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Entertaining Judgment: The Afterlife in Popular Imagination
Nowadays references to the afterlife-angels strumming harps, demons brandishing pitchforks, God enthroned on heavenly clouds-are more often encountered in New Yorker cartoons than in serious Christian theological reflection. Speculation about death and its sequel seems to embarrass many theologians; however, as Greg Garrett shows in Entertaining Judgment , popular culture in the U.S. has found rich ground for creative expression in the search for answers to the What lies in store for us after we die?
The lyrics of Madonna, Los Lonely Boys, and Sean Combs; the plotlines of TV's Lost , South Park , and The Walking Dead ; the implied theology in films such as The Dark Knight, Ghost, and Field of Dreams ; the heavenly half-light of Thomas Kinkade's popular paintings; the ghosts, shades, and after-life way-stations in Harry Potter ; and the characters, situations, and locations in the Hunger Games saga all speak to our hopes and fears about what comes next. In a rich survey of literature and popular media, Garrett compares cultural accounts of death and the afterlife with those found in scripture. Denizens of the imagined afterlife, whether in heaven, hell, on earth, or in purgatory, speak to what awaits us, at once shaping and reflecting our deeply held-if often somewhat nebulous-beliefs. They show us what rewards and punishments we might expect, offer us divine assistance, and even diabolically attack us.
Ultimately, we are drawn to these stories of heaven, hell, and purgatory--and to stories about death and the undead--not only because they entertain us, but because they help us to create meaning and to learn about ourselves, our world, and, perhaps, the next world. Garrett's deft analysis sheds new light on what popular culture can tell us about the startlingly sharp divide between what modern people profess to believe and what they truly hope and expect to find after death--and how they use those stories to help them understand this life.
The lyrics of Madonna, Los Lonely Boys, and Sean Combs; the plotlines of TV's Lost , South Park , and The Walking Dead ; the implied theology in films such as The Dark Knight, Ghost, and Field of Dreams ; the heavenly half-light of Thomas Kinkade's popular paintings; the ghosts, shades, and after-life way-stations in Harry Potter ; and the characters, situations, and locations in the Hunger Games saga all speak to our hopes and fears about what comes next. In a rich survey of literature and popular media, Garrett compares cultural accounts of death and the afterlife with those found in scripture. Denizens of the imagined afterlife, whether in heaven, hell, on earth, or in purgatory, speak to what awaits us, at once shaping and reflecting our deeply held-if often somewhat nebulous-beliefs. They show us what rewards and punishments we might expect, offer us divine assistance, and even diabolically attack us.
Ultimately, we are drawn to these stories of heaven, hell, and purgatory--and to stories about death and the undead--not only because they entertain us, but because they help us to create meaning and to learn about ourselves, our world, and, perhaps, the next world. Garrett's deft analysis sheds new light on what popular culture can tell us about the startlingly sharp divide between what modern people profess to believe and what they truly hope and expect to find after death--and how they use those stories to help them understand this life.
245 pages, Hardcover
First published September 25, 2014
2 people are currently reading
287 people want to read
About the author
Greg Garrett
46 books77 followersGreg Garrett is the Austin, Texas author of two dozen books of fiction, nonfiction, memoir, and translation. Like his literary heroes James Baldwin and Marilynne Robinson, Greg moves fluidly from fiction to nonfiction exploring the big human questions, and in his books, hoping to help his readers discover some answers of their own. Among his latest books are a book of conversation with his friend Rowan Williams, the past Archbishop of Canterbury (In Conversation), a lead trade title from Oxford University Press exploring our post-9/11 obsession with the zombie apocalypse (Living with the Living Dead, Starred Review in Library Journal), the tenth-anniversary edition of his searing yet hopeful memoir of depression and faith (Crossing Myself, featured on FOX News), and a novel retelling one of our great archetypal stories in the modern world of 24/7 news and social media (The Prodigal, Starred Review in Publishers Weekly). Greg's debut novel, Free Bird, was chosen by Publishers Weekly as a First Fiction feature, and the Denver Rocky Mountain News named it one of the best first novels of 2002. His other novels are Cycling and Shame. All have been critically acclaimed.
Greg is perhaps best known for his writing on faith, culture, race, politics, and narrative. BBC Radio has called Greg "one of America's leading voices on religion and culture," and he has written on topics ranging from spirituality and suffering to film and pop culture, written on U2, Harry Potter, American politics, and contemporary faith and practice. Greg's nonfiction work has been covered by The New Yorker, USA Today, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Globe and Mail, FOX News Radio, The Christian Science Monitor, BBC Radio, BBC Scotland, National Public Radio, CBS Radio, msnbc.com, DublinTalk Radio, The New Statesman, The National Review, Commonweal, Christianity Today, Vice, Playboy, Mens Health, and many other broadcast, print, and web media sources. Greg has written for Salon.com, The Washington Post, The Daily Mirror, Patheos, FOX News, The Huffington Post, The Spectator, Reform, The Tablet, and other print and web publications in the US and UK, and has spoken across the US and Europe, including appearances at the Edinburgh Festival of Books, the American Library in Paris, Cambridge University, Kings College London, Villanova University, Amerika Haus in Munich, the Greenbelt Festival in the UK, Google London, South by Southwest, Amerika Days in Stuttgart, and the Washington National Cathedral. Greg's current projects are a literary novel set in Paris against the backdrop of international terrorism, a book on race, film, and reconciliation for Oxford University Press, and a book on the wisdom of James Baldwin.
