Refuting Universalism Slanders Of C.S. Lewis, Part 1
E. Stephen Burnett, Feb 3, 2011
Some Christians are just nutty, and nuttiness does not revoke salvation. But many carefully discerning Christians have been deceived into believing they should fear C.S. Lewis because he supposedly held heretical belief in universalism.
Observations: Read Like Jesus
Kaci Hill, Feb 2, 2011
I talked in my Speculating Faith article about how the speculative genre should be the safest place for writers to explore their own faith. That is to say, when there’s a ‘common grace’ readers allow their authors–a grace that should […]
And The Winner Is …
Rebecca LuElla Miller, Feb 1, 2011
Sorry for my tardiness. I actually forgot that I was holding the drawing for the copy of Merrie Destefano’s book Afterlife. After assigning a random number to those who commented on Merrie’s guest post, randomizing the lot, and drawing a […]
Who Reads Christian Speculative Fiction?
Rebecca LuElla Miller, Jan 31, 2011
Last week I explored some issues connected with writers knowing their audience, specifically whether or not writing to the “typical reader” of a particular kind of story locks an author into writing only that type of book. The common term […]
Can Christians Write Novels Without Evil?
Marc Schooley, Jan 28, 2011
Our choices are to accept the Bible as the authoritative, infallible, inerrant Word, including its violence, or not. I for one choose the former and think it is high time we quit making excuses for it.
Salvaging Scripture For Our Own Story Parts
E. Stephen Burnett, Jan 27, 2011
If human authors’ intentions and genre guidelines are worth respect from readers, then surely God as Author, His intentions and reading Scripture rightly, are all worth even more. Yet some novels’ flagrant misuse of Scripture and Biblical concepts, using only scraps of it to fit sporadically into another story, is dubious.
Lives Of Their Own
E. Stephen Burnett, Jan 26, 2011
In her post of yesterday, Becky Miller asked a frightening question: Can a writer get locked into a world, a series, or a genre because of reader expectation? Or will readers trust an author they love and follow her as […]
Know Your Audience
Rebecca LuElla Miller, Jan 24, 2011
This week the CSFF Blog Tour is featuring Dragons of the Valley, book two in the Chiril Chronicles by Donita Paul, winner of the first Clive Staples Award. It struck me as I was reading this story that one of […]
Guest Blog: Merrie Destefano
Merrie Destefano, Jan 21, 2011
Organic World Building, Or Avoiding The Stereotypical Speculative Fiction Wormhole by Merrie Destefano With twenty years’ experience in publishing, Merrie Destefano left a 9-to-5 desk job as the editor of Victorian Homes magazine to become a full-time novelist with HarperCollins. […]
Deus Ex Machinas and The Doctor
E. Stephen Burnett, Jan 20, 2011
A deus ex machina — a surprise twist at the last second to save one’s characters or story — need not always be wrong, for at least four reasons.
What Is It About Narnia?
Rebecca LuElla Miller, Jan 17, 2011
What is it about the Narnia books that we love? The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, first in the order C. S. Lewis wrote the series, has four main characters and none of them is the hero. With the omniscient point of view, readers do not benefit from close character identification. The plot is straightforward, without multiple subplots, and the writing wouldn’t be considered lyrical. Why, then, do we love these books so much?
How God Saved Me While I Read A Novel
Sally Apokedak, Jan 14, 2011
I doubt that Thyra Ferre Bjorn was making a statement about abortion when she wrote her book in the 1950s. I don’t think she intended to prick the heart of a young woman, some thirty years later, who had purposefully killed two of her children via the abortionist’s table. But God used her book to save my life.
The Rise Of Steampunk
E. Stephen Burnett, Jan 13, 2011
Ever been in one of those rare occasions when your job coincided with an alternate interest? That was me last week, seconds after I had name-dropped a certain term while interviewing someone for my day job. She was a bed-and-breakfast […]
Why Are You Writing A Book If You’re Not Going To Use Words?
E. Stephen Burnett, Jan 12, 2011
Rant time! Books are made up of words. That may sound self-evident, but it’s a deeper thought than you’re thinking it is. If you’re going to write books, you should use words like a good filmmaker uses a camera, music, […]
Is Fantasy Going Away?
