Fantastical Truth

“We do not celebrate Christmas that way.” “We do not read those kinds of books.” “We ‘do not handle, do not taste, do not touch.'” We know our world is full of rebellion against God's law. But many people overreact to moral license with a strict imposing of out-of-context or made-up laws. Faithful saints call this legalism, and Christian fantasy fans know plenty about this. When that influencer or relative rebukes your fantastical interest, how you can respond with grace and truth? Mission update New at Lorehaven: reviews of Ruthless and Shadowcast Subscribe free to get updates and join the Lorehaven Guild Quotes and notes What Is Fiction Legalism?, E. Stephen Burnett Even If We Like Fantasy and Sci-Fi, We Can Still Practice Accidental Legalism, Marian A. Jacobs 50. Do Christians Really Need Fiction? | Fiction's Chief End, part 1, Fantastical Truth podcast 1. Legalism denies the word of God itself. We've heard and experienced many stories of judgy legalists. Some are worse than others. Some comments are snide asides. I heard one author's work dismissed as “not in the real world.” And yes, I've had people challenge Lewis, Tolkien, other stories. Others rail more on social media against metal music or pageants. But don't confuse these false teachers with people they deceive. Your family members may be confused and repeating memes. In either case, work to overcome defensiveness or bad feelings. Your firm foundation: legalism is anti-gospel; the Bible rejects it. So study the word of God. Don't let legalists ruin that for you! Get into the gospel with the epistles, Romans, and other epistles. Focus on texts like Romans 14, 1 Cor. 8-10, and all of Galatians. 2. Legalism denies the good of God's gifts. Moving to legalistic teachers, they often escape to fantasy worlds. They like alternative realities where people don't like/need stories. You can (kindly) hit ’em with that little rejoinder, see how it works. In either case, be sure you study up on God's creative purpose. Start in Genesis and take this text seriously: it's history in poetry! Pay special heed to the “cultural mandate” in Gen. 1:27-28. Any ignorance of this call also overthrow God's call to family. So no one gets to do preaching or “ministry” minimization here! From this text, learned theologians discern that God is and loves three virtues in no particular order: beauty, goodness, and truth. God also loves to give good gifts to evil men and His children. We get this truth directly from texts like Matt. 7:11 and James 1:17. Sin ruin gifts? Not for studying, praying believers (1 Tim. 4:1-5). 3. And legalism denies God's real world. It is not Christianity, but gnosticism, to despise God's creation. Get your eschatology right, after all the charts and controversies. It's simply flawed to suggest we're bound for a bodiless world. Scripture constantly hints, then promises, a renewed planet Earth. Heaven will come down here, rather than replacing all of our world. Let's get the end of Revelation right about New Heavens and New Earth, Christ's eternal and holy kingdom that restores paradise! For Stephen, this doctrine was key to debunking fiction legalism. It helps me avoid the responses of depression or deconstruction. On good days I feel sympathy and love for sincere fiction legalists. With this solid foundation we can “swashbuckle” them with smiles. We can affirm the need for truth and holiness, but show how it is in fact made-up laws, not God's actual word, that forbid good gifts. And we can show how these stories help us grow to be like Jesus. Com station Top question for listeners When did you confront a fiction legalist? How did you respond? tallgrant liked ep. 290 on YouTube: Happy to see this covered, and even happier to get the other half in the Abolition of Man at least touched on! The position Lewis takes about a very small ruling class who make decisions about all of morality for everyone who comes after very much aligns with the ultimate revealed mission of the N.I.C.E. Not to mention the issues being raised about where a potential soul can come from. I find his look at the outworking and consequences of post-modern thought and reasoning really intriguing, considering that this was all put to paper before the conclusion of the second world war and the mass dissemination of those ideas outside the academic world. Next on Fantastical Truth “In one cataclysmic moment, millions around the world disappear.” Jesus returned thirty years ago. Or rather, He sort of pre-returned, the warm-up act, if you will. Many faithful Christians believe in this kind of “rapture.” And in December 1995, two authors teamed up and used this idea to create the most successful biblical end-times thriller we've yet seen. Last summer, we looked back on the Left Behind series legacy. Yet now we'll ask how that first Left Behind novel has aged, thirty years after its release.

