Pop Goes Religion: Faith in Popular Culture

by Terry Mattingly

Johnny Cash, Harry Potter, the Simpsons , and John Grisham. What do all of these icons in pop culture have to do with faith? Find the answer in Pop Goes Religion ; relevant insight into the world of today's entertainment. In this collection of essays, popular American journalist, Terry Mattingly teaches readers how to identify elements of faith in today's pop culture. Topics From music to movies, politics to the pope, Mattingly explores the matters of the heart with a fresh and relevant perspective.

Genres: Religion, Pop Culture, Nonfiction, Theology, Christianity, Christian, Cultural

224 pages, Paperback

First published November 15, 2005

Reviews

[Derek · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pop Goes Religion is a collection of articles from the late 1990s and early 2000s from journalist Terry Mattingly, who wrote a weekly syndicated column about the intersection of, appropriately enough, religion and pop culture. I finally found a copy after years of searching, and although I liked it well enough, I think it probably would have been better had I read it closer to its time of publishing in the mid-aughts.

The subject matter here is what you would mostly expect based on the time: Harry Potter; The Lord of the Rings; The Matrix; Star Wars; and more. It really is like a time capsule for that decade, especially for me as someone who was interacting with faith and pop culture in that time period. It was largely focused on Christianity, which is not surprising considering that is Mattingly's background, but I did find myself wishing that he had included more articles about other faith traditions as well.

Also, by the nature of the kinds of discussions that can be had in newspapers in around five hundred words apiece, Pop Goes Religion stays mostly at the surface level on its subject matter. This is not a "deep dive" study, but more of a survey of the time. It's good for what it is, but it definitely felt anachronistic in this new age of internet journalism. That said, there are some great thoughts included here, and it will definitely stay on my shelf for future reference.

[Alexa Doran · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found the essays to be thoughtful and interesting. The work is fairly outdated and could use way more criticism of Billy Graham.

[Théophile LARCHER · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit outdated, as of 2024.

[The other John · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pop Goes Religion is a collection of articles by Terry Mattingly, looking at the role and relationship of Christianity in and to the popular culture of the late nineties and early aughts. He looks at all areas of the culture--from music to comics, movies to advertising. Mr. Mattingly raises some interesting issues. The problem is, each article is only a bit over two pages long. The book reminded me of the late, lamented Cornerstone magazine, but it was way too light in comparison. 'Twas true waiting room material. I would have loved to have read something more in depth on this topic. Especially if it could shed insight on the question about pop culture that troubles me: when the church engages people dwelling in the popular culture, do we stay there with them? Or do we try to help them find a culture that's more substantial?

[Drew Craebel]

The book "Pop Goes Religion" by Terry mattingly is about one mans understanding of what has happened to religion within popular culture. The book is composed of a collection of excerpts from different articles written by Mr.Mattingly. They are not bias in anyway, but they are a bit outdated, some information being as old as 13 years old. However it is still a good book for christians and other religions alike. The book talks about how religion, specifically Christianity, is bashed and forgotten in current pop culture while most christians just sit and watch as it happens. I learned that the majority of american christians do not have the spiritual tools needed to pick up on the bashing as easily as they maybe should. All in all a good read.

[Chelsey · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like the idea behind this book - that all truth is God's truth, meaning that His fingerprints are literally everywhere, and there are no limits to that - but it is rather outdated and terribly repetitive. It is very easy to skim-read this one, so if you wanna check it out, it won't take you very long to figure out whether or not you want to read the whole thing.

[Natalie Homer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting read. The two big examples that really struck me were when he explained how Titanic contained very anti-Christian messages, while Harry Potter was deeply interwoven with Christianity. My only complaints are that the book is long-winded, a little redundant, and that the organization was choppy.

[Alexa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Exploring the relationship between popular culture and faith - but felt a bit fragmented.

[Lexy · Rating 3 out of 5]

really interesting facts in here!

[Sandy Duke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely dated, but I did discover some great authors and websites that deal with Christianity and culture.

[lexo philia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting read. Somewhat repetitive, but with many very relevant, thought- provoking points.

[Ronn]

Got 50 pages in and wasnt enjoying myself at all. So I stopped.

[Jordan]

Reading for my religious studies class