By Corey Patterson Marvel Comics fans undoubtedly remember the pivotal moment in Peter Parker’s life that led him to become the crime-fighting hero we know as Spider-Man. They recall how his Uncle Ben was murdered by a criminal Peter could have stopped in an earlier confrontation, but chose not to. All of these events would…
Call for Papers: Fordham Pop Culture & Theology Graduate Student Conference
Fordham Theology Graduate Student Conference: “Pop Culture and Theology” Friday, April 20, 2018 at Fordham University Rose Hill The Theology Graduate Student Association invites graduate students in theology, Bible, religious studies, ethics, and related fields to submit abstracts that explore the relationship between popular culture and theology from classical as well as contemporary perspectives. For…
The Reformation and Pop Culture: Why Hollywood Should Take a Chance on Martin Luther
By Ed Simon There is some scholarly dispute as to whether Martin Luther actually did the thing he’s most famous today for: dramatically nailing his world-changing critique of the Catholic Church to a church door 500 years ago. The image of the fiery monk affixing his Ninety-Five Theses to the entrance of the Wittenburg Castle…
Dr. Strangelove and Evangelicalism or: Why Evangelicals Should Worry a Little More and Learn to Hate the Bomb
By Matthew William Brake The other day, I was sitting at my work desk when a colleague of mine came in complaining about a (now-disputed) story that President Donald Trump wanted to increase the U.S. nuclear arsenal by ten-fold. While I hope that is not the case, it is certainly problematic that the U.S. finds…
Quiz: John Calvin Quote or Metal Lyrics?
By Jack Holloway The time of the Reformation was revolutionary in many ways. One of those ways was in rhetoric and writing style. Martin Luther mostly wrote pamphlets intended for mass production, so that anyone could pick them up and become a theologian. His writing style was not like that of many scholastic theologians. Luther…
Every God wants to die: Belated reflections on Westworld
A thoughtful piece on an excellent show by Adam Kotsko at AUFS: This is a show about the death of God, one of the most deeply theological shows I have seen. It is in many ways a Gnostic myth, with Jones in the role of evil demiurge and the long-lost Arnold representing the true God of…
Cloud Atlas, Religion, and Love: Holism and Postmodern Belief
Andrew D. Thrasher, ThM “I call it the Cloud Atlas Sextet. There are whole movements imagining us meeting again and again in different lives, different ages.” The movie Cloud Atlas weaves a complex narrative wherein the cast of characters are born, learn to love, and die, again and again. The six “movements” in the plot…
Blade Runner 2049: 5 Star Review
Check out Leah Schade’s review of Blade Runner 2049 over at EcoPreacher: Blade Runner 2049 is cli-fi (climate fiction) at its best with superb visual effects, an absorbing storyline, fascinating characters, and poignant religious/philosophical themes. Read more here.
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Fantasy and Pluralism: Unpacking the Religious Sources of The Wheel of Time
By Andrew D. Thrasher, ThM One of the best Fantasy series produced in the last 50 years, Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson’s The Wheel of Time, a 15 book series of almost 15,000 pages produced over a 24 year span, encompasses a fantastic worldview displaying a pluralistic coherence of religious elements found in world religions….
Pop Culture and Theology 