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Fantastical Truth

Arts & Culture Podcasts

Lorehaven explores fantastical stories for God’s glory: fantasy, sci-fi, and beyond.

Location:

United States

Description:

Lorehaven explores fantastical stories for God’s glory: fantasy, sci-fi, and beyond.

Twitter:

@lorehaven

Language:

English


Episodes
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293. How is ‘Adventures in Odyssey’ Making an Animated Film?

12/23/2025
Earlier this month, and just in time for Christmas, Focus on the Family made a fun announcement: an upcoming theatrical adaptation of Adventures in Odyssey. Dubbed Journey Into The Impossible, this 3D animated film will explore the town of Odyssey before the establishment of Whit’s End. What kinds of adventures will a young John Avery Whittaker enjoy? (This special episode was recorded live.) Episode sponsors Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie QueenA Faie Tale by Vince MancusoMYTH: Reign of the Immortals by J. F. Nickens Mission update ‘Stranger Things’ Season Five Gives Weight to Parents’ FearsSubscribe freejoin the Lorehaven Guild Quotes and notes ‘Adventures in Odyssey’ Goes to the Movies? ‘Adventures in Odyssey’ Goes to the Movies? Adventures in OdysseyJourney into the ImpossibleAdventures in Odyssey Next on Fantastical Truth “In one cataclysmic moment, millions around the world disappear.” Jesus returned thirty years ago. Or rather, He sort of pre-returned, the warm-up act, if you will. Many faithful Christians believe in this kind of “rapture.” And in December 1995, two authors teamed up and used this idea to create the most successful biblical end-times thriller we’ve yet seen. Last summer, we looked back on the Left Behind series legacy. Yet now we’ll ask how that first Left Behind novel has aged, thirty years after its release.

Duration:01:06:50

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292. How Can Christians Confront Fiction Legalists?

12/16/2025
“We do not celebrate Christmas that way.” “We do not read those kinds of books.” “We ‘do not handle, do not taste, do not touch.’” We know our world is full of rebellion against God’s law. But many people overreact to moral license with a strict imposing of out-of-context or made-up laws. Faithful saints call this legalism, and Christian fantasy fans know plenty about this. When that influencer or relative rebukes your fantastical interest, how you can respond with grace and truth? Mission update RuthlessShadowcastSubscribe freejoin the Lorehaven Guild Quotes and notes What Is Fiction Legalism?Even If We Like Fantasy and Sci-Fi, We Can Still Practice Accidental Legalism50. Do Christians Really Need Fiction? | Fiction’s Chief End, part 1 1. Legalism denies the word of God itself. that 2. Legalism denies the good of God’s gifts. 3. And legalism denies God’s real world. down here Com station Top question for listeners When did you confront a fiction legalist? How did you respond? tallgrant liked ep. 290 on YouTube: Happy to see this covered, and even happier to get the other half in the Abolition of Man at least touched on! The position Lewis takes about a very small ruling class who make decisions about all of morality for everyone who comes after very much aligns with the ultimate revealed mission of the N.I.C.E. Not to mention the issues being raised about where a potential soul can come from. I find his look at the outworking and consequences of post-modern thought and reasoning really intriguing, considering that this was all put to paper before the conclusion of the second world war and the mass dissemination of those ideas outside the academic world. Next on Fantastical Truth “In one cataclysmic moment, millions around the world disappear.” Jesus returned thirty years ago. Or rather, He sort of pre-returned, the warm-up act, if you will. Many faithful Christians believe in this kind of “rapture.” And in December 1995, two authors teamed up and used this idea to create the most successful biblical end-times thriller we’ve yet seen. Last summer, we looked back on the Left Behind series legacy. Yet now we’ll ask how that first Left Behind novel has aged, thirty years after its release.

