Fantastical Truth

Do your children or teens have the strange superpower of speeding through dozens more fantastical books than you could ever hope to read first? In this episode, based on workshops taught at homeschool conferences around the country, E. Stephen Burnett explores the biblical and practical reasons we actually need fantasy, sci-fi, and other stories that offer many idols yet also graces. Subscribe to...

This year we’re seeing a lot of new energy around the idea that Christians and church-curious people (who are not always Christians!) need new stories that are not infected by false religion. Meanwhile, Christian-made fantasy fans, including Lorehaven, are finding new growth of interest in these kinds of stories. Could this lead to a “golden age” of Christian-made fantastical fic...

If your church has a bookstore or lending library, you’ll probably find lots of nonfiction in there, such as Christian living resources, Bible studies, and discipleship material. But we know people also get their discipleship training through stories and songs. Almost every church has the songs covered, with singing in worship and maybe a whole ministry team devoted to music. But should chur...

Resurrection Sunday has returned, and sometimes Christians can’t help but miss the wonder that Christ has literally conquered death and raised himself to eternal life, and that He has promised to do the same for everyone who trusts exclusively in Him. In this episode we will explore this most fantastical of all truths with returning guest star Tim Chaffey, content director for Answers in Gen...

Were we too early? Just last month we explored why Christians feel fed-up with secular fantasy franchises, with The Daily Wire culture reporter Megan Basham. Weeks later, activists leaked audio from inside The Walt Disney Company, revealing how creators want to use Disney stories to preach sexual revolution religion to children. Parents are getting upset. Many want to cancel their Disney World vac...

We just hosted our Lorehaven booth at the Teach Them Diligently conference in Texas. It was amazing. We had James R. Hannibal, author of Wolf Soldier and the showrunner of the Lightraiders game franchise. We had Jamie Foley, who writes books for Fayette Press as well as doing marketing for Enclave Publishing. And we had our cohosts doing multiple interviews with other homeschooling publishers, aut...

What if you were an ambulance-chasing lawyer, desperate for relevance and cash, until aliens hire you to represent them before the United Nations? They want to heal every human disease in exchange for 30 percent of Earth’s gold, which turns you into the target for not only big pharmaceutical companies, but the aliens themselves. That’s the world of Maxine Justice: Galactic Attorney , l...

This is a special book. It was a book many of our forefathers used to read to us, and now we’re going to explore it with you. Has it got any sports in it? Fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love, miracles! Ah yes, and Christian allegory—infamous and misunderstood Christian allegory. Yet it’s well worth rediscovering especially in our age of dra...

Christians have deep differences about ideas and people. Yes, it’s true! For nearly 2,000 years of Church history, we’ve argued about salvation, end times, baptism, and beyond—including fantastical stories. If Christians didn’t argue about stuff, you wouldn’t be listening now. But now over social media, it feels like Christians are battling even more fiercely about politics...

Now that we’ve hit 100 episodes, we’re time-traveling back to the top episodes of Fantastical Truth. From UFOs to biblical imagination, to dragons versus televangelists, we’ll explore the big ideas our listeners have loved the most, and catch up with any updates about these explorations. Subscribe to Lorehaven articles • news • library • reviews • podcast • gifts • guild Episode sponsors The Testi...

Lately many fans have been yelling about Amazon’s The Rings of Power ( TROP ). And Star Wars . And Star Trek . Also Marvel and DC and Doctor Who besides. What for? Aren’t we fans of these fantastical franchises? Yes, but some of us are getting tired of them: not only fan toxicity, but too much content, too many worldly agendas, and possibly too little time. Aren’t Christians mean...

“You’re about to travel to a place of wonder, excitement, and discovery …” If those words just gave you some nostalgic chills, you’re in for a treat; and if you didn’t recognize them, you might find a secret history of Christian discipleship through a fantastical drama you never knew. Today we are exploring a top-tier, formative Christian-made audio adventure se...

