Although Herrick professes to enjoy the genre, he warns of its dangers. "Many of the most popular narratives bursting with spiritual and worldview implications are more persuasive because they come dressed in the invisibility cloak of 'mere' entertainment," he warns. He suggests that the church must self-consciously and critically respond to the new mythos:
Ignorance is not our predicament, progress is not redemption, the future is not salvation, and space is not our destiny. [...] The biblical account of human origins and purpose, of our predicament as well as our redemption, and of the nature and purpose of the cosmos we inhabit, is emotionally, spiritually, and rationally more satisfying than modern myths featuring aliens, starships, divine evolution, hidden knowledge, and biomechanical post-humanity. [...] Among the myriad redemptive myths displayed before us, it is time to remind ourselves that only one has ever been God's story.These are questionable statements. The very reason there is a spiritual vacuum in our culture for sci-fi myths to fill is precisely that the old Christian mythos was not "emotionally, spiritually, and rationally" satisfying to many modern people. Christian doctrine does not tell us how we are to proceed in an age of genetic engineering, nuclear power, and cybernetics. Christianity fluorished in the nineteenth century by being united to the mythos of democracy and to the gospel of moral and technological progress. World War II seemed to problematize that marriage, and led to a neo-orthodox reaction that refocused Christians' attention back on the more ancient narrative of Fall, sin, and atonement. Yet the advance of technological progress continues today at a faster pace than ever, and Christianity's mythos seems to be getting left behind in the dust of irrelevance. Perhaps rather than affirming the neo-orthodox divorce from modernity, as Herrick wants us to do, it's time for Christianity and modernity to get back together. Maybe there is room to be both a Christian and a transhumanist.
7 comments:
I thought I should let you know about a review of Herrick's book that I posted a while back...
Thanks, James. Looks like we're very much on the same page. I especially liked your last paragraph.
"the old Christian mythos was not "emotionally, spiritually, and rationally" satisfying to many modern people."
Very insightful. This was precisely the problem I faced as a teenager and young adult. Talk of lambs and shepherds, doves, being washed in the blood, etc., just didn't resonate with the world I lived in. C.S. Lewis's Narnia didn't work either.
I always thought it was key that Jesus spoke to the people with parables that were drawn from their world--even if they didn't understand, the parables were meaningful in the sense of being within the context of their world, so they could continue pondering them.
Exactly, James! All Christian myth and ritual-- including baptism, Eucharist, messianism, logos-theology, atonement and the like-- is firmly rooted in first-century Palestine. The farther we get from that context, the harder it will be for modern people to find meaning in it.
Nice review Chris. Now I don't have to read it. You're surprised that I have a subscription to Christianity Today? Well so am I. I loved Christian History but when it went out of business the publisher didn't offer me my money back on my subscription they just switched me to Christianity Today. Doesn't seem like the christian thing to do (hahaha I just couldn't resist saying that). Same thing happened with Bible Review (loved) and Biblical Archeological Review (hate)(I'm resisting saying doesn't seem very biblical heh heh.)
I read SF all the time. I'm addicted to it. I haven't noticed what this guy seems to be talking about. Maybe I'll have to read the article after all. Maybe he just needs to read better escapist literature.
"Christian doctrine does not tell us how we are to proceed in an age of genetic engineering, nuclear power, and cybernetics."
That's why I like believing in modern apostles and prophets.
lol, Max! Yeah, I loved Christian History too. It's really a shame they shut it down. Not enough interest, I guess.
The CT article does have some interesting sidebars on individual sci-fi authors, but it's hard to know how seriously to take Herrick's summaries without having read those authors myself. Oh, and Mormonism gets an honorable mention alongside scientology as a religion with sci-fi elements. ;)
Yeah I saw the honorable mention that the LDS got in the article. That's why I love this magazine.
So I read the article since it really doesn't make sense to comment on something that I haven't read. Also, while some SF is depressing most of it, or most of what I read, is fairly positive.
You're wrong about the side bars however, except for Stapledon, none of those writers were SF writers. You can think whatever you want about von Daniken's writings but he was not writing SF. He was propounding his thesis. Same with Kurzwell. I read a book of SF short stories that were based on his ideas about the singularity and what shape it might take. In the forward the editor made a great point when he said that the process of transforming humans, i.e. transhuman, has been taking place for thousands of years, for example when man started riding horses to increase his speed and endurance.
Anyway I was totally shocked when I read this statement "Ignorance is not our predicament, progress is not redemption, the future is not salvation, and space is not our destiny." Man with thinking like that I can see why it is more likely that a Christian that obtains more education is likely to lose his faith. Maybe it's just my Mormonism showing through though.
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