Friday 21 June 2024

Theological SF

There is other theological sf but for me the big three are:

A Case Of Conscience by James Blish - a Jesuit has a theological problem because the Lithians are Godless but good:

"The Problem of Pain" by Poul Anderson - Peter Berg has a theological problem because the Ythrian New Faith is a workable faith but is completely at odds with Christianity;

the Ransom Trilogy by CS Lewis - Elwin Ransom visits Mars and Venus and finds there beings and conditions that exactly correspond to his Christian beliefs!

Lewis thought that space travel was wrong and imagined (at least) that the conditions of Man's Fall existed only within the Lunar orbit. As ever, Anderson provides a culmination. His Galilean priest, Fr. Axor, accepts that all known intelligent species are Fallen but seeks evidence for an extra-solar Incarnation.

A Case Of Conscience has given us three parallels:

the Shelter economy;
a proto-future history;
theological sf.

Will I, after many years, reread A Case Of Conscience and make further comparisons with Anderson's works?  Is A Case Of Conscience an anti-climax since it is Volume III of A Trilogy where Armageddon had occurred at the mid-point of Volume II? Will I stop asking questions and conclude this post? Who can possibly say?

3 comments:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

I agree with the examples you listed here of theological SF. I do urge you to read others, such as the tragic Walter Miller's A CANTICLE FOR LEIBOWITTZ.

Anderson wrote other stories which also touched on theology, such as "A Chapter of Revelation."

Ad astra! Sean

paulshackley2017@gmail.com said...

Sean,

I have read A CANTICLE FOR LEIBOWITZ and have compared its Wandering Jew with other similar figures in fiction.

Paul.

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

I remember the Wandering Jew motif from CANTICLE. But, it was such a small part of the story compared to how much else was in the book that was far more interesting.

Ad astra! Sean