Ignorant Historian

This is one portion of the Faith ‘n’ Fiction Roundtable discussion of the Christian science fiction book Offworld by Robin Parrish.

Ronnica: I do read and enjoy science fiction (and yes, enjoy Star Wars and Star Trek), but have never read any from a Christian perspective. I think this was a good example of how it could be done.

Jonathan: I did enjoy the book. As a science fiction novel from a Christian perspective, it wasn’t very overt. Enough to know that it was religiously influenced, but not much beyond that. Also a little contrived.

Carrie: I very much appreciated the fact that the Christian aspect of this book was very subtle. The situations that the characters were thrown into were frequently so unbelievable that I was relieved that Parrish didn’t try to preach a message in the text. I would prefer to label this read as just “good fun” and leave it at that.

Mark: I’m still struggling with the Christian aspect of the book, however. Knowing how the author feels about Christian products preaching, I’m not too surprised he hasn’t done the in your face Christian novel most authors go for. But when he did try to introduce some Christian themes, it felt rather forced to me. Anyone else feel that way?

Carrie: Yes, it felt very forced when it was a blatant attempt. However, there were a few statements in the book that I thought did a far better job of explaining the author’s worldview.

The best statement re: the concept of sin in a fallen world was made by Roston:

“We will succeed in creating a better world, not because we have superior numbers or superior tactics, but because no one exists to oppose us. We stayed here, so we win by default.” (Chapter 18, “The Stiff Heart” page 326)

To me, this statement pointed out that Parrish has a clear understanding that the world is in need of a savior. Roston sinfully decided to be the savior by indulging in sins (i.e., destroying or removing all other lifeforms – playing god unto himself) to accomplish what he thought would best redeem the world. So the redemption story is woven in, albeit it in a strange in unusual way. Instead of showing what happens when things are redeemed appropriately, it showed what happened when sin was allowed to prevail. In other words, we were offered a counterfeit savior to compare with a real one.

So I think the Christian message is there, but it was subtle and hidden in the storyline. I’m glad of that because I find it very hard to tie in Christian principles with science fiction. It can be done, but it just feels strange to me.

Amy: I can’t remember too many blatant attempts at a faith message but that does bring up an interesting point. I’m not opposed to direct talk about faith in books, but I do dislike message-y books.

To view the other portions of the discussion, visit the other participating blogs:

Reading to Know
Random Ramblings from Sunny Southern CA
Behind the eyes, oversimplified
Mrs. Q Book Addict
My Friend Amy