Killing the Imposter God: Philip Pullman's Spiritual Imagination in His Dark Materials
Killing the Imposter God explores the complex religious and spiritual dimensions of the best-selling fantasy series. Donna Freitas and Jason King—scholars of religion and popular culture—reveal how humanity's moral and religious issues play out in Pullman’s literary phenomenon, showing that the trilogy—far from preaching atheism, as many have suggested—actually presents a vision of a universe permeated with divinity and rich with the Christian tradition Pullman himself so publicly rejects. Weaving together critical theory that spans the disciplines of theology, ethics, feminist studies, and philosophy, the authors examine the questions His Dark Materials raises about destruction and salvation, love and redemption, the abuse of power, and the divine—making the case that Pullman the self-professed atheist has created a Christian classic of our times.