This project develops a framework for approaching American popular entertainment in a theologically responsible way. A critical analysis and reinterpretation of Barth's theology of culture provides a means for exploring popular culture critically, while respecting its secular self-understanding and its value as an independent sphere of human work. Criteria are suggested for investigating popular entertainment in terms of its ‘task,’ understood through Barth's concepts of play, relaxation, and fellowship, which characterize human ‘recreation’ in light of humanity’s ‘re-creation’ by the Spirit. These criteria are then tailored to the specific structures of production, distribution, and reception of television, allowing theology to move toward more relevant and sophisticated analyses of this ever-present medium. The goal is to develop a critical lens through which one can affirm facets of popular entertainment that may be constructive to religious life and avoid the unwitting absorption of elements that prove destructive (e.g. inhibiting human freedom, rights, and dignity). These are essential skills not only for theologians and clergy, but for all who seek to understand the relationship between their faith commitments and their role as consumers of American popular culture.

The dissertation contributes to Barth studies by discarding the usual sources for understanding Barth's theology of culture in favor of his writings on eschatology and the Spirit, which can better account for popular culture. To ‘theology and popular culture’ it offers a theological warrant for exploring popular entertainment in light of its inherently valuable, secular task and a method beyond merely reading these forms as texts.

More broadly, it contributes to cross-cultural/interfaith dialogue by suggesting criteria for encounter that respect the religious or secular self-declaration of the other, while also allowing one to remain true to one’s own cultural or theological commitments.