Gordon Lynch
Developing a Theological Approach to the Study of Popular Culture
The author assumes that understanding what it means to examine popular culture from a theological perspective requires a clear understanding of nature of theology. According to the author, theology represents a process of exploring how contemporary questions concerning meaning, values, and practice relate to our understanding of the absolute reference point of life. Based on this definition, the author suggests that popular culture can be understood as a specific context in which theological questions are examined. The theological examination of popular culture, therefore, means critically reflecting on issues of meaning, values, and practice in popular culture from the perspective of particular theological beliefs, values, and concepts. The author further outlines a summary of five different models of theology of culture according to Niebuhr, and basic questions that matter when constructing a theology of culture, such as whether human cultures can be a source of good and truth, whether engagement with culture should be seen as a creative opportunity, a duty, or a threat, and how optimistic we can be about the possibility of positive cultural transformation. From this, four different approaches to a dialogue between theology and culture emerge. In the final part of the study, the author focuses more closely on one of these approaches – the revised correlational method, which involves the engagement of our understanding of popular culture and a specific religious or philosophical tradition in a mutually critical dialogue, in which both “horizons” can inform and challenge each other.
Tomáš Sixta
Music for Sad Guys Around 30
Songs of the Bands Dukla and post-hudba from the Perspective of Spirituality and Theological Anthropology
In his comprehensive study, the author explores both the theoretical foundations of theological engagement with popular music and a thorough analysis of the work of the two mentioned musical groups. In dialogue with literary studies and philosophy, he formulates reasons why contemporary theology should pay attention to popular culture, particularly music. In the theoretical part, he defines three areas upon which music analysis can be based: narrative, which takes place on the surface of the lyrics and the overall tone of the song; identification, which occurs in the dialogue between the song and the listener; and emotionality and affect, which are the listener’s reactions. These areas are then specifically analysed concerning the songs of the bands Dukla and post-hudba. This leads to a final theological reflection. It is concluded that the lyrics of contemporary popular music reflect many legitimate anxieties and uncertainties of contemporary people, which may lead Christians to greater solidarity with them. Secondly, these songs reflect a deep need to be unpretentious witnesses of hope, which is also a significant task for contemporary Christianity. Thirdly, it shows the appropriateness of valuing all the good that is found in the human heart.
Kateřina Hlaváčová
Horror – Its Social and Cultural Significance and Theological Implications
This study addresses the popular genre of horror, which has long been an area of interest for various theoretical approaches, including, more recently, theological ones. It follows scholars who attribute to horror a higher cultural and artistic level, as well as an important social function that goes beyond merely providing an escape from the horrors of everyday life or serving as entertainment. The study explores the sociological and psychological roots of the genre, issues of the numinous, and the transcendental dimensions of fear. In a deeper examination, it focuses on the phenomenon of the Gothic novel as a prototype of the horror genre and its theological implications. He reminds us that horror attempts to deal with the same issues that stimulate religious thought, such as questions of divinity, a person’s place in the world, justice, and goodness.
Zuzana Marie Kostićová
Lara Croft as a Phenomenon of Occulture
In her work, the author examines the phenomenon of Tomb Raider, specifically the 2015 video game Rise of the Tomb Raider, and explores how the discourse between Christianity and contemporary alternative spirituality (typically referred to as “new age” or the “New Age movement”, colloquially also known as “esotericism” or “ezo”) manifests in this context. She shows that seemingly religiously neutral video games featuring Lara Croft are, rooted in alternative spirituality, or occulture. Implicit and, to the public, still difficult-to-detect religious features blend here with an attractive narrative and excellent marketing. There is a reinterpretation of the Jesus story that is not secular but confessional, deeply embedded in a young, dynamically evolving religion for which Christianity is the main competitor. Through her text, the author aims to contribute to the development of a religious studies reflection on alternative spirituality and the entire phenomenon of occulture.
