By Loraine Haywood Abstract In a theological fantasy, Saint Teresa testifies to her piercing by an angel while in the convent in Avila. Film viewers would be familiar with Bernini’s statue, Ecstasy of Saint Teresa, as a representation of this encounter, from the film, Angels and Demons (Howard 2009). This sculptural orgasm is a representation…
Author: matthewbrake84
John Carpenter and the Origins of Evil
By Danny Anderson Let there be no doubt about my position. John Carpenter is a great artist. And critics, many of whom seemingly made careers out of missing this point, have largely come around to acknowledge this fact. If there was any remaining doubt about Carpenter’s artistic achievements, Jordan Peele, the director of three modern…
Horror, Theology, and the Fragmented World
By Brandon R. Grafius Every prophet in the Hebrew Bible has a call narrative, a story where God speaks to them directly and commissions them to be a prophet. Think of Moses at the burning bush, the young Samuel being woken by a voice in the middle of the night, or Jeremiah being touched on…
When Christians are Evil and Black Sabbath are “Moralists”: A Heavy Metal Theology of Retribution
By Jack Holloway Day of judgment, God is calling On their knees, the war pigs crawling Begging mercy for their sins Satan laughing, spreads his wings Oh lord, yeah! The United States had been bombing Indochina relentlessly for years, American troops were burning homes and villages belonging to Vietnamese noncombatants, and were raping Vietnamese women….
Religion, Consumerism, and Absurdism: Modernity and the Quest for Meaning
By Cole DeSantis Popular culture is not known for being the most self-aware phenomena in human society. Many of the trends that constitute “pop culture” are considered fashionable because they are taken to be cool, novel, or because they appeal to us on some visceral level. Pop culture is something to be enjoyed, not really…
Isaac Brock, the Unreliable Narrator: Holy Fury in Modest Mouse’s “Cowboy Dan”
Modest Mouse’s classic album “The Lonesome Crowded West” turned 25 this year. And yet, barely any writing about the band’s peculiar theology exists. It’s time to change that.
We Don’t Talk About Burnout: What Disney’s Encanto Can Teach Us About Having a Vocation
By Dr. Jennie Riley A gift bestowed upon an individual by an ephemeral divine being. A gift which gives the recipient purpose and a place in a community. A gift which becomes central to that person’s identity. Take that premise, give it a Disney twist, inject Lin Manuel Miranda’s song-writing, and you’ve got the ingredients…
Contemplatives in Conversation: The Theology of Cinema, Part 2
By Arthur Aghajanian ***Before continuing, read Part One here… AA: In the context of theology, we might note that film has a special ability to represent things that other art forms can’t. The hypnotic affects achieved through temporal dislocation, the camera’s ability to concentrate attention while being everywhere at once, and the use of montage…
Contemplatives in Conversation: The Theology of Cinema, Part 1
By Arthur Aghajanian Going to the movies may not seem like religious action, but it’s one of the most common ways we experience spiritual insight. Film impacts how we interpret life, and its mechanical apparatus is uniquely suited to provide glimpses of the divine in the signs and symbols of the everyday. Like religion, film…
Doom Theology: Black Sabbath’s Relentless Vision of Good and Evil
By Jack Holloway The 1960s was a decade brimming with hopes of revolution, an electric time for a zealous counterculture. The Vietnam War loomed in the background, a fraught international situation which fueled the counterculture’s pursuit of radical societal transformation. But 1969 would prove to be a decisive year, as the tide was turned by…
Pop Culture and Theology 