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Post by susanne on May 25, 2011 13:48:14 GMT -5
Help! I've written a book (just for myself, have currently no intention to get it published) which features humans, but also various aliens. It is basically a battle between light and dark, good and very evil. My problem is, can you have aliens in a novel which also includes Christians?  To the best of my knowledge God has not created any aliens. Is it wrong to write a novel which includes aliens? Or is this what speculative fiction is all about? Hope my question is not too stupid, but I am very new to this forum and the whole idea of speculative fiction. Previously I thought, I was the only one writing this. Then books on how to write Inspirational Fiction told me, Christian Sci-Fi could not and would never exist. Help! |
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Post by tris on May 25, 2011 17:10:32 GMT -5
Susanne,
No question is stupid, except the one that is never asked. I don't think there's any problem with having aliens and Christianity together. If you read the book of Ezekiel, you'll find references to folks that didn't originate on planet earth -- which makes them "alien" in my book.
Let me encourage you to find some friendly folks to help you with your manuscript and then look at getting it published. That's what speculative fiction is all about anyway.... a different way of presenting the gospel to a world that will not darken a church because they don't understand Christianity.
The beings who visit the Anomaly all write and/or read spec fiction or Christian sci-fi. Some of us have published and our founder, Jeff Gerke, has his own publishing company that puts out some of the best (marcherlordpress).
As for your inspirational fiction folks who think Christian sci fi would never exist, I think the same was probably said of Christian fiction, period.
Anyway, welcome to our worlds! Make yourself at home and please don't feed the gnomes. They multiply faster than the dust bunnies.
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Post by susanne on May 26, 2011 6:51:02 GMT -5
Thank you for this encouragement! I'm still pinching myself daily, I cannot believe a forum like this actually exists, and there are other folk like me out there! Joy!!!! I have finished the second draft of my novel, but I am still working on it. I could probably put some scenes on here which I know will remain unaltered. But due to my confusion about aliens and Christianity I will have to do more rewrites before the whole story can be published. The problem is( or is it a problem at all?), I do love to write about aliens! Even on TV I like those series or films best which feature aliens. Maybe I should be bolder, pray and just see where God takes me? My story is also largely military Sci-Fi. Once again, this is what I enjoy reading. However, a few instances are rather gory, and I will have to tone it down. I've recently read 'Prison Ship', and was very impressed how the author managed to describe battle scenes without resorting to gratuitous violence. I want my novel to be more like that. As you can see, I'll have to do a lot of rewrites yet. But I do feel much more positive now that I have discovered this wonderful forum!  |
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Captain_Riposte
Junior Member
Don't mind me, I'm just a mad historian.
Posts: 54
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Post by Captain_Riposte on Jun 9, 2011 14:12:55 GMT -5
Susanne,
That is actually a something I dealt with as a fantasy writer. No, I didn't have aliens, but I had other races. In a purely fantasy world, I had no problems. But when I wrote about the real world, I began to feel uncomfortable with other races fitting in theologically. I got around it by making a guardian race designed to protect humans, and were a sinless race; however fallen ones wanted to not just guide humans but control them. Yeah, it was like angels and demons, but I tried to make them my own creation, such as the hair that shifted colours in the light depending on where the rays hit it, the 17th Century Polish clothing and cavalry style of the good race, and the 18th century Russian style of the bad race.
Have you read C.S. Lewis' Space Trilogy? He uses alien planets as what-if playgrounds to ask questions like "What if a society did not experience the Fall?" and "Given the right factors, would Adam and Eve have remained sinless?" Lewis never declared his fiction to be the Bible. It's thought-provoking fantasy.
So while I personally have a hard time getting myself to make new beings under the Fall, I enjoy other people's work that employ it (I'm a Star Wars and X-Files fan, after all). And some people would probably question my use of werewolves powered by demon possession. I don't think there are any hard rules here. It all depends on what God is calling YOU to write. Remember, it's *speculative.* It's fun, enjoy it. :-)
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Post by yoda47 on Aug 30, 2011 13:54:46 GMT -5
I love this question.
For the real world:
I don't think there are aliens. God didn't even hint at them, not even in passing in the Bible. There's also the problem of man's sin on our planet, and how that would effect other planets, there's a headache for you, if you try to sort it all out.
On the other hand, I don't think it would be the end of Christianity if we did discover alien life either.
For fiction:
It is just our imagination after all. The fun part about imagining things is that we can think impossible thoughts. I have aliens in the sci-fi book I wrote, and while I don't address the issue there (it's mostly just a fun sci-fi romp with some Christain theams) I might tackle the issue head-on in one of the sequels I have planned.
The important thing, I think, is to make sure we know where the line is between pretend and real, and have fun with our pretend without violating any of God's principles. I think it's possible to honor God with fantasy/sci-fi in that way.
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Post by tris on Aug 30, 2011 14:48:11 GMT -5
um...what about all the cool creatures mentioned in Ezekiel? We assume they are angels,but Ezekiel never refers to them as either angels or messengers (the euphemistic jargon for angels). Plus Christ did mention he has "other sheep not of this fold" which everyone assumes to be the Gentiles, but could be something else. Then Paul mentions that the whole creation groans waiting the coming day of the Lord. If that is so, then any alien (i.e. not human) race would also fall under the need for salvation.
Then there are all those tricky references in Genesis about talking animals, which might imply other intelligent species out there (non-human, of course).