Greg is an award-winning Professor of English at Baylor University, Theologian in Residence at the American Cathedral in Paris, and an elected member of the Texas Institute of Letters. He lives in Austin, Texas, with his wife Jeanie and their daughters Lily and Sophia.
Greg is perhaps best known for his writing on faith, culture, race, politics, and narrative. BBC Radio has called Greg "one of America's leading voices on religion and culture," and he has written on topics ranging from spirituality and suffering to film and pop culture, written on U2, Harry Potter, American politics, and contemporary faith and practice. Greg's nonfiction work has been covered by The New Yorker, USA Today, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Globe and Mail, FOX News Radio, The Christian Science Monitor, BBC Radio, BBC Scotland, National Public Radio, CBS Radio, msnbc.com, DublinTalk Radio, The New Statesman, The National Review, Commonweal, Christianity Today, Vice, Playboy, Mens Health, and many other broadcast, print, and web media sources. Greg has written for Salon.com, The Washington Post, The Daily Mirror, Patheos, FOX News, The Huffington Post, The Spectator, Reform, The Tablet, and other print and web publications in the US and UK, and has spoken across the US and Europe, including appearances at the Edinburgh Festival of Books, the American Library in Paris, Cambridge University, Kings College London, Villanova University, Amerika Haus in Munich, the Greenbelt Festival in the UK, Google London, South by Southwest, Amerika Days in Stuttgart, and the Washington National Cathedral. Greg's current projects are a literary novel set in Paris against the backdrop of international terrorism, a book on race, film, and reconciliation for Oxford University Press, and a book on the wisdom of James Baldwin.
Greg is an award-winning Professor of English at Baylor University, Theologian in Residence at the American Cathedral in Paris, and an elected member of the Texas Institute of Letters. He lives in Austin, Texas, with his wife Jeanie and their daughters Lily and Sophia.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
April 30, 2017
How I wish I that I had this book in hand during Lent of 2016 when I taught a Lenten Adult Education class entitled "The Afterlife: Heaven, Hell, Limbo, Purgatory, Resurrection, Reincarnation." Instead, my bishop, Greg Rickel recommended it to me much later and I opened the covers in February of 2017. I see that the author thanked +Greg for his support in writing it (p. 202); I wonder if His Grace gets a cut of the action. The work's scope is to address popular notions of life and death in their cultural context: the undead (zombies and vampires), the denizens of afterlife (angels and demons), Heaven, Hell and Purgatory. A thesis which I advanced in my little Lenten adult ed class was that most people form their beliefs about afterlife from non-ecclesiastical sources (novels, movies, television, Sunday comic strips, campfire stories and video games); Garrett clearly agrees and taps just these sorts of sources to demonstrate his belief about what people believe about what comes after death. It is a delight to read a serious theologian using the TV series "Lost" and the movie "Cabin in the Woods" and Batman comics and Fleetwood Mac lyrics and Stephen King novels and Dante. It is also a validation of a method which I value and share, as those who listen to my sermons weekly will attest. This is a truly wonderful book and one to which I will return in future. And I would say that even if my bishop weren't reading this review.
December 20, 2019
Really, really enjoyed this! It's a great place to start if you're curious about various depictions and common motifs of heaven, hell, and purgatory in what we think of as 'western' society...a.k.a. the U.S., and the utter hold these notions have on our popular media and public consciousness. The author uses plenty of contemporary examples to expand upon his main thesis, which likely would make this book more accessible to many who don't care to (or don't want to) read texts like The Divine Comedy. Unfortunately, because it is more of a quick primer, the author doesn't go into too much depth about the topics, but instead hits on a lot of different, and popular, examples in each individual topic's chapter.
(The only thing I just wasn't buying was Garrett's push for Gotham as being a hell, and Batman as a fallen angel type. It was an okay comparison at first, but because he felt the need to reiterate his ideas on this theory so many times throughout the entire book, by the end it no longer felt credible.)
(The only thing I just wasn't buying was Garrett's push for Gotham as being a hell, and Batman as a fallen angel type. It was an okay comparison at first, but because he felt the need to reiterate his ideas on this theory so many times throughout the entire book, by the end it no longer felt credible.)
