By now most people who visit a site such as Spec Faith realize that Star Trek turned 50 this year. There have been a number of commemoratives as a result, including an actual coin minted for the occasion. As cool as it would be to own such a thing, I think it’s far cooler that an obscure free-TV station is airing all five of the Star Trek franchise shows, from season 1, episode 1 of each up through their final program.

The station is called Heroes and Icons, or H&I for short. Here’s one promo description:

Five epic series, five bold captains. Kirk, Picard, Sisko, Janeway and Archer each brought a unique approach to their Starfleet positions.

Now, the Star Trek legends are together for the first time on free TV with All Star Trek on H&I.

The H&I website has some fun quizzes: which captain said this, which planet is this, which alien? There are also video clips (not just promotional snippets as the one below, but a variety of others) and more:

But the great thing, of course, is getting to re-watch all these shows. I’m one of the few, apparently, who really likes Enterprise, the last in the line, though first in time sequence. But as I have watched, I realize my favorite is Deep Space Nine.

I used to think Next Generation was my favorite, but watching them together for the last several weeks has opened my eyes to a few things. Generally Next Generation was naive. The creators of the show depicted a future world filled with advanced races that had put peace at the center of their growing federation. Only those who weren’t as advanced exhibited aggressive and greedy tendencies.

The three shows that followed seemed to have a better grasp of the realities of sentient life: there’s great capacity for good and for evil in all of us. Still, the overarching idea of humankind’s goodness remained.

Deep Space Nine is perhaps the most anti-Christian of all the programs.

The Bejoran religion might be the closest depiction of anything resembling Christianity in any of the five, but it is not shown in a favorable light. Their faith in aliens they believed to be “Prophets,” their clash with and attempt to gain control over the civilian government, their disrespect for science, and the hypocrisy of their leaders all make the Bejoran faith seem superstitious and dangerous.

More than that, the show’s conclusion is reminiscent of the Buddhist idea of Nirvana. Odo, the shapshifter who has had identity issues from the beginning, finally reaches a great pool of oneness where others of his kind melt together in a shared consciousness. In comparison Nirvana is

a transcendent state in which there is neither suffering, desire, nor sense of self, and the subject is released from the effects of karma and the cycle of death and rebirth. It represents the final goal of Buddhism.

Throughout the five series, the general theme of man’s evolution to a better state seems to hold. Nowhere is the idea of sin advanced. Though some individuals certainly come across as evil, no race is depicted as irredeemable—not even the Borg.

I think the closest thing to a true depiction of humankind’s sin nature is unintentionally shown by the Trill, a race of people who desire above all else to be joined to a symbiont. These slug-like creatures—which are apparently a race unto themselves, but are completely dependent upon the Trill from conception—can live on indefinitely by taking on a new Trill host whenever their present host dies.

In Deep Space Nine the character Jadzia Dax is a joined Trill. Dax is the slug and Jadzia, the humanoid host. In one episode a Trill who had been determined to be unfit for joining steals Dax from Jadzia. He reports feeling stronger, more confident, more knowledgeable as a result of his joining. When Jadzia is separated from Dax, she begins to die.

In many respects we can look at our lives with our sin nature as similar to the Trill. We are bound, and we don’t want to be separated. In fact, to do so is death. What we need, and what none of the Star Trek shows every considered, is a new life—Someone giving us a life that replaces the slug on which we depend.

In fact, what becoming followers of Jesus Christ requires is this death to sin and self. But thanks be to God. He gives a greater grace so we aren’t left alone.

I tend to think that the Star Trek franchise said a lot about humanity and spirituality, some false and some true, though perhaps in unintended ways similar to the example above. I’ve been re-watching these shows for enjoyment, but also as a writer. I like thinking about the story structure and why I’m drawn to Deep Space Nine more than to the others (though I really could make a case for Voyager being my favorite!) I think going forward, I want to think more about what these shows had to say about the human condition, and perhaps how they’ve influenced our culture.

Star Wars took us by storm but Star Trek might have the greater impact!

Three other writers and I celebrated Star Trek’s first 50 years with 4-5 TV series, 13 feature films, bad religion, common graces and all, at Christ and Pop Culture yesterday.

By seeming coincidence, we managed to cover some of our favorite stories from all Star Trek exploration eras: the original series in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home as well as stories from The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise.

This makes me wonder of Star Trek fans: which films and shows are your favorites?

Share your best-ofs in our polls. (You can vote on one television show, yet multiple films.)

Then feel free to share: How did Star Trek‘s first 50 years manage to tractor-beam you into this fandom? What do you hope for the next generations of Star Trek beyond today?

Explore more

SpecFaith writers have orbited various worlds of this science fiction franchise.