Duration:01:00:30

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291. Twenty Years Ago, How Did the First Narnia Theatrical Film Get Made? | with Mark Joseph

12/9/2025
Well, we recently talked about the first Chronicle of Narnia … the book! Yet many fans found or rediscovered this series thanks to the Disney-distributed, Walden Media–made film from director Andrew Adamson. Want to feel old? That was two decades ago! So now we shall look back at Narnia’s journey to the box office with The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, which released twenty years ago on Dec. 9, 2005. Episode sponsors Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie QueenA Faie Tale by Vince MancusoMYTH: Reign of the Immortals by J. F. Nickens Mission update Netflix’s New ‘Frankenstein’ Reveals Why a Time-Shifted ‘Magician’s Nephew’ Film May WorkSubscribe freejoin the Lorehaven GuildStephen Lawhead’s fantasy novel Taliesin Backstory: Mark Joseph Mark Joseph is a music and film producer, author, columnist and founder of MJM Entertainment Group, a multi-faceted entertainment company with interests in film, publishing, music, TV production and film consulting. Joseph got his start in television as an anchor for NHK and CNN’s The Entertainment Report in the 1990’s and his company MJM produced documentaries and supervised the international release of over a hundred albums by various pop and rock artists. In addition to producing his own films, he oversees a marketing team that has marketed 75 films since 2001. From 2000-2005 he worked in development and marketing for Walden Media and Crusader Entertainment and oversaw a grassroots marketing team. He has served as a producer on 15 films, including Max Rose starring Jerry Lewis, The Vessel starring Martin Sheen, America, Japan: Searching For The Dream, Frank vs. God and others. Joseph is the author of four books including The Lion, The Professor & The Movies: Narnia’s Journey To The Big Screen and has been a regular contributor to publications like Forbes, The Hollywood Reporter, Variety, USA Today, The Huffington Post and FoxNews.com. He is currently a senior columnist for Newsweek and hosts the podcast The Mark Joseph Show. Most recently, he produced the film Reagan, starring Dennis Quaid and published the book Making REAGAN: A Memoir from the Producer of the REAGAN Movie. He also produced the film’s two soundtracks including songs from Bob Dylan, Clint Black, Gene Simmons of KISS, Tanya Tucker and others. Mark and his wife Kara have six children and reside in Southern California. YAF.org: Mark JosephFacebook: MJM Entertainment GroupInstagram: @markjoseph00The Lion, The Professor & The Movies: Narnia’s Journey To The Big ScreenMaking REAGAN: A Memoir from the Producer of the REAGAN Movie 1. Narnia’s journey from book to screen … The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe 2. … Through the winter of production … NY TimesLOTR The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe film released Dec. 9, 2005. 3. … And into the spring of fan acclaim The Magician’s Nephew Com station Top question for listeners The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe Terri Hamilton recalls her Narnia origin tale (ep. 289): I found the Narnia series in my school library when I was in 4th grade, and yes, they were in the proper order. It was a watershed moment for me. I bought myself a boxed set a few years later. Boy, did I look for portals! When I get into a discussion about the book order, I point out The Magician’s Nephew is a prequel, explaining the back story of the first book. Next on Fantastical Truth “We do not celebrate Christmas that way.” “We do not read those kinds of books.” “We ‘do not handle, do not taste, do not touch.’” We know our world is full of rebellion against God’s law. But many people overreact to moral license with a strict imposing of out-of-context or made-up laws. Faithful saints call this legalism, and Christian fantasy fans know plenty about this. When that social-media pastor rebukes your favorite sci-fi, or that relative raises a judgy eyebrow at holiday dinners, how you can respond with grace, truth, and love for legalists?

Duration:01:16:59

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290. Why Did C. S. Lewis Create a Pre-Political Supernatural Thriller?

12/2/2025
Long ago, before the great lion Aslan bounded onto bookshelves, C. S. Lewis wrote a science fiction novel set on mythological Mars. From there, the sequel carried Dr. Elwin Ransom by angels to the sister planet Venus. And from there … the Ransom/Cosmic/Space Trilogy descended to the dull world of corrupt college boards, inner-ring politics, and a secret technocracy bent on world domination with the aid of mad science and demons and everything. Eighty years after That Hideous Strength, we explore why C. S. Lewis created this earthbound and weird and wonderful pre-political supernatural thriller. Episode sponsors Sons of Day and Night by Mariposa AristeoA Faie Tale by Vince MancusoAbove the Circle of Earth by E. Stephen Burnett Mission update Josiah DeGraaf’s Sun Eater series articleSubscribe freejoin the Lorehaven Guild That hideously obscure front cover image. 1. The temptations to wield inner rings Hideous Strength 2. A not-so-N.I.C.E. secular technocracy pre-politicalbeneathmacrobes 3. Devils vs. power to demolish strongholds Hideous StrengthThe Screwtape Letterslanguageword“Qui Verbum Dei contempserunt, eis auferetur etiam verbum hominis.”“They that have despised the word of God, from them shall the word of man also be taken away.”That Hideous Strength Com station Top question for listeners Do you prefer demonic evil in fiction to be overt or subtle? Next on Fantastical Truth Well, we just talked about the first Chronicle of Narnia … the book! Yet many fans found or rediscovered this series thanks to the Disney-distributed, Walden Media–made film from director Andrew Adamson. Want to feel old? That was two decades ago! So now we shall look back at Narnia’s journey to the box office with The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, which released twenty years ago on Dec. 9, 2005.