July 2, 2017
Not exactly what I was expecting when I began it, but Garrett creates a cultural background for understanding the afterlife. I find it a bit problematic that a cultural book about the afterlife has no reference to 'Beetlejuice' and that 'Star Wars' is not mentioned anywhere (Hello?! Glowing apparitions of Jedi that communicate with the living?) but there are quite a few references that I would not have considered.
As such, it's an interesting and quick read. If you have questions about the great hereafter, this book might not provide answers, but it will provide a cultural context in which to look for those answers.
As such, it's an interesting and quick read. If you have questions about the great hereafter, this book might not provide answers, but it will provide a cultural context in which to look for those answers.
February 14, 2017
A bunch of works of art talk about heaven, hell and purgatory.
Beyond that, Entertaining Judgement's argument falters. Why is it significant? How should we understand different forms of art and different approaches to the topic? Are these works representative? Are they representative of the human condition, modern culture, or something else? Why these works, anyway? This study leaves much of its purported topic unstudied.
Beyond that, Entertaining Judgement's argument falters. Why is it significant? How should we understand different forms of art and different approaches to the topic? Are these works representative? Are they representative of the human condition, modern culture, or something else? Why these works, anyway? This study leaves much of its purported topic unstudied.
July 7, 2016
для повної відповідності змістові варто було б додати до підзаголовку три слова: "потойбіччя і його метафори в популярній уяві" – бо авторові в добрій половині випадків ідеться таки про метафори. наприклад, пекло – це про "голодні ігри", готем, "королівську битву" (один із нечисленних неамериканських зразків попкультури в цій вкрай американоцентричній книжці) тощо. чистилище – в принципі, про них же, бо воно, як ми вже бачили у стівена грінблатта, це те саме пекло, але тимчасове; сюди записані також усі історії про переродження, "доктор хаус", наприклад, тож часом здається, що текст занадто захоплюється узагальненнями: слово губить сенс, якщо ним можна назвати майже що завгодно.
загалом же – непоганий читабельний огляд того, що про смерть і посмертя думає масова культура. повний спойлерів, звісно, але чомусь мені здається, що люди, які беруться за такі книжки, уже не дратуються від спойлерів.
загалом же – непоганий читабельний огляд того, що про смерть і посмертя думає масова культура. повний спойлерів, звісно, але чомусь мені здається, що люди, які беруться за такі книжки, уже не дратуються від спойлерів.
April 5, 2015
I received this book from Goodreads and had high hopes that this would be (forgive me) entertaining with an understanding of past culture.
I was very happily surprised that this book did not dwell on past texts that had little or no information about the ramifications or thoughts of heaven or hell, but delved quite succinctly into how modern culture perceives heaven and hell. Fascinating delves into Hunger Games as well as references to modern Dr. Who, Futurama, Groundhog Day and many others make this a read that can be related to by the casual reader (like me).
Don't be mistaken there are references to Herod and Dante as expected, but I found the accessibility of the ideas of heaven, hell and purgatory to be the strength of this book.
For those interested in the topic, I would recommend this book.
I was very happily surprised that this book did not dwell on past texts that had little or no information about the ramifications or thoughts of heaven or hell, but delved quite succinctly into how modern culture perceives heaven and hell. Fascinating delves into Hunger Games as well as references to modern Dr. Who, Futurama, Groundhog Day and many others make this a read that can be related to by the casual reader (like me).
Don't be mistaken there are references to Herod and Dante as expected, but I found the accessibility of the ideas of heaven, hell and purgatory to be the strength of this book.
For those interested in the topic, I would recommend this book.
July 2, 2016
Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory are concepts that remain with us, despite our scientific worldview. Garrett takes the reader through popular culture treatments of what happens after we die. Starting with ghosts, vampires, and zombies, he quickly moves on to treatments of Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory. Some of his choices in what represent these various realms seem a bit forced. Gotham may be Hell, or Purgatory. Or just Gotham. Still, despite some of the over-analysis, this is an easily read treatment and the topics are enjoyable and informative. I blogged about it here: Sects and Violence in the Ancient World.
February 18, 2015
Dr. Garrett helps us see why our stories are so meaningful and powerful in our lives. How stories of heaven and hell and purgatory enlighten us to the meaning and purpose in our daily lives. How purpose and meaning can be found in our suffering, in our ordinary mundane lives.
Dr. Garrett also makes you think deeper about theological ideas and what the afterlife means in our life right now. I constantly found myself thinking and rethinking what I believe about what happens after we die and how this affects how I live. I am deeply indebted to Dr. Garrett, for his work and his impact in my life and ministry. I highly recommend this book and all Dr. Garrett's books.
Dr. Garrett also makes you think deeper about theological ideas and what the afterlife means in our life right now. I constantly found myself thinking and rethinking what I believe about what happens after we die and how this affects how I live. I am deeply indebted to Dr. Garrett, for his work and his impact in my life and ministry. I highly recommend this book and all Dr. Garrett's books.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews