E. Peretti to Give Keynote Address at Realm Makers Writers Conference This July
News | E. Stephen Burnett on Feb 1, 2021

Fugue for the Sacred Songbook: In Eb Minor
Reviews | Lorehaven Review Team on Jan 29, 2021

How A Year Without Superhero Films Rebooted Our Universe
Articles | Jason Joyner on Jan 28, 2021

New Book ‘Reading Evangelicals’ Will Focus on Famous Christian Fiction
News | E. Stephen Burnett on Jan 27, 2021

Introducing Superhero Novelist and New Lorehaven Writer Jason C. Joyner
News | Lorehaven on Jan 27, 2021

49. How Can We ‘Terraform’ the Church to Enjoy Fantastic Fiction?
Podcast | Fantastical Truth on Jan 26, 2021

Militant Secularism Could Force Christians to Create New Subcultures
Articles | Mike Duran on Jan 25, 2021

Flight of the Raven
Reviews | Lorehaven Review Team on Jan 22, 2021

Library

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The Mermaid's Sister, Carrie Anne Noble
Etania's Worth, M. H. Elrich
Cinderella Spell, Laurie Lee
When Desperate Measures Are All You Have Left, J. C. Morrows
Fractures, James C. Joyner
Torch, R. J. Anderson
The Terran Summit, Anna Zogg
The Xerxes Factor, Anna Zogg
The Paradise Protocol, Anna Zogg
The Awakened, Richard Spillman
The Ascension, Richard Spillman
Love's Sacrifice, Kelsey Norman
Unbroken Spirit, Kelsey Norman
Seed: Judgment, Joshua David
Reviews

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Nomad
“R. J. Anderson’s fantasy Nomad is a rollicking read with fascinating conflicts and plot twists.”
—Lorehaven on Mar 5, 2021

Legend of the Storm Sneezer
“Teen readers fond of lengthy, lighthearted ghost-and-zombie tales will enjoy Legend of the Storm Sneezer by Kristiana Sfirlea.”
—Lorehaven on Mar 5, 2021

The Icarus Aftermath
“Arielle M. Bailey’s The Icarus Aftermath spins a golden yarn of vivid characters and gripping emotion, set in a world ripe for exploration.”
—Lorehaven on Feb 26, 2021

The Hourglass and the Darkness
“Kyle L. Elliott’s novel The Hourglass and the Darkness posits a world before the great Flood, starting a promising series.”
—Lorehaven on Feb 19, 2021

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53. How Can Christian Fans React When Fantasy Creators Get Cancelled? Part 1
Fantastical Truth, Mar 2, 2021

52. Do Christians Really Need Science Fiction? | Fiction’s Chief End, part 3
Fantastical Truth, Feb 23, 2021

51. Do Christians Really Need Fantasy? | Fiction’s Chief End, part 2
Fantastical Truth, Feb 9, 2021

50. Do Christians Really Need Fiction? | Fiction’s Chief End, part 1
Fantastical Truth, Feb 2, 2021

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SpecFaith

The original SpecFaith: est. 2006

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The Fantastical Elements of Romantic Fiction, part 2
Parker J. Cole, Mar 4

Settling the Solar System in Science Fiction, part 3: the Moon
Travis Perry, Feb 24

The Fantastical Elements of Romantic Fiction, part 1
Parker J. Cole, Feb 17

Settling the Solar System in Science Fiction, part 2: Venus
Travis Perry, Feb 11

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E. Stephen Burnett, Oct 6

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The Gospel According To Star Trek, Part 1

Initially, the idea that we’re engaging in something philosophical, or even spiritual, by watching a sci-fi adventure show may seem strange, but Star Trek has always been philosophical in nature.
Rebecca LuElla Miller on Oct 7, 2016 | No comments

cover_thegospelaccordingtostartrekKevin C. Neece, author of The Gospel According To Star Trek, agreed to answer a few interview questions for me. Because they were so few, I told him to be expansive in his answers. He was. The result is a thoughtful article that is too long for one blog post. Consequently, we’re breaking it into two. Today, the first two questions.

RLM: I understand you have a degree in Communication and Philosophy and another in Fine Arts. That sounds quite heady and literary. So, why Star Trek?

KCN: Well, in the first place, my degrees aren’t all that intimidating. We’re all philosophers to one degree or another. In fact, one of the main reasons I do the work I do is to get people who may not think of themselves much as philosophers and theologians to begin engaging these important questions and ideas of human existence. The ideas I discuss in my writing and speaking may be at home in university classrooms, but they’re things we all wonder about and wrestle with in our everyday lives.

In my book on Star Trek, I talk about the fact that many philosophers and theologians have defined humans as Homo Religiosus, essentially saying that we are an instinctively religious species in that we look for higher meaning and greater purpose in our lives. Philosophy and theology are just disciplined schools of thought that help us to explore the things we think about naturally, whether we’re looking up at the clouds or watching Star Trek.