Rebecca LuElla Miller, Jan 10, 2011
When I first started writing fantasy, science fiction—particularly space opera—was all the rage. No one was interested in fantasy. Then came the Lord of the Rings movies and speculative fiction shifted. Is it about to shift again? True, the Hobbit […]
Fear, Festering and Faith: The Artist’s Contract With Honesty
C.L. Dyck, Jan 7, 2011
Apologies for tardiness. I confess to being deathly ill, but that doesn’t usually stop me. This week, I was trying to find something honest to say, and nothing wanted to come out. The notion of faith and fictional speculation didn’t […]
The ‘priesthood Of Artists’ and Godly Criticism
E. Stephen Burnett, Jan 6, 2011
In which the author copies a previous lengthy comment and fashions it into the column it should have been, about problems with “priesthood of artists” notions. Last week I mini-ranted about Derek Webb’s interview. A lot of bloggers have been […]
Observations: Speculating Faith
Kaci Hill, Jan 5, 2011
In the interest of a prelude, before Christmas I wrote a piece called Inherently Religious, in which I argued that some events and symbolism are by nature religious, and, therefore, they cannot properly be used in any other way – […]
It’s Dawn
Rebecca LuElla Miller, Jan 3, 2011
OK, it’s actually late afternoon here, but it is time for me to write my review of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, so I used a little chronometric license 😉 . I went to see the latest version—I say […]
Happy New Year!
Rebecca LuElla Miller, Dec 31, 2010
From all of us here at Spec Faith to all of you and yours: wishing you a Happy New Year, filled with a multitude of opportunities to praise and honor God Most High. Just a reminder that there will be […]
Artist ‘priests,’ God-centered Definitions and More
E. Stephen Burnett, Dec 30, 2010
You know those infamous “clip shows” television sitcoms sometimes have, perhaps at the end of a season when the financial and ideas budgets are both running low? This will not be like that. Rather I present here a roundup of […]
Good-Bye, Books
E. Stephen Burnett, Dec 29, 2010
I love the new year: not only is it time to plan and make resolutions, it’s also time to wrap up loose ends and launch new projects. This year is especially exciting because I am moving in the second week […]
Redeeming Santa Legends For Delighting In Grace
E. Stephen Burnett, Dec 28, 2010
At Christmas, when it comes to Santa and other issues, do reflexive “we’re to be different” lines jump to our minds? We need to balance that half-truth with enjoyment of God’s good gifts — including celebrating holidays and feasting, which Scripture does support, for God’s glory.
My 2010 Favorites
Rebecca LuElla Miller, Dec 27, 2010
Being a slow reader and too poor to see a lot of movies and not being a big television watcher, I don’t have long lists of favorites. Consequently this is a limited selection of favorites. I’m picking my top three […]
Merry Christmas
Rebecca LuElla Miller, Dec 24, 2010
Wishing you all a Merry Christmas from the contributors here at Speculative Faith. We are taking the “Eves” off, so there will be no guest post Christmas Eve or New Year’s Eve.
Defeating Man-Centered Monsters With Greater Stories
E. Stephen Burnett, Dec 23, 2010
For the Christian, the choice seems easy between God-rejecting and God-centered stories. But if I had to choose between stories that ignore God and those that (despite frequent hints of God-centeredness) include Him wrongly, I must admit I would prefer the God-ignoring ones.
John Buchan on A Fiction Author’s ‘cleverness’
E. Stephen Burnett, Dec 21, 2010
Politician, diplomat, Scotsman, Presbyterian, and writer of dozens of World War 1-era spy novels with occasional supernatural flair — that was John Buchan, who also, it seems, had a penchant for self-parody. That seems clear from this exchange early in […]
Why Movie-Makers Don’t Want To Deal With Christian Subject Matter
Rebecca LuElla Miller, Dec 20, 2010
Why movie-makers don’t make a lot of movies with content written by a Christian or adapted from Christian stories is undoubtedly a complex issue. I’m going to offer one reason I think contributes. In short, I think the Christian market […]
Guest Blog: C. S. Lakin, Part 3
C.S. Lakin, Dec 17, 2010
This is the third and final post by author C. S. Lakin. Her second fairy-tale fantasy in the Gates of Heaven series, The Map Across Time, is due out early next year. – – – Gems from Fairy Tales by […]
Fighting Man-Centered Monsters In Christian Fantasy
E. Stephen Burnett, Dec 16, 2010
Stories like “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader” that make a Christ-figure a means to fulfilling one’s destiny are little better than atheism.
