Religion and Outer Space

Introduction Part I. Religions Imagine Outer Space 1. Outer Space in Ancient Jewish and Christian Literature Catherine Hezser 2. The Myth of Ancient Indian Airplanes Wendy Doniger 3. MahÄyÄna Mind-Bending: Buddhist Visions of Outer/Inner Worlds James Mark Shields 4. The Early Nineteenth Century Lisle W. Dalton 5. Event Horizon & The Space NDN's Star Map Lou Cornum Part II. Religious Imaginings of Outer Space 6. When Faith is Out of This World: Exploring the Religious Imagination Through Science Fiction Douglas E. Cowan 7. The Evolving Light: The Transformation of Christianity in Deep Space Travel Jason Batt, Alires Almon, and Theodore Vial 8. Barbies and Celebrity Saints: Religion in John Varley's Eight Worlds Stories Wendy Gay Pearson 9. Space Dust, Religious Practice x Blackness Philip Butler 10. Utopian Art, the Sublime, and Outer Space Imaginaries Catherine L. Newell Part III. Imagining Religion in Outer Space 11. I Aim at the Stars, But Sometimes I Hit London: The Glorious and Deadly Rockets of the Early Space Age Darryl V. Caterine 12. Outer Space Religions, 20th c. and Beyond Benjamin E. Zeller 13. Aliens in Outer Space: Myth, Diversity, and the Final Frontier Eric Michael Mazur 14. Astronauts as Chosen People: Religious Ways of Understanding the Astronaut Experience and Life After Space Deana L. Weibel 15. The Wrong Way Home: St. Elon's Digital Cult of Personality, Messianic Mediations of Mars, and the Musketeer Meme Militia Sarah McFarland Taylor. About the Contributors Index