Divine Film Comedies: Biblical Narratives, Film Sub-Genres, and the Comic Spirit

Divine Film Comedies creates a meaningful dialogue between stories in the Hebrew Bible and New Testament and comedies spanning the history of film. The text lies at the intersection of three disciplines: humor/comedy studies, film studies, and theology. Drawing on films from the silent era to the 21^st century, the book highlights parallels between comedic sub-genres and sacred narratives, parables, and proverbs, illuminating a path to seeing and understanding both Scripture and film through a comic lens. The book will be of interest to students and scholars of theology and film, media, and communications.

Terry Lindvall occupies the C. S. Lewis Chair of Communication and Christian Thought at Virginia Wesleyan College. He has authored ten books including God Mocks: A History of Religious Satire from the Hebrew Prophets to Stephen Colbert (2015), Surprised by Laughter: The Comic World of C. S. Lewis (2012), and Sanctuary Cinema: The Origins of the Christian Film Industry (2011).

J. Dennis Bounds teaches courses in cinema and video at Virginia Wesleyan College and Christopher Newport University. He has presented workshops both nationally and internationally on screenwriting. Bounds has authored various articles and book chapters, and is the author of Perry Mason: The Authorship and Reproduction of a Popular Hero (1996).

Chris Lindvall is a graduate of the University of Virginia and received his MFA in Comedy Screenwriting from the Savannah College of Art and Design. He is presently an associate writer for Disney Studios in Southern California.