“Nothing solid”: Locating a Christian God in Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Crosses, holy water, and a pair of red leather pants: Buffy the Vampire Slayer put these Christian symbols on the small screen and used them to defeat the forces of darkness. Throughout its seven (fantastic) seasons, the show depicts sacrificial deaths and biblical resurrections in the midst of its camp monster-fighting and iconic villains, always trying to get the upper hand in the battle of good vs evil. Canonically, there is a literal heaven and many dimensions of hell. Yet, God with a capital g is nowhere to be seen. So what do Buffy and her fallen-from-grace, bad-then-good-then-bad-again hot vampire lovers represent for the theology and morality of the show?

Focusing on the best broody vampires (fight me), Angel and Spike, as well as on some of the most religious “Big Bads” of the show, this episode will question and analyze the anxieties and ambiguities Buffy has around Christianity. Where is God when there are demons? Can there be such a thing as inherent good when there is Spike?

Tune in for our take on television’s most sacred text, all in time for the reboot/sequel.

Music by Max Elliott

Bibliography

• Carroll, Shiloh. “‘A Little Less Ritual and a Little More Fun’: Buffy and Medievalist Religion”. Wordpress. 5 August 2021, https://shilohcarroll.wordpress.com/2021/08/05/buffy-religion/

• Erickson, Greg. “Religion Freaky or a Bunch of Men Who Died? The (A)theology of Buffy.” Slayage: The Online International Journal of Buffy +, October 2004.

• Milton, John. Paradise Lost. Penguin Classics, 2003.

• Playdon, ZJ. “Religious imagery and its political significance: a feminist reading” in Reading the Slayer, ed. R Kaveney (London: Tauris Books, 2001).

• TV Tropes. “ Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Writing by the Seat of Your Pants”. https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Trivia/BuffyTheVampireSlayer

• Whedon, Joss, creator. Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Mutant Enemy Productions and 20th Century Fox Television, 1997.