Shannon McDermott pondered the tasks of command in If I Were A Starfleet Captain:

If I were a Starfleet captain, I would employ a strict policy of avoiding all unusual enterpriseand/or unexplained phenomena. Temporal rifts, subspace distortions, collapsing stars, expanding black holes, folds in space, a stitch in time – whenever one of these appears, I will order my crew to point the ship 180 degrees away from it and depart at a brisk speed of Warp 5. Due to forward-thinking actions such as this, I anticipate a longer, happier life for myself and all my crew.

Star Trek should be about more than vengeful captains, a truth fortunately appreciated by this year’s Star Trek Beyond.

Here, I wasn’t fond of Star Trek into Darkness (2013), as explained in Star Trek Into Fun Yet Generic and Derivative Darkness. (However, I’m very pleased to report that this year’s Star Trek Beyond is a welcome course-correction for the Kelvin Timeline films, so go see it.)

We shall have someone yell a villain’s name real loud. And not who you’d expect.

Q. You’re joshing. How is that creative? Can’t we explore more on other themes from earlier in the film, such as when Spock mind-melds with a dying man and can later empathize with those emotions? That builds on previous Trek, without ripping it off.

Come on. People remember that yell. It’s famous. We want to tap into that nostalgia.

Q. First, this is blatant “fan-service” on the level of bad fan-fiction. Secondly, you do realize that the yell is particularly famous as an internet meme, right? Put that into a dramatic scene — even a derivative one — and it will cause cognitive dissonance.

But it’s memorable. We need some way to get people to look up from their cell-phones in the theater and actually pay attention to the movie they paid nearly $10 to see.

Reviewer Paul Lee keeps up with the Cardassians.

Our reader Paul Lee reviewed a Star Trek: Deep Space Nine novel I still need to read at ‘Star Trek: DS9’ Spinoff ‘Day of the Vipers’ Respects Alien Faith:

Day of the Vipers is the first in the Terok Nor trilogy, an extended prologue to the television show about the Cardassian occupation of Bajor that had just ended at the time of Deep Space Nine‘s pilot episode. Like the show, the book depicts its societies with dark honesty, avoiding both extremes of utopian optimism and cynicism. The alien cultures are depicted so realistically and organically that the religious dynamic feels strangely relevant to the Christian struggle for relevance in an increasingly secular society.

DS9’s human respect for non-humanistic religions wasn’t always true of Star Trek, as John Otte explored The Gospel According to Roddenberry:

Oh, sure. [Star Trek features] divinities of a sort, such as Apollo or Trelane of Gothos. And let’s not forget Q. But by and large, religion doesn’t play much of a role in 23rd and 24th century society. The few times it does come up, it’s mocked (such as when the Mintakan people mistake Picard for a god, the belief of which is roundly snorted at by the Enterprise-D crew). Or it’s co-opted in odd ways.

And finally, here’s a just-for-fun, edit-able poll for your favorite Star Trek catchphrases:

Which Star Trek catchphrases are your favorites?

Weekday Fiction Fix is a sometime special here at Spec Faith aimed to introduce readers to some of the newest fiction available. Today’s offering is an excerpt from a book I mentioned earlier this week, a middle grade superhero book by Matt Mikalatos. I wrangled with whether to give a sample from the Prologue or from Chapter 1 and finally went with the latter. Enjoy.

Capeville

by Matt Mikalatos

Introduction

Psycho mass murderers can wreck your summer so fast.

John Ajax planned to spend every sun-filled summer day playing Tread Battalion 2 with his friends. Then a super-powered goon tried to kidnap him, and his parents freaked out and sent him to “hide” in
Capeville—a city populated entirely with superheroes and villains.

It might be okay if he could fly, or shoot laser beams out of his eyes, or crush a brick in his bare hands. Instead he has a drill-sergeant grandfather, a crush on his boss (Jupiter Girl, a flying, brick-crushing, psychic powerhouse. No laser eyes.) and a best friend with speedster powers and poor impulse control.

To make matters worse, the aforementioned psycho mass murderer is trying to kill every super-powered person in the city. If that happens John will lose his job, the respect of Jupiter Girl, and his best friend, too. So mass murder, that’s where John plans to draw the line. He may not be able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, but
maybe, just maybe, John can still be a hero.

Excerpt

John Ajax sailed his bike off the curb with a victorious whoop, landed it in the middle of the street, popped a wheelie and swerved past a dented blue truck. Eighth grade was finally over, and an unbelievably vast ocean of summer days stretched out ahead of him. Nothing to do now but throw his backpack under his bed, grab some ice cream, slouch to the sofa and play Tread Battalion 2.

The air tasted like summer and exhaust and hot pavement. He cut a diagonal across an intersection and a white minivan honked lazily at him. He popped onto the curb and turned toward home. The whole world seemed familiar and strange at the same time. He had seen this stretch of sidewalk a million times, but never as an eighth grade graduate. A high schooler.

A dog slid out of a shadowy alley and onto the side- walk. Its grey and white fur gave it the unmistakable look of a husky, but its hair was ratted and a deep, hairless scar ran over its forehead and slashed across its snout. When John looked at the dog, it stopped moving and turned its head away. John stopped pedaling and watched it more carefully. Every time he looked away, the dog moved closer. John’s neck hairs stood on end. Was it… hunting him?

