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113. What If You Learned Bible Lessons from Singing Veggies and Dead Sea Squirrels? | with Mike Nawrocki
Fantastical Truth Podcast, May 24, 2022

When The English Fall
Reviews, May 20, 2022

Realm Makers Bookstore Returns to Orlando for FPEA Conference, May 26–28
News, May 19, 2022

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Vivid, Ashley Bustamante
My Soul to Take, Bryan Davis
Into Shadow's Fire, Mark Castleberry
Deceived, Madisyn Carlin
Arena (2022 edition), Karen Hancock
Kurt Nickle-Dickle of Whiskers, N. J. McLagan
"In a city where debts are paid in blood, one young man will learn that everyone needs help sometimes if they want to survive." New in the Lorehaven library: A Matter of Blood, Lauren H Salisbury
Son of the Shield, Mary Schlegel
Maxine Justice, Galactic Attorney, Daniel Schwabauer
Mordizan, Alyssa Roat
Prentice Ash, Matt Barron
Etania's Calling, M. H. Elrich
The Choice, Bradley Caffee
The Obsidian Butterfly, Lani Forbes
Reviews

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When The English Fall
“When The English Fall tells a bittersweet tale of community and commitment that plunges fearlessly into hard questions about the end of the world.”
—Lorehaven on May 20, 2022

Clawing Free
“Clawing Free is an absorbing tale that seamlessly joins modernity and myth.”
—Lorehaven on May 13, 2022

Vivid
“Ashley Bustamante’s Vivid paints a world built on secrets and carefully controlled color palettes.”
—Lorehaven on May 6, 2022

Prophet
“If great fiction dares explore culture wars, it must show more than perfect people smiling before a flat backdrop. Frank E. Peretti’s 1992 novel Prophet reflects this reality.”
—Lorehaven on May 4, 2022

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Maxine Justice: Galactic Attorney
Book Quests, May 2022

The Green Ember
Book Quests, April 2022

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Power On
Book Quests, February 2022

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113. What If You Learned Bible Lessons from Singing Veggies and Dead Sea Squirrels? | with Mike Nawrocki
Fantastical Truth, May 24, 2022

112. How Does Fiction Help Us Love Our Enemies Even If We Must Defeat Them?
Fantastical Truth, May 17, 2022

111. Why Do Your Kids Need Fantastical Stories for God’s Glory?
Fantastical Truth, May 10, 2022

110. Could We Enter a ‘Golden Age’ of Christian-Made Fantastical Fiction?
Fantastical Truth, May 3, 2022

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The original SpecFaith: est. 2006

site archives | statement of faith
Articles Questions? Writers

Yes, Speculative Faith Is Closed, At Least For Now
E. Stephen Burnett, Dec 30

Last Stands, Custer, General Gordon, and Being a Christian Warrior
Travis Perry, Jul 2

How Christian Must Christian Fiction Be?
Rebecca LuElla Miller, May 24

Gender In Fiction: The Implication Of Failure
Rebecca LuElla Miller, May 10

Making a Story Visual UPDATE: Behind the Scenes of the Animal Eye Comic
Travis Perry, May 9

What Does “Woke” Culture Have To Do With Christian Fiction?
Rebecca LuElla Miller, Apr 26

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SpecFaith
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.
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/ News

Clear Christianity Made ‘Bioshock’ Better

Compare-and-contrast Christianity can benefit culture.
E. Stephen Burnett on Mar 11, 2013 · 1 comment

cover_bioshockinfinite“If you can agree that stories are powerful, and that particularly good stories influence culture, then I hope that you can see the importance of Christians being active in the video game industry.” So observes Christ and Pop Culture columnist Brad Williams, who offers anecdotal evidence:

Read this story about a person who worked for the third installment of the Bioshock series. I do not know if this individual was a Christian, all I know is that he was ‘religious’. But he saw something offensive in the game, something so bad that he was willing to quit his job over it. His boss, Ken Levine, didn’t want this guy to quit because he was a good worker, and so they had a heart to heart.

Here is what Levine said about their chat: “We actually ended up having a long talk; he was an extremely religious guy and when we started talking, I realized that something I could connect to was a notion of forgiveness and what an important part that is of the New Testament and why Christ was such a revolutionary figure.”

Read the rest at Christ and Pop Culture.

Among Spec-Faith’s audience, it’s easy to yes-and-amen these statements.

  • Yes, we need to avoid evangelical “creative” subcultures.
  • Yes, we need not fear “secular” industries or genres such as those for video games.
  • Yes, it would be ridiculous to “be offended” for its own sake, as if anything in culture is more powerful than Christ and His Story.

Note, however, what led to this “heart to heart” conversation: a faithful employee who showed conviction (evidently based on Scripture) and was ready to sacrifice his job, not simply out of “being offended,” but apparently because he no longer felt he could honestly support the project. In the context of a workplace relationship and trust, Levine was ready to listen to the employee — and even learn from the employee’s Christian beliefs to help make a video-game story better.

So should we find incidental references “to the unknown god” in secular culture, and compare them with the real God (Acts 17:23)?

Yes.

Should we also be ready and willing to find those “unknown god” references and contrast them with the real God (Acts 17: 29-31)? And face any resulting mockery or even cultural ostracism (Acts 17:32)?

Also yes.

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.
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  1. Bainespal says:
    March 12, 2013 at 11:22 am

    Truly fascinating.  I wish we knew more about the themes/content that the artist objected to.  He may have spared the mainstream entertainment industry from yet another generic evil Christian antagonist.  It doesn’t sound like they changed the villain’s concept, but maybe they’ll write the villain in a more redeemable way, that grace will be seen in it.

    Reply

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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.