Initially, the idea that we’re engaging in something philosophical, or even spiritual, by watching a sci-fi adventure show may seem strange, but Star Trek has always been philosophical in nature. It’s not just a show about cool-looking starships, nifty gadgets, and clever plots. It’s really about the human condition—who we are, what our place in the universe is, and where we’re going. The big questions of existence have always been the driving force behind Star Trek, so putting its TV series and films into conversation with philosophy and theology is really not that unusual.

At first, though, I didn’t really see it that way. I’ve been a Star Trek fan for nearly thirty years, but, for most of that time, I didn’t see my faith and my Christian worldview reflected in it. The first line of my book about Star Trek is, “My first step toward The Gospel According to Star Trek was walking away from Star Trek.”

When I was a senior in high school, there was a lot of Star Trek on TV, but I had a really busy life and I just got behind on episodes. And we didn’t have DVRs in those days. I had to catch reruns. I was having a hard time getting into the new series that were on and it just got to be too much for me. So, except for the films, I basically stopped watching Star Trek.

But later, in college, I took an Intro to Philosophy course that changed my whole worldview—it even introduced me to the concept of worldview! Suddenly, I wasn’t getting an education just to get a degree to get a better job in video and film. I realized that my education was about becoming a better human being and that this was an inherently spiritual pursuit.

I learned that there was no separation between the “sacred” and the “secular,” that God is at work everywhere in our human experience. It was with these new eyes that I returned to Star Trek. I saw the films and television I loved in a whole new light, and Star Trek began to inform my faith in new and exciting ways. That was the birth of The Gospel According to Star Trek.

RLM: Have you compared Star Trek with Star Wars? Do you think the two originators of those franchises were trying to accomplish the same things? If so, what? And did they both succeed?

KCN: What is this evil thing of which you speak? Star Trek and Star What, now? Star who? Star where?

star-wars-imagesJust kidding. I love Star Wars. I’m learning to say that again after the prequel years, but in my bedroom when I was growing up, right next to my box window where I’d strung up Christmas lights to hang my Star Trek Christmas ornaments year round, there was another string of lights that trailed over to form a border around framed posters for Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi. That said, I am much more of a Trekkie. The Gospel According to Star Wars is somebody else’s book. (Josh C. McDowell’s, for the record.)

In many ways, it’s hard to see much parity between the two. Star Trek is a science fiction universe rooted in human ingenuity and inquiry, and Star Wars is a fantasy story that just happens to include space travel and robots alongside its wizards, magic, and epic quests.

But both Star Trek and Star Wars do deal with issues of faith, with ideas of calling and destiny, and with the human search for identity as both individuals and as members of a community. But they deal with these ideas in very different ways.

One of George Lucas’s expressed purposes for making Star Wars was to tell a story that would encourage young people to think about morality, to see that there is a moral order to the universe, and to explore spirituality and religion.

Gene Roddenberry certainly also wanted to tell stories about morality and discuss important social and ethical issues, but the spirituality and religion contained in Star Trek is much less explicit. Roddenberry rejected his Southern Baptist heritage and does more to caution against false religion than to encourage people toward religion in general.

Lucas blends his Methodist background with Buddhism and Eastern Mysticism to intentionally apply a religious framework to his stories and characters. Both creators, though, applied their own spiritual journeys to the creation of their respective fictional universes.

In the first section of The Gospel According To Star Trek, I spend four chapters exploring Roddenberry’s religious background and theology and the major, somewhat controversial, claim I make in that section is that he was not an atheist. He certainly was not a Christian, not at the least even a traditional monotheist, but he did have a concept of God. His theology had more in common with pantheism—the idea that everything is God—than Christianity, even though his Christian background gave him his moral framework. He believed that all human beings are a part of God and are becoming God.

Though it’s technically not a very good comparison, some people have heard what Gene had to say about spirituality and have concluded that the creator of Star Trek believed in the Force! That’s not actually true, but it’s pretty close. In any case, the two are not so much in opposition to each other as is popularly imagined.

And I think they’re both successful in accomplishing their goals. That’s why we keep coming back to them. These series have managed to tell exciting, engaging stories that also give us a sense of larger meaning and purpose in our lives. All you have to do is watch the YouTube video of a dad showing Star Wars to his young son for the first time and see what an emotional and beautiful moment this is for him as a father to know that these things affect us all on very deep levels.

– – – – –

kevin-c-neece

Kevin C. Neece is an author and speaker on media, the arts, and pop culture from a Christian worldview perspective. A former professor, Kevin holds a BAS in Communication and Philosophy and an MLA in Fine Arts. He lives with his wife and son in Fort Worth, Texas.

His latest book is The Gospel According To Star Trek: The Original Crew.

Rebecca LuElla Miller
Best known for her aspirations as an epic fantasy author, Becky is the sole remaining founding member of Speculative Faith. Besides contributing weekly articles here, she blogs Monday through Friday at A Christian Worldview of Fiction. She works as a freelance writer and editor and posts writing tips as well as information about her editing services at Rewrite, Reword, Rework.
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