If there is one thing that my good friends know about me is that I absolutely LOVE fantasy and science fiction flicks. In fact, they don't even have to be good movies. I do enjoy those "b" movies....or in some cases the "c" movies. You know what I mean by "c" movies. Movies that are so bad that even bad movies ("b movies" not good enough for the big screen are great compared to them. A few such sci-fi movies - and the occasional good, big screen movies - have been known to use the Christian faith as a minor part of the story line, or maybe just mention Jesus. For the life of me, I couldn't tell you any of the sci-fi flicks I have seen that have had this kind of reference to Christianity, but I know I have watched them. Now I am not talking about Star trek where they might mention Christianity as a religion talked about in the history text books -which if I remember right, there are a couple episodes of the next generation that mention religion as a thing of the past - at least for the human race.
So, can a sci-fi book have Jesus and the Christian faith as a major theme in it? Sure, If the only sentient race of beings are humans, Otherwise, I don't think it is ever a good idea to have Jesus and Christianity - or any other real religion we know - used in a science fiction book. With that said, I must say that one film (granted it is not a book - that I know of) that did successfully use a real religion was The Chronicles Of Riddick, so it can be done - I suppose - decently. I will give a few reasons why I personally would steer clear of having a Christian theme in sci-fi in a bit, but first I want to clarify the EXACT sci-fi subgenre I am talking about. There are actually several different "subgenres" if you will, of sci-fi. I am breaking these down into subgenres for example only - as far as I know, there is no real clear line of sci-fi subgenres, but here is what I have come up with.
There is the realistic sci-fi. Here you have the only sentient biological creatures being humans, but there might be robots and technology, or animal alien life forms. A few examples of story lines would be the book/movie "I Robot", The Terminator, or a book about humans colonizing another planet that has alien animal life or the such. A good example of sci-fi in space would be Dark Matter. As of yet, no sentient aliens.
Next there is the realistic with a bit of sentient alien life. There are a few examples, not sure of the names, but the most realistic ones would be when humans find alien DNA and try and make a hybrid, or grow an actual alien. Another good example would be E.T.
After that, I would say we have the Star Trek, Star Wars, Star Gate type shows, with all kinds of alien races and the such, with all kinds of religions. This is the kind of sci-fi that I really don't think we should incorporate Jesus or Christianity into. In truth I don't really think we should in ANY sci-fi, but it has worked okay for some of the above subgenres. Even if it is "real world", we know there are a plethora of religions in the world, but focusing on them in say....The Avengers would detract from the movie and the religion itself. It may seem more "fake" than real - I'll mention more about that in a minute.
So, now to my reasons for not liking Jesus in sci-fi.
1. I don't think any real religion should be used at all. Science Fiction is literally that, fiction. When we incorporate such well known religious views into a fiction (fake) world, I think we get dangerously close to claiming that Christianity is just that, a "fake" religion, just like all of the others. Think about it, if Star Trek had an episode about the religious beliefs of the Klingons, then had an episode about a group of humans who still adhered to the religious practices of Christianity, then which is real and which is fake? How do you go about explaining that? First, if it is portrayed incorrectly - as so many Christians are in Hollywood - a lot of us might get offended. Second, how can we decide which is to be real? If real life people worship Jesus and someone sees both Jesus and Kayless (the Klingon holy one) worshiped as "equal" deities, and they start to worship this Kayless, what do we say? one is real, but the other is fake? Basically using Christianity in sci-fi creates a mindset that diminishes Christianity. It gives off a attitude that brings the truth of the Gospel down to a fictional account made for bedtime stories and fiction books or movies.
2. If we do have Christianity in sci-fi, then how can we explain that Jesus only died for humans? Why wouldn't God (who created all of those aliens, too) allow them to be "saved"? Are we going to create a new alien religion that parallels the Gospel? Are we going to say that they can forsake their own alien cultures and believe in a completely alien concept (to them)? If we make up a parallel religion that explains the alien culture gets to go to heaven, too, then is it the same heaven as humans, is it a different heaven, do they have sin, or what? If we say it is the same heaven, then we again venture close to that cliff of making the Truth a fiction. If we say they have a different heaven, then might that apply to humans, too? different human people groups can get to heaven based on their own peoples religious beliefs.
3. Sci-fi is sci-fi. I don't want to think about religion when I am watching sci-fi. I want to see an alien armada attack earth and the human race fight back. I want to see one alien fleet warring with a rival alien fleet. I want Star Wars! I don't want Star Wars with a Christian commentary.
But, really, these are just my reasons why I wouldn't put Christianity in a sci-fi story......again. When I was younger, one of my very first stories was a terribly corny, extremely awful, and unbelievably terrible writing. I think it would make for a great comedy play....maybe one day I will post it on social media...maybe not. Who knows, maybe I will change my mind on this and eventually say go for it. I do, in fact, have a story line that does revolve around Christianity in a sci-fi world, and another in a sci-fi universe. Both have no other sentient life forms other than humans.
Hope you enjoyed.
Comment and or share on your social media if this post made you think.