He stood on his pedals and zipped down the sidewalk, cutting toward the white walk lights whenever he hit an intersection. The dog followed close behind, and twice it nearly got flattened when it jumped into traffic. John got caught at an intersection while the green turn arrows were lit, which meant no walk signal. A weird guy leaned against a streetlamp at the intersection, and John figured being near someone—even a weird someone—would be good if the dog got too close. John rolled to a stop at the corner.

The dog came padding up the sidewalk and stopped a half block from John, its tongue lolling out and sides heaving. The man against the lamppost had short-cropped that hair covered a sweaty scalp. Even in the summer heat he wore long jeans and a black leather jacket. He had a black number thirteen written across the left side of his face, coming down from his forehead, over his eye and cheekbone and ending on his lower cheek. Whether it was a tattoo or magic marker, John couldn’t tell. The man squinted at the dog, then at John, pinched off his cigarette and flicked it into the street.

“That your dog, kid?”

“No.” John looked at the scarred husky. Its ears perked up. Number 13 stood a step closer than before, a lopsided sneer on his face.

The man scratched at the thirteen on his face with his right hand. “You John Ajax?”

John shook his head, keeping his eyes on the man. The light changed and he put his foot on his pedal. “I’ve got to get home, Mister.”

Number 13 grabbed John’s handlebars. “I’m not going to hurt you, John.” He said it like an actor reading a script for the first time, like he wasn’t used to people believing him.

What should he do? Leave his bike and run for it? Yell for help? Before John could think of another option, the dog barked ferociously and ran toward them, startling Thirteen and John both. The man’s grip on the handlebars loosened, and John tugged away and pedaled furiously across the street. He cut across traffic and barreled down the street toward home.

The dog kept close behind him, growling and barking, its white teeth inches from John’s tire. It pulled even with his legs, so John poured on more speed, worried about being bitten. He cut down an alley, speeding past Dumpsters and illegally parked cars. A homeless man looked up from his cardboard shelter and John yelled, “Careful, there’s a crazy dog out here!”

The homeless man shrank back into his box, stroking his beard, and shouted after John, “Looks like a wolf!” He pulled a flap down over his box and mumbled, “Wolves in the city. Never a good sign.”

A chain link fence blocked the end of the alley, a Dumpster pushed against the building next to it. He pedaled up fast, skidded to a stop and jumped on top of the Dumpster. He grabbed his bike and, with a grunt of effort, slung it over the fence. The dog didn’t break pace, but ran and leapt on top of the Dumpster. John swung his backpack and caught the dog in the chest, sending it flying into the far wall.

He tossed his bag over the fence and followed after it. The dog, still on the other side, growled and snapped at him. John pulled his pack on and picked up his bike. He leaned against it and took a deep breath. What was going on? A stranger and a dog chasing him on his way home from school? The dog growled one more time, then sped back the way it had come.

“Nice move, John.”

He recognized the voice immediately. Number 13. He turned. Thirteen stood in the middle of the alley, his arms crossed. He looked precisely the same as before, with one difference. The number thirteen on his face had been replaced with a number seven.

“What happened to your thirteen?”

Number Seven laughed. “So, we’ve met already, have we?” Seven cracked his knuckles, then dropped his fists to his side. “Since you’re running, I can only assume you rejected our deal.”

“I didn’t even hear your deal.” John tried to edge around the guy, but the narrow alley prevented it.

Seven grabbed John’s wrist. When John pulled away, he gripped it tighter. “You’re coming to meet my boss. He has plans for you. And, considering his history with your parents, he thought it would be safer to send me to pick you up.”

John twisted his arm sideways, yanking his hand free from Seven’s grip. He kicked him, hard, in the kneecap. Seven fell backwards, gasping. Seven’s skin stretched and bubbled, then pulled apart as a second man yanked himself free from Seven. A disgusting sound, like a foot being pulled out of mud, echoed through the alley, and two nearly identical men stood in front of John. One with the number Seven on his face, and the other with no number.

Seven groaned. He pointed at the new man and said, “You’re thirty-two.”

John edged away from the two men. No way. No way this was happening. Since the Jester blew up Kane Bridge and the Rubicon Protocol came into being it was illegal for people with powers to be anywhere but Capeville. Capes shouldn’t be in regular society.

The new man pulled a marker from his pocket and drew a three and a two on his face. He turned to John. “Your parents have been hiding things from you, John. We can tell you the truth about them, about everything.”

“What are you talking about? And why aren’t you in Capeville? Caesar is going to find you, and he’s the most powerful superhuman on the planet.”

Seven coughed, laughing. “Caesar is dead. No one has seen him in years. The Black Vulture is dead, too. I’m not worried. We’re going to kill every cape out there, John. And you’re going to help us.”

