Dr. Daniel Anderson I was shopping with my daughter and the irritating, happy version of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” began playing through the store speakers. I reacted with an apocalyptic eye roll and my daughter asked why. I had to explain how the original version of the song, written for the Judy Garland…
Matthew Brake on the ReligionProf Podcast
About a month ago, I (Matt) had the pleasure of sitting down with Dr. James McGrath to discuss the Theology and Pop Culture series. I’ve really enjoyed connecting with James this past year, and I’m excited about some of the volumes he himself is cooking up for the series! Take a listen here!
EXTENDED Call for Papers: Theology and Star Trek (DEC. 15)
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…
True Believers: In Memory of Stan Lee
I waited awhile to write this blog. Some of the reason for the wait was out of necessity—I simply had no time. But more importantly, if I had released this blog right after Stan Lee passed away, my voice being one of many voices vying for attention, many of who did a better job eulogizing…
New Release from A. David Lewis: Kismet – Man of Fate!
From the Eisner Award-nominated team of A. David Lewis and Noel Tuazon, along with Rob Croonenborghs and Ghost Glyph Studios, comes the debut collected trade paperback from A Wave Blue World featuring the world’s first Muslim superhero – Arriving in shops nationwide on November 28, 2018 and available online for order now, it’s Kismet, Man…
Call for Abstracts: Theology and Westworld
Call for Abstracts – Theology and Westworld Edited by Juli Gittinger and Shayna Sheinfeld The television series Westworld has garnered significant interest from academics as well as from wide audiences. While many of its themes and plot motifs represent longstanding focuses in science fiction, the treatment of them has stood out as especially creative in a…
Call for Abstracts: Theology and Horror
Call for Abstracts – Theology and Horror Explorations of the relationship between religion and horror are fairly well established. However, this is not the case for theology and horror. Many times explorations of theology and horror involve simplistic readings in which theological concepts or doctrines are spotted within horror narratives and noted as points of…
Compassion, Justice, and Trusting One’s Enemy in iRobot
By Muoki Musau The director of the movie I, Robot describes the movie as a believable world not too far in the future. Set in 2035, it tells the story of Detective Del Spooner who has a deep distrust of the idea that robots are companions to human beings. The story is a “whodunit” mystery…
Cain, Abel, and the Protection of Sacred Knowledge
By Molly Kluck Cain and Abel were first introduced by the DC universe as caretakers and tenants of The House of Mysteries and The House of Secrets respectively (Cain and Abel). Connected to these houses are two horror-themed comic book series named after the houses. The comic book series used the brothers as narrators (House of Mystery Vol….
Black Panther and Theology: Unity and Our Call to Face the World
By Stephanie Pacheco [SPOILER ALERT] As the characters of T’Challa’s Black Panther and Erik Stevens’s Killmonger, take their respective stances, the film personifies two major responses to the historical colonization of Africa: unity versus retribution. The film’s roaring success is in its championing of authentic unity, precisely as we are called to as Christians and…
Pop Culture and Theology 