Home

Explore the best Christian fantasy.

articles | news | library | reviews | podcast
Advertise Seek Review Questions?

Militant Secularism Could Force Christians to Create New Subcultures
Articles | Mike Duran, Jan 25, 2021

‘One Piece’ Manga Reaches Chapter 1000: How Did This Pirate Become King?
Articles | L. Jagi Lamplighter, Jan 20, 2021

To Shape a Story is to Shape a Soul
Articles | L.G. McCary, Jan 18, 2021

Author Ted Turnau Finds The Hidden Grace of Pixar’s ‘Soul’
News | E. Stephen Burnett, Jan 15, 2021

Introducing Thriller Novelist and New Lorehaven Writer L. G. McCary
News | Lorehaven, Jan 15, 2021

Join Our Jan. 21 Livestream: How Can We ‘Terraform’ the Church to Enjoy Fantastic Fiction?
News | Lorehaven, Jan 14, 2021

How Political Punditry Has Taken Over Christian Popular Subcultures
Articles | E. Stephen Burnett, Jan 14, 2021

TheOneRing.net Reveals Synopsis for Amazon’s Middle-Earth Streaming Series
News | E. Stephen Burnett, Jan 13, 2021

One Month Left Until the Realm Makers Virtual Retreat, Feb. 11–13
News | E. Stephen Burnett, Jan 11, 2021

Thomas Kinkade Studios Now Making ‘The Mandalorian’ Products
News | E. Stephen Burnett, Jan 8, 2021

Library

Find fantastical Christian novels

fantasy | sci-fi | supernatural and beyond
All novels Search Add a novel
Explore all: Middle-grade books | Young-adult books | Adult books
The Terran Summit, Anna Zogg
The Xerxes Factor, Anna Zogg
The Paradise Protocol, Anna Zogg
The Awakened, Richard Spillman
The Ascension, Richard Spillman
Love's Sacrifice, Kelsey Norman
Unbroken Spirit, Kelsey Norman
Seed: Judgment, Joshua David
The Rooster and the Raven King, John Paul Tucker
Brimstone 1, Jasom William Karpf
The Horse Queen, Lavay Byrd
King of Aethon, Lavay Byrd
Tales of Elhaanai, Nicole Thomas
Still Small Voice, Allen Brokken
Reviews

Find fantastical Christian reviews

All reviews Request review Share review

Flight of the Raven
“Exciting twists make Morgan L. Busse’s Flight of the Raven, book 2 of the Ravenwood Saga, a very enjoyable read.” —Lorehaven

The Eternal Struggle
“Esther Wallace’s novel The Eternal Struggle forms a dark sequel that brings hero and heroine into close fellowship with loss and brutality.” —Lorehaven

Dark is the Night
“Mirriam Neal’s vampire novel Dark is the Night keeps the punches and the fangs rolling.” —Lorehaven

Blood and Bond
“This book is brilliant and engaging, expanding on the series’ world and characters while building its own plot.” —Lorehaven

Podcast

Get the Fantastical Truth podcast

Apple | Google | All subscribe links
Archives Feedback

49. How Can We ‘Terraform’ the Church to Enjoy Fantastic Fiction?
Fantastical Truth, Jan 26, 2021

48. What Were the Top Seven Issues for Lorehaven Readers in 2020?
Fantastical Truth, Jan 19, 2021

47. Why Do Some People Long for Escape to a Galactic Community?
Fantastical Truth, Jan 12, 2021

46. Ten Years Later, Why Did ‘Dawn Treader’ Sink the Narnia Movies? | with Rilian of NarniaWeb
Fantastical Truth, Dec 22, 2020

Webzine

Browse back issues (2018–2020)

Order back issues online!
SpecFaith

The original SpecFaith: est. 2006

site archives | statement of faith
New articles Questions? Pitch to us

What Tolkien Taught About Fighting Evil
Travis Perry, Jan 21

The Messages of Black Horror Films
Parker J. Cole, Jan 20

The Worldview of Biocentrism–You Are One With The Force
Travis Perry, Jan 14

Who Can Put a Price on Daring Love, Loyalty, and Swordsmanship?
Azalea Dabill, Jan 12