Don't mind me, just thinking outloud (grin)
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Post by Divides the Waters on Aug 30, 2011 17:41:49 GMT -5
I look at it this way. The Bible is the story of man's relationship to God. It does not concern itself with God's relationship with any of his other creations. If there are "aliens" (or should we call them "natives of another planet"?), they might well have their own story. Ours need not preclude theirs in worlds real or fictitious. Yes, you have the issue of death entering the world (cosmos, in Greek) and affecting others, but many have played with this concept to great advantage, including the notion of unfallen races, etc. Then there are all those tricky references in Genesis about talking animals, which might imply other intelligent species out there (non-human, of course). I'm with you on the variety of spiritual/otherworldly creatures, but you want to remember that only the serpent (nachash--"shining one") actually spoke. |
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Post by pixydust on Sept 1, 2011 14:16:44 GMT -5
God gave us our imaginations, so I think he wants us to use them.  Don't be afraid. Always walk forward in prayer and trembling. But have FUN! Play! Be a child! I think it makes God happy when we adventure out of this world (but that's just me). Wouldn't it be weird if God already gave us every truth in our mind/soul--like imbedded in the DNA--but sin has corrupted things and twisted the truth. So now we're constantly trying--in our art and writing--to reclaim it. To find it again. Probably not, but it's fun to think about... What if...? |
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Post by firestorm78583 on Nov 15, 2011 21:13:33 GMT -5
Remember, also, that science fiction is often used as a way to present a morality play. I am working on a story right now that also has aliens, and it gives me the opportunity to explain Christ and Christianity in the book. Since the aliens have no understanding on the topic, I treat it like a mission trip to some obscure place on Earth and presenting Christ to ther natives.
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Post by Divides the Waters on Nov 16, 2011 18:08:34 GMT -5
That's a good way to look at it.
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Post by dragonlots on Nov 25, 2011 10:46:42 GMT -5
My book 'God's Gift', which I already have a publisher interested in, was written on this premise"
'God told us you were coming, tell us about His son,' were the first words that the aliens spoke to the human settlers.
First, we have to ask ourselves - what is God's image? He is Spirit and love. Yes, man was created in His, God's image. But that doesn't rule out the possibility that God made aliens in His image as well. Hmmm...something to think about.
Second, the Bible says nothing about man landing on the moon either - but it happened.
Third - the Bible doesn't talk about early China, American or another country's history. It only speaks of one part of the world, yet historically, we know there's more to what happened to humans that what is in the Bible.
Fourth, there are some wonderful things with Christian Speculative writers and the odd doors that have been opened for us. SF fandom has been a bastion of the you know who for a long, long time. There are spiritual doors being opened for us to reach those who might not otherwise hear about God. Christian SF/F/H is of God - look a the Left Behind series - isn't that SF? It's pure Christian Speculative Fiction in my opinion.
Fifth, CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien broke open the doors for Christians following in their footsteps. Their our 'Father's of genre and were inspired by God. And, they've been read by secular SF/F/H fans for years.
Isn't God cool.
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rjj7
Full Member
Today I'm a drake
Posts: 202
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Post by rjj7 on Nov 25, 2011 12:00:10 GMT -5
Personally, I believe that aliens are incompatible with Christian beliefs. However, I still think Science Fiction with aliens is acceptable before God, because it's something he could have done. It's not like creating a world where homosexuality is acceptable. That goes against God's nature, and is unacceptable. But even though I think it's fairly clear God didn't create aliens, I don't see it as a sin to create a world where you suppose that he did.
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Post by Bainespal on Nov 25, 2011 12:29:04 GMT -5
I think that if God created beings on other planets, they would be human like us. Either that, or the human race of Earth would be only a description of one group of Mankind. However, I don't think this means they would have to look exactly like us. Many Christians believe that the Neanderthals were as fully human as we are, but they had some physical characteristics that are different from ours. Apparently, the "Neanderthal genes" have been lost to the human gene pool, but that wouldn't take away the humanity of a Neanderthal if he were alive today.
Some space operas conceive of aliens being genetically compatible with humans. Creationists believe that the basic "kinds" of life that God created have great potential for genetic variability, allowing the different breeds of dogs to look so different while still being dogs, and for the several human "races," for example. Therefore, if Mr. Spock could be half-human, the Vulcan race must still be part of the family of Mankind.
This doesn't take away all the theological difficulties with the Atonement regarding aliens, but I think it lessens them.
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Post by Divides the Waters on Nov 25, 2011 17:17:29 GMT -5
I've never been quite sure why "aliens" (perhaps divine/angelic beings by another name) would be so threatening to the theology of the cross. If death entered creation (cosmos in the Greek) because of man's sin, then Christ came to redeem the cosmos. In what way that would apply to creatures other than man I think we have no real basis to say, but to say that God came to redeem only man, or that only man could be redeemed, seems more presumptuous and dogmatic than verifiable in any way.
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Post by Kessie on Nov 25, 2011 23:11:33 GMT -5
I think that if God created beings on other planets, they would be human like us. Either that, or the human race of Earth would be only a description of one group of Mankind. And all I can think of is that Green Lantern movie with all the humanoid Lanterns flying around. :-) Ever notice that in spec fic, there are only two kinds of aliens? There are humanoid aliens, which are benevolent. Then there are the insectoid/animal aliens, which are usually hostile. (The water-based ones, squids and other Lovecraftian creatures, are sometimes friendly.) If there's a third kind, I have yet to encounter it. *ba-bum- ching!* |
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To the best of my knowledge God has not created any aliens. Is it wrong to write a novel which includes aliens? Or is this what speculative fiction is all about?
Don't be afraid. Always walk forward in prayer and trembling. But have FUN! Play! Be a child! I think it makes God happy when we adventure out of this world (but that's just me). 
