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Holy Sci-Fi! Where Science Fiction and Religion Intersect
Author
Title
Holy Sci-Fi! [electronic resource] : Where Science Fiction and Religion Intersect / by Paul J. Nahin.
ISBN
9781493906185
Publication
New York, NY : Springer New York : Imprint: Springer, 2014.
Physical Description
XVIII, 224 p. 8 illus., 3 illus. in color : online resource.
Local Notes
Access is available to the Yale community.
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Access restricted by licensing agreement.
Summary
Can a computer have a soul? Are religion and science mutually exclusive? Is there really such a thing as free will? If you could time travel to visit Jesus, would you (and should you)? For hundreds of years, philosophers, scientists, and science fiction writers have pondered these questions and many more. In Holy Sci-Fi!, popular writer Paul Nahin explores the fertile and sometimes uneasy relationship between science fiction and religion. With a scope spanning the history of religion, philosophy, and literature, Nahin follows religious themes in science fiction from Feynman to Foucault, and from Asimov to Aristotle. An intriguing journey through popular and well-loved books and stories, Holy Sci-Fi! shows how sci-fi has informed humanity's attitudes towards our faiths, our future, and ourselves.
Variant and related titles
Springer ebooks.
Other formats
Printed edition:
Format
Books / Online
Language
English
Added to Catalog
May 07, 2014
Series
Science and Fiction,
Contents
1. Introduction
Author’s Note One
God and Skepticism
God, Fantasy, and Science Fiction
God and Science
Author’s Note Two
2. Religious Science Fiction Before Science Fiction
The 'Start' of Modern SF
Before the 'Start' of SF
Early Theological SF
Theological Maturity
3. Time, Space, God's Omniscience, and Free Will
What is Time?
Time in SF and Theology
The Four-Dimensional World
The Block Universe
God's Omniscience in Theology and SF
4. Religious Robots
Alan Turing, Artificial Minds, and the Souls of Machines
Asimov’s Robotic Laws
Robots and God
5. Computers as God
Computers as Local Gods
Computers as Planet-Wide Gods
Computers as Known Universe Gods
6. Space Travel, Radio, and Alien Encounters
The Fiction of Interstellar Space Travel
Theology and Early Fictional Alien Encounters
Interstellar Radio Messages
Direct Encounters
7. Time Traveling to Jesus
Time Travel: Fact or Fantasy
Theology and the Past
Jesus and Time Travelers
Quantum Mechanics and God
8. What if God Revealed Himself?
Not So Serious Speculations
The End of It All
Appendix 1: Matching Wits with 'God'
Appendix 2: (fantasy) "Some Things Just Have to Be Done By Hand!" and "The Next Time Around"
Appendix 3: (science fiction): "A Father's Gift"
Appendix 4: "Applied Mathematical Theology" (Gregory Benford)
Appendix 5: "Gravity's Whispers" (Gregory Benford)
Bibliography of Short Stories Cited.
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