Well, we recently talked about the first Chronicle of Narnia … the book! Yet many fans found or rediscovered this series thanks to the Disney-distributed, Walden Media–made film from director Andrew Adamson. Want to feel old? That was two decades ago! So now we shall look back at Narnia's journey to the box office with The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, which released twenty years ago on Dec. 9, 2005. Episode sponsors Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queen A Faie Tale by Vince Mancuso MYTH: Reign of the Immortals by J. F. Nickens Mission update New at Lorehaven: Netflix's New ‘Frankenstein' Reveals Why a Time-Shifted ‘Magician's Nephew' Film May Work , Daniel Whyte IV Subscribe free to get updates and join the Lorehaven Guild Coming in January: our book quest through Stephen Lawhead's fantasy novel Taliesin Backstory: Mark Joseph Mark Joseph is a music and film producer, author, columnist and founder of MJM Entertainment Group, a multi-faceted entertainment company with interests in film, publishing, music, TV production and film consulting. Joseph got his start in television as an anchor for NHK and CNN's The Entertainment Report in the 1990's and his company MJM produced documentaries and supervised the international release of over a hundred albums by various pop and rock artists. In addition to producing his own films, he oversees a marketing team that has marketed 75 films since 2001. From 2000-2005 he worked in development and marketing for Walden Media and Crusader Entertainment and oversaw a grassroots marketing team. He has served as a producer on 15 films, including Max Rose starring Jerry Lewis, The Vessel starring Martin Sheen, America, Japan: Searching For The Dream, Frank vs. God and others. Joseph is the author of four books including The Lion, The Professor & The Movies: Narnia's Journey To The Big Screen and has been a regular contributor to publications like Forbes, The Hollywood Reporter, Variety, USA Today, The Huffington Post and FoxNews.com. He is currently a senior columnist for Newsweek and hosts the podcast The Mark Joseph Show. Most recently, he produced the film Reagan, starring Dennis Quaid and published the book Making REAGAN: A Memoir from the Producer of the REAGAN Movie. He also produced the film's two soundtracks including songs from Bob Dylan, Clint Black, Gene Simmons of KISS, Tanya Tucker and others. Mark and his wife Kara have six children and reside in Southern California. YAF.org: Mark Joseph Facebook: MJM Entertainment Group Instagram: @markjoseph00 The Lion, The Professor & The Movies: Narnia's Journey To The Big Screen Making REAGAN: A Memoir from the Producer of the REAGAN Movie 1. Narnia's journey from book to screen … The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe got one TV animation (1979) Then the story (plus two more) came to live-action BBC TV (1988) Yet it was the Walden Media–made film that went bigger (2005) That film released just twenty years ago in the U.S., Dec. 9, 2005 Mark Joseph's role from those early days as Narnia pre-producer 2. … Through the winter of production … Stephen first learned this was official in a NY Times ad Dec. 2003. Early rumors included Disney aid (true), Kidman's Witch (untrue). Director: Andrew Adamson. Early casting. Scriptwriters and team. In the afterglow of LOTR, Narnia also filmed much in New Zealand. WETA Workshop did armor work. Other studios did visual effects. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe film released Dec. 9, 2005. 3. … And into the spring of fan acclaim Teasers and trailers pleased fans, with only a few early hiccups. Against a $180 million budget, earned $745 million worldwide. Led to two sequels that earned less. Ended. Restart didn't work. Now we have Greta Gerwig starting with The Magician's Nephew. Any informal shared advice, constructive criticism, final memories. Com station Top question for listeners How did you first see The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005)? Terri Hamilton recalls her Narnia origin tale (ep. 289): I found the Narnia series in my school library when I was in 4th grade, and yes, they were in the proper order. It was a watershed moment for me. I bought myself a boxed set a few years later. Boy, did I look for portals! When I get into a discussion about the book order, I point out The Magician's Nephew is a prequel, explaining the back story of the first book. Next on Fantastical Truth “We do not celebrate Christmas that way.” “We do not read those kinds of books.” “We ‘do not handle, do not taste, do not touch.'” We know our world is full of rebellion against God's law. But many people overreact to moral license with a strict imposing of out-of-context or made-up laws. Faithful saints call this legalism, and Christian fantasy fans know plenty about this. When that social-media pastor rebukes your favorite sci-fi, or that relative raises a judgy eyebrow at holiday dinners, how you can respond with grace, truth, and love for legalists?

