“ The Wrong Side of Heaven , the Righteous Side of Hell ”: Religion , Faith , and Belief in Ted Chiang ' s
Stories of Your Life and Others By Tammy Wahpeconiah , Appalachian State University
How is God in the world ? Is He , according to Christian theology , both transcendent and immanent ? In other words , is He distant and separate from the world and humanity while at the same time working within both ? Or , did He create the universe and then remove Himself from it ? Are we able to comprehend certain aspects of God through our understanding of the order and beauty of the universe ? Or , do humans seek a God who is no longer interested ? Many science fiction writers have asked and responded to such questions including Ted Chiang in his collection , Stories of Your Life and Others . Several of his stories deal directly with these questions and we can read them as a critique of faith , religion , belief , and the nature of God . Chiang questions whether God has a role in our lives , what that role may look like , and the ability of religion to provide meaning . Furthermore , these stories are apocalyptic in nature , especially if we think of apocalypse as revelation , the Greek definition .
Frederick Krueziger further defines apocalypse as “ an unfolding ; hence a revelation through unfolding ” ( 5 ). Such unfolding always takes place within a story ; thus , we must consider the inherent connection between apocalypse and
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