Myths and Science Fiction

In the Feb. 2009 issue of Christianity Today, there's a fascinating article entitled, "Sci-Fi's Brave New World: How the genre draws us to its own views of redemption" by James A. Herrick. Since I like science fiction (things like Star Trek and Star Wars), I was very interested in the article. First, because he defined myth as a "transcendent story that helps us make sense of our place in the cosmos. This common definition makes the Christian gospel, as C.S. Lewis suggested, 'God's myth'--not because it is fiction, but because it is a story that gives ultimate meaning. We live in an age in which new myths, born mostly of science-fueled imaginations, are crafted and propagated at an unprecedented rate."

The mention of myth took me back to my first year of college at Long Beach State University. I was a new Christian. I was taking a philosophy class and the teacher was an atheist who loved to put down Christianity in any way he could. He kept calling Christianity a myth and I felt helpless to know how to counter his attacks. Finally, I thought of something and with trepidation after he again called Christianity a myth, I raised my hand and asked, "What is your definition of a myth?" And he gave a definition that was something very similar to the above quote. It was obvious to me and the class that he had been trying to use the word "myth" as a pot shot based on misunderstanding.

I thanked the Lord for giving me that insight to ask that question. I don't remember if anything came of it but I felt encouraged to know that asking a person's definition of something and how they are using the word can sometimes diminish an attack.

More tomorrow about that article....