Language:
English
Year of publication:
2021
Titel der Quelle:
The Oxford Handbook of the Bible and American Popular Culture
Angaben zur Quelle:
(2021) 276-289
Keywords:
Bible Influence
;
Popular culture
;
Future life Christianity
Abstract:
This article explores beliefs about the afterlife and how they are informed by religious and cultural narratives. If the Bible contains little definite information about Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory, then how is it that so many of us are able to readily envision them? The scattered information about the afterlife from religious texts is supplemented by our reading, viewing, and consumption of other forms of culture. Stories of the afterlife and of angels, demons, ghosts, vampires, and zombies remain popular. Perhaps more important, stories of the afterlife are often used as ways to shape stories about this life, adding resonance to narratives from Batman to Harry Potter by appropriating or echoing the powerful plots, themes, and characters of the afterlife. Thus even a reader or viewer who does not believe in the dogma of Purgatory may be powerfully affected by stories using the trope of Purgatory.
DOI:
10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190461416.013.15
URL:
Locate this publication in Israeli libraries
Permalink
