Theology, Fantasy, and the Imagination: : Theology, Religion, and Pop Culture Fotini Toso Fortress Academic

Theology, Fantasy, and the Imagination

Description

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.

1. Introduction: Theology, Fantasy, and the Imagination
Andrew D. Thrasher and Austin M. Freeman

Part I: Invocations
2. The Old Magic
Nicholas Adams

Part II: Classical Christian Fantasy: Renewing Christian Imagination
3. Sins of the Imagination
Austin M. Freeman

4. C.S. Lewis, Apologetics, and the Imagination: Breaking the Spell of Secularism
Alison Milbank

5. Between Tolkien and the Philosophers: Greek and Scholastic Theories of Phantasia
Giovanni Carmine Costabile

Part III: Post-Christian Fantasy: Opening the Door Beyond
6. Why Theology Should Always Be Fantasy: Imagination, Fantasy, and Science-Fictional Messianism in the Writings of Rabbi Shagar
Levi Morrow

7. Theology in Shadow: Sin and Redemption in Ursula K. Le Guin's A Wizard of Earthsea
Oliver D. Crisp

8. Cosmology as Agnostic Self-Actualization in Terry Pratchett's Discworld
U-Wen Low

9. Fantastic Inter-Religious Resourcement in Robert Jordan and David Eddings
Andrew D. Thrasher

10. The Hero as God: An E

Product details

Published	Jul 31 2023
Format	Hardback
Edition	1st
Extent	238
ISBN	9781978712188
Imprint	Fortress Academic
Dimensions	236 x 157 mm
Series	Theology, Religion, and Pop Culture
Publisher	Bloomsbury Publishing

Anthology Editor

Andrew D. Thrasher

Anthology Editor

Austin M. Freeman

Contributor

Nicholas Adams

Contributor

Giovanni Carmine Costabile

Contributor

Oliver D. Crisp

Contributor

Scott Donahue-Martens

Scott Donahue-Martens teaches a variety of theolog…

Contributor

Austin M. Freeman

Contributor

Josh Herring

Contributor

U-Wen Low

Contributor

Alison Milbank

Contributor

Levi Morrow

Contributor

Andrew D. Thrasher

Contributor

Jacob Torbeck

With

Fotini Toso

We are quite accustomed to approaching theology from the front, with reason and intellect. Only rarely do we approach from behind, with imagination. And rarer still is theological engagement that takes imagination seriously on its own terms. Theology, Fantasy, and the Imagination uses examples from the fantastic to show us insights into theology that can only be imagined, and in doing so, greatly strengthens our overall theological engagement. And, it's a lot of fun!

Douglas Estes, editor of Theology and Tolkien