More Christian science fiction

On the right is another book of Christian speculative science fiction. It is an anthology that tackles the implications of various “taken-for-granted” science fiction conventions as seen through Christian eyes. Frankly, most “Christian” science fiction is really a type of allegory. Even C.S. Lewis’ space trilogy is really allegory in the guise of space soap opera. Now, I really liked that trilogy, and the third book of the trilogy particularly forecast some of the nuttiness you see in the politically correct movement. Nevertheless, it is not true science fiction.

So, here are some interesting issues for you to consider. Right now, science has already figured out how to do some simple cross-species gene transfers. But, what happens when it becomes possible to genetically construct true “artificials,” that is, sentient beings that are such a cross of animal/human genes that one can physically see the animal “background” of the created sentient being? Does that sentient being have a soul? To what level does sentience have to rise in order for an “artificial” to no longer be classified as an animal? Lest you think that I have watched too many Trek movies, let me remind you that President George W. Bush felt constrained to issue an executive rule prohibiting experimentation into splicing animal and human genes, because the advances in gene technology even 3 years ago (2006 when Pres. Bush talked about it) already pointed to such a possibility in the very near future.

But, it can quickly get more esoteric if one actually starts to consider the available science fiction literature. What happens to the soul when a teleporter takes a human body apart, converts it into waves and “rebuilds” the human body from encoded information when those waves are received at the other teleporter? Does the soul “travel” in and with the waves, or does it begin the “death” journey only to be yanked back, or . . . ?

In his science fiction trilogy, C.S. Lewis avoided one subject by simply deciding that only the human race was fallen. But, what if we encounter alien races that are also fallen? And, what if they have a religion very similar to Christianity, complete with claims of a Trinity, a redeemer, forgiveness, and a life of love and service? Could God have gone to more than one fallen race with more than one manifestation of the Redeemer? Lest you think I am verging on heresy, that is precisely what C.S. Lewis proposed in his book Peralandra. Had the primeval couple of Peralandra fallen, despite Ransome’s efforts, the angels hint that a much more difficult and darker road to redemption  than the one on Earth would have been undertaken by the Second Person of the Trinity. [Mind you, because of the universal statements of the Gospel, I tend to favor one, and only one, manifestation of the Redeemer for the entire universe, but C.S. Lewis would not have agreed with me on that.]

So, you see, the type of speculative science fiction that these authors are exploring also helps us to explore better what we believe about God and about the possibilities with which God might be presenting us. It also helps us to think about what we mean by human, and what human might mean for Christianity if serious cloning and gene splicing begin to take place during our very lifetime. And, by the way, that question about ” to what level does sentience have to rise . . .” also has implications for babies such as Gov. Sara Palin’s youngest. You see, if we start splicing human and animal genes to produce “artificials,” the question of sentience crosses right over into the pro-life questions. But, it brings up the nasty question about how many human genes does it take for us to consider an “artificial” to be a fellow human? And, uhm, that question may not be all that far in our future! There are very current experiments in which human insulin genes, etc, are being spliced into bacterium to produce injectable products for humans. Possible human Down Syndrome genes are being spliced into rats to see if cures for Down Syndrome can be developed. So, how many human genes does it take for an animal to be entitled to pro-life protections? Or do we go with level of sentience? Heh heh, it is not just speculative science fiction, is it?

But, here is a fun question for all of you. Of the major divisions of Christianity: Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Protestant, Anglican, Pentecostal, non-aligned Independents, which do you think would be most able to adapt if the future does hold space travel, other worlds, and, yes, aliens? Which divisions of Christianity would be most likely to collapse in such a future?  And, in honor of the two books I have featured, what might Christianity look like in a multiple world human reality? Please explain your opinon, but, uhm, please do not write a thesis.