Bringing the Bible to Life: Biblical Adaptations and Christian Nationalism in the Twenty-first-century United States of America

Taylor, Chelsea Marie

doi:https://doi.org/10.21985/n2-wpkd-tz81

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Bringing the Bible to Life: Biblical Adaptations and Christian Nationalism in the Twenty-first-century United States of America

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Christian artists use dramatic license and theatrical representation to mold idealized versions of the Bible into recreational spaces for popular consumption, such as immersive theaters, theme parks, and museums. For these Christian artists, the impulse to evangelize through theatrical representation overcomes deeply ingrained religious sentiments of antitheatricality and result in fantastical spectacles at commercial venues. This dissertation explores popular Christian tourist destinations in the contemporary United States that rely on theatrical representation to adapt the Bible for religious consumers. Tracking three narratives—the story of Noah’s Ark, the Passion of Christ, and the history of the Bible’s production and circulation—I explore how Christian artists balance their belief that the Bible is the infallible Word of God with the process of adaptation and enactment that inherently demands change. In each case, these works are created under the constraints of a fascinating paradox: the artists must alter scripture to communicate scripture’s inherent and holistic perfection. Additionally, these belief-based processes of adaptation offer latitude for creators to inject extrabiblical political claims regarding twenty-first-century American life, which, in turn, provides opportunities for the politically charged perspectives of these creators to be interpreted by audiences as the Word of God. I trace how the artistic choices made during the adaptation process—specifically those concerning narrative structure and spectacle—inject extrabiblical material into these performances to make logical, emotional, and visceral appeals to visitors about both religion and politics under the guise of ecumenical, family-friendly entertainment. To do so, I employ a mixed methods approach combining formalism, semiotics, rhetoric, and discourse analysis. I reveal how these sites share a common dramaturgy rooted in the political ideology of Christian nationalism and convey that white, heteronormative, patriarchal societal structures are willed by God and underpin America’s morality while advocating for American values including individualism, meritocracy, and exceptionalism. I conclude that sincere, well-intentioned artists, hoping to shape the world in the image of their belief systems, are succeeding through theatre, but also in doing so they create cultural products that help fuel the rise of religious nationalism in the United States. Combining the fields of theatre, religious studies, and American studies, I challenge the assumption that these sites are fringe entertainments that only reach niche audiences, and I add to the growing body of literature analyzing the spread of Christian nationalism and its impacts on religious pluralism and democracy.

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