Theology, Fantasy, and the Imagination is an edited collection at the intersection of theology, religion, and philosophy and fantasy literature and table-top games. The volume begins with an invocation of the “old magic” of pre-modern theology and follows with analyses of classical Christian fantasy. The second section articulates a “post-Christian” turn in fantasy since the late twentieth century, arguing how fantasy can serve to re-enchant the imagination in ways that moves beyond traditional Christianity. The last section on fantasy at play explores how religion is at play in Dungeons and Dragons and in Magic: the Gathering.
1. Introduction: Theology, Fantasy, and the Imagination Andrew D. Thrasher and Austin M. Freeman Part I: Invocations 2. The Old Magic Nicholas Adams Part II: Classical Christian Fantasy: Renewing Christian Imagination 3. Sins of the Imagination Austin M. Freeman 4. C.S. Lewis, Apologetics, and the Imagination: Breaking the Spell of Secularism Alison Milbank 5. Between Tolkien and the Philosophers: Greek and Scholastic Theories of Phantasia Giovanni Carmine Costabile Part III: Post-Christian Fantasy: Opening the Door Beyond 6. Why Theology Should Always Be Fantasy: Imagination, Fantasy, and Science-Fictional Messianism in the Writings of Rabbi Shagar Levi Morrow 7. Theology in Shadow: Sin and Redemption in Ursula K. Le Guin’s A Wizard of Earthsea Oliver D. Crisp 8. Cosmology as Agnostic Self-Actualization in Terry Pratchett’s Discworld U-Wen Low 9. Fantastic Inter-Religious Resourcement in Robert Jordan and David Eddings Andrew D. Thrasher 10. The Hero as God: An Exploration of Mormon Soteriology in the Fantasy Novels of Orson Scott Card and Brandon Sanderson Josh Herring Part IV: Fantasy at Play: Theologizing with Fantastic Games 11. Imaginative Hermeneutical Theology: Paul Ricoeur and Dungeons & Dragons Scott Donahue-Martens 12. Magic: The Gathering and Meaning: The Theological Outlook of the World’s Most Complex Game Jacob Torbeck
Andrew D. Thrasher is an adjunct instructor of Religious Studies at George Mason University and Tidewater Community College. Austin M. Freeman teaches at Houston Christian University and King’s College New York.
Reviews for Theology, Fantasy, and the Imagination
We are quite accustomed to approaching theology from the front, with reason and intellect. Only rarely do we approach from behind, with imagination. And rarer still is theological engagement that takes imagination seriously on its own terms. Theology, Fantasy, and the Imagination uses examples from the fantastic to show us insights into theology that can only be imagined, and in doing so, greatly strengthens our overall theological engagement. And, it's a lot of fun!