Long ago, before the great lion Aslan bounded onto bookshelves, C. S. Lewis wrote a science fiction novel set on mythological Mars. From there, the sequel carried Dr. Elwin Ransom by angels to the sister planet Venus. And from there … the Ransom/Cosmic/Space Trilogy descended to the dull world of corrupt college boards, inner-ring politics, and a secret technocracy bent on world domination with the aid of mad science and demons and everything. Eighty years after That Hideous Strength, we explore why C. S. Lewis created this earthbound and weird and wonderful pre-political supernatural thriller. Episode sponsors Sons of Day and Night by Mariposa Aristeo A Faie Tale by Vince Mancuso Above the Circle of Earth by E. Stephen Burnett Mission update New at Lorehaven: Josiah DeGraaf's Sun Eater series article Subscribe free to get updates and join the Lorehaven Guild That hideously obscure front cover image. 1. The temptations to wield inner rings The Ransom Trilogy really includes all three fantastical genres. It starts with sci-fi, continues to fantasy, ends in supernatural. Stephen would have appreciated knowing this before this book! Because that fact, plus the cover, will affect your expectations. More than the other two, Hideous Strength feels a weird hybrid. For instance, it begins on Earth and feels “grown-up,” even dull. Who is Mark Studdock and Jane? Why do we care about them? And where is Dr. Ransom and the creatures of books 1 and 2? But here Lewis is addressing some deep and personal enemies. One of them is the “inner ring” villain he writes about elsewhere. Call this “the room where it happens,” that seat of power. Right now some conspiracists claim to “expose” secret inner rings. Yet more often they're trying to make new “rings” themselves. This “normal,” subtle threat marks the first real evil of the story. Mark, a social-climbing sociologist, craves to reach this influence. Then he gets there … and discovers it's run by the greater threat. 2. A not-so-N.I.C.E. secular technocracy Enter the National Institute for Co-ordinated Experiments. It's a social movement, an actual autocratic state bent on power. They're all about science, social engineering, efficiency, machines. These theorists take the worst of evil ideologies and mix them up. And for Lewis, this represents the worst corruptions of academia. They destroy natural land like Saruman. Hijack history like IngSoc. And they take over newspapers in plain sight like any petty tyrant. Some have different aims/ideas, such as a truly scary revelation about what exactly has gone wrong with the sterility of the Moon. Others are so poisoned by elitism that they “naturally” fall into evil. That's why we call this a pre-political story. Yes, it's about politics and has overlapping theme, but is about the ideas beneath this. N.I.C.E.'s goal: the subjugation of the human race to macrobes. From here, Lewis finally explains the recurring visions of Jane Studdock (revealing the conspiracy) and a holy resistance order. And, lest there be any doubt, we soon learn the worst threat of all. 3. Devils vs. power to demolish strongholds At last, Dr. Ransom enters the story, leading a small diverse group. He's recruited Christian fellow academics, sure, but also one rather sympathetic skeptic, leading women, and working-class folks. Their enemy is not just flesh and blood, but dark spiritual powers. That's why we call Hideous Strength a true supernatural thriller. Astute readers will discern demonic activity behind the veil. That's no surprise for the author of The Screwtape Letters. Yet the activity is more subtle, in allusion, not overt like Peretti. Ultimately we discern the demons/humans spread their evil ideas in an area Lewis knew very well: the corruption of language. Words, meanings, symbols, translations are vital to this story. And perhaps it's no surprise that the ultimate battle is won not by weapons or even direct intrusions of magic, but by word powers. Clearly the author had in mind a certain Genesis 11 narrative! By the end, one hero utters this divine judgment: “Qui Verbum Dei contempserunt, eis auferetur etiam verbum hominis.” (Kee vehr-boom Deh-ee kon-temp-seh-roont, eh-ees ow-feh-reh-toor eh-tee-ahm vehr-boom ho-mee-nees) Translated: “They that have despised the word of God, from them shall the word of man also be taken away.” These villains “have pulled down Deep Heaven onto their heads.” Holy agents unite from the planets and the past to empower good. Lewis also brings in, quite overtly, his love for medieval cosmology and the planetary influences that are crucial to this universe. And now (with a reread) Stephen has experienced this story with delight like he had hoped, particularly with Lewis's latter head-hopping and fun-poking at the expense of N.I.C.E.'s evildoers. That Hideous Strength ends with startling eucatastrophe and celebration of biblical and based virtues, from cosmic to familial. It's no wonder the story has gained new fans in these similar days. Com station Top question for listeners Do you prefer demonic evil in fiction to be overt or subtle? Next on Fantastical Truth Well, we just talked about the first Chronicle of Narnia … the book! Yet many fans found or rediscovered this series thanks to the Disney-distributed, Walden Media–made film from director Andrew Adamson. Want to feel old? That was two decades ago! So now we shall look back at Narnia's journey to the box office with The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, which released twenty years ago on Dec. 9, 2005.

