Does the Catholic Faith help people to have a better imagination?

[Ignatius]

I recently ran across this information. It seems to indicate that Catholics have a better than average imagination.

More science fiction and fantasy writers belong to the Catholic Church than to any other religious body. Notable among these are G.K. Chesterton, Andrew Greeley, J.R.R. Tolkien, R.A. Lafferty, Anthony Boucher, Clifford Simak, Walter M. Miller, Jr. and Gene Wolfe. On a per capita basis, there are more practicing Catholics than practicing Protestants among mainstream sf/f writers. However, there are some specific religious bodies other than the Catholic Church which are better represented on a per capita basis. In the introduction to Sacred Visions, Andrew Greeley (the famed priest-sociologist-novelist) suggests Catholicism fits better with science fiction than Protestantism. The Jesuit priest/scientist is one of the most common types of religious characters in science fiction literature.
Here’s an expanded list:

      Jules Verne
  J.R.R. Tolkien
  G.K. Chesterton
  Andrew Greeley
  Walter M. Miller, Jr.
  Gene Wolfe
  Stanislaw Lem
  Karel Capek
  Anne Rice
  Fred Saberhagen
     Best known for his popular   Berserker series, about a race of robots bent on destroying all humans in the   galaxy.Regarded as a powerful pro-life   novel, *Love Conquers All* is a "scathing science fictional   indictment of our generation's most cherished shibboleths." The book   contemplates a libertine future in which the culture of abortion has grown   unchecked.
         Anthony Burgess *- Man of Nazareth; Earthly Powers* (Booker Prize nominee); plus dozens more novels, also   short story collections; non-sf: Malayan trilogy
         Anthony Boucher - "The Anomaly of the Empty   Man"; "Balaam"; The Ghost of Me"; "A Kind of   Madness"; "Mr. Lupescu"; "Q.U.R."; "The Quest   for Saint Aquin"; A Shape in Time"; "Snulbug"; "
         John Briggs - For Our Sins
         Jo Clayton  - "In the 1960s, Clayton   joined the Catholic Church, becoming a novice in a teaching order of nuns. At   the request of the order, she moved to New Orleans, where she taught junior   high school."] The Burning Ground; Crystal Heat; Dance Down the Stars;   Dancer's Rise; Diadem from the Starts; Drinker of Soulds; Drum Calls; Drum   Warning; Fire in the Sky; Ghosthunt; Irsud; Lamarchos; Maeve; Serpent Waltz;   Skeen's Leap; Quester's Endgame: A Novel of the Diadem; Wild Magic
         Dale Estey - The Elephant Talks to God
         Dan Gallaghe - [*Pleistocene   Redemption*](http://www.Dan-is-4U.com/tpr.htm) (1998 preliminary Nebula nominee. 
         James Patrick Kelly - Planets of Whispers; Freedom   Beach; Look into the Sun; Heroines; Wildlife; many stories and other works.
         Russell Kirk -Watchers at the Strait Gate; "Fate's   Purse"; "The Invasion of the Church of the Holy Ghost"
         R.A. Lafferty - [A religiously active and   conservative Irish-American Catholic.] Alaric: The Day the World Ended; Argo;   Cranky Old Man from Tulsa; The Devil is Dead; Dotty; East of Laughter; The   Elliptical Grave; The Flame Is Green; Half a Sky; How Many Miles to Babylon;   Iron Tears (1993 Philip K. Dick Award); [many more works](http://www.st.rim.or.jp/%7Emal/Book/Lafferty.htm)
         MurrayLeinster
     Liberty Award The Forgotten   Planet; The Pirates of Zan; Planet Explorers; Quarantine World;   "Exploration Team" (Hugo); "First Contact" (Hugo)
         Loren MacGregor
     Louise Marley - Receive the Gift; Sing the Light;   Sing the Warmth
         Sandra Meisel - Wrote the afterword in *Lost   Dorsai* (1980), which combined two Gordon Dickson books;
         John Ostrander
     [former Seminarian] Comic book   writer known for explicitly religous writing on *The Spectre* and other   comics.
         Walker Percy
     Love in the Ruins; The Thanatos   Syndrome
         Jerry Pournelle - The Children's Hour; Exiles to   Glory; Falkenberg's Legion; The Gripping Hand; High Justice; Higher   Education; Inferno; Janissaries: Clan and Crown; King David's Spaceship;   Beowulf's Children (1996 Nebula preliminary nominee)
         Tim Powers
     The Anubis Gates; Earthquake Weather; Forsake the Sky; Last Call; On Stranger Tides;   Expiration Date (1996 Nebula Nominee)
         Mark Rogers - The Blood of the Lamb series;   Samurai Cat series; Zorachus
         Clifford D. Simak - All Flesh Is Grass; Catface; City;   Cosmic Engineers; Enchanted Pilgrimage; The Goblin Reservation;
    **Source**: [Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of Various Faiths](http://www.adherents.com/lit/sf_other.html#Catholic).]

