The Cosmic Bridge: Theodicy—Merging Christian Apologetics and Afrofuturism in Speculative Fiction

About this episode

The episode explores the intersection of Christian apologetics and Afrofuturism in the context of theodicy within speculative fiction.

The exploration of God’s existence and theodicy—the vindication of divine goodness in the face of evil—follows two distinct but increasingly overlapping paths in Christian and Afrofuturist speculative fiction. Traditional Christian science fiction typically frames theodicy as an abstract or cosmic puzzle, while Afrofuturist speculative fiction approaches it as a historical and systemic reality. Norman Plant’s The Neo Transcendentalists functions as a bridge between these traditions, merging classical Christian apologetics with the socio-political critiques central to Afrofuturism.

People in this episode

Host: Norman Plant

Topics covered

• theodicy
• Christian apologetics
• Afrofuturism
• speculative fiction
• divine goodness
• socio-political critiques

Keywords

• theodicy
• Christianity
• Afrofuturism
• speculative fiction
• divine goodness
• evil
• socio-political critique

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: The Neo Transcendentalists, Christian Apologetics, Afrofuturism, speculative fiction

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