Nerds and Theology

There's something of a rise in "geek culture" these days: one of the company mottos for Blizzard Entertainment, a prominent video game company, is "embrace your inner geek." On their website, Blizzard says "Everyone here is a geek at heart. Cutting-edge technology, comic books, science fiction, top-end video cards, action figures….Whatever it is they’re passionate about, it matters that each employee embraces it! Their unique enthusiasm helps to shape the fun, creative culture that is Blizzard Entertainment."

I've found that the amount of nerds has increased the farther I go in the academic world. Now that I'm in a Ph.D. program it seems that not a week goes by that I don't have a conversation on the relative merits of Battlestar Galactica seasons. Students aren't the only nerds either: the Baptist theologian Stanley Grenz, for instance, began his book on postmodernism by talking about Star Trek: The Next Generation. John Milbank recently published an article defending "Constantinian" use of power that references Gandalf and Frodo from The Lord of the Rings.

I wonder if folks fifty years from now will be discussing how science fiction and fantasy writing influenced our theology. I think that a lot of dispositions and habits of thought are put in theologian's heads from reading sci-fi and fantasy books. It's probably not accidental that almost every person I know who is really into Aquinas uses lots of Tolkien metaphors. A friend of mine once told me that only two types of people get theology Ph.Ds: people who are nerds, and people who are generally eccentric.  As a nerd myself, I can say that theology nerds find aspects of the Christian faith fascinating, enjoy reading books and articles, and decide to try to make a living out of it. But I think it's worth reflecting on how the "nerd culture" a person lives in can affect their intellectual work.