“How Sci-Fi Reveals Our Deepest Hopes and Fears”
By Richard Allen – March 17, 2025
As I have mentioned to my readers in the past, I am a fan of Science Fiction – going back to my childhood in the 1950’s. And while I have not watched much Sci-Fi lately, I am still a fan of many of the old programs presented during the “heyday” of Television Broadcasting. I can honestly say that my favorite Sci-Fi shows were: The Outer Limits, The Twilight Zone, Lost In Space and Star Trek, with Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea coming in fifth place. On many levels, the stories these shows presented were just morality plays, touching on timeless themes and questions men have always pondered. But it wasn’t until I firmly came to faith in Jesus Christ in 1974 (and subsequent years thereafter), that I understood my attraction to Sci-Fi: “On some level, it was explaining my pilgrimage from unbelief to a robust faith in Christ!” Even more, Science Fiction often presents shadows of the Gospel. I’m not saying that these reflections are “saving,” as if you were able to receive and believe their messages by faith. But these messages often “get it right,” revealing “Eternal Truths” from God.
In this Blog Series I hope to explore the underlying emotions, beliefs and motives that inspire Sci-Fi Creators to write, develop and produce the TV Programs, Movies and Books that entertain us. Whether they do so knowingly, or are clueless as to their own motivations, many Sci-Fi dramas present Eternal Truths. To me the important question is: Why do these Eternal Truths so fascinate us? It’s as though we are drawn to them. I am by no means the first writer to observe this phenomenon. I think I first became aware of this after reading a book review about Robert Short’s: “The Gospel From Outer Space.” The author makes the case that “Eternal Gospel Truths” often find their way into the modern Sci-Fi genres. Two examples: E.T.s death and resurrection, and using the name “Adamma” (Hebrew for Adam) for the Commander in Battlestar Galactica. We’ll see that the references made are often from Biblical Truths. Some of these shows are written and produced by men influenced by the Mormon faith, but more often than not, it’s just the “cries of the human heart” that match Biblical themes. I think my favorite example of a Pseudo Christ is E.T. the Extra Terrestrial, in which this kind-hearted creature from another world comes here looking for a relationship – and ends up bonding with a boy named Elliot on a spiritual level. E.T. actually dies, and is resurrected with power from that other world, only to return home. And as E.T. leaves Elliot, he gives him a request – that in his absence “Be Good.”
And while Robert Short’s book was written in 1983, since then many other Sci-Fi productions have also latched onto Biblical Themes, including: Close Encounters, Avatar, and even The Matrix. In each of these movies there is a “Pseudo Savior or a Pilgrim setting out on a quest to find and know God.” For this series I would like to concentrate on the general themes that propelled both the TV Series listed above, and a variety of Sci-Fi movies to teach lessons about God, Life, Death and the Human Struggle. Make no mistake, there is always a Human Struggle happening. Even here in the United States – where we have developed benevolent systems of human governance, prosperity itself presents men and women in the West with another set of struggles and temptations. Truth be told, Sci-Fi, just like all other forms of Art, succeed because they touch on “timeless themes” which resonate within the men and women who also participate in this “struggle.” The very name “Sci-Fi” helps explain the focus on Science, Learning and Education. So, for this series, I’d like to concentrate on a few very important Lessons that continue to capture the beliefs, fears, hopes and dread that speak to men and women through Sci-Fi – and apply some eternal truths from God’s Word:
Men – especially modern men have developed an “enduring faith in our ability to reason and know,” that is, “to use science to save ourselves from the plagues and pains of the Fall,” hoping to conquer death with immortality.
At the same time, modern man is almost phobic about our inability to control science and the creations of our own hands. Like Frankenstein’s Monster, we fear our quest to save ourselves and create Utopia, will end in disaster.
Along with this “desire to know,” men hold the false belief that Evolution has man on a trajectory ultimately ending in perfection, full knowledge and understanding. This is the temptation of our first parents to “be like God!”
Sci-Fi dramas show that Superior Intelligence is logical, heartless, powerful and cruel, while Lower Intelligence fosters petty emotions like violence, brutality and sadism. Other-World Intelligent Life also views Compassion, Kindness, Empathy and Love as human flaws. But, in a schizophrenic fit, it’s always Love that wins out in the end!
Even though modern man emphatically and scientifically proclaims a disbelief in a personal “evil,” in Sci-Fi Movies and TV, evil is always a very real and present danger – not only on earth, but throughout the galaxy!
Sci-Fi programs display a belief in the basic goodness in man, then the next minute reveal selfish ambitions and weaknesses in both Men and Aliens – a “fallen nature” – preventing paradise on earth or anywhere in the Galaxy!
Even though men and women proclaim ignorance of having offended any god or divine being, there is often an underlying sense of guilt and impending judgment in many Sci-Fi dramas.
While men never seem to get it right, our Sci-Fi dramas often reveal God’s ultimate purpose in their conclusions. Even if we try to ignore Him, the God of Heaven is like the 1,000-pound-gorilla always sitting in the room with us.
Our Sci-Fi dramas often have an all-powerful Savior, a type of Messiah or Anointed One who is sought to for the power to heal, remedy and ultimately save from death. This explains Sci-Fi’s preoccupation with Super Heroes!
Sci-Fi often envisions an idyllic world wherein “sin and death” give way to a “life of order” through a divine rule.
In our blindness, men and women are convinced that “we are right.” Yet we are still paranoid that our beliefs about Science, God and Life are wrong. And we are really troubled that the Traditional Beliefs we reject, are all True! We are worried sick (as popular Movies and TV dramas reveal) that our error will be exposed.
There i a “deep-seated belief” expressed in many Sci-Fi Movies & TV, that “there is something or someone – some benevolent force out there – who knows all the answers to the questions that plague mankind.”
There is also a “deep-seated belief” in an evil presence in the universe, intent on doing harm and destruction to all living things – including humanity.
Sci-Fi Movies and TV endow “Love” with an almost divine quality, making it the greatest power in the Universe.
I won’t cover every one of these 14 Themes individually; many will be combined in future Blogs. But I hope to use specific Sci-Fi Movie and TV dramas to capture these themes, and interact with them Biblically. This blog series will show what both David and Paul have taught us in Scripture:
“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. They have no speech; they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world” (Psalm 19:1-4).
“Since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles” (Romans 1:19-22).
We’ll start the next blog in this series with one of my favorite old “black and white” Sci-Fi movies: “The Day the Earth Stood Still,” starring Michael Rennie and Patricia Neal. Many of the 14 Themes above are on full display in this vintage Sci-Fi drama. And what makes it very special is: In its own way “The Day the Earth Stood Still” mirrors a “gospel message” – not the true Biblical version – but a “Gospel from Outer Space.” I think you’ll agree that the uncanny parallels to the Biblical Gospel, reflected in this movie, can’t be accidental. I’m not saying that the Writers, Director, Producer or Actors were trying to present the Gospel of Jesus Christ. No, they are proclaiming many of the confusing messages from above. What I am saying is: They just can’t help themselves! In more ways than you can imagine, the Gospel and our underlying need for a Savior are present with every one of Adams’ fallen children.
Soli Deo Gloria!
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