Beyond

Find more from Christian creators

Order the book! E. Stephen Burnett

Get exclusive shirts and beyond
in the Lorehaven store

Explore the book The Pop Culture Parent: Helping Kids Engage Their World for Christ

Does ‘Engaging Popular Culture’ Include Right-Wing Talk Radio?
E. Stephen Burnett, Oct 9

Join My Livestream This Thursday: Seven Ways to Find Truth in Fantastic Stories
E. Stephen Burnett, Oct 6

Home
Library
Reviews
Podcast
Webzine
SpecFaith
Store
Beyond Edit content
Lorehaven serves Christian fans by finding the best of Christian fantasy. Our free webzine, an online library, positive reviews, a thriving blog and community, and weekly podcast episodes help fans explore fantasy, science fiction, and other fantastical genres for the glory of Jesus Christ.
Subscribe free to Lorehaven
/ Podcast

10. How Can Excellent Christian Fiction Strengthen Our Faith in Jesus?

How have stories shaped the desires and beliefs of “ex-Christians,” and how can better stories help build our faith?
Fantastical Truth | Mar 31, 2020 | No comments |

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 58:56 — 55.3MB) | Embed

Fantastical Truth returns with another tricky topic: people’s “deconversion” from, or “deconstruction” of, the biblical Christian faith.

In the last year we’ve heard these accounts from at least one popular Christian leader, and from a popular comedy duo from an evangelical background. Of course, you likely have many friends or even family members who say they were once Christians, but aren’t any more.

In this episode, E. Stephen Burnett and Zackary Russell won’t try to refute their points with logic and apologetics. (Others have been doing this well.) Instead we hope to explore why some professing Christians reject their faith, and not others. And we’ll ask a very cautious question: can excellent Christian-made stories help give young believers a stronger faith?

Concession stand

  1. We won’t go through everyone’s professed “deconversion” story.
  2. Also, we might touch on the whole issue of whether someone who “deconverts” was ever truly saved.
  3. We still hope these folks are/will be believers as they once professed to be. People can profess doubt in Jesus only to return to him later.
  4. We view these accounts sympathetically, but not above criticism; they’re just as much subject to graciously skeptical “deconstruction.”
  5. Finally, we don’t mean to offer some Method to keep you strong in the faith, impervious to doubts or competing religions. We don’t say, “Here, read better Christian fiction and you’ll always keep your faith!” But we can look at our own accounts and see common factors.

Our big questions

  • Do people who “deconvert” from Christianity “evangelize” for their view using the language of only “rational thought”?
  • Do “deconstructing” non-believers recognize the significant role of human imagination in their change of mind/heart?
  • Also, do they recognize that they are not simply “deconverting” from Christianity but also converting to the default religion of Selfism?
  • In the deconverters’ past, what kinds of stories did they grow up with and enjoy for recreation?
  • Which images, songs, movies, books, pictures took “shortcuts” to their brains, zooming past all the “rational thoughts”?
  • In the deconverters’ present, what kinds of stories have reflected and shaped their dreams, ideas, and deep internal longings?
  • What cultural forces have given them these stories, and aren’t these cultural forces also subject to skepticism and “deconstruction”?

How do great stories shape our beliefs?

Great stories shape our deepest desires.

We don’t mean these stories give us desires. Based on our deepest dreams and wants, we will prefer stories that reflect and shape these desires. The stories we love, past and present, reveal what people we truly are.

Great stories shape our view of the world.

For example, some “former Christians” say they met wonderful, moral nonbelievers in the world, who challenged their beliefs just by existing. But if you grew up with excellent Christian-made stories that already included likeable and moral yet non-Christian heroes, then this “groundbreaking” idea shouldn’t have taken you by surprise.

Great stories prepare us for hard truths about God.

Maybe you grew up learning complex apologetics arguments and nonfiction teaching about how/why a good God allows sin and suffering. But you need to experience these things to fully understand them. Scripture itself presents not just abstract teachings, but narratives in which even God’s heroes undergo suffering and other hard realities. Other stories, including stories made by Christians, should be doing the same, so that we are better prepared for this reality.