DC Comics and Warner Bros. Animation recently released an animated movie adaptation of one of the most iconic graphic novels of all time, Batman: The Killing Joke. The book was written by comic deity Alan Moore, the guy who also wrote Watchmen, considered by many to be the greatest superhero comic series and graphic novel ever written. B:TKJ is more grim and nihilistic than Watchmen but there is a cynical undertone in both works (and in Moore’s other creations as well).

Like all movie adaptations, the motion picture version of B:TJK hardly does justice to the source material. It’s not a bad movie, but it falls prey to the common cold for book-to-movie adaptations: overemphasis on action, added and often unnecessary characters and subplots, and tweaks to major characters and their motivations that gets fanboys all in a tizzy. I don’t consider myself to be a fanboy but there were things in B:TKJ that really irritated me. Watch it for yourself and you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about.

Moore’s books are rarely kid-friendly and B:TKJ is no exception. Warner Bros. Animation made the surprising step to make the movie version rated R for violence and disturbing images. I was bracing for a manga-esque bloodfest but the violence was thankfully subdued, though there were some gory moments. The PG-13 film Under the Red Hood had an almost comparable amount of violence, but B:TKJ is a far more sinister story. And of course, there is the crucial scene that has gone down in history as one of the Joker’s most depraved acts. I get chills when I see the cover of the book because I know what he is photographing. The movie doesn’t linger on this scene, which is good for one’s nerves but also weakens the story overall, because it is such a gripping manifestation of the Joker’s insanity.

It’s been several years since I read B:TKJ and the movie brought back many haunting memories, but one thing that was consistent throughout both the book and the movie was the Joker’s eagerness to be insane (the movie even has a jangly show tune about this very topic). The cause of his insanity is a bit rushed and not entirely convincing, but one gets the impression that he wouldn’t want to go back to “normal” life even if he could. He’s not battling inner demons the way Batman does; he welcomes them in for a cup of tea. His sociopathic lack of empathy is one of his most disturbing character traits, and it manifests on his victims and his accomplices (news flash for any Hot Topic tweens that might read this: Harley Quinn is not a cherished girlfriend).

The way I see it, the Joker is a very good allegory for the human soul and psyche stripped of God’s grace. Man’s fallen nature doesn’t just wallow in sin; it runs headlong into sin’s arms. It bends to the will of Satan – the destroyer, the creator of chaos, the antithesis of everything God embodies. And what could be more maddening than staring into the abyss of an eternity removed from God? Apart from God’s grace, there is no penitence, no contrition, no horror at one’s own fallen nature. We have a hunger for the madn ess of sin and death that we must indulge, but the power of God’s saving grace overcomes that hunger and turns it towards Himself.

It is a good sort of madness to surrender to, but it does not produce chaos and pain. It produces the peace that passes all understanding and a tranquility beyond all human reasoning. Many may call that insane, and if that’s the case, lock me up and take me to Arkham.

What does it mean to be a hero?

Ask ten different people, and you’ll probably end up with a handful of different answers. Every bookworm and movie junkie is well-acquainted with that small word: hero. But down in the dust, dirt, and toil of Storyville, what does this mean?

I love poking fun at clichés. Yesterday, the blog post on my site dealt with the defining features of a hero. An appropriate title could have been, “To Be Hero or Cliché? That Is the Question.”

Any time stories are present, clichés—great or small, intentional or accidental—are present. It’s unavoidable. The question is, how will the author, filmmaker, screenwriter add some zest?

Taking the hero stereotype off the wall and examining it reveals that heroes are particularly vulnerable to assaults by the Cliché Monster. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the modern film industry, where we’ve been inundated with a specific type of hero that elevates unimportant qualities over the elements that truly determine one’s level of heroism.

From my perspective, there are two sides of a hero. The external and the internal. Which is more important? Which traits contribute more to the person’s qualifications of hero? Let’s examine both.

The External Hero

Image from xmenmovies.wikia.com

Say “hero” and what happens? A slew of the most handsome, muscular, attractive men in existence pop out of thin air, complete with the requisite cape and “I Am Hero” logo emblazoned across the front of their skin-tight gym shirt—which displays every rise and contour of their muscles like a topographical map.

Yes, that was sarcastic and exaggerated. However, the point remains. What has become of the hero archetype? Hollywood would have us believe it’s comprised in large part of physical appearance. The “WOW, Hugh Jackman is ripped” factor.

I’m not saying this is a bad thing. Some guys can’t help it if they’re well built, and in unique cases—thinking of Captain America here—their impressive physique is part of their identity as a hero.

Yet that only tells half the tale. It only shows us one side of the coin.

If our definition of a hero is someone who will make the ladies swoon, who can be buried beneath a collapsing high-rise and live to tell the tale, whose torso and arms would make excellent training ground for BMX bikers, then we’re sadly mistaken.

External features are important, but they’re the icing on the chocolate cake, not the flour and cocoa that make the cake a cake.

Which brings us to the other side of the coin.

