Christian Science Fiction - Influences

Influences

While earlier works such as Victor Rousseau's The Messiah of the Cylinder (1917) are regarded as part of the Christian science fiction subgenre, John Mort argues that the most influential Christian science fiction author was C. S. Lewis, a "prolific writer who wrote works of Christian science fiction and theology for the average person." In When World Views Collide: A Study in Imagination and Evolution, John J. Pierce presents the argument that Lewis was partially writing in response to what Lewis saw as "Wellsianity"—an "anthropocentric evolutionary mythology"—which he came to view as both false and blasphemous, condemning H. G. Wells' world view through works such as Out of the Silent Planet. While the extent to which Lewis' influence varies, Mort points in particular to Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time as a Christian science fiction work which, as he puts it, cannot be read "without being reminded of Lewis' Narnia stories." (Of course, Narnia was fantasy rather than science fiction, but Mort is noting the similarities in style and execution of the story.) Other early authors identified by Mort as being influences upon the development of Christian science fiction include J. R. R. Tolkien, George MacDonald and Charles Williams. (Although, again, these writers worked in fantasy, their influence on Christian science fiction is clear, Mort argues.)