Theology of Supernatural

Summary

The television series Supernatural constructs a new theology by blending Christian demonology with occult and charismatic Protestant ideas. Drawing on C. Partridge's theory of occulture and U. Eco's semiotic narrative model, the article argues that the show's popularity stems from its bricolage of Western personified evil with abstract Eastern spirituality. Over 15 seasons, Supernatural evolved from a story of two brothers hunting evil into a global panorama of demonology, angelology, and eschatology, engaging themes of theodicy and the nature of God. The show's narrative draws on third-wave charismatic spiritual warfare theology and Emmanuel Swedenborg's occult system. The author concludes that classical monotheistic mythology, in both orthodox and heterodox forms, remains highly attractive to modern audiences, and occulture makes it flexible enough to meet diverse demands.

Study at a glance

Abstract

The main research issues of the article are the determination of the genesis of theology created in Supernatural and the understanding of ways in which this show transforms a traditional Christian theological narrative. The methodological framework of the article, on the one hand, is the theory of the occulture (C. Partridge), and on the other, the narrative theory proposed in U. Eco’s semiotic model. C. Partridge successfully described modern religious popular culture as a coexistence of abstract Eastern good (the idea of the transcendent Absolute, self-spirituality) and Western personified evil. The ideal confirmation of this thesis is Supernatural, since it was the bricolage game with images of Christian evil that became the cornerstone of its popularity. In the 15 seasons of its existence, Supernatural, conceived as a story of two evil-hunting brothers wrapped in a collection of urban legends, has turned into a global panorama of world demonology while touching on the nature of evil, the world order, theodicy, the image of God, etc. In fact, this show creates a new demonology, angelology, and eschatology. The article states that the narrative topics of Supernatural are based on two themes, i.e., the theology of the spiritual war of the third wave of charismatic Protestantism and the occult outlooks derived from Emmanuel Swedenborg’s system. The main topic of this article is the role of monotheistic mythology in Supernatural. The author concludes that the case of Supernatural shows how the classical monotheistic narrative, in its orthodox and heterodox formats, is hugely attractive for the modern audience. A wide distribution of the occulture that has become a basis of modern mass culture and easily combines, by virtue of historical specifics of its genesis, with monotheism makes the classical monotheistic mythology more flexible and capable of meeting the audience’s different demands.