A 2003 Vatican report on “the complex phenomenon of ‘New Age,’” which is influencing many aspects of contemporary culture.

This article by James L. Ford, assistant religion professor at Wake Forest University, appeared in the October 2000 issue of The Journal of Religion & Film.

Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard was also a science fiction writer. Read an overview of the movement’s development (posted by the Religious Movements Homepage Project at the University of Virginia), beginning with its launch after an article in Astounding Science Fiction magazine in 1950 promoted Hubbard’s book Dianetics.

The interfaith website adherents.com maintains a page that documents religious references in science fiction writing. It also keeps track of the religious affiliation of science fiction writers. According to this list, there are more Mormon science fiction writers than there are science fiction writers of any other single religion.

An article on publishers’ perspectives on religion in science fiction by Kimberly Winston (Publishers Weekly, April 16, 2001). Don’t miss the sidebar about the connection of science fiction to Mormonism.

Russell W. Dalton is professor of religious education at Texas Christian University’s Brite Divinity School in Fort Worth, where he teaches a course on faith and film. Dalton is the author of Marvelous Myths: Marvel Superheroes and Everyday Faith and Faith Journey Through Fantasy Lands: A Christian Dialogue with Harry Potter, Star Wars and The Lord of […]

Reg Grant is a professor of pastoral ministries and director of the Media Arts and Worship Program at Dallas Theological Seminary. He has an interest in media as a writer, producer and actor and frequently comments on spirituality. He can speak about the connection between comic book heroes and religion, the Star Wars film series’ Buddhist-style philosophy in the context […]

The Rev. Ed McNulty is a retired Presbyterian minister and publisher of Visual Parables, a journal that examines faith in films, and the author of Jesus Christ: Movie Star. He can talk about the Star Wars canon from a theological perspective.

Ted Baehr is founder and chairman of the Christian Film and Television Commission, a ministry that publishes Movieguide: The Family Guide to Movies and Entertainment, which advises Christians about popular culture offerings, including science fiction films.