By Scott Donahue-Martens With the paperback release of Theology, Religion, and Dystopia in February 2024, I thought it was time to revisit the content in light of recent societal developments. On the one hand, it is incredible how much can change in the short interval between a final manuscript and a new published format. On the other hand, it is intriguing how a constellation of concerns remains constant. War, ecological disaster, social control of bodies, and technological advances continue to make headlines. Dystopia texts frequently serve as warnings for societal imbalance or impending thr ..read more

Scott Harrower and Christopher Porter (eds) In the grim darkness of the far future, there is only war… and religion. Lots and lots of religion. The world of Warhammer 40,000 presents a darkly nihilistic picture of the far future in perhaps one of the most popular, diverse, longest running, and firmly religiously-engaged science fiction settings. Religion and theological themes are woven throughout this universe—explicitly and implicitly—from cults of Emperor worship, militant ecclesiarches, various other-worldly “gods,” and entities, alongside themes of sacrifice, redemption, creation, and ask ..read more

By David K. Goodin Yes, you read that right.  Yes, I am serious.  Stop laughing.  Well, let me backtrack my thesis even before it is presented.  The sexual (let us say for the moment) hijinks of this infamous “boner comedy” are beyond the realm of good taste, basic human decency, and even contemporary statutory law.  Yikes—all the yikes.  Let me say that from the onset.  It’s right up there with notorious rape-by-deception that is played for laughs in The Revenge of the Nerds (1984).  Here, in the original, we even have predatory voyeurism distastefully ..read more

Every year, we post links to the top five original posts for the year (check out our lists from previous years: 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021, 2022). Blogs from previous years and calls for papers certainly get a lot of views, but this list focuses specifically on the top views for this year’s original posts. If you are interested in publishing a piece with us, please email Matthew Brake at popandtheology@gmail.com. Here is this year’s list: Sympathy for the Devil: Jeffrey Dahmer and the Tension of Redemption Why Should Theologians Read H.P. Lovecraft? All-Star Superman as Religious Creed Grant Morr ..read more

Metaphysics and the DC Universe Editor: Matthew Brake The universe of DC Comics has existed for 85 years. During that time, numerous writers, artists, and editors have expanded and added to the lore of the DC universe. In doing so, a complex storyworld (what JRR Tolkien called a “subcreation”) has emerged, one with its own complex history and internal logic. Part of this internal logic includes metaphysical ideas about how the DC universe functions. This volume seeks to explicate the metaphysical ideas that have emerged in the DC universe. This volume isn’t trying to use the DC Universe as a f ..read more

Title: Theology, Religion, and Ted Lasso Volume Editor: Daniel J. Cameron Abstract and CV Due: January 31, 2024 Initial Final Paper Due: April 30, 2024 Dr. Karen Eifler of the University of Portland published an article in March 2023 for the National Catholic Reporter entitled “Why Religion Needs Ted Lasso.” In her short article she argued that the show from Apple TV+ “showed up in our world at the perfect time. Ravaged as we were in August 2020 by a world pandemic, pervasive threats to democracy, painful racial reckonings and climate disaster, this sitcom had something of the Divine to show a ..read more

By Jake Doberenz Every year, as the weather turns crisper, festive lights are strung up high, and Christmas inches closer, a unique phenomenon occurs in the world: the “defrosting” of Mariah Carey. Mariah Carey, popular for her earworm “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” represents the epitome of seasonally popular singers. She is so much associated with Christmas that she’s become a meme—images of her encased in ice have surfaced, with captions saying that she’s “defrosting” so she can enter the musical landscape once again for the Christmas season. Even my fifth graders have heard of the meme ..read more

Call for Papers: Religion in the Grant Morrison Comics Editor: Matthew Brake Series: Religion and Comics (McFarland) In the 1980s, a movement known as the “British Invasion” saw a number of writers and artists from the UK join the ranks of American comics writers to produce some of the most popular and enduring work in mainstream comics. Some of these writers include Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, and Grant Morrison, who have written such notable works as Watchmen, Sandman, and Animal Man. Of their fellow so-called “British Invaders,” Grant Morrison is the only who has remained a prolific presence i ..read more

By John W. Morehead I have roots in the conservative Evangelical Christian tradition, even though I see myself staking out more of a centrist position. When evangelicals “do theology,” whether biblical, systematic, or whatever form it takes, rarely is there an effort to wrestle with the darker aspects of the Hebrew and Christian Bible. For example, instead of ethical questions arising about the story of Noah’s ark and the extermination of the bulk of humanity by drowning, it is reduced to a Sunday school type of story that can be told to children using books and felt boards. Or with the Conque ..read more

By Danny Anderson The year is 1968 and two attractive young people find themselves seduced by a Devil-worshiping cult. The cult seeks the vitality of their youth and will stop at nothing in a plot to indoctrinate them as servants of Satan. This plot summary surely rings a bell for horror aficionados, but the fact is, it should ring two. 1968 saw the release of two major films that fit this description. Roman Polanski’s adaptation of Ira Levin’s Rosemary’s Baby is undoubtedly the first of these films to spring to mind, but the plot also describes Terrence Fisher’s great Hammer film The Devil Ri ..read more