| Comments from D. Shane Burton: |
| Hello everyone, My name is D. Shane Burton, and I'm the author of the Orianus Creation Series. My brother, Josh Michael Burton, is the author of the Tayan Chronicles. My brother and I grew up watching various sci-fi shows, reading comic books, and various sci-fi, fantasy, and even mystery novels. These days, finding any novel within these genres that doesn't contain profanity or overly graphic descriptions of sexuality is difficult. Finding novels that have a true Christian flavor is extremely difficult. There are many novels that are called Christian, but Jesus is never mentioned, only a generic "God." Many of these same novels deny the statements of God in Genesis where He says repeatedly that He made each thing to its own kind. They contain evolution, which was originally a pagan religious concept long before it was embraced by modern scientists. I'm talking macroevolution here, not microevolution, which is basically specific adaptation that's not against the statements in Genesis. By the way, Darwin rejected "his" own theory before he died, though evolutionists won't tell you that. My brother and I were sick of all this. Our beloved genres of Science Fiction and Fantasy, we felt, needed a huge dose of Biblical Christianity. We both felt that the Lord had placed it in our hearts to write novels to fill that gap. Our books contain Christian principles and references to Christ, the gospel message, and the Christian walk, all within the larger context of the fictional story. Neither of us are ashamed of Jesus' name, nor do we apologize if it offends anyone. I'd rather you be offended, but learn of God's plan of redemption, then to not have you offended and die without Christ, condemning yourself to Hell. These books are not sermons veiled in fiction, they are fiction that reflects Christianity through the lives of the characters and through the heart of the story. My brother and I aren't doing this for profit. If somehow the Lord opens doors and the novels take off, then we'd be grateful, but we each have regular jobs to earn a living. In fact, publishing these books costs us money, and the meager royalties we've received so far would have to be multiplied around eighteen times just for us to make our publishing costs back. I can't afford to give away many books, but if you'd like to read them and don't have the money, please ask your local library to order them. They should be able to locate them by the titles or our names. By being in the library, others can check them out and read them, as well. That's what my brother and I really want. We want you to enjoy our fictional worlds that consider the Lord while also being entertaining. Since I don't want people to be taken off-guard by my novels, I thought I should elaborate on where I'm coming from. Personally, I consider myself a conservative Christian. I'd like it if all conflicts could be resolved through diplomacy, but tyrants do not negotiate--they only want peace until they have the numbers to overwhelm and kill you, so war is sometimes necessary. God, in times past, had His people proactively battle other peoples who were given over to evil. I believe if you look at God throughout the Bible as a whole, you'll see that He's far from a pacifist. Even the Son, Jesus Christ, who did the Father's will, used both actions and words to rebuke those preaching incorrect doctrines or defiling the temple building. He's a God of Mercy and Love, but He's also a God of Justice and Holiness. I want to consider both aspects in my novels. If you object to the complete image of God the Bible portrays and choose to believe that Jesus was a limp-wristed whipping boy, then my novels will not be your cup of tea. You'll one day see The Lion of the Tribe of Judah return when His long-suffering patience with this fallen world reaches its end. We live in an age of grace, but Jesus will also be Judge and King. I also address sin as sin. Things that God calls an abomination, I consider an abomination--even the various types of immorality being passed off as lifestyle choices in this modern day and age. Christ loves the sinner, but hates the sin and requires that we turn away from it and accept Him. Warning! Here's the preachy part, the basics of what I believe, if you can handle it: It amazes me how so many people today believe that all the religions point to the same God. That is the beginning of the end times, one world religion. If you set a ripe orange in front of a bunch of people and ask them what color it is, and one guy says it's orange, while ten people say it's blue--the truth remains that the orange is "orange" and a lot of people are just wrong. If such a simple truth as the color of an orange has a specific, true answer to it, then how can the highest being in the universe, God, not have unalterable truths about Himself? How can everyone be right when they say different things about Him? They can't be. The real question is, has that God revealed Himself to man, and if so, who does He say that He is? I challenge non-Christians to be as "open" as they claim to be while reading other novels with many and varied "religious" systems and concepts. Ask yourself why you can stomach anything except Biblical Christianity--anything else--without it bothering you. The answer is those other religious concepts are not accompanied by the convicting power of The Holy Spirit, whereas the gospel message is--it's real. Another evidence of Christ's validity. Biblical Christianity, not "religion," holds the key. All religions, even some that claim to be Christian, are united in one thing: they're based on human achievement. There's always something you must do to possibly, maybe, earn God's favor. Sorry, but you can't work for salvation. You work it out once you have it, which is your daily, Christian walk. True, Biblical Christianity is exactly the opposite of all religion: it's based on divine accomplishment. The whole point is that fallen, sinful man can't earn or be good enough to be right with a holy God. Why? Because the wages of sin is death, and we've all fallen short of God's standard of sinless perfection and deserve to be eternally separated from God by His justice. If you, as a citizen, steal something and get arrested, do the police say, "Oh, all the good things he's done outweigh his stealing, we'll let him go." No, they book you for the crime, and in an ideal case you stay in prison for it. If a human institution of justice works on that principle, how much higher is God's perfect justice? We all stand guilty before Him. The saving grace is that God is also merciful, and He loved the people of the world so much He took on flesh in the form of His Son, Jesus, and came to this Earth to pay our sin debt for us. Read Isaiah chapter 53, and you'll see this plan, pre-cross. Jesus became sin for us and payed our debt by taking our place and dying for us. Now, when we accept Him as our Lord and Savior, He clothes us in His righteousness, which is perfect and acceptable to God the Father. As an outflowing of your heart and what He's done for you, you'll desire to "work" for Him, yet not to earn salvation, as it's a free gift that can only be accepted freely through Jesus. There's also the fact that Jesus, being not only man, but God, had the power to rise from the dead and show His power over death, Hell, and the grave and to guarantee us eternal life with Him. There are many evidences through fulfilled prophecy, historical and scientific evidences, as well as the whole tied together theme of the Bible over thousands of years, which supports its validity. No other "religion" has these things, and if you will look closely and honestly, the Lord will make Himself real to you. In Christ, Shane |