Examples of belief-shaping stories

  • The Left Behind series is oft-maligned for its potboiler-meets-prophecy stance, but also reflects real hardship and missional heart.
  • In Mary Doria Russell’s novels The Sparrow and Children of God, Jesuit missionaries face aliens and trauma in space.
  • Nonfiction biographies are true stories that seem “unbelievable,” and help Christians experience the suffering of other saints.

Applications

  1. Prepare your mind and imagination for suffering and doubts, especially during the good times.
  2. Christian parents: make sure your kids get good, solid stories! These can actually be the means of helping children mature.
  3. We should read every “deconversion” story through the lens of Scripture, and not our own experiences of doubt or harm by others.

Scriptures

… Avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have swerved from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already happened. They are upsetting the faith of some.

—2 Timothy 2:16–18

Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, and of instruction about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. And this we will do if God permits. For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt. For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned.

—Hebrews 6:1–8 ESV

Explore more

  • Some Early Responses to Joshua Harris’s Confession of Apostasy
  • Red Flags in the Spiritual Deconstruction of My Old Friends Rhett and Link
  • Let’s Deconstruct a Deconversion Story: The Case of Rhett and Link
  • Sarah Salviander: The Journey of an Atheist Astrophysicist who Became a Christian
  • Holly Ordway – An Atheist’s Journey to Faith
  • ‘Progressive’ Christianity: Even Shallower Than the Evangelical Faith I Left

Fantastical feedback

Kent H., about episode 9, which explores This Present Darkness:

This book saved my life when I read it in high school. Not literally, of course, but I was dabbling in things I shouldn’t have been and it opened my eyes. It’ll always hold a special place in my heart.

Lee W. on the new Lorehaven channel on YouTube:

This is a literal answer to prayer! For so long I’ve been looking for a place to find Christian worldview sci-fi and fantasy. Looking forward to what Lorehaven brings in the years ahead.

Brandon J. shares his fantastic origin story:

There was a popup book called The Black Hole I read as a kid, that’s the first fantastical book I can remember and my parents still own it: [Link] I think the book was actually based on the Disney movie, but I never saw it. Maybe I need to check it out

Subscribe to Lorehaven magazine!

Our new issue released last week, featuring reviews of ten top Christian fantasy novels.

Subscriptions are free at Lorehaven.com, where you can also download all the magazine’s back issues.

The Line Between, Tosca Lee

Enter to win Tosca Lee’s The Line Between

We’re holding a drawing for two digital copies of Tosca Lee’s pandemic thriller novel The Line Between, courtesy of the author herself

According to our spring 2019 featured review, The Line Between “quests toward truth among apocalyptic madness,” and “truth glimpses give The Line Between surprising heart-warmth amongst the chill, while its road-trip quest drives fast through mad territory and never once feels bogged down in snowbanks.”

To enter the giveaway, you just need to be a current email subscriber for Lorehaven magazine.

We’ll reach out to our two winners next month before we make the announcement.

Next on Fantastical Truth

We’ll be joined by Kathy Tyers, author of many amazing sci-fi and/or space opera novels, including her landmark Firebird series set in a spacefaring world in which the Messiah has not come … yet. Her novel “Crystal Witness” will re-release from Enclave Publishing this summer, and she’ll join us to explore that story and her whole career crafting spaceships and beyond.

Subscribe to
Fantastical Truth
Apple PodcastsGoogle PodcastsSpotifyAndroidPandoraiHeartRadioStitcherBlubrryby EmailTuneInRSS

Or subscribe with your favorite app by using the address below

Share your thoughts with Fantastical Truth!

    Okay to quote from your comment in a future episode?

    YesNo

    Fantastical Truth
    In the Fantastical Truth podcast from Lorehaven, hosts E. Stephen Burnett and Zackary Russell find the best Christian fantasy, and apply the wonders of these imaginary worlds to the real world our Creator has called us to serve. Join the best Christian fantastical authors and other creative friends on this joyful journey, to find the happiness and holiness of Jesus through his gift of truthful imagination.
    Website | Facebook | Twitter |

    Share this:

    • Tweet
    • Share on Tumblr
    • Pocket
    • WhatsApp

    What do you think? Cancel reply

    Lorehaven magazine, winter 2020

    Wear the wonder:
    Get exclusive shirts and beyond

    Listen to Lorehaven’s podcast

    Authors: Reach new fans with Lorehaven