What do you think?

 

[hodgewyfe]

You list Tim Powers but don’t mention Declare, his most overtly Catholic novel?

Frankly, I’m not sure your thesis holds water. There are lots of imaginative writers who are not Catholic. But I’m all in favor of listing Catholic ones because I am always looking for new fiction with a Catholic sensibility.

 

[Francesxavier]

And don’t forget Dean Koontz.
CS Lewis wasn’t Catholic, but was converted to Christianity by Tolkien and Charles Williams. Tolkien was disappointed that he became an Anglican. There are lots of atheistic and Protestant s/f writers, including the Mormon Orson Scott Card. Tolkien called all the arts acts of “sub-creation;” God is the primary creator, but has given us the ability to create also, thus participating in His great creative action.

 

[Ignatius]

You list Tim Powers but don’t mention Declare, his most overtly Catholic novel?

Frankly, I’m not sure your thesis holds water. There are lots of imaginative writers who are not Catholic. But I’m all in favor of listing Catholic ones because I am always looking for new fiction with a Catholic sensibility.

Yup, ran over the 6000 character limit for posts so I had to delete some text.

 

[Ignatius]

And don’t forget Dean Koontz.
CS Lewis wasn’t Catholic, but was converted to Christianity by Tolkien and Charles Williams. Tolkien was disappointed that he became an Anglican. There are lots of atheistic and Protestant s/f writers, including the Mormon Orson Scott Card. Tolkien called all the arts acts of “sub-creation;” God is the primary creator, but has given us the ability to create also, thus participating in His great creative action.

Yes, there was a nice interview with Dean Koontz on Raymond Arroyo a while back.

 

[Kay_Cee]

I can’t speak for anyone else, but I’ve found that, as a Catholic writer who specializes in supernatural fiction, the Faith gives me much fertile ground for my imagination.

 

[Maria_Monte]

I believe Flannery O’Conner was Catholic? I didn’t see her name on the list but I might have just missed it.

I learned about her from a video featuring Kevin O’Brien of Grunky fame, purchased a collection of her short stories, and fell in love with her writing ability.

 

[DaisymaeD]

Arts and science and creativity in general thrive where faith abounds.

There was a time when Europe was the center of theology, philosophy, science, engineering, architecture, art, literature…and as it became more secular, it became a lot more dull. It’s been decades since something truly amazing came from Europe, or at least their output has sharply decreased.

So yes, I think there is a direct link between Judeo-Christian spirituality and creativity and vibrancy.

 

[edwest2]

Arts and science and creativity in general thrive where faith abounds.

There was a time when Europe was the center of theology, philosophy, science, engineering, architecture, art, literature…and as it became more secular, it became a lot more dull. It’s been decades since something truly amazing came from Europe, or at least their output has sharply decreased.

So yes, I think there is a direct link between Judeo-Christian spirituality and creativity and vibrancy.

As the decades passed, art turned from being a clear communications medium to one of distortion, vagueness and offense, in some cases. Art should tell me something. Paint thrown against a canvas confuses me and does not communicate anything.

A prominent ‘fine arts’ publication prints a particular piece of art on the left hand page and the artist talks about the piece on the right hand page. In 100% of the cases, I could never have guessed the message the artist intended to convey.

The Classical Arts and illustration art both qualify as legitimate communications media. But ‘commercial art’ is looked down upon by the fine arts community.

Imagination requires a mind attuned to the good and as artists select elements to include in their work, I would say the Faith has a large role to play. Really good imagination requires not only understanding the fundamentals of presentation but a measure of inventiveness.

Ed

 

[Ignatius]

I believe Flannery O’Conner was Catholic? I didn’t see her name on the list but I might have just missed it.

I learned about her from a video featuring Kevin O’Brien of Grunky fame, purchased a collection of her short stories, and fell in love with her writing ability.

Yes, she was. I had to trim the list as it was over 6000 characters. I could split it into multiple posts, but that would be a very large number of posts. There have been quite a lot of Catholic writers, more I think than from any other faith tradition.