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Andy Dibble

SF & Fantasy Writer, Healthcare IT Consultant, Recovering Academic

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A Helpful Portrayal of Religion in SF: Ursula Le Guin’s The Telling

This is part of a series of posts about the value of speculative fiction in understanding religion.

I’ve discussed portrayals of religion I think are best avoided in speculative fiction, but how can we understand what makes a of portrayal … Read the rest

Author andy dibblePosted on November 26, 2021December 19, 2021Tags Religion, Speculative Fiction

Unhelpful Portrayals of Religion

This is part of a series of posts about the value of speculative fiction in understanding religion.

I’m editing an anthology of science fiction and fantasy stories about religion called Strange Religion, planned to be out in April. So … Read the rest

Author andy dibblePosted on November 23, 2021December 19, 2021Tags Religion, Speculative Fiction

Biblical Inspiration and God’s Trustworthiness

We’ve determined that God’s trustworthiness can’t be assumed because of how the Bible portrays His character. He does not deceive wantonly, but He has no qualms about deceiving His opponents to further His goals.

How are we to know that … Read the rest

Author andy dibblePosted on May 28, 2021May 28, 2021Tags Christianity, Theology

Do We Need to Defend God’s Trustworthiness?

God’s trustworthiness is taken as foundational for many Christians or presumed on the basis of His other attributes (e.g. His absolute goodness), but this is theologically tenuous because the Bible attests that God engages in deceptive behavior.

Sometimes this is … Read the rest

Author andy dibblePosted on February 26, 2021June 3, 2022

Comparatives and Superlatives in Creative Writing

Generally we play by the rules of grammar in creative writing because readers will be put-off or confused by our failure to abide. Grammar is the fabric of the language. There is no English without English grammar. Even a nonsense … Read the rest

Author andy dibblePosted on December 24, 2020January 16, 2021Tags Writing

Alchemy and Mud: Arguments in Fiction

I’m regularly surprised when my readers spy ideology lurking in my writing, as if the presence of an argument or even a sensitive topic in a work of fiction is proof that the author is trying to seduce the reader … Read the rest

Author andy dibblePosted on December 22, 2020December 23, 2020Tags Christianity, Theology, Writing

God As Executive (To Whom We Can Say Nothing)

We construe transcendent God through analogies: God as a loving father, a just or cold-eyed judge, a suffering savior, as Jesus of the Gospel, as victor over Death, as jealous tribal god of the Hebrews, as (war)lord of hosts… Read the rest

Author andy dibblePosted on November 28, 2020November 28, 2020Tags Aristotle, Christianity, Religion, Theology

The Nonsense End of the Heart Sutra?

Some commentators and translators of the Heart Sutra, leave the mantra at the end untranslated. So sometimes we find:

“The mantra of the perfection of wisdom is stated thus: gate gate pāragate pārasamgate bodhi svāhā.”

and sometimes we … Read the rest

Author andy dibblePosted on October 21, 2020January 9, 2021Tags Buddhism, Religion, Translation

Freedom is Slavery to One’s Good Sense

The formula “Freedom is Slavery” seems Orwellian but a version of it is true. Freedom is not slavery to a regime, government bureaucrats, a master race, one’s work, or another person, but to good sense, to rationality. Why is this? … Read the rest

Author andy dibblePosted on September 27, 2020September 27, 2020Tags Freedom, Medieval Philosophy, Philosophy, Theology

Passive Voice in Fiction

The only advice I’ve heard about passive voice in fiction is: Don’t Use It. This is me offering more nuanced advice.

What is the Passive Voice?

Readers with a passion for grammar, second languages, or scientific writing will likely know … Read the rest

Author andy dibblePosted on September 17, 2020September 17, 2020Tags Grammar, Writing

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Recent Posts

  • Outsider Theology Reconsidered
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  • The Cognitive Value of Theological Fiction: C. S. Lewis’s The Great Divorce

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