‘The Hobbit’ Story Group 5: Riddles In The Dark

“The Hobbit” chapter 5, “Riddles in the Dark,” marks a turning point in the careers of not only Bilbo Baggins, but J.R.R. Tolkien. —E. Stephen Burnett in December 2012

What Makes A Villain?

John Otte has villains on the brain today. He’s trying to figure out what makes a villain truly effective in a story. Stop by and help him figure it out. —John Otte in December 2012

Reading Is Worship 11: Glory Spectrum Of Stories

If God’s multihued glories shine in all of reality, how do we find such glories in stories and be moved to worship Him? —E. Stephen Burnett in November 2012

Reading Is Worship 10: Glory Spectrum Of Reality

Before seeing how God glorifies Himself across a glory spectrum in many kinds of stories, often without their authors knowing, we must explore how He glorifies Himself in Scripture and in people’s real-life choices. —E. Stephen Burnett in November 2012

Evil And The One Ring To Rule Them All

Tolkien, as most speculative readers know, was not attempting an allegory. Nevertheless, his mythopoetic world, the result of his sub-creation, contains parallels with reality. In fact, his world throws revelatory light on what he believed about certain things in the real world. One of those things is evil. —Rebecca LuElla Miller in October 2012

The De-volution Of Revolution

There’s a monster lurking inside all of us. —John Otte in October 2012

Oz Four Ways: Wicked, The Musical

See and hear the Merry Old Land at its very best in our carefree Musical Tour of Oz! —Fred Warren in October 2012

So You Say You Want A Revolution?

We’re about a month into the new fall schedule on TV. My socks have not been blown off by “Revolution.” Then the characters meet Hollywood Christian Cliche #126, the fire-and-brimstone street preacher. —John Otte in October 2012

Mayhem And Its Meaning

Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy might be the benchmark for grand battles, notably in the battle of Helm’s Deep in The Two Towers, the Battle of the Pelennor Fields and the Battle of Bywater in The Return of the King. —Rebecca LuElla Miller in September 2012

Speculative Faith Reading Group 9: From Defeat, Final Victory

Even among the greatest stories, the finale of LWW is unique. Here are echoes of Resurrection, eternal joy, and the truth that Christ’s people will reign physically over the New Heavens and New Earth. —E. Stephen Burnett in August 2012

Speculative Faith Reading Group 8: The Stone Table

In “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” how has Aslan’s death affected you, and how does it affect you now? How do other stories’ heroes’ deaths remind you of Christ’s ultimate death? —E. Stephen Burnett in July 2012

The Spiritual Villain

Bane vs. The Joker: in stories, the scariest villains are not the ones who kill the most, leer the most, or have the worst weapons. Instead the scariest villains have spiritual impact on the main characters, or we as readers and viewers. —E. Stephen Burnett in July 2012

Speculative Faith Reading Group 7: Aslan Springs Forth

In these two chapters, watch for this contrast: of the wrong sort of “seriousness” — the manipulative, duty-driven dominance of the Witch — versus the joyful, holy, righteous seriousness that Aslan brings. —E. Stephen Burnett in July 2012

Shining Light In ‘The Dark Knight’

“You’ll hunt me; you’ll condemn me,” Batman says at the end of The Dark Knight. “That’s what needs to happen.” Some Christians cried: “No it’s not! Heroes don’t lie!” They miss the point. —E. Stephen Burnett in July 2012

The Sword Endures

With all the different kinds of speculative stories, with fantastic weapons and wars, why is the symbol and themes of the sword so transcendent? —Rebecca P. Minor in July 2012

Speculative Faith Reading Group 6: Greed and Gifts

In these two chapters of “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” we see good and evil even more clearly — along with God-exalting, reality-reflecting truths of what really causes evil, and the seriousness of fighting it. —E. Stephen Burnett in July 2012

Speculative Faith Reading Group 1: Entering The ‘Wardrobe’

This week I’m starting a reading group at my church for “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.” You’re invited to join. How does this story honor God, and how can we learn from C.S. Lewis’s success at redeeming pagan myth for His glory? —E. Stephen Burnett in May 2012

Magic Realism, Part 4

A writer cannot achieve his purpose. The reader must. So the purpose must be well communicated, then endorsed by readers. So why put a seeming out-of-place event in a story, or even base a story around one? —C.L. Dyck in February 2012
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