Catholic Theologian Dr Matthew Tan will be spoke to us about the spiritual and theological dimension of popular books, film and tv. This presentation, part of an ongoing book project, looks at the relationship between pop culture and the Christian spiritual life from the standpoint of the sacramental life in the Roman Catholic Church. Rather than a distraction from the spiritual life, it will be argued that pop culture’s organising power is due precisely to its ability to function as a substitute form of spirituality, whilst at the same time being fundamentally material. In this talk, Matthew Tan will highlight how the logic of sacraments can help us understand in turn the logic of the material aspect of pop culture.
Facebook: Playing for Eternity: The Sacraments of Pop Culture – 11 March at 7:00pm
About the speaker: Dr Matthew Tan is a theologian based in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney, as well as an adjunct Senior Lecturer in Theology at the University of Notre Dame Australia. He was previously a Lecturer in Theology at Campion College Australia and the John Paul II Institute for Marriage and Family in Melbourne. He received his doctorate in theology at the Australian Catholic University, and License in Sacred Theology at the Pontifical University of St Thomas Aquinas in Rome.
Matt is the author of 2 books. His first book was on political theology and ecumenism. His second book entitled “Redeeming Flesh: The Way of the Cross with Zombie Jesus”, was published by Cascade in 2016 and copies are available after his presentation.
Matt blogs on the Divine Wedgie, which is part of the Patheos Catholic Channel. You can follow him at #BecauseAsianTheologian
About PEACE: PEACEtalks is a monthly event hosted by Paddington Anglican Church aimed at serving the community by promoting and cultivating deep conversations about life, the world and everything. ‘PEACE’ stands for ‘political, ethical, artistic & cultural engagement’. As such, our events seek to take all of these areas of our shared humanity seriously in a world where such things are often marginalized. We also seek to demonstrate the ways in which spiritual and theological reflection enable us to look at all of these important areas afresh.