New!
Author resources • Lorehaven Guild
Podcast sponsors • Subscribe for free
Crew manifest Faith statement FAQs
All author resources Lorehaven Guild Subscribe for free

Exile
Reviews, Mar 17, 2023

153. When Can Deconstructionism Threaten Christian Fiction? | with Michael Young aka ‘Wokal Distance’
Fantastical Truth Podcast, Mar 14, 2023

Enclave, Lorehaven, Fayette Join Forces for Austin Homeschool Conference
News, Mar 13, 2023

Library

Find fantastical Christian novels

fantasy · sci-fi · and beyond
middle grade · young adult · grown-ups
All novels Search Add a novel
Enhanced, Candace Kade
Bear Knight, James R. Hannibal
The Wayward, Tabitha Caplinger
Fortified, V. Romas Burton
Canaan Sleeps, Daniel Camomile
Silver Bounty, Victoria McCombs
A Sword for the Immerland King, F. W. Faller
Calor, J. J. Fisher
Once Upon A Ren Faire, A. C. Castillo
The Genesis 6 Project, Michael Ferguson
Exile, Loren G. Warnemuende
Aberration, Cathy McCrumb
The Truth Beyond the Lies, Kathleen Bird
Frost, Winter's Lonely Guardian, E. E. Rawls
Podcast

Get the Fantastical Truth podcast

Podcast sponsors | Subscribe links
Archives Feedback

153. When Can Deconstructionism Threaten Christian Fiction? | with Michael Young aka ‘Wokal Distance’
Fantastical Truth, Mar 14, 2023

152. How Can Christian Fantasy Fans Heal from Church Trauma? | with Marian Jacobs and L. G. McCary
Fantastical Truth, Mar 7, 2023

151. How Can Fantastical Satire Sharpen Our Theology? | The Pilgrim’s Progress Reloaded with David Umstattd
Fantastical Truth, Feb 28, 2023

150. Is the U.S. Government Covering Up Spy Balloons or Alien Spaceships? | with James R. Hannibal
Fantastical Truth, Feb 21, 2023

149. Why Do Christian Fiction Fans Love So Much Romance?
Fantastical Truth, Feb 14, 2023

148. Why Do Some Christians Revile ‘The Chosen’? | with Josiah DeGraaf and Jenneth Dyck
Fantastical Truth, Feb 7, 2023

Quests

Join our monthly digital book quests.

Lorehaven Guild Faith statement FAQs

War in Heaven
Book Quests, March 2023

Rose Petals and Snowflakes
Book Quests, February 2023

Prince Caspian
Book Quests, January 2023

Dream of Kings
Book Quests, December 2022

Reviews

Find fantastical Christian reviews

All reviews Request review

Exile
“This gentle fantasy from Loren G. Warnemuende shows little magic or strange creatures, focusing on complex emotions and relationships.”
—Lorehaven on Mar 17, 2023

Illusion
“Frank Peretti’s last novel creates a romantic world with sci-fi flourishes where likeable heroes, villain twists, and familiar places sell a dramatic performance.”
—Lorehaven on Mar 10, 2023

War in Heaven
“Charles Williams’s classic supernatural thriller pairs a deeply spiritual worldview with perceptive examinations of human nature.”
—Lorehaven on Mar 3, 2023

Bear Knight
“Bear Knight’s quest pacing starts slow but quickens as two plots merge into one, exploring the Christian’s spiritual walk with adventurous aplomb.”
—Lorehaven on Feb 24, 2023

Gifts

Find new gifts for Christian fans

Archives

The original SpecFaith: est. 2006

Speculative Faith | archives

Lorehaven issues (2018–2020)

Order back issues online!
New
Library
Podcast
Quests
Reviews
Gifts
Archives
Lorehaven helps Christian fans explore fantastical stories for Christ’s glory: fantasy, science fiction, and beyond. Articles, the library, reviews, podcasts, gifts, and the Lorehaven Guild community help fans discern and enjoy the best Christian-made fantastical stories, applying their meanings to the real world Jesus Christ calls us to serve. Subscribe free to get any updates you choose and to access the Lorehaven Guild.
Subscribe free to Lorehaven
/ SpecFaith /

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.
Website ·

What do you think? Cancel reply

  • Speculative Love, Part 1: No Greater LoveSpeculative Love, Part 1: No Greater Love
  • Non-Lethal Speculative Fiction WeaponsNon-Lethal Speculative Fiction Weapons
  • Speculative Fiction Writers Guide to War, part 17: War Costs: Food per FighterSpeculative Fiction Writers Guide to War, part 17: War Costs: Food per Fighter
  • The Reepicheep SyndromeThe Reepicheep Syndrome
Lorehaven magazine, spring 2020

Wear the wonder:
Get exclusive shirts and beyond

Listen to Lorehaven’s podcast

Authors and publishers:
Reach new fans with Lorehaven

Lorehaven helps Christian fans explore fantastical stories for Christ’s glory: fantasy, science fiction, and beyond. Articles, the library, reviews, podcasts, gifts, and the Lorehaven Guild community help fans discern and enjoy the best Christian-made fantastical stories, applying their meanings to the real world Jesus Christ calls us to serve. Subscribe free to get any updates you choose and to access the Lorehaven Guild.
Website · Facebook · Instagram · Twitter