Matt Mikalatos

Last updated
Matt Mikalatos
Occupationauthor, speaker, missionary
Alma mater University of California, Riverside, Western Seminary
GenreComedy theology, fantasy
Notable worksNight of the Living Dead Christian, My Imaginary Jesus, The Sword of Six Worlds, "The First Time We Saw Him"
SpouseKrista
Childrenthree daughters
Website
mikalatos.com

Matt Mikalatos is a Christian author, speaker, and missionary. He is based out of the Portland area and is the author of the comedy theology novels Night of the Living Dead Christian and My Imaginary Jesus, as well as the fantasy novel The Sword of Six Worlds.

Contents

Biography

Schooling and Work

Matt Mikalatos graduated from University of California, Riverside and Western Seminary. [1] During college breaks, Mikalatos worked at the Concord, California Flying Colors Comics store. [2] For a time he worked as a high school teacher. [1] As of 2010, Mikalatos had spent eleven years as a staff member with Cru. He has traveled abroad as a missionary to Croatia, Spain, and multiple parts of Asia. [2] Mikalatos also works as a speaker for various events. He has published articles in periodicals such as Discipleship Journal, The Wittenburg Door , Relief, and Coach's Midnight Diner, along with writing books. [3] In an interview in August 2012, Mikalatos stated that he was working on "a non-fiction book about how and why we talk about Jesus" and "a re-telling of the stories of Jesus in modern day called Jesus In the Real World". [3]

Family

Mikalatos currently lives in Vancouver, Washington, near Portland, Oregon. [2] He lives with his wife, Krista, and their three daughters. [2]

Books

Imaginary Jesus

Matt Mikalatos, the main character in this book, discovers that the Jesus he’s been with is a fake, and goes searching for the real one, all the while encountering many other "imaginary Jesuses" along the way. [4] It is semi-autobiographical in nature, and is often publicized as a "not-quite-true story." [2] [3] Various details, such as The Red and Black café, some conversations in the novel, and aspects of the character "Motorcycle Guy" are all true, as well as more personal details such as a miscarriage. [4] A stage play version of Imaginary Jesus debuted in St. Louis in November 2012. [3]

Night of the Living Dead Christian

Mikalatos again puts himself as the main character of the book, in which he tries to aid his neighbor, Luther, in dealing with his nature as a werewolf. Throughout the novel, Mikalatos discovers other monsters in his church and community. [5]

My Imaginary Jesus

My Imaginary Jesus is a republishing of Imaginary Jesus by Tyndale Publishers with a new cover. [2] [3] It contains an introduction by author David Kinnaman, a discussion guide, and an interview with Mikalatos that the original publishing, Imaginary Jesus, did not. [3]

The Sword of Six Worlds

This is Mikalatos’ first fantasy novel, published by Cappella books. The main character is middle-schooler Validus Smith who finds out that she is a paladin and has to find the Sword of Six Worlds save the humanity from an evil known as the Blight, which is threatening it. It is the first in the Adventures of Validus Smith series.

Reception

Relevant magazine described Imaginary Jesus as "Monty Python meets C.S. Lewis", and Night of the Living Dead Christian with "This book is outstanding. We need more totally silly, totally serious theology like Matt gives us." [4] [6] Publishers Weekly praised Imaginary Jesus as well, saying "Startling, contemporary, meaningful. . . . Mixing questions of suffering and free will with a nexus of weirdness." Although other reviewers acknowledged that his non sequitur style is not appealing to everyone, overall reception of Mikalatos' work has been positive.

Writing influences

In an interview with Christian Audio, Mikalatos cited multiple sources as influences and inspirations for Imaginary Jesus and his writing in general. Dante’s Inferno gave him inspiration for the semi-autobiographical structure of Imaginary Jesus in the way he put himself as the main character and still dealt with big theological themes. [7] He also cited Flannery O'Connor, G. K. Chesterton for showing him that he could "get away with being funny," and C. S. Lewis for demonstrating that he could "do weird, funny things and still have positive outcome for reader." He also talked of his respect for science fiction author Gene Wolf for his writing style, and John Steinbeck for the way he wrestles with spiritual questions, especially in East of Eden . [7]

Related Research Articles

Left Behind is a multimedia franchise that started with a series of 16 bestselling religious novels by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins. It focuses on a seven-year conflict between the Tribulation Force, an underground network of converts, and the New World Order-esque Global Community and its leader, Nicolae Carpathia, who is also the Antichrist. The primary element is a Christian dispensationalist view of the End Times; the pretribulation, premillennial, Christian eschatological interpretation of the Biblical apocalypse.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Werewolf fiction</span> Fantasy genre

Werewolf fiction denotes the portrayal of werewolves and other shapeshifting therianthropes, in the media of literature, drama, film, games and music. Werewolf literature includes folklore, legend, saga, fairy tales, Gothic and horror fiction, fantasy fiction and poetry. Such stories may be supernatural, symbolic or allegorical. A classic American cinematic example of the theme is The Wolf Man (1941) which in later films joins with the Frankenstein Monster and Count Dracula as one of the three famous icons of modern day horror. However, werewolf fiction is an exceptionally diverse genre, with ancient folkloric roots and manifold modern re-interpretations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hank Hanegraaff</span>

Hendrik "Hank" Hanegraaff, also known as the "Bible Answer Man", is an American Christian author and radio talk-show host. Formerly an evangelical Protestant, he joined the Eastern Orthodox Church in 2017. He is an outspoken figure within the Christian countercult movement, where he has established a reputation for his critiques of non-Christian religions, new religious movements, and cults, as well as heresy in Christianity. He is also an apologist on doctrinal and cultural issues.

