Science Fiction Theology

The spiritual dimension of science fiction has been ignored for too long, but here Alan Gregory gives us a pioneering account of how science fiction emerged from the tradition of the sublime. This suggestive new study combines historical insights into the context of the fiction with detailed analysis of particular works.

~David Seed, Professor of American Literature, Liverpool University

Alan Gregory’s absorbing book is a significant investigation into the links between the aesthetic of the sublime, science fiction, and the Christian ‘sense of wonder.’ ‘Science fiction has never steered clear of Christianity,’ Gregory asserts. His book is a stimulus for thinking through some of the consequences of acknowledging this claim.

~Roger Luckhurst, Professor of Modern Literature, Birkbeck College, University of London

Science Fiction Theology situates science fiction, from its earliest literary expressions to its modern cinematic ones, within the broader context of an approach to nature that is itself a relatively recent phenomenon in human history. In the process, Alan Gregory reveals the profoundly theological underpinnings and implications of the unexplored depths of sci-fi’s most characteristic components. He guides the reader through these subjects with an insightful eloquence that deserves to be widely read and widely quoted.

~James F. McGrath, Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature, Butler University

An argument that deserves to have a wide readership.

~Pierre W. Whalon, Anglican Theological Review

...deploying the sublime as a prism through which to compare and contrast science fiction and theology is a master stroke.

~John Saxbee, Church Times

This is a wholly praiseworthy book of Christian engagement with the contemporary world of the arts, with some brilliant insights to bear in a consistently sustained argument. Its apologetics fulfils the twin poles of such engagement: both science fiction and the Christian tradition receive accurate description, appreciation and love. Gregory is clearly extremely well read in other disciplines including the history of thought, literature, philosophy, critical theory and even information theory.

~Stephen May, Modern Believing