Hello everyone! I was recently invited onto the Church of the Geek podcast by Brian Bennett and Sam Blair to discuss the blog and the book series. We had a great discussion about the intersection of Theology and Pop Culture, and I wanted to share that podcast with you and encourage you to follow Brian…
Author: matthewbrake84
Crazy Rich Asians and Christianity
By Dr. Linh Hoang This summer, the widely popular and spectacularly successful movie Crazy Rich Asians made Asians evermore visible to the point of being now a popular mainstay of American culture. Many Asians exuded pride in seeing an all-Asian cast dominating the big screen and drawing a diverse crowd across the globe. The movie is…
Wakanda Forever – The Black Panther Theology Syllabus
Hello friends! I wanted to share a project that Rev. Kimberly Hampton, co-editor of the upcoming Theology and Black Panther volume from Lexington books, has been working on for awhile now. She has been constructing a syllabus entitled “Wakanda Forever – The Black Panther Theology Syllabus.” I encourage you to check it out here. This is…
Sacha Baron Cohen is Satan
By Jack Holloway Sacha Baron Cohen is making a lot of news with his new Showtime special Who is America? The concept for the show will be familiar to those who know Baron Cohen’s work: he disguises himself as whacky characters and gets people to do crazy things under misleading pretenses. Among the characters this…
Call for Papers: Theology and the Star Wars Universe
Call for Papers: Theology and the Star Wars Universe Editor: Ben Espinoza (theologyandstarwars@gmail.com) Theology and Pop Culture is currently seeking contributions for an edited volume from Rowman and Littlefield on the intersection of theology and Star Wars. Essays may focus on any of the films, TV series, books, and other media that comprise the Star…
Teaching Gospel Texts and Mimesis with Superhero Stories
From our friends over at Sacred and Sequential: Dr. John Fadden discusses how he teaches Gospel texts and mimetic theory to students who would be otherwise interested in those topics. His solution: incorporating superhero narratives. “Finally, the activity left an impression on the students. I could talk to students about the narratives without them jumping to…
Call for Papers: Theology and Star Trek
Call for Papers: Theology and Star Trek Editors: Shaun C. Brown (shauncbrown@yahoo.com) and Amanda MacInnis Hackney (macinnishackney@icloud.com) Theology and Pop Culture is currently seeking contributions for a potential edited volume from Rowman and Littlefield on the intersection of theology and Star Trek. Essays may focus on any of the television series or films that make…
Pharisees, Jedi, and a New Ecclesia
By Ben Espinoza To be honest, when I first saw The Last Jedi, I wasn’t a huge fan. Rey’s a nobody? Snoke’s dead? Luke’s gone? I thought most other folks would agree with me. Turns out, they didn’t. Over time, I sought to understand how folks could possibly like this affront to the Star Wars…
EXTENDED Call for Papers: Theology and Black Panther
Call for Papers: Theology and Black Panther Theology and Pop Culture is currently seeking contributions for a potential volume from Rowman and Littlefield on the character of Black Panther in comics, television, and film with a specific emphasis on Black Liberation Theology. Essays should be written for academics, but avoid “jargon” to be accessible for…
Secret Invasion: How to Trust Other People
By Corey Patterson Marvel Comics’ Civil War event was one of the biggest phenomenons to shake up the comic book world. The tensions between those heroes in favor of superhero registration and those who weren’t continue to reflect our conflicting desires of freedom and security. Marvel cleverly expanded these themes in the next event to hit…
Pop Culture and Theology 