What can vampires teach us about God? How can they reshape the way we think about religion, and our relationship with the divine? Through a thorough analysis of the relationship between theology and vampires, Theology and Vampires provides a glimpse into the versatility of the vampire as a tool for theological enquiry. Contributions to the volume assess vampires and their role in articulating theological thought, bringing together some of the classical vampire tales of the 19th ce...

The Eternal Wanderer: Christian Negotiations in the Gothic Mode provides new ways of reading the Gothicisation of the Wandering Jew. It argues that early Gothic writing conjured iterations of this figure that reimagine and revise him, adding Gothic layers to a popular Christian myth that refuses to die. Drawing on the work of Carol Margaret Davison, Lisa Lampert-Weissig and Galit Hasan-Roken and Alan Dundes, whose studies trace the myth's development across history, folklore and literature...

Religious Horror and the Ecogothic explores the intersections of Anglophone Christianity and the Ecogothic, a subgenre that explores the ecocritical in Gothic literature, film, and media. Acknowledging the impact of Christian ideologies upon interpretations of human relationships with the environment, the Ecogothic in turn interrogates spiritual identity and humanity’s darker impulses in relation to ecological systems. Through a survey of Ecogothic texts from the eighteenth centur...

Horror and Religion is an edited collection of essays offering structured discussions of spiritual and theological conflicts in Horror fiction from the late-sixteenth to the twenty-first century. Contributors explore the various ways that horror and religion have interacted over themes of race and sexuality; the texts under discussion chart the way in which the religious imagination has been deployed over the course of Horror fiction’s development, from a Gothic mode based in theological p...

Harry Potter. The name conjures up J.K. Rowling's wondrous world of magic that has captured the imaginations of millions on both the printed page and the silver screen with bestselling novels and blockbuster films. The true magic found in this children's fantasy series lies not only in its appeal to people of all ages but in its connection to the greater world of classic literature.Harry Potter's Bookshelf: The Great Books Behind the Hogwarts Adventures explores t...

Comparing Religions is a next-generation textbook which expertly guides, inspires, and challenges those who wish to think seriously about religious pluralism in the modern world.A unique book teaching the art and practice of comparing religionsDraws on a wide range of religious traditions to demonstrate the complexity and power of comparative practicesProvides both a history and understanding of comparative practice and a series of thematic chapte...

Discover great truths from C. S. Lewis’s mentorsC. S. Lewis was perhaps the greatest Christian thinker of the twentieth century. He delighted us in The Chronicles of Narnia, intrigued us in The Screwtape Letters, mystified us in The Space Trilogy, and convinced us in Mere Christianity. His influence on generations of Christians has been immeasurable.But who influenced C. S. Lewis? What were the sources of his inspiration? Who were his spiritual me...

The White Witch, Aslan, fauns and talking beasts, centaurs and epic battles between good and evil -- all these have become a part of our collective imagination through the classic volumes of The Chronicles of Narnia. Over the past half century, children everywhere have escaped into this world and delighted in its wonders and enchantments. Yet what we do know of the man who created Narnia? This biography sheds new light on the making of the original Narnian, C. S. Lewis himself.

Why not take seriously the claim that Harry Potter's world intertwines with our own? In this timely yet otherworldly volume, more than a dozen scholars of international relations join hands to demonstrate how this well-loved artifact of popular culture reflects and shapes our own lifeworld. A wide range of historical and sociological sources shows how Harry's world contains aspects of our own. Practices such as quidditch dovetail quite clearly with "muggle" sports, and the very Br...

The Call continues to stand as a classic, reflective work on life's purpose. Best-selling author Os Guinness goes beyond our surface understanding of God's call and addresses the fact that God has a specific calling for our individual lives.Why am I here? What is God's call in my life? How do I fit God's call with my own individuality? How should God's calling affect my career, my plans for the future, my concepts of success? Guinness now helps the reader discover...

**“Endlessly illuminating and a sheer pleasure to read.” —Jack Miles, author of God: A BiographyDaring to take the great biblical account of human origins seriously, but without credulity.**The most influential story in Western cultural history, the biblical account of Adam and Eve is now treated either as the sacred possession of the faithful or as the butt of secular jokes. Here, acclaimed scholar Stephen Greenblatt explores it with profound appreciation for its ...