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In Mary Doria Russel's novel, The Sparrow, transmissions made by intelligent life from a distant planet are detected on Earth. The Society of Jesus commissions a mission, headed by Jesuit priest Emilio Sandoz to the planet. Sandoz is praised by his peers for having exceptionally strong faith in God despite his rough upbringing in the slums of Puerto Rico. In the opening chapter, some background is given on the Jesuit order: "Everything about the history of the Society of Jesus bespoke deft and efficient action, exploration and research." (1) Also, the reason for the Jesuits' interest in space exploration is given: "They went so that they might come to know and love God's other children." (1)
1. Religion can be depicted as a driving force behind scientific progress.
2. Religion can be portrayed as a hindrance to scientific study.
3. Religious stories can be told from a scientific perspective.
Like Sandoz, Elizabeth Shaw from Ridley Scott’s film, Prometheus, is motivated by a desire to be closer to God’s other creatures. Shaw, who wears a crucifix, believes that another race of beings is responsible for generating life on Earth. When another scientist questions the validity of her theory, she admits that she holds her belief due to faith rather than hard evidence. Although Shaw is a scientific researcher who flies on a space ship, she realizes that some beliefs must be taken on faith, whether that belief is in the biblical story of creation or that aliens populated earth with life.
Religion and science share a fundamental goal: to explain how the world works. This is why religious themes appear frequently in science fiction; some works depict religion as a driving force behind scientific study, whereas some portray religion as a hindrance to progress, and others still tell a religious story from a scientific perspective.
Asimov, Isaac. "The Last Answer." Thrivenotes.com, n.d. Web. April 2014.
Asimov, Isaac. "The Last Question." MultiVAX, n.d. Web. April 2014.
Card, Orson S. "An Interview with Orson Scott Card." Interview by Moira Allen. An Interview with Orson Scott Card. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2014. <http://www.writing- world.com/sf/card.shtml>.
Clarke, Arthur C. "The Nine Billion Names of God." n.d. Web. April 2014. <http://letras.cabaladada.org/letras/nine_billion_names.pdf>
Forster, E.M. "The Machine Stops." Classicly.com, n.d. Web April 2014
The Fountain. Dir. Darren Aronofsky and Kent Williams. Perf. Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz. Warner Bros., 2006. Online.
Fulljames, Peter, Harry M. Gibson, and Leslie J. Francis. "Creationism, Scientism, Christianity, and Science: A Study in Adolescent Attitudes." British Educational Research Journal 17.2 (1991): 171-90. JSTOR. Web. 30 Mar. 2014.
Prometheus. Dir. Ridley Scott. Perf. Noomi Rapace and Michael Fassbender. 20th Century Fox., 2012. Online.
Russell, Mary Doria. The Sparrow. New York: Villard, 1996. Print.
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In Arthur C. Clarke's "The Nine Billion Names of God," a Tibetan monastery enlists an engineering firm to utilize their "automatic sequencing computer" in order to write down all of the names of God, which is, according to the monks, God’s purpose for creating humans. Even though the engineers think the Monks are crazy, they accept the task and modify their computer to return all the possible names of God, after which the purpose for human life is over. Although it results in the end of the world, the monks’ religious quest also promotes the innovation of technology.
The parallels and inconsistencies between science and religion make them interesting to compare, contrast, and merge within works of speculative fiction; this is why nearly all science fiction works contain religious themes somewhere. The three main ways in which religion is used as a plot device in science fiction are as a motivation for scientific exploration, as a limitation to scientific exploration, and as a familiar story that can be altered and looked at through a different perspective.
“The Last Question” addresses what happens after the universe dies. Another Isaac Asimov short story, “The Last Answer,” also examines the uncertainty of what happens after death, an essential question of religious study. The story opens with the passing of a scientist, Murray, who observes his own lifeless body from above. Murray’s “soul” is then joined by another being, known as the Voice (analogous to the AC from the previous story). The Voice explains to Murray he is conscious because the Voice has constructed a “nexus of electromagnetic forces” that mirrors Murray’s formerly living brain. He also states that not all who die have the opportunity to remain conscious. The lucky ones are constructed to think about anything and everything for all eternity so that the Voice can continue to collect data, while the not-so-lucky ones simply cease to exist. Which option is heaven and which is hell is up for interpretation, but either way, one is forced to think about the idea of an afterlife through a scientific lens rather than a religious or spiritual one.
Eventually, all humans are dead, and the Microvac, now known as AC, has collected all data that it possibly can. It then organizes these data into a program, and the story concludes: “And the AC said, ‘LET THERE BE LIGHT!’ And there was light—“(11). In the book of Genesis, it is with these words that God puts the universe into existence. This is evidently an alternate interpretation of the book of Genesis in which God is actually a computer and the world is a computer simulation.
Another story that borrows from the book of Genesis is Isaac Asimov’s short story, “The Last Question.” The story begins with the description of a self-adjusting, adaptive computer called the Microvac, spanning trillions and trillions of years. Over these years, humans wonder: what will happen after the stars burn out and the universe begins to experience a vast heat death? And is it possible to reverse the process? Or, phrased differently, “how can the net amount of entropy of the universe be massively decreased?” Each successive generation asks this question of the Microvac, and each time it responds “INSUFFICIENT DATA FOR A MEANINGFUL ANSWER”(3) or something along those lines.
Although The Fountain is a portrayal of 15th century Catholicism as backwards and draconian, it is also a religious story told through a scientific lens. While the conquistador (played by Hugh Jackman) searches for the tree of life in one timeline, a neurosurgeon (also Hugh Jackman) in another timeline is frantically searching for a brain cancer treatment to save his dying wife when his research team stumbles upon the astounding medical properties of a “botanical specimen” from Central America. The viewer is led to believe that this specimen is the same tree that the conquistador is looking for, and it is the same tree that God put in the Garden of Eden for Adam and Eve. Both Hugh Jackmans want to utilize the same tree to save their respective love interests; the neurosurgeon’s quest is rooted in scientific inquiry, whereas the conquistador’s is rooted in religious faith.