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The Comedy of Christian Faith

A Theological Account

The Comedy of Christian Faith cover

The Comedy of Christian Faith

A Theological Account

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Pre-order. Available 13 May 2027
$153.00 RRP $170.00 Website price saving $17.00 (10%)

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Description

This book offers a fresh theological account of comedy, showing how humor can illuminate the Christian story and its core doctrines. Challenging the assumption that humor and the sacred stand in opposition, it argues that the Christian tradition contains rich comic resources that have been largely overlooked. Drawing on recent biblical scholarship, the study highlights the comic orientation of Scripture, where the lowly and foolish become agents of divine reversal and God's redemptive work subverts tragic expectations.

Engaging comic theory alongside systematic theology, Jan Martijn Abrahamse retrieves this neglected dimension and explores its implications for Christian belief and practice. He emphasizes that comedy is not only a narrative form but also a performative mode-one that resonates with the embodied, enacted character of Christian faith. By examining how humor, playfulness, and laughter intersect with doctrines such as creation, redemption, and eschatology, the study offers a constructive framework for understanding Christian life through a comic vision of reality.

Interdisciplinary in scope, the volume also draws on psychology, sociology, and literary theory to render the comic dimensions of Christian faith intelligible within contemporary culture. The result is a theologically serious yet imaginative account of how comedy can deepen, enliven, and renew Christian understanding.

Table of Contents

Preface
Acknowledgements

1. All is Well That Ends Well: When Comedy and Theology Meet
2. God's Comedy: The Superior Laughter of the Triune God
3. Fall About Laughing: Human Laughter and the Tragedy of Creation
4. Comedy Matters: The Incarnation as Comic Reversal
5. Crossing Lines: Religious Satire and the Crucified Christ
6. The Spirit of Joy: The Holy Spirit and Comic Catharsis

Epilogue
Bibliography
Index

Product details

Published 13 May 2027
Format Hardback
Edition 1st
Pages 256
ISBN 9780567733405
Imprint T&T Clark
Dimensions 234 x 156 mm
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

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