Theology and the Films of Terrence Malick

Christopher B. Barnett is Associate Professor in the Department of Theology & Religious Studies at Villanova University. He received his Doctor of Philosophy in Theology from the University of Oxford. In addition to several articles and book chapters, he has published two books: Kierkegaard, Pietism and Holiness　(2011) and From Despair to Faith: The Spirituality of Søren Kierkegaard　(2014). His next major project is Kierkegaard: Discourses and Writings on Spirituality—a volume that will appear in The Classics of Western Spirituality series, issued by Paulist Press.Clark J. Elliston is Assistant Professor of Religion and Philosophy at Schreiner University in Kerrville, Texas. He received his Doctor of Philosophy in Theology from the University of Oxford. His monograph, Bonhoeffer and the Ethical Self (2016), places Dietrich Bonhoeffer in conversation with Emmanuel Levinas and Simone Weil.

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• Part One: An Introduction to Terrence Malick—Scholar, Filmmaker1 An Improbable Career: The Films of Terrence MalickJames Kendrick2 In the Theater of Light: Towards a Heideggerian Poetics of FilmGeorge PattisonPart Two: Terrence Malick as Theological Auteur3 The Divine Reticence of Terrence MalickPeter J. Leithart 4 Who Has Eyes to See, Let Him See: Terrence Malick as Natural TheologianDavid H. Calhoun5 Gelassenheit: Spirit and Spirituality in the Films of Terrence MalickChristopher B. BarnettPart Three: The Films of Terrence Malick: Theological Readings6 The Obscurity of the Self—or Why Bruce Springsteen Gets Badlands WrongChristopher B. Barnett7 The Unique Difficulty of Days of HeavenJonathan Brant8 While All Creation Groans: The Thin Red Line and Gestures toward Hope in the Midst of WarPaul Martens9 Light in the Darkness: The Problem of Evil in The Thin Red LineMark S.M. Scott10 Reaching Towards the Light: Loving the (New) WorldClark J. Elliston11 The Tree of Life and the Lamb of GodPeter M. Candler, Jr.12 Eternal Flesh as Divine Wisdom in The Tree of LifeJoshua Nunziato13 The Promise of Love Perfected: Eros and Kenosis in To the WonderPaul Camacho14 "Remember Who You Are": Imaging Life’s Purpose in Knight of CupsM. Gail Hamner