Greetings Warriors and Scholars.
I recently got to read a portion of a new book recently released. "Comic Con Christianity" is written by Jen Shlameuss-Perry. She looks at issues of the Christian life both from the perspective of a fan-girl and as a catholic. This caught my attention for a couple of reasons. Firstly is that I have not seen very many ministry resources for nerds and geeks coming out of the Catholic quadrant of the Church. Note, when I say Church with a capital "C," I mean all who follow Jesus as the Son of God, born of a virgin, liver of a sinless life and bringer of redemption through his death and resurrection. I have served in ministry alongside Catholics in a few occasions and have come to respect many of them, even if I disagree with their organization on a few things. Next, this is coming from a contributor to Geekdom House. A Christian/Nerd bridge building organization I have heard about and with which I might have had some small online interactions or perhaps some interactions with at Gen Con at some point.
The portion I got to read is all about villains. What drives them? Why do we sometimes feel for them even in their terrible choices? How are we similar to them? In this chapter she looks at familiar villains like the Joker, Darth Vader, Magneto, and even Loki but she also shares scripture with us. She helps us look at who we are and challenges us to be aware of our own likeliness to make depraved choices. Along with the villains she has us look at Jonah, Job, and even spends some time in Wisdom, a book the Catholics see as canonical but we Protestants do not. I enjoyed reading a portion of it in this chapter and getting a look at it through her eyes.
She explained in a FB message why she chose to send me this portion:
I think this book will help some nerds, both Christian and non-Christian, look at who Jesus is and what we can do to follow Him. I think nerds who are not following Jesus will find her work thought provoking and perhaps even fascinating. If you have a follower of Jesus, esp. a catholic, who does not understand our fondness for these stories this book might help them to see how these stories point back to the redemption provided by Christ. Note this is based on one chapter of the book and not a read-through of the entire book.
To learn more about the book, click here.
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| Image provided by author. |
The portion I got to read is all about villains. What drives them? Why do we sometimes feel for them even in their terrible choices? How are we similar to them? In this chapter she looks at familiar villains like the Joker, Darth Vader, Magneto, and even Loki but she also shares scripture with us. She helps us look at who we are and challenges us to be aware of our own likeliness to make depraved choices. Along with the villains she has us look at Jonah, Job, and even spends some time in Wisdom, a book the Catholics see as canonical but we Protestants do not. I enjoyed reading a portion of it in this chapter and getting a look at it through her eyes.
She explained in a FB message why she chose to send me this portion:
"I picked this one because it's my favorite chapter. My Master's thesis was on Religious Education as a Ministry of Reconciliation, and everything I do as a pastoral minister and a person stems from my belief that that's what I'm supposed to be about."Reconciliation is indeed the focus of the last portion of the chapter. Forgiveness would also be a good section header for it. After all the disillusionment experienced by the nerd/gamer/geek culture with the Church, should we not be concerned about it? Even as humans, regardless of our hobby preferences, we need it.
I think this book will help some nerds, both Christian and non-Christian, look at who Jesus is and what we can do to follow Him. I think nerds who are not following Jesus will find her work thought provoking and perhaps even fascinating. If you have a follower of Jesus, esp. a catholic, who does not understand our fondness for these stories this book might help them to see how these stories point back to the redemption provided by Christ. Note this is based on one chapter of the book and not a read-through of the entire book.
To learn more about the book, click here.
