Fantastical Truth

Freedom! We all say we believe in this. No one’s out there saying “down with that sort of thing.” But how does the Bible define freedom and how do Christian fantasy fans find this virtue reflected and challenged in our favorite fictions? With cohost Zack Russell taking to the free roads this July, Stephen takes over the studio, launching for a solo show about Galatians 5:13 and o...

Last month we heard some mighty and seemingly impossible news about human life. That means government leaders, especially in the United States, will probably focus more on human life. But what about supposed life that is not human? Yes, we’re talking about them aliens. This May the U.S. Congress held a hearing about evidence for UFOs, or lack thereof. They had expert witnesses and non-revela...

You might remember our promise to explore whether humans will colonize the cosmos before Christ returns. And we intend to fulfill that vow—at a future date. Really, we should have promised, “Unless, say, some big news happens between now and then.” Well, big news dropped on June 24. For more about that, see other podcasts! Today on Fantastical Truth, we will instead explore fantastical...

So many books. So little time. And often, so little space. You are mortal, with little control over time and space for your books. How then do you both store and creatively feature the fantastical stories you’ve collected? Lorehaven fans and staff creators have found many methods, and today we’re going to share some of our techniques for building your own fantastical lending library. S...

Homeschoolers. We often talk of them at Lorehaven. That’s because so many homeschool families love Christian-made fantastical stories. But of course, this ’twas not always so. Like some Christians before and now, some families have not been so happy about fantasy and sci-fi, and others have been downright hostile about them. What changed? Why are these families flocking to Christian fa...

Stephen has returned from a busy and then restful weekend. Next time we will recap his Florida event with Realm Makers Bookstore. But first let’s open our Bibles and review the Lorehaven faith statement, which we updated at the turn of this year. In a world of confusion about reality and imagination, how do we at Lorehaven strive to uphold the holy Scripture? Subscribe to Lorehaven articles...

What if the government had a device that provided a vivid, dreamlike access to your memories? What if it allowed you to remove traumatic events from your past? How might such a device further the human condition, or corrupt it? Would you trust Uncle Sam with the deepest parts of your mind? Subscribe to Lorehaven articles • news • library • reviews • podcast • gifts • guild Episode sponsors Realm M...

What if you had a water buffalo, like everybody’s got? But you couldn’t find your hairbrush? And your Swiss veterinarian wouldn’t stop yodeling, while you sang love songs to your cheeseburger? And then to jump universes, you found two salt-preserved squirrels in a cave by the Dead Sea, and tried to sneak them home, but then they came to life? One man has helped create all this fa...

Our world is “a very nasty place. Full of—enemies.” Christians don’t want to be sheltered and sentimentalist, hiding from the reality of our grimdark world. At the same time, our victorious Lord calls us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. How can fantastical stories, about heroes versus villains, help us train to show love to our enemies even if we must figh...

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...