Mary Doria Russell is a novelist whose 1997 book The Sparrow is about first contact with intelligent aliens and the Jesuit priest who is part of an expedition to their planet. The book and its sequel, Children of God, deals with how the contact changes theology. She lives near Cleveland.

Christopher McMahon is associate professor of theology at St. Vincent College in Latrobe, Pa. Much of his research focuses on the Gospels, Christian doctrine and Catholic theology. He wrote “Imaginative Faith: Apocalyptic Theory, Science Fiction and Theology” in the Journal of Theology Dialogue.