Reviewers

"People will, no doubt, read this marvelous book in different ways. Few of us will have seen the vast number of films ‘read’ here by Mike King, which, taken together, shed a profound light on the experience of being human in our post-modern world village, drawing in the traditions of India and Japan alongside the making of films in Europe and North America." - The Revd Canon Professor David Jasper DD FRSE

“King is excellent at talking about what others have such difficulty talking about: the spiritual, the ‘luminous’ in film.” - William L. Blizek, Professor of Philosophy and Religion, University of Nebraska at Omaha.

“King’s Luminous is a never less than illuminating voyage through the territory of how films visualise and provoke ancient spiritual and religious questions, from a range of genres, continents and traditions. I teach modules on ‘Religion and Film’ and ‘Death and the Afterlife’ and am excited about the way my students will be able to turn to Luminous as an introductory portal into the many life-and-death questions explored in their modules, which will complement the theoretical and methodological literature on the reading lists. ” - Dr Chris Deacy, Reader in Theology and Religious Studies, University of Kent.

Readers

Comments from Amazon:

"Luminous is a tough read, but worth the effort. Mike King uses his encyclopedic knowledge of films about religion to identify the ones he believes are transformative."

Comments from Facebook:

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Luminous

The Spiritual Life on Film

Non-fiction, 2018

The first comprehensive survey of religion and spirituality on film.

This book is a comprehensive survey of religion and spirituality on film, covering both popular and arthouse movies. It seeks spiritual and moral depth, finding filmic examples across the world’s faiths and sometimes in surprising places where religion has no obvious presence. Over 400 films are drawn on to shed light on issues that confront us in the serious pursuit of spirituality, culminating in the “sixty must-see films for the spiritual life.” The examination of spiritual and religious questions is divided across twelve categories:

  1. Spiritual Aesthetics, Nature and the Romantic
  2. The Esoteric, the New Age and Neoplatonism.
  3. Dying, Suicide and Bereavement
  4. Ghosts, Angels and the Afterlife
  5. Reincarnation and Resurrection
  6. Spiritual Chaos and Rubber Reality
  7. Wisdom, Teachers, and Disciples.
  8. Priests, Monks, Nuns and Spiritual Community
  9. Spiritual Practice, Discipline and the Martial Arts.
  10. Violence, Compassion, Forgiveness and Atonement
  11. East vs. West
  12. Secular vs. Spiritual

Download the "Sixty Must-See Films for the Spiritual Life" PDF