Bob Larson is an American radio and television evangelist, and a pastor of Spiritual Freedom Church in Phoenix, Arizona. Larson has authored numerous books critical of rock music and Satanism.

Joslin "Josh" McDowell is an evangelical Christian apologist and evangelist. He is the author or co-author of over 150 books.

Jerry Bruce Jenkins is an American writer. He is best known for the Left Behind series, written with Tim LaHaye. Jenkins has written more than 200 books, in multiple genres, such as biography, self-help, romance, mystery, and young adult fiction. Nineteen of his 130+ novels have explored eschatological themes and settings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joel C. Rosenberg</span> American writer (born 1967)

Joel C. Rosenberg is an American-Israeli communications strategist, author, and non-profit executive. He has written sixteen novels about terrorism and Bible prophecy, including the Gold Medallion Book Award-winner The Ezekiel Option. He also has written three nonfiction books, Epicenter, Inside the Revolution, and Enemies and Allies.

Norman Leo Geisler was an American Christian systematic theologian and philosopher. He was the co-founder of two non-denominational evangelical seminaries.

The Da Vinci Code, a popular suspense novel by Dan Brown, generated criticism and controversy after its publication in 2003. Many of the complaints centered on the book's speculations and misrepresentations of core aspects of Christianity and the history of the Catholic Church. Additional criticisms were directed toward the book's inaccurate descriptions of European art, history, architecture, and geography.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christian novel</span>

A Christian novel is a Christian literary novel which features Christian media genre conventions.

<i>Left Behind</i> (novel) 1995 novel by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins

Left Behind: A Novel of the Earth's Last Days is a best-selling novel by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins that starts the Left Behind series. This book and others in the series give narrative form to a specific eschatological reading of the Christian Bible, particularly the Book of Revelation inspired by dispensationalism and premillennialism. It was released on Sunday, December 31, 1995. The events take place the day of the Rapture and the two weeks following.

Chris Walley is a geologist, author, and tertiary education lecturer.

Angela Elwell Hunt is a prolific Christian author, and her books include The Tale of Three Trees,The Debt,The Note, and The Nativity Story, among others.

<i>The Jesus Scroll</i> 1972 book by Donovan Joyce

The Jesus Scroll is a best-selling book first published in 1972 and written by Australian author Donovan Joyce. A forerunner to some of the ideas later investigated in The Da Vinci Code, Joyce's book made the claim that Jesus of Nazareth may have actually died aged 80 at Masada near the Dead Sea, site of the last stand made by Jewish zealot rebels against the Roman Empire, after the Fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Second Temple.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David C. Smith (author)</span> American writer (born 1952)

David Claude Smith Jr. is an American author of fantasy, horror, and suspense fiction, medical editor, and essayist. He writes as David C. Smith. He is best known for his heroic fantasy novels, including his collaborations with Richard L. Tierney featuring characters created by Robert E. Howard, notably six novels featuring Red Sonja.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Larry Correia</span> American fantasy writer (born 1977)

Larry Correia is an American fantasy and science fiction writer, known for his Monster Hunter, Grimnoir Chronicles, and Saga of the Forgotten Warriors series. He has authored or co-authored over 20 novels, has over 50 published short works, and has co-edited two published anthologies.

Frank Viola is an American author, speaker, and blogger on Christian topics. His work focuses on Jesus studies and biblical narrative, with a strong emphasis on helping the poor and the oppressed. He is most noted for his emphasis on the gospel of the kingdom, the centrality and supremacy of Jesus Christ, and the idea that Jesus indwells all Christians and they can learn to live by his life.

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire media franchise:

Bibliography of dark fantasy, horror, science fiction and nonfiction writer Darrell Schweitzer:

References

  1. 1 2 Rowe, Maggie. "Imaginary Jesus: Tyndale House to Publish Not-Quite-True Story". Tyndale House Publishers. Retrieved 2013-03-26.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Seigneur, Cornelia (2010-06-05). "Vancouver-based Christian author Matt Mikalatos creates 'Imaginary Jesus'". The Oregonian. Retrieved 2013-03-23.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Q & A: Matt Mikalatos". familyfiction.com. Family Fiction. Retrieved 2013-03-26.
  4. 1 2 3 Rule, Chris (2010-04-12). "Imaginary Jesus". Relevant Magazine. Archived from the original on 2010-04-17. Retrieved 2013-03-24.
  5. ↑ Rivadeneira, Caryn (2013-10-31). "Halloween and the Werewolf Within". Christianity Today. Retrieved 2013-03-26.
  6. ↑ Forasters, JR. (2011-10-12). "Night of the Living Dead Christian". Relevant magazine. Archived from the original on 2012-07-06. Retrieved 2013-03-26.
  7. 1 2 Coker, Jason. "Author Sketches: Interview with Matt Mikalatos". Christian Audio. Christian Audio. Retrieved 2013-03-29.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.