The Internal Hero

Awhile back, I wrote a SpecFaith article titled Strength In Weakness: A Tale of Hobbits and Heroes.

One of the main points was the fact that true strength is found within. Don’t look at the biceps, the haircut, the loads of money, the million-dollar smile to determine the true character of a hero. Look inside.

• Loyalty
• Self-sacrifice
• Love of others
• Courage
• Fortitude

These are some of the attributes of heroes, and they’re infinitely more important than the outward presentation of physical prowess.

Above all, these are the qualities that make a character worthy of the title hero.

Image from harrypotter.wikia.com

Modern culture insists upon appearances as the standard for judging one’s value. Unfortunately, that misses the mark by a disturbing margin. Now there’s nothing wrong with the Thors and Wolverines of the world, who are gifted both with impressively ripped bodies and the internal traits needed to be a hero.

Yet we should never forget or pass off as second-rate those whose claim to heroism is their internal characteristics. The Frodos and Harrys of the world.

At the end of the day, remove the external bells and whistles, and you still have the makings of a hero. But remove the vital internal qualities, and you have at best a buff dude who’s impartial and at worst a deadly villain.

Hollywood is wrong. What makes a hero isn’t what we see. It’s what they do and the core nature driving those actions.

In your opinion, what are the determining qualities of a hero?

When presenting news of note, what could be news-ier than the announcement of the Spec Faith 2016 Summer Writing Challenge winner? Congratulations to Bethany A. Jennings for her first place finish in an incredibly tight vote. I’ll be contacting her to see if she wants her gift card prize from Amazon or B&N. If for some reason you missed reading the finalist entries, you can find them in last Monday’s post.

In other news, Enclave Publishing has released their fall lineup of books for pre-order. I’m looking forward to reading these. For science fiction fans, you might especially enjoy Paul Reginer‘s Space Drifters series.

Speaking of books, author and sometimes Spec Faith guest blogger, Matt Mikalatos, who is one of the most creative Christian writers I know, just released his superhero middle grade novel, Capeville: Death Of The Black Vulture. Here’s a description of the book from Matt’s website:

Psycho mass murderers can wreck your summer so fast.

John Ajax planned to spend every sun-filled summer day playing Tread Battalion 2 with his friends. Then a super-powered goon tried to kidnap him, and his parents freaked out and sent him to “hide” in Capeville… a city populated entirely with superheroes and villains.

It might be okay if he could fly, or shoot laser beams out of his eyes, or crush a brick in his bare hands. Instead he has a drill-sergeant grandfather, a crush on his boss (Jupiter Girl, a flying, brick-crushing, psychic powerhouse. No laser eyes.) and a best friend with speedster powers and poor impulse control.

To make matters worse, the aforementioned psycho mass murderer is trying to kill every super-powered person in the city. If that happens John will lose his job, the respect of Jupiter Girl, and his best friend, too. So mass murder, that’s where John plans to draw the line.

He may not be able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, but maybe, just maybe, John can still be a hero.

Jill Williamson and her son Luke also have a middle grade out/coming out. The Kindle version is available now at a wonderfully reduced price. When the physical book releases in a week, it will go up to its regular price. I’m referring to the second in the RoboTales series, Mardok and the Seven Exiles. Here’s the blurb describing the book:

Riv Mardok is the bravest cadet in the Space Force Military Training Academy on planet Dabon. “Protect the helpless” is his motto. When he kills a cyborg gragon, General Gruss sends him on a special mission to destroy the infamous Ice Beast. When Mardok gets lost on his quest, he meets a robot dog that helps him find his way.

By the way, the first book in the series, Tinker, is also available at the same low, low price (OK, they’re both at $.99 for this week ONLY). Here’s the back cover copy of Tinker:

“Recycle and create.” That’s Tinker’s motto. He’s an inventor, who lives with his uncle and cousins on planet Kitz. The Invention Institute is having a Recycle Race to choose a new apprentice for their boarding school for young inventors. Tinker builds an airbike for the contest. When Tinker’s cruel cousins destroy it, a robot dog helps Tinker fix his entry in time to compete.

This advanced chapter book for young readers is the first in a series by Jill Williamson and her son Luke. The two came up with the idea when Luke was in fourth grade and working on fractured fairy tales in school. “What if we wrote some fairy tales for boys and set them in outer space?” they said. “And what kid doesn’t love a robot dog?”

I’m excited about these book for middle grade readers. I often have friends ask me for speculative book recommendations, and perhaps the most requested is for middle grade boys. The thing is, these are all very fun and enjoyable for readers at any level.

But fans of Jill Williamson know she writes primarily for young adults and adults. While she has some science fiction and one series of “contemporary supernatural” (her Mission League series consisting of two novels and two novellas, with a third novel coming out in October—Broken Trust), the bulk of her writing is fantasy, of one type or the other.

