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The Barāhima’s Dilemma
When debating the need for prophets, Muslim theologians frequently cited an objection from a group called the Barāhima – either a prophet conveys what is in accordance with reason, so they would be superfluous, or a prophet conveys what is contrary to reason, so they would be rejected. The Barāhima did not recognise prophecy or revelation, because they claimed that reason alone could guide them on the right path. But who were these Barāhima exactly? Were they Brahmans, as their title would suggest? And how did they become associated with this highly incisive objection to prophecy? This book traces the genealogy of the Barāhima and explores their profound impact on the evolution of Isla...
Theology, Religion, and Dungeons & Dragons
On its 50th anniversary, the tabletop role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) has found renewed popularity and a generally positive representation in popular culture. Reflecting on these fifty years of development and history, and looking forward to D&D’s bright future, Theology, Religion, and Dungeons & Dragons: Explorations of the Sacred through Fantasy Worlds explores the intersection of D&D with the academic disciplines of Theology and Religious Studies. From Tolkien’s notion of sub-creation to pedagogical ponderings on hell, readers will uncover deeply theological and religious aspects of Dungeons & Dragons in this volume. Unlike some during the so-called Satanic Panic, the autho...
Progressive Rock, Religion, and Theology
Progressive Rock, Religion, and Theology examines progressive rock music’s engagement with theology and religion, which spans an array of artists and songs from its early days to the present. Co-written by a musician and a professor of religious studies, this book looks closely not only at lyrics but at the music itself and how the two together serve to foster the exploration of religious and spiritual themes from a wide array of angles. Each chapter covers a key song by ELP, Yes, Genesis, Jethro Tull, Kansas, Rush, and Neal Morse as well as tracing the themes from those songs into other works by the same artist and the music of others. Readers will get to know music that is familiar to them through an academic lens, and will discover that its engagement with theological ideas, if not typically informed by study of academic theologians, is nonetheless at times both intellectually rigorous and profoundly insightful.
Nazi Occultism, Jewish Mysticism, and Christian Theology in the Video Game Series Wolfenstein
The critically acclaimed if controversial game series Wolfenstein is famous for its inclusion of historical objects and figures from the realm of Nazi Occultism, including the Swastika, the Spear of Destiny, the Thule Medallion, Heinrich Himmler, Helena Blavatsky, and Karl Wiligut. The series was criticized for its alleged Nazi glorification and for completely neglecting primary victims of the Second World War, the Jewish people. But since its reboot with Wolfenstein: New Order in 2014, the series has a new, distinct filo semitic flavor, including a number of explicit Jewish characters, a playable concentration camp level, and several theological discussions on God and the existence of evil. In Nazi Occultism, Jewish Mysticism, and Christian Theology in the Video Game Series Wolfenstein, game theologian Frank G. Bosman critically examines both the Nazi occultist and Judaist inspirations and aspirations of the game series, putting forth the question if the series has not invertedly ventured into implicit antisemitic territory by including the Da’at Yichud, a fictional, ancient, and distinct Jewish organization harboring the great minds of history.
Theology, Fantasy, and the Imagination
Theology, Fantasy, and the Imagination offers analyses of the theological, philosophical, and religious imagination found in fantasy literature, the theological imagination, and table-top games. Part I offers an invocation to the study through a theological reflection of the “old magic.” Part II analyzes classical Christian fantasy—ranging from dogmatic theological reflection on the fantastic imagination to analyses of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. Part III analyzes the post-Christian turn in fantasy after about 1960 through today—featuring methodological, theological, and philosophical essays that reflect a movement beyond Christianity in the fantasy literature and writings of Rabbi Shagar, Ursula le Guin, Terry Pratchett, Robert Jordan and David Eddings, and Brandon Sanderson and Orson Scott Card. Part IV closes with two analyses of the religious and philosophical dimensions of table-top games, including Dungeons and Dragons and Magic: the Gathering. Theology, Fantasy, and the Imagination offers astute analyses of how theological fantasy actually is by articulating the religious, philosophical, and theological dimensions of the fantastic imagination.
