Nazi Occultism, Jewish Mysticism, and Christian Theology in the Video Game Series Wolfenstein

Frank Bosman has long been recognized as one of the leading scholars at the intersection of video games and the Bible. His new volume is an important work, showing readers how exegesis can happen in surprising places. If we’re not paying attention, it’s easy to miss the biblical interpretation that’s happening all around us – in all its messy, problematic, and fascinating ways. Bosman doesn’t shy away from the uncomfortable spaces of popular culture’s interpretation of the Bible, but leans into them as a way we can learn about the surprising turns of religious tradition. -- Brandon R. Grafius, Ecumenical Theological Seminary, Detroit
In this admirable study, Bosman disentangles the threads in the fourth cycle of the Wolfenstein-videogames, The New Order. The Wolfenstein-franchise explores the connection of occultism and Nazism, which became a fixture in popular culture after the Second World War, with little or no basis in historical fact. In addition to the moral question of whether the horrors of the Nazi regime could be used for entertainment at all, Wolfenstein incurred further criticism because the franchise had little time for the Nazis’ main victims, the Jews. Focusing on the question of what Wolfenstein communicates about Nazis, Jews and occultism and its moral implications, Bosman explores the effect of the changes made in The New Order: the protagonist now revealed as a Jew and the Nazis facing formidable Jewish occultists. -- Mathilde van Dijk, University of Groningen