Her dystopian series, The Safe Lands trilogy, is for sale at an incredibly low price. OK, ridiculously low price. Her publisher, Zondervan, is offering all three as ebooks for $1.99:

Zondervan is running a special on The Safe Lands trilogy ebook compilation. For only $1.99 you can grab the entire trilogy, which includes Captives, Outcasts, and Rebels. The sale runs through Monday, 9/5 and is available on Kindle, iTunes, Google Play, Nook, Kobo, or CBD!

Get The Safe Lands Trilogy on: Nook ● Kindle ● Kobo ● CBD ● Google Play ● iTunes

One more announcement Jill released: book two of her current series with Bethany, The Kinsman Chronicles, is due to release in March 2017. But as with book one, her publisher is making the story available as e-novellas first.

I have to admit, I’ve been somewhat confused by this process, but here’s how it works: Each book is made up of three parts and each part has been (or will be) released as an ebook first. So the first part of book two has just been released. That part is entitled Kingdom At Sea.

Perhaps the coolest thing about this series is that it is a prequel of Jill’s first fantasy series The Blood Of Kings. So all the Kinsman Chronicles are about the ancestors of the protagonists of the earlier books.

There’s obviously much, much more going on with speculative fiction. Realm Makers, for instance, has plans for their awards—they’ve added a new readers’ choice award they’re calling The Alliance Award.

Agent Steve Laube wrote a fun blog post about Star Trek in celebration of its fiftieth anniversary.

I think it’s fun to learn what books are coming out, what people are writing about speculative fiction, what awards are being created and won. What news items do you have to add to this short list?

We’ve explored six Christian white magic “spells” and Christian white magic definitions.

Now, what about some of the general questions or challenges, especially to the first article?

1. Doesn’t God want Christians to have health, wealth, or success?

In Six Christian White Magic Spells Worse Than Fantasy Magic, I said the “health and wealth” gospel or “prosperity gospel” is a particularly bad Christian white magic system.

But doesn’t God want his people to find success, health, and potentially material wealth?

In Scripture, God reveals Himself as a loving and generous God who provides good gifts, often in response to his people’s inquiries. And the Old Testament book of Proverbs outlines principles about hard work, honesty, and other values that can lead to success.

I believe people can, if they ask God or try the Proverbs principles, often find responsibility and good work habits that can also lead to material success. However, these are general principles. They will not always work every time they’ve tried. Why not? Because this is not a perfect world. Ours is a sin-cursed age. So it would be a mistake to expect wealth/health/lack of struggle in every case. Injustice is very real. For example, Christians may face racism based on their ethnicity, or other prejudices based on their beliefs, regardless of their faith or work ethics.

Scripture does not support either materialism or the notion that material blessings are evil.

But we cannot therefore draw a magic formula: if we pray certain ways, or perform certain deeds, then God is obligated to increase his material or other blessings on us.

This did not work for Job. Or Elijah. Or Paul. Or any of the apostles. Or Jesus Christ himself.

What happens when the “magic” doesn’t work? Who gets the blame for a bad spell-casting?

Are we really Christians? Does God really love us? Does he fail to keep his promises?

Or might we question, as the disciples did about the man born blind, whether someone—whether himself or his parents—had brought that struggle into his life?¹ In response to the apostles, Jesus is clear: no one sinned. The man was born blind apart from any lack of faith on his part. He was born blind to reveal God’s glory.

Jesus rejected a magical, causal, if/then system to suffering and to blessing. So should we.²

2. Doesn’t God want Christians to protect children from outside evils?

I started to discuss Christian “protective circles” around certain people or environments, as if we can use special actions or methods to keep out the evil. Then Mike Duran finished it:

What are “clean media spells”? They are practices that stem from the belief that G-rated, “family-friendly” content — films and fiction without sex, profanity, excessive violence, occult themes, etc. — is inherently “pure” (or, at least, purer than other fare), imparts a protective covering, cultivates holiness, does not morally corrupt, brings one closer to God (or, rather, keeps the devil and evil spirits away), and is ultimately “safer” than art with mature content.

While there’s much to commend such a stance, there’s also a great potential for “magic” in this thinking.³

Many of our readers have long since agreed this notion isn’t biblical. But any others who happen by might understandably raise this objection: Well, aren’t we supposed to keep evil influences away from our children—or way from other Christians who would be tempted?

To answer this question would take a book.⁴ But I have noticed many people who raise this question are not thinking of actual scenarios. They are thinking of hypothetical scenarios. For example: “If I talk about reading that fantasy novel, someone might be tempted toward the occult.”

But in Scripture, the apostle Paul does not talk about hypothetical, future-tense “someone out there might be tempted” scenarios. When he discusses how to handle legitimate issues of “weaker brothers,” who are tempted to sin by something other Christians do,⁵ he does not talk about someones. Instead, the apostle Paul refers to actual, present-day, personal, immediate situations his readers are experiencing.

