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

Into the Darkness
Reviews, Feb 3, 2023

The Chosen Succeeds Where ‘Woke’ Stories Fail
Jenneth Dyck in Articles, Feb 2, 2023

Rose Petals and Snowflakes
Book Quests, Feb 1, 2023

Library

Find fantastical Christian novels

fantasy · sci-fi · and beyond
middle grade · young adult · grown-ups
All novels Search Add a novel
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
Dream of Kings, Sharon Hinck
The Change, Bradley Caffee
Quest of Fire: Desperation, Brett Armstrong
Wishtress, Nadine Brandes
Flight, Kristen Young
Podcast

Get the Fantastical Truth podcast

Podcast sponsors | Subscribe links
Archives Feedback

147. Why Can Christians Celebrate Stories about Merlin and King Arthur? | with Robert Treskillard
Fantastical Truth, Jan 31, 2023

146. How Did Animators Adapt The Wingfeather Saga For Streaming TV? | with Keith Lango
Fantastical Truth, Jan 24, 2023

145. How Did Edmund Spenser’s ‘The Faerie Queene’ Shape Christian Fantasy? | with Rebecca K. Reynolds
Fantastical Truth, Jan 17, 2023

144. Which Top Six Fantasy Franchises Gave Fans Grief in 2022?
Fantastical Truth, Jan 10, 2023

143. Which Top Ten Lorehaven Stories Proved Most Popular in 2022?
Fantastical Truth, Jan 6, 2023

142. What Christmas Gift ‘Tools, Not Toys’ Helped You Grow As a Person?
Fantastical Truth, Dec 20, 2022

Quests

Join our monthly digital book quests.

Lorehaven Guild Faith statement FAQs

Rose Petals and Snowflakes
Book Quests, February 2023

Prince Caspian
Book Quests, January 2023

Dream of Kings
Book Quests, December 2022

On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness
Book Quests, November 2022

Reviews

Find fantastical Christian reviews

All reviews Request review

Into the Darkness
“Charles Hack’s Into the Darkness summons a close-range science fiction story, focusing on the personal challenges of space warfare among alien cultures with a steady pace and serious tone.”
—Lorehaven on Feb 3, 2023

A Crown of Chains
“A Crown of Chains creatively retells a biblical tale to explore themes of providence, racism, faith, and fidelity.”
—Lorehaven on Jan 27, 2023

Lander’s Legacy
“Lander’s Legacy stacks modern thrills and complex characters on a foundation of biblical what-ifs.”
—Lorehaven on Jan 20, 2023

Prince Caspian
“Pacing starts slow but creature lore grows in C. S. Lewis’s sequel, introducing practical tyrants and talking-beast politics into a Narnian resistance.”
—Lorehaven on Jan 13, 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 /

On Christ and Pop Culture: Doctor Who’s Doctrine

CAPC’s 12-part series is exploring the deeper beauties and truths of the fantastic sci-fi stories.
E. Stephen Burnett on Oct 4, 2013
No comments

doctorwhosdoctrine_promo

Just fifty days.

Just fifty days.

Exactly fifty days now until the Doctor Who 50th anniversary special, The Day of the Doctor, Christ and Pop Culture is three parts into a 12-part series exploring Doctor Who’s Doctrine.

I’m blessed to assemble and help edit that series, titled after a phrase I first began using on SpecFaith.1

We want to explore Doctor Who’s stories, characters, themes, Christianity vs. humanism, romance, visuals and music, and of course proven fandom since the program’s 2005 restart.

Here I’d also love to hear SpecFaith readers’ reasons for loving Who. More on that later.

Doctor Who’s Doctrine, Part 1: Mad Man with a Box

doctorwhosdoctrines1_esbmemorabiliaThis series intro by me includes one of the worst puns by a Christian Doctor Who fan ever, or perhaps simply one of the worst puns ever: “Zeal for your Whos has consumed me.”

When I was a child, I thought like a child and enjoyed Christian programs for children. Those included the Christian Broadcasting Network’s anime TV series Superbook, in which children travel in a whirling “time vortex,” and Adventures in Odyssey, whose stories often included a time machine-like device shaped (at first) like a phone box.

Now that I’ve grown, I don’t put away these childish things. Also, I enjoyed finding what may have been their inspiration.

Doctor Who’s Doctrine, Part 2: Genre Roots

doctorwhosdoctrine2_roycehuntMy friend Royce Hunt wrote this; he loves classic Who and out-geeks most other fans. And yes, that’s him in the Fourth Doctor cosplay, including his wife’s handmade ten-foot scarf.

An instant fan, I watched the classic Doctor Who series until PBS stopped running the show in 1992. To me, only that series has lasted through time, sparking the imaginations of children and adults on account of great story writing—but also thanks to some creative plagiarism.

Yes, classic Who fans who also know science fiction novels will find that Doctor Who stories aren’t that original. Some are even blatant rip-offs. How does that affect the show’s stories?

Doctor Who’s Doctrine, Part 3: Exterminating Evil

doctorwhosdoctrine3_wrathofthedoctorFrom CAPC editor Jason Morehead, this recent episode briefly explores the Doctor’s conflict with enemies such as the Daleks, before emphasizing the Doctor’s own challenging nature:

When you first meet the Doctor, in any of his incarnations, he seems like a walking bag of eccentricities, from his fashion sense to his mannerisms. But what has been part of the revival’s brilliance is its revelations that the Doctor, for all his brilliance and derring-do, is a shell of an alien. All his eccentricities actually conceal a demi-god who verges on breakdown, and he’s certainly more than the benevolent-yet-eccentric savior we may think. He’s a “mad man with a box” — and the emphasis is on mad.