Duration:01:14:48

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289. Seventy-Five Years Ago, How Did C. S. Lewis’s Fairy-Stories Change Fantasy Forever?

11/18/2025
“I don’t know where the Lion came from or why He came. But once He was there, He pulled the whole story together.”

Duration:00:58:06

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288. Did Christians Expect Cultural Engagement to Be Easy?

11/11/2025
Some evangelicals may assume winsome talk about stories and songs can promote peaceful conversations with our neighbors—only to face rage, slander, and worse.

Duration:01:16:00

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287. How Do Great Stories Help Us Defeat Monsters? | with Geoffrey Reiter

11/4/2025
As we wage the greatest battle against sin within, we also wield the weapons of weird fiction to combat evil in the real world.

Duration:01:00:27

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286. Can Demons Really ‘Possess’ Humans?

10/28/2025
Scripture and history indicate these wicked spirits do their worst work in response to human sin, weakness, and invitation.

Duration:01:08:53

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285. Do Some Fantasy Fans Seriously Identify with Demons?

10/21/2025
“Demons are simply monsters who have learned human speech. … For them, words are just a way of deceiving humans.”

Duration:01:02:32

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284. How Would Any Real Aliens Actually Invade Earth?

10/14/2025
Extraterrestrial devils could pull a classic and drop down from the sky, or rise up from our world's unexplored depths, or else creep into our very thought patterns.

Duration:01:21:57

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283. Why Are Female Fantasy Fans Falling in ‘Love’ With Monsters? | with Parker J. Cole

10/7/2025
Sometimes romantasy is deeply human and wholesome, and sometimes these tales exchange the glory of God for images resembling bulls, orcs, and aliens.

Duration:01:09:02

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282. How Can Creative Christians Prepare in Case of Revival?

9/30/2025
Whenever the Holy Spirit acts, ghouls shriek in the dark. Christians feel renewed. And public conversions get messy yet exciting to witness.

Duration:01:12:06

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281. How Do Books Teach Kids to Value Stories Over Screens? | with Carolyn Leiloglou

9/23/2025
The Restorationists fantasy author returns to help us recall the biblical purpose of artworks and how we help children learn to love them.

Duration:00:52:19

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280. What Can Men Do Against Such Reckless Hate?

9/16/2025
When we’re attacked by tragedy caused by evil beliefs, heroes must “ride out and meet them, for death and glory ... for your people.”

Duration:01:29:53

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279. Which Top Three ‘Cage Stages’ Trap Christian Creators?

9/9/2025
Without biblical wisdom, we might lock ourselves into imagining that everything is about a particular doctrine, fandom, or political activism.

Duration:01:03:14

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278. When Christian Heroes Die, How Can We Debate and Honor Their Work?

9/2/2025
Although our laments take many forms, we can celebrate how Christ builds His kingdom through “small” and “big” people who serve Him.

Duration:01:00:54

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277. Isn’t Physical Book Collection a Waste of Resources?

8/26/2025
Audiobooks and ebooks have many benefits, but can’t beat the classic practice of gathering and reading real books in real places.

Duration:00:56:54

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276. How Can Parents Find Books That Aren’t Just ‘Not Woke’ But Are Actually Good?

8/19/2025
When we work only to keep poisonous content out of stories, we might miss readers’ greater needs for nutritious truth, goodness, and beauty.

Duration:00:46:19

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275. Why Do Fans Debate Light Stories vs. Heavy Stories?

8/12/2025
This summer’s lackbuster movies left some fans liking fun franchises with simpler morals, while others await mythic tales with challenging ideas.

Duration:01:07:14

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274. Why Shouldn’t AI-Generated Content Replace Human Stories?

8/5/2025
Critics who suppose artificial imaginations will destroy "big Hollywood" ignore inhuman threats against skilled creators and faithful Christians.

Duration:01:09:40