SF author Philip José Farmer passed away in his sleep this morning, aged 91. Farmer has long been a favorite of mine, largely as a result of his Riverworld series, about an alien-designed afterlife wherein everyone who ever lived is resurrected along the banks of a river 10 million miles long. Religious themes cropped up frequently in his writing, perhaps most notably in the Father Carmody stories and the novel Jesus on Mars. His best stories were spirited blends of philosophical depth with old-fashioned fun, and he will be missed.
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The Gospel According to Science Fiction: From the Twilight Zone to the Final Frontier by Gabriel Mckee
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- Android Dreams: Philip K. Dick and Ridley Scott's Replicant Futures @ Cornell University
The web version of an exhibit I curated for Cornell University's Divison of Rare & Manuscript Collections. - Articles and blog posts at Religion Dispatches
Including reviews of Cloverfield, American Virgin, Funny Games, and Rambo, to name a few. - SF Gospel: Full Archives
August 2006 to present. - The Gospel According to Science Fiction: From the Twilight Zone to the Final Frontier
Available now from Westminster-John Knox - Pink Beams of Light from the God in the Gutter: The Science-Fictional Religion of Philip K. Dick
Exploring the religious ideas that drove the greatest mind in science fiction. - The End of the World, Again (Plus a Cute Kid) @ The Revealer
An examination of the links between the apocalyptic horror film The Omen and evangelical apocalypticism. - Sex and the Single Superhero @ Nerve
From Batman to the Green Goblin, the most scandalous sex scenes in comics. - Self-Amusement Park @ Misplaced Planet
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February 25, 2009
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Hi Gabriel,
Even the skeptic and ex-Christian Martin Gardner loved PJF. See Gardner's book, The Whys of a Philosophical Scrivener where he mentions PJF's view of an eternal soul in a positive fashion. Gardner was an unusual skeptic in that he believed in God and prayer by not psychic phenomena nor Christianity. He was also simultaneously a fan of both Chesterton and H.G. Wells. I say "was" but Gardner last I heard was still kicking and living out west. Interesting fellow. His book, The Whys of a Philosophical Scrivener was replied to by Raymond Smullyan's book, Who Knows?: A Study of Religious Consciousness. Both books make great reading.
PJF by the way also wrote some really weird sex-sci fi.
Posted by: Edward T. Babinski | March 02, 2009 at 04:26 AM
Also, do you read much James Morrow? I really have enjoyed some of his novels and short stories.
Posted by: Edward T. Babinski | March 02, 2009 at 04:30 AM
Even the skeptic and ex-Christian Martin Gardner loved PJF.
I wouldn't think that was surprising. Its my understanding that farmer was basically a skeptic himself---though one with a fascination with religion and mysticism (probably one of the reasons I like him, that fairly accuratedly describes me as well).
JESUS ON MARS is a book near the top of my "to buy" list. I'm looking forward to reading it.
Posted by: David Ellis | March 04, 2009 at 06:12 PM