How The Simpsons mocks (and embraces) Christianity

From the perpetually bored Reverend Lovejoy to the overeager zealot Ned Flanders, The Simpsons loves to make fun of Christianity. However, over its many years on the air, the show has ended up painting a surprisingly positive image of Christianity, a pluralistic vision of the church that celebrates a diversity of religious practices.

I’m not an expert on Christianity or religion more broadly, so these are just my observations as a lay person about a show that’s as important to me as any religious text. As long as you don’t find it too sacrilicious to praise Jebus, please join me in contemplating questions like, how did Flanders become so religious? How does Lisa’s Buddhism coexist with her Christian views? And what Christian denomination are the Simpsons anyway? See the video for all that and a discussion of our favorite family’s surprising and nuanced portrayal of Christianity.

00:00 Welcome to the Presbylutheran Church
00:58 Part 1: Are you there God? It’s me, Marge
02:58 Part 2: God is Real (in The Simpsons)
05:43 Part 3a: The Gospel of Flanders
07:50 Part 3b: The Gospel of Lisa
09:22 Part 4a: Religious Pluralism
11:18 Part 4b: Perennialism
14:49 Mmm, sacrilicious

Check out some of my other videos!

Why new Simpsons episodes are better than you think
   • Why new Simpsons episodes are better than ...  

Is Grampa Simpson trans? A gender-bending Season 4 exploration
   • Is Grampa Simpson trans? A gender-bending ...  

No, The Simpsons didn’t do a Joe Rogan episode. They did a clever satire that predicted an outrage
   • No, The Simpsons didn’t do a Joe Rogan epi...  

How Donald Trump broke The Simpsons
   • How Donald Trump broke The Simpsons  

Top 5 MODERN Simpsons Halloween episodes
   • Top 5 MODERN Simpsons Halloween episodes  

How this disturbing Simpsons running joke ruined Sideshow Bob
   • How this disturbing Simpsons running joke ...  

The Simpsons predicted its own slide into surrealism
   • When The Simpsons predicted its own slide ...  

Music:
Brandenburg Concerto No4-1 BWV1049 - Classical Whimsical by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...

Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-...

Artist: http://incompetech.com/

(Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research.)