Coming up

Next on CAPC I’ll write one or two further episodes myself. (Yes, I am beginning to feel like a certain other showrunner Steven [with a V].) We’ll continue exploring the series’s magic, its diversity of fans, the music of Murray Gold, love stories (and sporadic agenda moments), themes borrowed from many religions, and of course the Doctor’s faithful companions.

Lord willing, two weeks before this series’s conclusion before Nov. 23 (Who’s anniversary date), we’ll semi-conclude with a two-parter called Best In Show. It’s for that miniseries that I ask you: What’s your fan “testimony”? What are your favorite Who episodes, story arcs, Doctor actors, companions, musical cues, planets, time eras, visuals, villains, anything? How have you enjoyed God’s beauties and truths through Doctor Who’s beauties and truth?

Your answers here may be included in that two-parter about 1.5 months from now.

And with that request, I definitely feel like Steven “Grand Moff” Moffat, holding contests for people to contribute to a Doctor Who series. One difference: I would tell the truth about whether The Doctor actually dies or if I’ve finished using the Weeping Angels.

  1. In early July I began contributing to Christ and Pop Culture, which is now a member blog of the Patheos religion-blogs network. Its mission is to explore all of pop culture, including storytelling, music, news, and politics, from a Christian perspective. There I’ve covered Christ-figures in fiction, “faith-based” films and superhero blockbusters, a dash of apologetics, the “romance prosperity gospel,” and Harry Potter vs. Left Behind. ↩
E. Stephen Burnett
E. Stephen Burnett creates sci-fi and fantasy novels as well as nonfiction, exploring fantastical stories for God’s glory as publisher of Lorehaven.com and cohost of the Fantastical Truth podcast. As the oldest of six, he enjoys connecting with his homeschool roots by speaking at conferences for Christian families and creators. Stephen is coauthor of The Pop Culture Parent: Helping Kids Engage Their World for Christ from New Growth Press (2020, with Ted Turnau and Dr. Jared Moore). Stephen and his wife, Lacy, live in the Austin area, where they help with foster parenting and serve as members of Southern Hills Baptist Church.
Website · Facebook · Instagram · Twitter
  1. Galadriel says:
    October 4, 2013 at 10:51 am

    *squeals of happiness* Thanks for the heads-up. I’m always up for discussion of the Whoniverse from a Christian perspective.

    Reply
  2. bainespal says:
    October 5, 2013 at 1:26 pm

    Good luck on the series. I love finding earnest criticism of storytelling, sometimes even when I’m not familiar with the subject.

    I began watching the 2005 series. I think I’ve seen about 5 episodes so far. My main problem with the show so far is that I dislike both Rose and the Doctor.

    Reply
    • Galadriel says:
      October 5, 2013 at 10:31 pm

      If it’s really sticking, try skipping ahead to Ten or a different companion. Different eras appeal to different people, and there’s nothing wrong with moving around, as long as you at least try.

      Reply
  3. HG Ferguson says:
    October 6, 2013 at 9:45 pm

    As a fan of the original series before the “reboot” appeared, I find it most interesting indeed how the show has taken the Doctor from an irascible but cunning Victorianesque gentleman to a clown, a man of action, another clown, a young thoughtful whippersnapper, a misanthropic most unlikeable lout, a zany cosmic traveler — to a wounded, broken Time Lord and then — wait for it — waiiiiiit for it — a Messianic, almost godlike figure/savior in the last two incarnations, and now some fans howl about “not another old guy!” waiting in the wings. The doctrine of Dr. Who in its current state is the Doctor IS a savior/godlike figure. As a Christian I find this troubling and a definite sign of the times, folks……

    Reply
    • bainespal says:
      October 6, 2013 at 10:28 pm

      The doctrine of Dr. Who in its current state is the Doctor IS a savior/godlike figure. As a Christian I find this troubling and a definite sign of the times, folks……

      Why is that troubling? I love finding messianic themes in television shows, and everything else. Of course the writers don’t literally want to depict Christ; of course the “savior” isn’t theologically correct. So what? It just goes to show that really deep and meaningful stories tend to be about saviors, whatever else they may be about. And we know that the true story is actually about a Savior.

      Reply
    • E. Stephen Burnett says:
      October 7, 2013 at 8:19 am

      I must agree with Bainespal, for these central reasons:

      1) Of course pagans like stories about substitute messiahs. It’s what pagans do.

      2) However, enjoying the tales of a substitute”messiah” outside yourself, such as The Doctor or any superhero comic or film franchise, is one step closer to the true Hero than accepting a “messiah” within yourself.

      3) As the Christ and Pop Culture series has noted and will continue to explore, even humanist writers in trying to reflect Christlike attributes — along with silliness, madness, and deep “you may be just like your enemies”-style flaws — prove anew that they cannot construct a story based solely on the values of classic or cosmic humanism. Their stories certainly include those flourishes and themes. But the central theme of them is of heroes, including the Doctor and his companions, who are willing to sacrifice all, even their lives, to do the right thing. You can only get that from the true myth, Christianity. And by reflecting that truth, Doctor Who‘s writers again prove that despite any of their own twisting of truth, they are still living in God’s universe and can only make things using God’s creation “parts.”

      A final and more-minor note: the new series is not a reboot. A reboot would have discarded all previous continuity and opened with the First Doctor all over again.

      Reply

What do you think? Cancel reply

  • ‘Why Did(n’t) You Like That Story?’‘Why Did(n’t) You Like That Story?’
  • The Doctor's Doctrines: Discussion TimeThe Doctor's Doctrines: Discussion Time
  • On Our New Podcast Episode: We Didn't Watch 'The Witcher' So We Hired a Friend Who DidOn Our New Podcast Episode: We Didn't Watch 'The Witcher' So We Hired a Friend Who Did
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