Lyle Enright is a freelance writer, teacher, and consultant. Author of several poems and short stories, Lyle also writes widely on religious and cultural topics. You can find more of him here in Christ and Pop Culture, The Cresset, Fathom Magazine, Short Edition, and lots of other places, or read his half-formed takes on Twitter at @ynysdyn. Lyle holds a PhD in English from Loyola University Chicago, and lives in Cleveland with his wife and son.

Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor and the Spiritual Lessons of Dark Lords

By compromising the connection between player and hero-protagonist, Shadow of Mordor sets up the player to identify as the villain, with no prior warning.

The Lurid Profanity of Blasphemous

Blasphemous reminds us that we too often reduce our mysterious God to a player on both sides of a cosmic chess game.

Hacksaw Ridge and the Strange Sovereignty of God

Hacksaw Ridge, like Shusau Endō, asks us to consider the very terrifying particularity of God’s interactions with human beings.

A Perfect Circle: Elephants and End-Times

Keeping with the political tenor of the times, A Perfect Circle fearlessly brings religion into the fray once again.

The Spiritual Topology of Sleep Well Beast

The National’s latest, Sleep Well Beast, affirms that if heartbreak is particular to our times and places, to our own networks of relationships, then grace must be as well.