By Andrew D. Thrasher (Click Here to Read Part 2) Underlying contemporary Western culture are the three posts, and each of these, especially the first, underlines a major portion of my co-edited volume, Theology, Fantasy, and the Imagination. The post-Christian turn is characterized by both the turn away from traditional Christian orthodoxy and practice and…
Whose Fantasy, Which Theology? Reflection on Theology, Fantasy, and the Imagination: Part 2 – Invented Religion and Hyperreal Religion
By Andrew D. Thrasher (Click Here to Read Part 1) Carole M. Cusack and Adam Possamai are known for coining the phrases invented religion and hyperreal religion, respectively. While both terms are referring to how popular culture helps to inform and shape contemporary religions, the first refers primarily to how religions are invented based on…
Whose Fantasy, Which Theology? Reflections on Theology, Fantasy, and Imagination: Part 1 – The Baptized Imagination
By Andrew D. Thrasher When I was in undergraduate at George Mason University in 2011, I took a brand-new course in a discipline I came to pursue for more than another decade. The course was called “Religion, Fantasy, and the Imagination” and I remember by the end of that semester, I dreamed I would teach…
Call for Papers: Religion and the Television Procedural
Title: Religion and the Television Procedural: Investigating Faith, One Hour at a Time Volume Editor: John W. McCormack Abstract and CV Due: December 15, 2023 Contact: ProceduralReligion@gmail.com The procedural drama is one of the most reproduced and reliably bankable formats in American television. Franchises such as Law & Order, CSI, NCIS, FBI, and the Chicago…
Extended Call for Papers: Theology and Religion in Daredevil
Title: Faith, Morality, and the Man without Fear: Theology and Religion in Daredevil Editors: Taylor Thomas and Regan Hardeman Abstract, CV, and Proposal due: September 30, 2023 Initial Final Paper due: February 28, 2024 Created by Stan Lee, Bill Everett, and Jack Kirby in 1964, Daredevil is a triumph in comic book writing that provocatively…
Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End – On Sin, Loss, and Immortality
By James Mahoney “Elf mage Frieren and her courageous fellow adventurers have defeated the Demon King and brought peace to the land. But Frieren will long outlive the rest of her former party. How will she come to understand what life means to the people around her?” That is the back-cover synopsis for the popular…
Call for Papers: Theology, Religion, and Twin Peaks
Theology, Religion, and Twin Peaks Call for Papers Twin Peaks, originally developed by David Lynch and Mark Frost, is perhaps the most influential TV show of all time. Prior to its arrival on ABC in 1990, the most-watched shows on television were Soap Operas, and just about every show, regardless of genre, was largely episodic…
The (In)Coherence of Arceus: Theism and Pokémon
By Matt Ganza Arceus, also referred to as the Alpha Pokémon, is thought to be the creator of the Pokémon world. Its Pokédex entry throughout numerous games states that Arceus was the first Pokémon that was born in nothingness and then proceeded to shape the world. In one of the more recent Pokémon games, Pokémon…
Every Second is a Gift: Wally West and the Wisdom of Counting Our Days
By Matthew Brake In 2011, DC relaunched all of their comics, throwing out decades of backstory (mostly) in order to become accessible to new readers; however, this had the unfortunate side effect of erasing a number of fan favorite “legacy” characters from DC’s stories, one of whom was Wally West, protege of the Silver Age…
Extended Call for Paper: Theology, Religion, and the Last of Us
Call for Papers The Last of Us: Violence, Ethics, Redemption? Series: Theology, Religion, and Pop Culture Editor: Dr Peter Admirand, Dublin City University The Last of Us, The Last of Us: Left Behind (DLC) and The Last of Us Part II video games embody sustained critical and commercial success, and are some of the most…
Pop Culture and Theology 