The authors of religious scriptures have rarely had difficulty enhancing sacred narratives with the rhetoric of violence. The phenomenon continues in the easy cohabitation of violence and religion in film, music and literature, and this raises a number of important questions: To what degree does violent rhetoric shape belief and values? How might we understand the social function of violence in popular discourses? How might we understand audience empathy with violent protagonists in popular narratives? What is the significance of violence being associated with particular religious groups or ideas in the media? Reflecting on these issues in depth and with striking originality, scholars of religious studies, biblical studies, film studies and sociology have analysed a range of phenomena, from the discourse of terrorism to the spectacle of World Wrestling Entertainment. The result is a vital contribution to understanding an area of religious and cultural discourse that is relevant to us all.

Personifications of evil in the form of demons, devils, spirits, vampires, and other malign entities can be found across the popular cultural spectrum. One only has to peruse the shelves of music and book stores or view the content of some of the most successful films and television series to discover evidence for the phenomenal popular fascination with the demonic other. However, rather surprisingly, this is not an area in which much research has been done. The aim of this volume is to examine the demonic foil within popular culture. Moreover, it will bring together an international team of some of most important and creative scholars in the areas of Biblical Studies, Religious Studies, and Christian Theology currently exploring the religious significance of popular culture.

The authors of religious scriptures have rarely had difficulty enhancing sacred narratives with the rhetoric of violence. The phenomenon continues in the easy cohabitation of violence and religion in film, music and literature, and this raises a number of important questions: To what degree does violent rhetoric shape belief and values? How might we understand the social function of violence in popular discourses? How might we understand audience empathy with violent protagonists in popular narratives? What is the significance of violence being associated with particular religious groups or ideas in the media? Reflecting on these issues in depth and with striking originality, scholars of religious studies, biblical studies, film studies and sociology have analysed a range of phenomena, from the discourse of terrorism to the spectacle of World Wrestling Entertainment. The result is a vital contribution to understanding an area of religious and cultural discourse that is relevant to us all.

Personifications of evil in the form of demons, devils, spirits, vampires, and other malign entities can be found across the popular cultural spectrum. One only has to peruse the shelves of music and bookstores or view the content of some of the most successful films and television series to discover evidence for the phenomenal popular fascination with the demonic other. However, rather surprisingly, this is not an area in which much research has been done. The aim of this volume is to examine the demonic foil within popular culture. Moreover, it will bring together an international team of some of most important and creative scholars in the areas of Biblical Studies, Religious Studies, and Christian Theology currently exploring the religious significance of popular culture.

This book is a veritable cornucopian feast for anyone interested in film. From case studies of key directors to discussions of cinematic classics, from explorations of time-honoured genres to investigations of the theological heart of many contemporary favourites, there is something for everyone's tastes here. This will help put to rest any suggestion that religion, theology and the Bible have nothing to do with the cinema -rather, these studies demonstrate that such matters are at the centre of our modern love-affair with the moving image."Dr Larry J Kreitzer, Tutor of New Testament and Tutor for Graduates, Regents Pak College, Oxford University, UK "From this fascinating collection, readers will learn that "biblical" movies reflect not only the biblical stories they tell but also the issues and trends that are important to the filmmakers who created them, while films that are not explicitly about the Bible may nonetheless be built around biblical themes, characters and stories. A stimulating and far-ranging addition to the growing literature on the intersections among the Bible, theology and cinema, this book is a must-read for all who love watching movies and talking about them." Dr Adele Reinhartz, Dean Graduate Studies and Research, Wilfrid Laurier University, Ontario The interdisciplinary study of theology and film requires a responsible engagement on the part of religious studies experts, biblical scholars and theologians, with film studies. Cinema Divinite first of all sets out various critical approaches to the study of film and theology such as formalism, expressionism, realism, textual analysis, contextual analysis, postmodern eclecticism, narrative criticism and cultural studies. The early chapters also look at the major concepts in film studies such as cinema spectatorship and the nature and application of film theory to theology.The book takes a case-study approach as it examines specific films, including The Godfather, Blade Runner, 0 Brother Where Art Thou?, specific filmmakers such as Woody Allen, Stanley Kubrik and Luis Bunuel, and finally genre, including everything from film noir to animantion and the western.The book closes with a lively and often far-sighted discussion of the recently released The Passion of Christ. Eric S. Christianson is Senior Lecturer in Biblical Studies, University College Chester. Peter Francis is Warden of the St Deiniol's Library. William R Telford is Senior Lecturer in Religious Studies at the University of Durham.