Screening Divinity

Screening Divinity offers a good mix of recent, popular, mainstream, and lesser known screen texts, both films and television series/miniseries/films, and emphasizes that while there is a correlation between secularism and the negativity of portrayals in recent years, the number of screen productions is clearly not lagging. Maurice offers good and ample illustrations, and her language and writing style make this an accessible and enjoyable read that will be of benefit to scholars, lay people, and undergraduates. -- Meredith D. Prince, Auburn University * Bryn Mawr Classical Review *
[...]Screening Divinity is an erudite but at the same time lively and accessible book. -- P. Mardeusz, University of Vermont * CHOICE, March 2020 *
The book is a valuable contribution to the scholarly literature on the cinematic representations of and interactions with the classical and biblical worlds. Rather than treating cinema as an entirely self-referential medium, Maurice situates the films within the broader historical context concerning the role of God and the gods in ancient belief, thought, and practice. This emphasis is important in that it considers film not only as shaped by but also as a part of this intellectual history. -- Adele Reinhartz, University of Ottawa * Scripta Classica Israelica, vol. 39 (2020) *
What happens when theology meets the box office? Jesus, Zeus, Athena, Moses, Hera, Aphrodite and the Virgin Mary – no book has ever tackled a cast list like this before. In this unique study, Lisa Maurice deftly exposes the challenges and the compromises in representing divine figures whether they be Christian, Jewish, or Pagan. -- Alastair Blanshard, The University of Queensland