Petr Vizina
Christ with a Guitar on the Stage of the World
This study deals with intersections of religion and popular music. It first outlines the basic characteristics of popular and mass culture. Then it focuses on four phenomena: the Irish rock band U2, the singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, the founder of so-called Jesus rock, American singer Larry Norman, and the Czech singer-songwriter Jaroslav Svoboda, the founder and nearly sole songwriter for the bands Otcovy děti and Traband. The author then examines the intersections of pop culture and religion using the categories outlined by theologian Richard H. Niebuhr in his 1950s study Christ and Culture, namely: 1. Christ against culture; 2. Christ of culture; 3. Christ above culture.
Carey Walsh
Shout-Outs to the Creator
The Use of Biblical Themes in Rap Lyrics
There exist persistent strands of spiritual insight in rap lyrics that work to nurture a worldview of hope based in the translation of key biblical themes into the postmodern, urban environment. These themes are not superimposed from the past onto present conditions. Instead, they are reimagined in the rapper’s imaginings of street life. The article proceeds first with a discussion on the nature of rap and its communication power. Then, it examines four essential biblical themes that recur in rap lyrics with some frequency and from a variety of artists. Its thesis is that rap offers substantial testimony to the resilience and value of the human soul that scholars of religion have thus far neglected. These themes, namely, of prophetic realism, redemption, incarnation, and resurrection are evident in over two decades of rap music. This suggests their staying power and growth within the musical genre of rap and also that rap’s poetic creation warrants serious theological attention. A concluding section argues that rap’s insight into these themes could benefit the wider culture in its spiritual malaise.
Marek Lis
Jesus in the Movie Gospels
The New Testament story of Jesus of Nazareth has influenced not only history and the way of thinking but has also become a part of culture, including audio-visual culture. Polish theologian Marek Lis states the necessity of theological reflection on film adaptations of the gospel, as films featuring the character of Jesus are now more widely known than the literature dedicated to him and attract significant audience interest. Lis points out five fundamental issues associated with the process by which the historical Jesus transforms into the Jesus of cinematic narratives and the audio-visual industry. In the next part of the text, he analyses the series The Chosen, directed by Dallas Jenkins, which has been in production since 2019 and is the most extensive film project inspired by the gospel.
I Listen to the Croaking of Frogs, Metal Doesn’t Interest Me
An Interview with František Štorm
The interview with the Czech graphic designer, typographer, musician, writer, and audio-visual artist František Štorm begins with a focus on music and his involvement in the black metal band Master’s Hammer, which he co-founded in the 1980s as an act of resistance against the Bolshevism of Czechoslovakia at the time, and in which he was a central figure. The second part shifts to Štorm’s visual art, graphic design, and typography. Examples of František Štorm’s work provide the artistic accompaniment to this issue of Salve.
Tomáš Tetiva
Black metal
This study focuses on the phenomenon of black metal, its cultural and spiritual context, and its development. It explores how this musical genre, often associated with extreme expressions and satanic motifs, has undergone a significant transformation over the years. The first part examines the roots and symbolism associated with black metal, referencing iconic events and personalities from the 1990s, particularly the Norwegian scene, where bands often represented a revolt against Christianity and traditional society. The second part of the text focuses on the genre’s gradual evolution, its extensions into visual art, popular culture, institutionalized religion, and society. The conclusion emphasizes that contemporary black metal has moved far beyond its origins and has found new forms of expression, including more sophisticated spiritual and philosophical dimensions.
Filip Sedlák
Witnesses of Compassion: Animal Martyrs in Film
The theologian and pastor of the Czechoslovak Hussite Church examines the phenomenon of martyrdom in his text, considering its compassion-creating function and how this issue is addressed in contemporary pop culture. He illustrates this with examples from three films: Ferdinand (2017), Avatar: The Way of Water (2022), and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023), each approaching the subject from distinctly different perspectives and theological positions. The films include both classic heroic martyrdom and involuntary martyrdom of the sobrinov type, as well as critiques of martyrdom and its meaningfulness. All the films strive to evoke the viewer’s compassion and empathy for the suffering of others. They are examples of artistic creation that intentionally works to cultivate more perceptive, sensitive, and compassionate individuals among audiences. In this way, they continue what the early Christian martyrdom tradition achieved in its time.