Bible and Popular Culture - From Genesis to Revelation

This book is an accessible overview of the Bible's complex and evolving reception in popular culture. Drawing on biblical interpretations in TV, film, and music, it demonstrates the enduring diversity of the Bible's reception history.
Ranging from Genesis and Exodus of the Hebrew Bible to the Gospels and Revelation of the New Testament, its biblical chronology takes a book-by-book format that locates and examines various examples of how these texts have been read, received, and interpreted. Case studies include The Handmaid's Tale, Exodus: Gods and Kings, The Da Vinci Code, and Family Guy. Woven within these chapters is fresh analysis of how themes of parody, satire, sex, and conspiracy appear in these biblical interpretations.
This book is an engaging resource for students encountering biblical reception history in popular culture for the first time, and it will also be of wider interest to those intrigued by the interplay between religion, culture, and media.

List of contents

Introduction
1 Book of Genesis: Sex Machine
2 Book of Exodus: Liberation
3 The Book of Psalms: The First Blues
4 Ecclesiastes: Intertextual Echoes
5 The Gospels: The Dispute about Caricatures
6 The Pauline Epistles: The Unpopular Evangelist
7 1 John and 2 John: Anti-Christ as a Guiding Star
8 Book of Revelation: Apocalypse and the End of the World as We Know It
9 The Apocryphal Gospels: Sex, Crucifixion, and Conspiracy
Epilogue: The Bible in a Digital Age

About the author

Ole Jakob Løland is Professor of Religion, Life Stance, and Ethics at the University of South-Eastern Norway. He has published extensively on biblical reception in contemporary cultures.
Anders Martinsen is Associate Professor of Religion, Life Stance, and Ethics at the Oslo Metropolitan University in Norway. His research has focused on slavery in the New Testament, Bible translations, and the Norwegian Church and the Holocaust.

Product details

• Authors: Ole Jakob Martinsen Lland, Ole Jakob Løland, Anders Martinsen
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd.
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 11.06.2025
• EAN: 9781032534749
• ISBN: 978-1-0-3253474-9
• No. of pages: 168
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Religion/theology > Religious writings, prayers, songbooks, religious meditations; Non-fiction book > Philosophy, religion > Religion: general, reference works; Popular Culture, RELIGION / Biblical Criticism & Interpretation / General, RELIGION / Biblical Studies / General, Religion: general, Christianity, Criticism and exegesis of sacred texts, New Testaments, Biblical Studies & Exegesis, Old Testaments, Lyrics;Paul;Ecclesiastes;Gospels;Revelation;Exodus;Genesis