“I don't know where the Lion came from or why He came. But once He was there, He pulled the whole story together.”

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Let's heed the Narnia author's wise warnings against pacifism or violence, and his praise for biblical courage and defense of good causes.

Christian fans often hear warnings about fantasy stories' temptations, but Scripture shows differences between real occult and fictional spellcraft.

Inspired by Jesus's parable of the two sons, Perry Wilson and Landon Hawley have created this new audio adventure from the Christian ministry Cru.

Men may defend their families and nations by flying amazing airships, yet struggle with the temptations and tough decisions of earthly callings.

Hear the backstory of Realm Makers, from its 2013 origin as a fantastical writers conference to the new 2025 Realm Makers Expo coming this July to Grand Rapids.

Christian-led conferences attract saints as well as nonbelievers who like wholesome stories, making them fantastic fields for creative missions.

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Some heroines need no machines or solar slingshots to awaken in a romantic past and discover true love or deeper truths about the Lord.

Just in time for graduation season, the Houston Christian University president tells of stories that really matter to children and students.

Seventy years after C. S. Lewis's sixth Chronicle of Narnia released, we recall the reasons we love this tale of magic rings and other worlds.

Shallow fictions insult the work of Christ by implying we can cheapen the law to make ourselves better, or cheapen grace to save others.

Christian critics toss tomatoes at this newly popular genre. But biblical fiction isn't meant to preach, only to illustrate the Scripture we honor.

After fractured fairy-stales, flippant super-capers, and “Stalled” Wars, here's how we could rebuild the fallen castles of this media Babylon.

The headline sounded like an April Fool's prank. Then others confirmed it and fans raised the uproar. Here's why it matters that Aslan is male.

From a wheelchair-wielding robo-pioneer to the Ares 10 mission and other astronauts, many faithful storytellers settled on our sister planet.

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Fantasy has magical beasts while science fiction has fantastical vehicles, and both have their biblical redemptive qualities. Now, let them fight.

Earth's neighbor is a frozen desert, but it has inspired many fantastical stories—from adventures to big ideas, hard science, and human nature.

Stephen and Zack explore the Christian heroes, challenging ideas, and speculative science of this possible future when oversheltered believers resist a one-world CAUSE.

Storytellers who hope for gospel witness to the world must discern today's rising audience of cultural conservatives who like some biblical ideas.

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Though all their friends thought them enemies, fantasy and romance have grown into lovers, and now bear the new ship name of "romantasy."

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Since 2018, Lorehaven.com creators have explored fantastical stories for God's glory, and now we've upgraded our Library book search.

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As we launch our 2025 podcast season, we celebrate legacies of the original website that boosted many authors and Lorehaven itself.

After a Christmas break, we return with our first New Year's Eve special to review last year's top features, from fantasy apologetics to false “liberation.”

These classic authors are fantastic, but they also enjoyed new stories across many genres and would recommend today's readers do the same.