Happy Valentine’s Day! ‘Tis the season for love, in reality and in fiction. This means we can enter “safe” and “family-friendly” territory, right? Well, in fact, romance tales raise all kinds of controversies and temptations. For example, a certain new movie sought to offer onscreen sensual content in a “redemptive” way. We’ve already talked about the problems with exploiting actors for visu...

Let’s bust a myth today. Among some Christians eager to engage stories in the real world, it’s a big myth: Long ago, Christians and publishing companies lived together in harmony. Then, everything changed when evangelicals got fearful and/or legalistic, so they chose to leave the big publishers and start their own Christian publishers. Only the coming Avatar of Christian Creativity, ma...

What if you were growing up in your snug little elm-tree home in the woods, with a loving father, mother, and two little rabbit siblings? Also, you were a rabbit? What if then your home was invaded by wolves and you ended up on the run? Then you joined the rabbit resistance, sworn to honor and protect others “till the Green Ember rises, or the end of the world”? We’ll explore thi...

Even when you’re doing a smaller podcast, you get to meet some famous people. How much more so when you’re blessed to attend conferences and engage Christian creators via the interwebs. This brings many temptations—among them, the temptation of treating famous creators like angels, or like devils, when of course they are very much human. In the world of fandom by Christians and often f...

The Wheel of Time turns, and ages come and pass leaving memories that become legend, then fade to myth. In one age, called 2022, the Wheel of Time TV show recently concluded season 1. Yet this season finale of this show was not an end, because there are no beginnings or endings in the Wheel of Time. But it was an ending—an ending of the hopes of many. For it shall come to pass that what men made s...

Last year at this time, Lorehaven went all-digital: new articles every month, podcasts on Tuesdays, reviews on Fridays, plus news updates and other resources to help Christian fans explore fantastical stories for God’s glory. Today, we’re exploring which stories made the biggest impact on you, and catch up with the story creators who react to your reactions. Subscribe to Lorehaven arti...

Fantastical Truth from Lorehaven has begun season 3! As we exit the holidays, we’re echoing another livestream replay from earlier this month. Marian Jacobs and James R. Hannibal join us again, not just to discern the nonsense and nastiness in fantasy stories, but to thank God for the chance to find great stories and receive them with thanksgiving and holiness. That’s our mission at Lorehaven, esp...

“I amar prestar sen … han mathon ne nen … han mathon ne chae … a han noston ned wilith.” Well, it’s some form of Elvish. In the Common Tongue, it reads, “ The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring film released twenty years ago this month. So don’t you feel older than a Dúnedain ranger?” This film truly changed our world forever. Now we...

What if horses could breathe fire? What if other horses could swim in the ocean, or vanish into the shadows, or rain lightning from the sky? Or, if you’re human, what if you were a king’s daughter in a Rohan-like kingdom, exiled from the palace to guard the borders—and then your land was invaded? Naturally, author Gillian Bronte Adams can answer these questions, in her new novel from E...

Mr. and Mrs. Evangelical, of number 316, Piety Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. Then their children (some of whom supposed they had been living in a cupboard under the stairs) learned about a world of witches, wizards, and schools for both: J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series. Now, twenty years after the first Potterverse film premiered in theate...

Tales for teens-and-older show us fabulous worlds and fantastic heroes. Yet people can twist these powerful gifts to serve insidious evils. In this episode we replay a livestream from the RealmSphere, featuring Lorehaven’s E. Stephen Burnett, James R. Hannibal, and Marian Jacobs, wielding faith over fear to battle fiends. Subscribe to Lorehaven articles • library • reviews • podcast • gifts Episod...

Christians love engaging fantastical worlds, right down to the real world Jesus calls us to serve. But what kind of world do we truly engage? Do we live in an amazing “positive world,” where most people think Christianity is great? Or do we live in a world that’s neutral toward Christianity—or even a world where most people despise our faith? Our answer helps us stay realistic ye...

“Keep the spice flowing.” “I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer.” New fantasy-fandom catchphrase unlocked! Yes, like a lot of you, we’ve found Dune , the movie, the book, the fandom we’d somehow missed all this time. Just like a young man discovering his purpose on a desert planet, new fandoms can be amazing, yet also come with a few dangers slithering below...