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148. Why Do Some Christians Revile ‘The Chosen’? | with Josiah DeGraaf and Jenneth Dyck
Fantastical Truth Podcast, Feb 7, 2023

Into the Darkness
Reviews, Feb 3, 2023

The Chosen Succeeds Where ‘Woke’ Stories Fail
Jenneth Dyck in Articles, Feb 2, 2023

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The Wayward, Tabitha Caplinger
Fortified, V. Romas Burton
Canaan Sleeps, Daniel Camomile
Silver Bounty, Victoria McCombs
A Sword for the Immerland King, F. W. Faller
Calor, J. J. Fisher
Once Upon A Ren Faire, A. C. Castillo
The Genesis 6 Project, Michael Ferguson
Exile, Loren G. Warnemuende
Aberration, Cathy McCrumb
The Truth Beyond the Lies, Kathleen Bird
Frost, Winter's Lonely Guardian, E. E. Rawls
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The Change, Bradley Caffee
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148. Why Do Some Christians Revile ‘The Chosen’? | with Josiah DeGraaf and Jenneth Dyck
Fantastical Truth, Feb 7, 2023

147. Why Can Christians Celebrate Stories about Merlin and King Arthur? | with Robert Treskillard
Fantastical Truth, Jan 31, 2023

146. How Did Animators Adapt The Wingfeather Saga For Streaming TV? | with Keith Lango
Fantastical Truth, Jan 24, 2023

145. How Did Edmund Spenser’s ‘The Faerie Queene’ Shape Christian Fantasy? | with Rebecca K. Reynolds
Fantastical Truth, Jan 17, 2023

144. Which Top Six Fantasy Franchises Gave Fans Grief in 2022?
Fantastical Truth, Jan 10, 2023

143. Which Top Ten Lorehaven Stories Proved Most Popular in 2022?
Fantastical Truth, Jan 6, 2023

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On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness
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Into the Darkness
“Charles Hack’s Into the Darkness summons a close-range science fiction story, focusing on the personal challenges of space warfare among alien cultures with a steady pace and serious tone.”
—Lorehaven on Feb 3, 2023

A Crown of Chains
“A Crown of Chains creatively retells a biblical tale to explore themes of providence, racism, faith, and fidelity.”
—Lorehaven on Jan 27, 2023

Lander’s Legacy
“Lander’s Legacy stacks modern thrills and complex characters on a foundation of biblical what-ifs.”
—Lorehaven on Jan 20, 2023

Prince Caspian
“Pacing starts slow but creature lore grows in C. S. Lewis’s sequel, introducing practical tyrants and talking-beast politics into a Narnian resistance.”
—Lorehaven on Jan 13, 2023

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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.
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59. How Can Christian Fans Respond to Preachy Secular Fiction?

When stories lose the plot and just want to give you a religious lecture, should Christians get mad or else gently scoff in amusement?
Fantastical Truth on Apr 20, 2021 · No comments

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:05:15 — 61.1MB) | Embed

Once upon a time, there was a mean old man who lived on a mountain. Now, this old man was very nasty to the townspeople, his dogs, and especially Christians! Then one day, he yelled so loud at a Christian that an avalanche came and destroyed his cabin. (Text your friends: God’s not dead, but this old man is!)

If you didn’t like that story, how about the one where there was this faraway land, with the White Hats and the Black Hats, and the Black Hats just want to kill everyone, especially White Hats, who just want to be free to love?

But seriously. Few fans like a preachy story. As Christians, however, how do we best respond when secular stories start getting especially preachy?

1. What’s wrong with preachy stories?

  • Christians actually follow two biblical “commissions.”
  • Stories most directly fit within the Cultural Mandate (Gen. 1:28).
  • However, preaching fits within the Great Commission (Matt 28:16–20).
  • If your story preaches, or your preaching only story-tells, these are a mismatch.
  • Preachy stories may preach truths in cringe-like fashion, or may preach straight-up wrong ideas.

2. Are we sure we don’t secretly want preachy stories?

  • We won’t only critique Christian-made stories here.
  • Christians still have a history of wanting preachy stories.
  • Zack shares about a short film he wrote called “Cabernet.”
  • One viewer critiqued that film for not being preachy enough.
  • Of course, secular storytellers (especially nowadays) are preaching plenty.

3. What secular fantasy stories stand out as the preachiest?

  • A Captain America comic seems to villainize Dr. Jordan Peterson as The Red Skull.
  • Avatar: The Legend of Korra‘s creators “cause-juked” their own 2015 series finale.
  • Some viewers fault this year’s The Falcon and the Winter Soldier for getting preachy.
  • Starting within a single year, multiple DC shows on The CW network turned preachy-“woke.”
  • Michael Crichton’s 2004 novel State of Fear lectured against global warming, complete with authorial self-insert.

Fantastic fans

Andrew Chamberlain wrote:

I feel compelled to write to you because I have had one of those “it’s not just me then!” moments whilst listening to episode 55 of the Fantastical Truth podcast, and specifically the point that was made about how there may well be an opportunity for Christians to tap into the significant discontent that exists with most of the current output in the fantastic genres. That discontent is expressed by Christians and non-Christians as a reaction to the way storytelling is currently being subverted by an ideological agenda. I have been close to despair myself in the past about these things and to hear someone else articulate the problem with current content, and to describe the opportunity it might present to Christians, was quite a revelation. My own objection to the ideological campaign in the fantastic genres is often not even the content of some of the arguments (it would be nice to be able to even discuss these things in a civil manner!) but the insistent, dictatorial tone, the intolerance of other ideas, the way stories are subverted and damaged by the agenda, people are bullied and cancelled, and the hypocrisy of the proponents of that new ideological agenda.

Next on Fantastical Truth

Engineers create human-ish robots to use for fake romance and other deeds of a less-than-savory nature. Meanwhile, researchers suggest a microchip you insert into your skin that can detect viruses. We know real-life scientists keep ignoring Dr. Ian Malcolm’s Jurassic Park warning, and keep being so preoccupied about whether or not they could that they don’t stop to think if they should. But why don’t real reseachers heed sci-fi warnings against mad science?

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    In the Fantastical Truth podcast from Lorehaven, hosts E. Stephen Burnett and Zackary Russell explore fantastical stories for God's glory and apply their wonders to the real world Jesus calls us to serve.
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