The Last of Us and Theology
With a catastrophic fungal pandemic, the post-apocalypse, a moral quest despite societal breakdowns, humans hunting humans or morphed into grotesque infected, The Last of Us video games and HBO series have exhilarated, frightened, and broken the hearts of millions of gamers and viewers. The Last of Us and Theology: Violence, Ethics, Redemption? is a richly diverse and probing edited volume featuring essays from academics across the world to examine theological and ethical themes from The Last of Us universe. Divided into three groupings—Violence, Ethics, and Redemption?—these chapters will especially appeal to The Last of Us fans and those interested in Theology and Pop Culture more broadly. Chapters not only grapple with theologians, ethicists, and novelists like Cormac McCarthy, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Martin Buber, and Paul Tillich; and theological issues from forgiveness and theodicy to soteriology and eschatology; but will help readers become experts on all things fireflies, clickers, Cordyceps, and Seraphites. “Save who you can save” and “Look for the Light.”
Theology, Religion, and The Office
Theology, Religion, and The Office: Beauty in Ordinary Things explores the enduring impact of the hit NBC series The Office, which, seven years after its official end, remained the number one streamed TV show with a staggering 57 billion viewing minutes, outpacing its closest competitor by 45%. The Office has made an indelible mark on popular culture, paving the way for beloved series like Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Parks and Recreation, and The Good Place. Beyond its witty humor and memorable characters, this book questions whether the show's value extends beyond mere comedy, and delves into the deeper lessons and insights it offers. As an addition to the Theology, Religion, and Pop Culture series, the book invites readers to consider the theological and philosophical dimensions hidden within the ordinary settings of this fictional Pennsylvania paper company. This volume has gathered a diverse group of scholars from theology, religion, and related fields providing a unique theological and religious perspectives on The Office.
The Spirit and the Song
The Spirit and the Song:Pneumatological Reflections on Popular Music explores pertinent pneumatological issues that arise in music. It offers three distinct contributions: first, it asks what, if anything, music tells listeners about God’s Spiritedness. Can the experience of music speak to human spiritedness, the world’s transcendentality, or a person’s own self-transcendence in ways nothing else does or can? Second, this book explores how the Spirit functions within, and even determines, culture through music. Because music is a profound human expression, it can find itself in a rich dialogue with the Spirit. Third and finally, this book explores the contested status of music in Christian spiritual traditions. It deals with music as inspired by the Spirit, music as participation in Spiritedness, and music as temptation of “the flesh.” As such, this book also engages music’s placement in Christian spiritual traditions. The contributors of this book ask how Christian convictions about and experiences of the Spirit might shape the way one thinks about music.
Divination and Human Nature
Divination and Human Nature casts a new perspective on the rich tradition of ancient divination—the reading of divine signs in oracles, omens, and dreams. Popular attitudes during classical antiquity saw these readings as signs from the gods while modern scholars have treated such beliefs as primitive superstitions. In this book, Peter Struck reveals instead that such phenomena provoked an entirely different accounting from the ancient philosophers. These philosophers produced subtle studies into what was an odd but observable fact—that humans could sometimes have uncanny insights—and their work signifies an early chapter in the cognitive history of intuition. Examining the writings of...
A Guidebook to Monsters
Ryan J. Stark surveys the classic monsters in great literature and film, television, the Bible, and, perhaps unexpectedly, the world in which we live. Monsterdom is real, Stark observes, but often hidden beneath the concealment spell of modern secular thought. This guidebook aims to break that spell, and, if so, to confirm once more a world that brims with high strangeness, or what Christian philosophers have always called “reality.” The book appeals to those who study the paranormal dimensions of religion and horror, broadly imagined. The clergy will also find it helpful, as will players of monster-riddled video games.
