What do you think?
Rate this book
The Truth Is Out There: Christian Faith and the Classics of TV Science Fiction
How does Star Trek's Captain Kirk live by the Golden Rule? How does The Twilight Zone show the effects of original sin in our world? And how do the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse make an appearance in The X-Files? In The Truth Is Out There, Thomas Bertonneau and Kim Paffenroth examine these and many other Christian themes in six highly popular science fiction television series-Star Trek, The Twilight Zone, The X-Files, Doctor Who, The Prisoner, and Babylon Five. The authors analyze each series to show its insight into many central aspects of Christianity, such as the battle between good and evil, virtue, community, grace, and the apocalypse. Their discussion will interest science fiction fans and will be a useful guide for church groups or undergraduate courses in pop culture.
272 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 2006
25 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
June 5, 2018
Interesting in concept but by the conclusion has devolved into “old man yells at cloud” and over the top amounts of elitism. (Really? These are the *only* six TV shows up to 2006 that are intellectually worth watching?) I was rolling my eyes so hard by the end I almost didn’t finish the book.
March 5, 2017
I checked this book out from my local library for one simple reason: I'm a fan of science fiction, especially Star Trek, The Twilight Zone, and The X-Files. Upon completion of the book, I was intellectually stimulated by some parts, but also thought other parts were reaches in making connections.
First and foremost, this book is for hard-core sci-fi fans ONLY. The authors take a textbook-like approach to dissecting these shows, so if you aren't already up to speed on the topic areas, you "need not apply". In fact, I completely skipped the sections regarding Babylon 5, Dr. Who, and The Prisoner, as I did not have a working knowledge of those series.
This book explores how the themes of Christianity influenced the six previously mentioned science fiction TV shows. The premise seems interesting enough, but the problem is in the execution. While at times I was drawn into the narrative that the authors were trying to present, too many times I also thought that perhaps the authors were reaching a bit too far in trying to make the necessary connections. Those are all great shows, don't get me wrong, but to build a large case that they are directly inspired from Christian mythology/history is quite tenuous at times and smacks of "nerd trying to prove that sci-fi is relevant". It isn't that bad, but sometimes comes close.
Thus, I can only recommend this textbook-like treatise to the most seasoned sci-fi vets, and even some of those will be turned off by the complexity of the themes discussed.
First and foremost, this book is for hard-core sci-fi fans ONLY. The authors take a textbook-like approach to dissecting these shows, so if you aren't already up to speed on the topic areas, you "need not apply". In fact, I completely skipped the sections regarding Babylon 5, Dr. Who, and The Prisoner, as I did not have a working knowledge of those series.
This book explores how the themes of Christianity influenced the six previously mentioned science fiction TV shows. The premise seems interesting enough, but the problem is in the execution. While at times I was drawn into the narrative that the authors were trying to present, too many times I also thought that perhaps the authors were reaching a bit too far in trying to make the necessary connections. Those are all great shows, don't get me wrong, but to build a large case that they are directly inspired from Christian mythology/history is quite tenuous at times and smacks of "nerd trying to prove that sci-fi is relevant". It isn't that bad, but sometimes comes close.
Thus, I can only recommend this textbook-like treatise to the most seasoned sci-fi vets, and even some of those will be turned off by the complexity of the themes discussed.
January 10, 2022
Thomas Bertonneau is an English Professor, while Kim Paffenroth is a professor of religious studies.This is a book aimed at looking at the apparent religious significance of six classic science fiction TV shows, these being Doctor Who, Star Trek, The Prisoner, The Twilight Zone, The X-Files and Babylon 5.
I was mostly interested in reading this book because of its mentioning of the X-Files, but I read the whole book anyway. Most of the time, the writers treat the shows as religious allegories, although I wasn't entirely sure if this was intentional in every case. In the case of the Prisoner, apparently Patrick McGoohan did do this deliberately, and he sees Number 6 as a superior Christian role model to James Bond.
I found this book to be quite heavy going at times, because there was a large amount of philosophy involved, and occasionally even politics. At times I felt like I was reading a precis of various events from the shows themselves, rather than a summary of their Christian significance.
I could tell this book was painstakingly researched, and I could tell both writers really knew their stuff, both in relation to the TV shows and to theology, but some of the chapters were about shows that I knew very little about, so they were of less interest for me.
Overall, something mostly for hardcore fans rather than casual readers.
I was mostly interested in reading this book because of its mentioning of the X-Files, but I read the whole book anyway. Most of the time, the writers treat the shows as religious allegories, although I wasn't entirely sure if this was intentional in every case. In the case of the Prisoner, apparently Patrick McGoohan did do this deliberately, and he sees Number 6 as a superior Christian role model to James Bond.
I found this book to be quite heavy going at times, because there was a large amount of philosophy involved, and occasionally even politics. At times I felt like I was reading a precis of various events from the shows themselves, rather than a summary of their Christian significance.
I could tell this book was painstakingly researched, and I could tell both writers really knew their stuff, both in relation to the TV shows and to theology, but some of the chapters were about shows that I knew very little about, so they were of less interest for me.
Overall, something mostly for hardcore fans rather than casual readers.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews