Theology, Religion, and Dystopia

Ancient and modern readers alike turn to dystopian tales and topics in order to make sense of experiences of reality that are increasing negative and outside their control. This volume takes theological and religious approaches to dystopian works and themes as revelatory for human flourishing.

Dystopia, from the Greek dus and topos “bad place,” is a revelatory genre and concept that has experienced a meteoric rise in popularity at the start of the twenty-first century. This book addresses approaches to the study of dystopia from the academic fields of theology and religious studies. Following a co-written chapter where Scott Donahue-Martens and Brandon Simonson argue that dystopia can be understood as demythologized apocalyptic, ten unique contributions each engage a work of popular culture, such as a book, movie, or television show. Topics across chapters range from the critical function of dystopia, social location and identity, violence, apocalypse and the end of everything, sacrifice, catharsis, and dystopian existentialism. This volume responds to the need for theological and religious reflection on dystopia in a world increasingly threatened by climate change, pandemics, and global war.

1.Dystopia as Demythologized Apocalyptic

Brandon Simonson and Scott Donahue-Martens

2.The Dystopic Relations of Interstellar: A Response from Christian Ecotheology

Thomas G. Hermans-Webster

3.Color-blind Dystopia: The Giver, Theology, Race, and Ricoeur

Scott Donahue-Martens

4.Qu(e)erying Posthuman Theologies in Ghost in the Shell

Amanda L. Pumphrey and Nicholaus B. Pumphrey

5.Social Life from Scratch: Morality, Religion, and Society in The Walking Dead

Justin F. Martin

6.How NOT to be a Zombie: The Walking Dead and Love for the World

David Penn

7.Dystopia in the Apocalypse: Religion and Community in Asimov’s Foundation Universe

Brandon Simonson

8.Katniss, Christos: Sacrifice and Salvation in Scripture and Young Adult Dystopian Novels

Shayna Sheinfeld

9.Dystopian Festivals, Utopian Fictions: Sovereignty, Sacrifice, and Sanctity in Biblical Jubilee and The Purge

C. J. McCrary

10.The Ability or Inability to Change by the Presence or Absence of Deus ex Machina

Beáta Gombkötő

11.The Spectacle of Hope Beyond Capital’s Dehumanizing Violence: Reading George Lucas’ Dystopian THX 1138

John C. McDowell