So what would the difference look like? Perhaps something like this:

• Wrong: “Hey, you shouldn’t talk about your favorite fantasy novel out loud, ever. Someone out there someplace may hear you and be tempted to use that book to sin.”
• Right: “Hey, you shouldn’t talk about your favorite fantasy novel near him. He might hear you and, because of his struggle, could be tempted to use that book to sin.”

A similar principle could apply to parents. Your child might be tempted to use a thing to sin. But she also might not be. It depends on the child, who is a unique individual created by God with different desires, talents, strengths, and weaknesses. And as your child grows and becomes nearly a different person, she may find greater (or lesser) resistance to certain temptations—and greater potential for enjoying a gift, like a fantasy story, not for sinning but for God’s glory.

We cannot use magical methods to ward off possible bad results in the future. We can only practice biblical wisdom to respond with grace and truth to real people in our present lives.

3. Are you saying prayer and listening to God’s voice is ‘white magic’?

Prayer is not white magic, because God encourages us to pray! Our prayers can include requests for His good gifts, such as success and healing for the sake of His kingdom. He certainly does gives us richly for our needs and even beyond.

However, what if we believe we can train to pray better prayers to get the results we want?

What if we think we can train to hear God “praying” back to us, to give us regular daily guidance?

If we think this, we may have departed a biblical view of prayer and bought into white magic.

Apologetics author Greg Koukl, founder of Stand to Reason, makes a difference between:

1. A biblical view of expecting to receive God’s guidance on occasion, via unexpected leadings or providential timing, versus
2. An extra-biblical notion that if we practice some spiritual discipline, then we will be able to “decipher” the Spirit’s otherwise indistinct nudges or promptings every day.

As Koukl notes:⁶

Again, like Koukl, I don’t disagree with the idea that God could clearly reveal something to us on His own volition. But “train yourself to hear God’s guiding voice better as a regular, daily, occurrence” is arguably a white-magic method.

If you can do things to “generate” miracles regularly, isn’t this no longer a miracle?

Next week: We’ll wrap the series with three more challenges to the six Christian white magic spells.

Last week’s article about Christian white magic may have put the wand before the wizard.

I ended up exploring the what of Christian white magic, while skipping over the whys.

Of course, that’s what comments sections (at their best) are for—to allow give-and-take, clarity, challenges, and even some debate among Christians and others about such issues.

But how about doubling back here and exploring what Christian white magic actually is?

This may take more than one part. In part 1, I’ll share background about the topic, along with links to related articles and resources. Then in part 2, I will seek to offer some clarifications about the six Christian white magic spells I explored last week.

Q. What is ‘Christian white magic’?

Let’s define “Christian white magic” thinking like so:

1. Christian means this worldview and these methods are accepted or practiced by well-meaning and/or biblical Christians. They are often justified with Bible texts as well as Christians’ anecdotes or teachings about how these methods work.
2. White means that these ideas meant for “good,” to counteract evil or pain. People believe special actions, objects, or life decisions—or else avoidance of particular actions, objects, or life decisions—will always bring good results. These results can include health, wealth, success, relationships, or extra spiritual benefit, and can prevent pains such as sickness, poverty, singleness, or spiritual struggles.
3. Magic means this is not the same as desiring or praying for a miracle from God. This is more similar to the divination methods God warns against in Scripture.

White magic is not an object or “thing.” It comes from a mindset. This mindset comes from our sin: the original Genesis 3 idolatry that we can be like gods and control the universe.¹

Q. Why is Christian white magic sinful?

These white-magic promises are imagined by humans. They are not found in God’s word.

They are more like the real-world magic attempts God condemns in Scripture. They remain similar to divination or sorcery, even if false (and/or well-meaning) teachers have dressed up the methods as Christian, or if we truly believe these methods are found in Scripture.

Q. What Scripture passages warn against divination?

One episode of the classic sitcom “I Love Lucy” portrays a divination-seeking séance for laughs.

Deuteronomy 18:9-14 is the key text. Other Bible books that condemn “sorcery” include Galatians 5:19-20 and Revelation 21:8. However, “sorcery” may mean a unique practice involving drugs.²

Previously on SpecFaith I’ve explored Deut. 18 and magic, with application to fantasy:

• Why I Don’t Shut Up About ‘Harry Potter’
• Winners Don’t Do Witchcraft
• Deuteronomy 18 Witchcraft: What It Is and Isn’t

Q. Do you believe a Christian ‘white magician’ is especially evil?

Not at all—at least, no more than usual!

The apostle Paul’s 1 Corinthians list of sins Christians cannot practice³  is similar to his Galatians 5 list, which includes “sorcery” (verse 20). To the Corinthians, Paul says, “… And such were some of you [who did these sins]. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”⁴

Every Christian struggles with white magic thinking, because we’re all recovering idolaters.

We all need to fight our impulses to make God do things we want, or to control the world. These impulses disguise in many forms, even “angels of light,” such as spiritual practices.

A Jack Chick tract, “The Nervous Witch,” condemns secular dark magic. In response it advocates a form of Christian white magic.

