Christianity in SF
Christianity has been depicted in SF many, many times. Common uses include:
Background Christianity
- Any work that takes place in a setting analogous to an Earth setting in which Christianity is common may include Christianity and religious faith as part of the general background.
Christian allegories or metaphysics
- C. S. Lewis' Narnia books)
Christianity as cultural mythology
motifs, rituals, etc.
Use of ideas popularly associated with Christianity, without particular religious perspectives;
- the use of the cross to ward off vampires)
- exorcisms
- The Collector (selling soul to the devil)
supernatural hierarchies
- Use of Christian supernatural hierarchy in some fantasy creation that semi-parallels Christianity but is really different
- Anne Bishop's Black Jewels series;
- Lyda Morehouse's Archangel Protocol
- Xena, Warrior Princess had multiple episodes that alluded to some Xenaverse version of Judaism, Christianity, and various Christian figures, e.g., the Archangel Michael
christianity as story
- This may include works which depict or assume some Christian beliefs as correct, but are simply more interested in depicting the struggle in a secular fashion or exploring the story aspects. These works are about core beliefs in Christianity:
- The Stand by Stephen King
- Anne Rice's Jesus series
SFnal explorations of christian events
The work may be completely neutral about the core beliefs of Christianity (supernatural figures God and Jesus; supernatural features the soul, heaven, hell), but simply interested in the what if aspect of it.
- Arthur C. Clarke's "The Star" (1955 short story) (Interstellar travelers arrive on a planet and discover that its sun went supernova, destroying its civilization, and that supernova was the "Star of Bethlehem", an aspect of Christian mythology around the birth of Jesus. The story is framed rather neutrally: It accepts the truth of the star, but not necessarily the supernatural claims around it. Christians might choose to believe that God chose to destroy the civilization to send a beacon to Earth's people about Jesus; alternatively, non-Christians might believe that the civilization died and was interpreted by Christians as a sign about Jesus. In the first interpretation, the story acts to consider deep questions about the nature of God, God's plans, the nature of evil (the ends justifying the means); in the second interpretation, the story may be read as a meditation on the interpretation of natural phenomena by primitive people, the nature of religion, the irony of religion. In either reading it may be read as a condemnation of God.)
retellings of Judeo-Christian stories
These may be relatively literal retellings, such as a retelling of the Garden of Eve in the Book of Genesis from Lilith's perspective.
- The Red Tent by Anita Diamant
- The Last Temptation of Christ by Nikos Kazantzakis); Anne Rice's Jesus stories)
They may also be transformations, as in, what if Jesus were a woman; what if God sent a second child to the modern era.
- Gorman Burchardt, The Second Greatest Story Ever Told
- James Morrow, Only Begotten Daughter
- Glenn Kleier, The Last Day ("Jeza")
Jesus versus Christianity
There's a large number of stories focusing on "what if Jesus were alive today" -- he would be treated as insane, he would be persecuted, etc.
- Godspell (1973)
secret history of Christianity
- These stories may or may not include the supernatural as real. Note that "secret histories" are necessarily a type of "retelling", insofar as they are telling a story that didn't happen. Numerous stories have imagined things like:
- Jesus' body being held and concealed by the Catholic Church (Elizabeth Peters' The Dead Sea Cipher);
- Jesus' offspring (The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown);
- the role of women in Christianity (The Memoirs of Elizabeth Frankenstein by Theodore Roschach).
Historical Christianity
- Alternate histories in particular, and fantasy works set in times that are similar to historical Earth times (e.g., faux-medieval settings) often depict one or more historical variants of Christianity (e.g., Roman Catholicism) or events within Christianity (e.g., the Inquisition)
- Inquisition: Gael Baudino works; God's Fires by Patricia Anthony
- Witch-burning: Inquisition, above; also James Morrow's The Last Witchfinder (not SF)
Christianity and other religions
Juxtapositions of Christianity and other religions:
- Critiques of Christianity
- e.g., in opposition to female-oriented paganism in Starhawk's The Fifth Sacred Thing
- in opposition to female-oriented paganism Marie Jakober's The Black Chalice)
- or valorizations of Christianity
Christian dystopias
- Some Christian-like religion has created a dystopian society. See Christian dystopias and villains.
- Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale is likeliest the most famous of these
- Esther M. Friesner's The Psalms of Herod
- Sheri S. Tepper's The Gate to Women's Country).
Satires
- James Morrow's entire oeuvre
Christians institutions in society
- The depiction of Christians or Christian institutions acting in society--no real commentary on the validity or falseness of Christian ideas.
Particular Christians
- Christianity may often be represented by a particular character who is a Christian. For instance, a sexually repressed Christian, in juxtaposition with a free-wheeling non-Christian. This sort of use can occur in conjunction with almost any of the above uses of Christianity.
- Christians may also just be characters in works that have nothing to do with Christianity--e.g., a monk investigating a mystery.