The Gospel according to Science Fiction: From the Twilight Zone to the Final Frontier (Paperback)

by Gabriel McKee (Author)
Key Phrases: silent planet, universal harmony, snow crash, Star Trek, Cosmic Unity, Catholic Church (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Aliens, spaceships and giant robots may not seem to have much in common with matters spiritual, but in the mind of Harvard-trained writer and blogger McKee, they hold important theological insights. McKee's knowledge of science fiction is impressive. He quotes esoteric short stories from the 1930s alongside contemporary sci-fi and fantasy films, showing an encyclopedic command of the genre. It serves him well as he combs the genre for examples of religious themes such as sin, faith, religious experience, the apocalypse and the afterlife. The author all too briefly touches upon the issue of science and faith, but this can be forgiven in a book primarily about science fiction. "The main goal of SF [science fiction]," writes McKee, "... is to show us how we can face the future and overcome the new challenges that our changing world may develop." By utilizing a solid theological background and culling the world of science fiction literature and films for help, McKee illustrates that organized religion should have a similar goal: "It must be willing to face whatever changes may come and adapt itself to the spiritual questions of the future." This fascinating hybrid of theology and sci-fi is creative, lucid and contains impressive scholarship. (Jan.)
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Product Details

• Paperback: 312 pages
• Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press (January 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0664229018
• ISBN-13: 978-0664229016
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #600,909 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An interesting look at Science Fiction's thoughts on Christianity, June 7, 2007

By	Helen Hancox "Auntie Helen" (Essex, England) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Gabriel McKee has evidently read an amazing amount of Science Fiction novels and short stories as well as watching films and TV series. His book looks at different philosophical and religious ideas and how they are used in SF, explaining their use in particular SF books/series and occasionally relating the thoughts to philosophy. Able to quote both St Augustine and Star Trek, this is an engaging and easy to read book which shows the broad range of views in SF, particularly relating to deities, faith, human nature and the future and has an extensive bibliography and index which will no doubt be helpful to SF fans. Although referencing Christian beliefs, this book isn't aiming to be a presentation of the Gospel through SF links, it is rather a collation of different views that might interest SF fans and because of this its appeal is probably limited.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting, insightful, and well-researched, March 2, 2008

By	Jordan Buckley (Tuscaloosa, AL) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

A groundbreaking and illuminating book. McKee's main thesis is that science fiction is inherently religious in nature, because it deals with the big-picture issues of human existence: What does it mean to be human? What is the nature of the universe? Where did we come from and where are we going? SF at its core is speculative; it speculates about possible futures, whether in the form of dystopias for us to avoid, utopias for us to strive for, or bizarre worlds that drive us to contemplate the deep issues of existence. At the same time, these visions of the future serve as commentaries and warnings about where we seem to be heading.

McKee basically sets up his thesis that SF deals with religious themes and then spends the majority of the book doing brief summaries of various novels, short stories, and films, tracing the answers each story offers to the big questions. The book is helpfully structured around systematic theological categories: God, Creation, the Soul, Free Will, Evil, Salvation, etc. Most of it is analysis of SF stories, with (mercifully) a minimal amount of McKee's own theological views, which tend toward the theologically liberal. The analysis is usually insightful, though his conclusion that with the help of SF we can "forge the faith of the future" betrays a naive view of faith as something we create. Overall, a fascinating read that helps one understand and appreciate more deeply a genre that is at the forefront of our culture's grappling with the big philosophical and spiritual issues.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Enthralling Theological Treatise, June 5, 2009

By	Jedidiah Palosaari "Not My Real Name" (New Glarus, WI) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. McKee seems to have taken all of his theology training, as well as thousands of hours of reading and viewing SciFi, to come up with a magnum opus. I kept on expecting him to leave out some major or theologically significant minor work of science fiction, but he always came through. McKee helpfully breaks down science fiction into various theological categories, from the nature of God to the afterlife to the presence of a soul, and looks through many examples in-depth to gain an understanding of how the genre as a whole treats theology. This is not a simple, dry list, but rather McKee integrates each movie and book into the discussion, weighing the treatment of the theology as well as the new ideas that the work bring to the table.

Though he obviously comes from a Christian standpoint, he is very balanced in his treatment, looking positively at pro-theistic and anti-theistic standpoints, as well as works embracing Islamic, Buddhist, and Hindu perspectives. You will never again be able to look at the science fiction genre as anti-religious, or even irreligious. (One juicy tidbit is McKee's very convincing revelation that science fiction is simply the modern aspect of the ancient apocalyptic religious genre.) The primary drawback of this book is that I now have a whole host of new books to read, even though I decided to peruse only about 5% of the books mentioned.