Q. Is Christian white magic really worse than secular magic?

In one sense, no.

Christian “white magicians,” if we are in Christ, are not saved based on our works. We are saved by grace. And the Holy Spirit is notoriously patient in “cleaning out” our false beliefs. We all know cases when He lets people carry false beliefs and true beliefs in the same brain for years. In Heaven, then after the Resurrection, we’re due for many surprises!

By contrast, non-Christians are not saved at all. So their “magic” attempts are worse. These include actual occult activity, as well as today’s trendier “progressivist” magic, through better social changes, sexuality worship, and “counter-curses” against offenders on social media.

But in another sense, yes, Christian white magic is worse.

Because God wants us to know better and to think better of Him—more biblically of Him.

The apostle Paul chastises the Corinthian church for tolerating sexual immorality. Paul said it was worse for Christians to tolerate it among them than to tolerate it in the world. After all, we’re meant to be active in the world where the pagans live. And pagans are expected to do pagan things. But Christians are not. So Paul raises the standard: “For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those outside. ‘Purge the evil person from among you.’”⁵

We can challenge Christians to reject sin in ways we cannot challenge pagans, who have not even repented and received grace through Christ. We can also do this firmly, yet lovingly.

With this in mind, tomorrow I’ll explore some responses I’ve received to the Six Christian White Magic Spells that Are Worse than Fantasy Magic article.

A story is nothing without a solid hero to carry it.

They’re the ones we relate to most closely. We cheer for them and expect them to accomplish great things.

Because of this attention, should they act as positive role models, or can they display a darker, more disturbed side without turning people off or influencing the reader in a negative way?

As a hero, what should their role be?

The Good and the Bad

If we’re talking about heroes who are also good role models, it’s hard to beat Captain America. He’s loyal, honest, and courageous, all marks of a hero. He doesn’t run around with various girls like Tony Stark, and he always stands up for what’s right.

On the other side of the spectrum, we have Oliver Queen, aka Arrow. Oliver fights crime and works to save his corrupt city. He loves his family and cares about his friends, enough to lie in order to keep them safe.

Image from arrow.wiki.com

But let’s face it. He’s not a model of morality. Cheating on his girlfriend with her sister. Playing the hypocrite with his family—especially his mother. Getting involved with practically every girl he meets.

This contrast is fascinating, but it begs the question, “Is he someone we can admire or someone we should despise?”

Which brings us back to the original question. Before I answer it, let me say that fiction has undergone a drastic change. In the old days, heroes were typically paragons of virtue, exhibiting traits every parent would want their kid to imitate.

Not so, anymore.

Anti-heroes have always been around, but they’re more popular than ever. They are the new heroes. The guys (or gals) who aren’t squeaky clean, who sometimes do bad things for the wrong reasons, who give in to temptation, who are jerks or killers.

• Tony Stark (and his father Howard)
• Jason Bourne
• Han Solo

These characters all have significant flaws, but they’re still classified in the “good-guy” category because they fight the villain.

Heroes as Role Models: Yes or No?

Reasons heroes should be role models:

1. As the hero, they represent what is admirable and praiseworthy when compared to the villain. The distinction between hero and villain is a picture of good vs. evil.
2. Readers form connections with the characters, so having an upright hero to inspire us is always a good thing.
3. In our corrupted state, we always admire and love those who do the right things for the right reasons.

Reasons heroes shouldn’t only function role models:

1. Role model usually connotes someone who regularly displays worthy traits, the righteous do-gooder everyone should imitate. That forces heroes into being boring and stale because as role models, they should never exhibit the darker side of human nature.
2. No one wants to read about a goody-two-shoes who never does anything wrong—we want someone with flaws, someone we can relate to.
3. A hero who only serves as a role model through their flawless behavior doesn’t represent real life.

Heroes Shouldn’t ONLY Be Role Models

Heroes can and should exhibit good qualities such as courage, honesty, loyalty, and humility. After all, that’s why they’re not the villains.

But they also need to be the occasional bad boy. They need to turn into the black Spiderman jerk or be the self-centered Asgardian god.

Why? Because it’s a reflection of the reality of the world we live in.

No one is even close to perfect, and in order to relate to characters, we need to find that common ground—the balance where they act as real humans do. Which includes making mistakes and struggling with weaknesses in their character.

No one’s actions are constantly black or white, and if we reduce heroes to merely being “good role models,” we risk boxing them in to something they shouldn’t—and realistically can’t—be.

So the answer is, yes, heroes should be good role models, but not to the exclusion of mistakes, flaws, and struggles that make them human. Their primary purpose shouldn’t be to act as an upstanding person to emulate.

On the other side, we shouldn’t reject characters who habitually display less-than-honorable traits. Their flaws don’t dismiss them from being on the right side. If that were true, we all would be the villain’s underlings.

What do you think? Should heroes always be good, or can they have vices and still be considered a hero?

*This post appeared in original form at zacharytotah.com in March 2015.