Tackling challenging questions head-on, this book is a remarkable treatment of the religious themes threading through one of America's science fiction icons.
The connection between popular culture and religion is an enduring part of American life. With seventy-five percent new content, the third edition of this multifaceted and popular collection has been revised and updated throughout to provide greater religious diversity in its topics and address critical developments in the study of religion and popular culture. Ideal for classroom use, this expanded volume gives increased attention to the implications of digital culture and the increasingly interactive quality of popular culture provides a framework to help students understand and appreciate the work in diverse fields, methods, and perspectives contains an updated introduction, discussion questions, and other instructional tools
Is there a God? What evil lurks beyond the stars? Can science save one's soul? Profound questions like these have consumed human thought over the ages; they also inspired the original creators of the Star Trek canon of TV series and films. Religions of Star Trek tackles these challenging questions head-on in a remarkable look at one of sci-fi's great success stories. Analyzing more than three decades of screen adventure, the authors depict a Star Trek transformed, corresponding to the resurgence of religion in American public discourse. The authors identify the many religious characters in Star Trek, tracing the roots of scientific humanism to more contemporary aspects of religion and spirituality. Through it all, the creators' visionary outlook remains constant: a humanistic faith in free will and the salvific nature of dispassionate scientific inquiry. This book was not prepared, licensed, approved, or endorsed by any entity involved in creating or producing the Star Trek television series or films.
Religious themes, concepts, imagery, and terminology have featured prominently in much recent science fiction. In the book you hold in your hands, scholars working in a range of disciplines (such as theology, literature, history, music, and anthropology) offer their perspectives on a variety of points at which religion and science fiction intersect. From Frankenstein, by way of Christian apocalyptic, to Star Wars, Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, and much more, and from the United States to China and back again, the authors who contribute to this volume serve as guides in the exploration of religion and science fiction as a multifaceted, multidisciplinary, and multicultural phenomenon. Contents List of Contributors / vii Introduction: Religion and Science Fiction--James F. McGrath / 1 1 The Dark Dreamlife of Postmodern Theology: Delicatessen, The City of Lost Children, and Alien Resurrection--Joyce Janca-Aji / 9 2 Sorcerers and Supermen: Old Mythologies in New Guises--C. K. Robertson / 32 3 Star Trekking in China: Science Fiction as Theodicy in Contemporary China--Eriberto P. Lozada Jr. / 59 4 Science Playing God--Alison Bright MacWilliams / 80 5 Looking Out for No. 1: Concepts of Good and Evil in Star Trek and The Prisoner--Elizabeth Danna / 95 6 Robots, Rights, and Religion--James F. McGrath / 118 7 Angels, Echthroi, and Celestial Music in the Adolescent Science Fiction of Madeleine L'Engle--Gregory Pepetone / 154 8 Uncovering Embedded Theology in Science Fiction Films: K-PAX Revealed--Teresa Blythe / 169 Bibliography / 179 Index of Scripture / 187 Index of Subjects / 188 Index of Names / 191
Based on today's #1 syndicated television show, every title in Pocket Books' Star Trek: The Next Generation series is a New York Times bestseller. Captain Picard and his companions are drugged and captured when they arrive on Capulon IV, a world about to join the Federation. The group must escape and stop the new ruler's coronation to prevent mass destruction.
An easy-to-use and comprehensive guide that explores the intriguing dogma and rituals, cultural convictions, and often-checkered backgrounds and histories of the world's religions.
“Addison Cain's writing blows me away each time!” NYT Bestselling author Anna Zaires My love for her is forbidden. When the princess was placed in my care, the devil ordered that I never show his daughter mercy, affection, or a gentle hand. To keep her safe from the denizens of our dark king’s Cathedral, Jade’s life as my ward has been pitiless. She despises me. Yet I am utterly, irrevocably in love. Infamous for my coldness, unquestioned in my fealty, the devil forgets that there are older, more terrible monsters in the dark—and I have sold my soul to the most ancient of evil so that Jade might one day be mine. CATHERDRAL is a standalone novel in the Cradle of Darkness series culminating in an HEA. The horror prequel, Catacombs, will enrich the experience of this book but is not necessary. Keywords: Vampire, capture fantasy, vampire romance, possessive alpha male dark romance, Dark romance, psychological romance, gothic romance, paranormal romance, dystopian, dystopian romance, complete power exchange, seductive romance, Alpha Hero, Antihero, antihero romance, antihero dark romance, Suffering Heroine, Obsessive Hero, abduction to love, Abuse of Power, beauty and the beast, blackmail, passionate lovers, tortured heroine, tragic past, unrequited love, sexually romantic books, series, romantic suspense, collections, anthologies, jealous possessive romance, forbidden romance, hunted female, angsty alpha romance, horror romance, romantic suspense, thriller, #freepearl, standalone, guaranteed HEA
Many of our questions about religion, says the internationally renowned anthropologist Pascal Boyer, were once mysteries, but they no longer are: we are beginning to know how to answer questions such as "Why do people have religion?" and "Why is religion the way it is?" Using findings from anthropology, cognitive science, linguistics, and evolutionary biology, Boyer shows how one of the most fascinating aspects of human consciousness is increasingly admissible to coherent, naturalistic explanation. And Man Creates God tells readers, for the first time, what religious feeling is really about, what it consists of, and how it originates. It is a beautifully written, very accessible book by an anthropologist who is highly respected on both sides of the Atlantic. As a scientific explanation for religious feeling, it is sure to arouse controversy.
An original novel based on the thrilling new Star Trek movies! Based on the “Kelvin Universe” movie saga! Captain James T. Kirk and the Enterprise crew escort Spock’s father, Ambassador Sarek of Vulcan, to a dilithium-rich planet called Akiron. They arrive to find this world under siege by creatures that some of the planet’s denizens believe are demons. Sarek orders Kirk to abandon the mission, but the young captain won’t turn his back on people in danger. After a harrowing encounter with the dark-energy “demons,” Kirk’s belief in a rational universe is challenged by a mystic who insists that it wasn’t coincidence that brought Kirk to Akiron, but the alien equivalent of a Karmic debt. Meanwhile, aboard the Enterprise, Sarek’s young Vulcan aide L’Nel has a sinister agenda—and its chief objective appears to be the cold-blooded murder of Spock!