{"id":44559,"date":"2018-04-15T06:03:27","date_gmt":"2018-04-15T10:03:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/?p=44559"},"modified":"2018-04-05T13:30:05","modified_gmt":"2018-04-05T17:30:05","slug":"new-reviews-of-theology-and-science-fiction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2018\/04\/new-reviews-of-theology-and-science-fiction.html","title":{"rendered":"New Reviews of Theology and Science Fiction"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

A couple of reviews of my book\u00a0Theology and Science Fiction<\/em><\/a> have appeared recently. Jaime Wright of the University of Edinburgh writes<\/a>\u00a0in\u00a0The Expository Times<\/em>:<\/p>\n

Reading\u00a0Theology and Science Fiction<\/i>\u00a0one wonders if the term \u2018theology\u2019 was chosen over \u2018religion\u2019 merely because McGrath\u2019s name is already attached to the edited work,\u00a0Religion and Science Fiction<\/i>. McGrath\u2019s use of the term \u2018theology\u2019 is not as systematic, nor as God-centred, as one might expect. This is perhaps due to his desire to discuss multiple religions rather than one tradition; regardless, the terms \u2018theologies\u2019, \u2018belief systems\u2019, or \u2018religion\u2019 would have been more apt descriptors. While one should not open McGrath\u2019s book to receive theological answers, it remains true to its goal of raising questions and inspiring engagement with religious and scientific ideas.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And Paul Fayter has a much longer review in\u00a0Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith<\/em><\/a> in which he writes:<\/p>\n

That science fiction and theology intersect in many\u00a0ways may surprise, but it shouldn\u2019t. Both often\u00a0express a sense of wonder, and even awe. Both seek\u00a0self-understanding and awareness of our place in the\u00a0cosmos. Both are fascinated with the Other and the\u00a0New, with intimations of the sacred, the transcendent,\u00a0the divine\u2014with the Mystery beyond human
\nknowing and imagining. Both are curious about life\u00a0and death, origins and endings, the deep past and\u00a0far future. Both address changes and continuities in\u00a0ideas, beliefs, values, and practices. Both address our\u00a0hopes and fears, anxieties and dreams. When science\u00a0fiction writers wrestle with moral questions, with\u00a0the search for \u201cforbidden knowledge\u201d or the powerful\u00a0possibilities and pitfalls of \u201cplaying God,\u201d with\u00a0utopias or dystopias, with vivid apocalypses or epic, multigenerational journeys, with demons or messiahs\u00a0from the heavens, they signal a deep debt to the\u00a0Bible as an ancient and continuing source of images,\u00a0characters, plots, tropes, and themes for storytelling.\u00a0I have long used my training in biblical exegesis in\u00a0the analysis and interpretation of science fiction (and\u00a0scientific) texts; this is but one reason why I found\u00a0the background of the author of this brief but stimulating\u00a0discussion so appropriate.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

There are also some other great items related to the intersection of theology and science fiction that have appeared online recently. See for instance Ada Palmer\u2019s recent article<\/a> in which she writes:<\/p>\n

The extra challenge this poses for writing about divine intervention\u2014crafting our science fiction version of\u00a0It\u2019s a Wonderful Life<\/em>\u2014is that it can be remarkably difficult to communicate to a science fiction audience when you genuinely intend to depict a miracle, not an alien, not a space phenomenon, not sufficiently advanced technology, an actual miracle. The recent television series\u00a0Battlestar Galactica\u00a0<\/em>(2004-2009) struggled with this enormously. Providential language was introduced as early as the opening credits, which warn \u201c\u2026and they have a Plan\u201d (capital P), and as early as episode ten, \u201cHand of God,\u201d the genius scientist character Gaius Baltar concludes that humanity\u2019s improbable survival must be following a divine script, declaring: \u201cI am an instrument of God.\u201d Yet even as prophecies consistently came true and providential language saturated the series, a huge portion of viewers were well past the line, \u201cI see angels,\u201d before it occurred to them that the writers meant actual angels. Nor were viewers wrong to be uncertain about this, as the very similar series\u00a0Babylon 5<\/em>\u00a0(1993-1998) also included prophecies, and providential language, and things that looked like angels, but these all turned out to be the result of aliens, time travel, and genetic manipulation.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/a>\"\"<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A couple of reviews of my book\u00a0Theology and Science Fiction have appeared recently. Jaime Wright of the University of Edinburgh writes\u00a0in\u00a0The Expository Times: Reading\u00a0Theology and Science Fiction\u00a0one wonders if the term \u2018theology\u2019 was chosen over \u2018religion\u2019 merely because McGrath\u2019s name is already attached to the edited work,\u00a0Religion and Science Fiction. McGrath\u2019s use of the term […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":38340,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,86,101],"tags":[1312,10890,12508],"class_list":["post-44559","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-book-review","category-science-fiction","category-theology","tag-book-review","tag-science-fiction","tag-theology"],"yoast_head":"\nNew Reviews of Theology and Science Fiction<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A couple of reviews of my book\u00a0Theology and Science Fiction have appeared recently. 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