Notes from a panel at Capricon 44, Chicago, Feb. 3, 2024. Any mistakes are mine. The panelists are not responsible for any errors here.

Janice Gelb (moderator); Jeana Jorgensen; Will Saddler, Lucy A Synk, Susan Weiner

The Bible uses fantastic elements in describing the inexplicable, prophecies, and fables. What elements of the Bible correlate to common tropes in fantasy literature? How have the fantasy elements in the Bible influence writers of fantasy?

• The Bible is not one book. It is a collection of works by many authors of various genres. In SF terms you might call it a shared-world anthology
• Holy writ as Oral Lit: The Bible is a product of oral folk tradition, [possibly excepting the New Testament Epistles and perhaps a few other books]. Hence minor inconsistencies in different versions of the same story, e.g. the animals going aboard Noah’s ark in Genesis 6:19 vs. Genesis 7:2-3.
• Parts of it read like something by George R.R. Martin
• Epic quests: Noah, Abraham, Jonah.
• Fantastic Beasts: Ezekiel, Daniel, Revelation
• Angels greet people with “Be not afraid.” Implies there is something to fear in how an angel appears.

• A lot of fantasy and SF has been inspired by the Bible: Works by C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, J.K. Rowling. Also Walter Miller’s A Canticle for Leibowitz and many others. I suggested Black Easter and A Case of Conscience by James Blish.

• Note that Lewis and Tolkien wrote in a Christian (at least nominally) majority environment. They did not need to explain Biblical and Christian references in detail.