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God and the Neighbor in The Revenant
By Sam Bennett Traditionally, God is explanation’s resting point, since God and his cause are the same. However, God leads two lives: first as an object (as something real), then, more certainly, as an idea. Descartes observed, “I am a thinking thing, and possess an idea of God within me”, and from here he considered…
‘Anne with an E’ and Theology: Do we want our Art to be Prescriptive or Descriptive?
By Debbie Holloway Anne Shirley, the red-headed orphan created by LM Montgomery in her 1908 children’s novel Anne of Green Gables, has been a massively important figure for children growing up in North America (especially girls). She is an outcast at first: bookwormish, freckled (called “ugly” by some), no family, no friends, starting anew amidst…
Oikos and Idolatry in Spider-Man: Homecoming
From over at Christ and Pop Culture. “For most of us most of the time, there will be little tension between our call to our biological families and our status within God’s household. But that status does mean that we cannot in good faith pledge to do anything for our families. In all honesty, I…
Gods and the Gospel, Culture and Time
By Robert C. Thomas “Evangelization is a process of bringing the gospel to people where they are, not where you would like them to be.” (Donovan, xii) How can a religion survive outside the land of its birth, and what happens to a religion if it does survive being transplanted in this way? Whether it’s…
Watching ‘Blade Runner’ in the Age of Black Lives Matter
Part two of Leah Schade’s Blade Runner blog series from EcoPreacher. “In that moment, Roy becomes a Christ-like figure, his hand reminiscent of Jesus’s own hand nailed to the cross. The crucifixion was a saving act. And Roy’s stunning last act – saving Deckard when he did not at all deserve saving – was a powerful…
When God Leaves It Unresolved: The Problem with Cliffhangers
From the good people over at Mockingbird. This seemed fitting in light of Jack Holloway’s piece on Fantasia 2000 earlier this week about waiting for the unresolved redemption of creation for which we groan. “And, in the Romans 8 passage, Paul describes a world living in the hope that Jesus Christ did do something. The cross,…
Fantasia 2000 and the Redemption of Creation
By Jack Holloway One of the most beautiful sequences in the history of animation comes from Fantasia 2000, the sequel to the 1940 Disney classic Fantasia, both consisting of animated features set to classical music. [This article contains spoilers. Do yourself a favor and go watch this on Netflix before you finish reading!] The finale of Fantasia…
Do You Like Our Owl? ‘Blade Runner’ and Climate Change
Part one of a two part blog series from our friend, the Rev. Dr. Leah D. Schade over at EcoPreacher. “I am eager to see how Blade Runner 2049 envisions the planet’s future 30 years hence. Yet the idea of seeing our possible fate played out on a screen right before my eyes makes me slightly…
The Gospel and the Limits of Secular Belief: Reflections on Linkin Park
By Andrew D. Thrasher When I heard the news late evening of July 20th of the death of lead singer Charles Bennington of Linkin Park, it wasn’t the first death I had heard of that day. A family that loved me into the kingdom had lost someone the night before, and as I sat with…
Doom’s Law: Spaces of Sovereignty in Marvel’s Secret Wars
In light of Joseph Trullinger’s posts on Agamben, Carl Schmitt, and political theology from the last two weeks, here is another piece by Neal Curtis along the same lines discussing the concept of sovereignty in Marvel’s 2015 Secret Wars event. “This story, I will argue, enables us to get to the heart of a very complex…
Glorified Platitude: The Political Theology of The Young Pope: Part II
By Joseph Trullinger (Read Part I here) Before further detailing how Agamben’s concepts help to explain this regressive isolationist autocracy, it helps to know that he is building upon the theory of Carl Schmitt, the foremost jurist of the Nazi party, who sets forth in his Political Theology of 1922 the claim that “All significant…
