When Buffy the Vampire Slayer died (the second time), the epitaph on her tombstone read "She Saved the World a Lot."
The willingness of Buffy, high school cheerleader and demon killer, to lay down her young life so humankind could live echoes the central theme of the New Testament.
And for many Buffyologists, that's no coincidence. They see it as part of the eclectic mix of spirituality that appeared throughout the seven-year span of the critically acclaimed television series "Buffy the Vampire Slayer."
"[The show] constantly deals with the great spiritual problems: life, death, morality, friendship, love," said David Lavery, a professor at Middle Tennessee State University who runs what he calls an "online international journal for Buffy studies."
The show's spiritual underpinnings -- already the subject of scholarly research at major universities -- have been compiled in a new book, "What Would Buffy Do? The Vampire Slayer as Spiritual Guide," by Jana Riess.
Her work has been an instant hit among Buffyphiles, causing Riess' publisher (Jossey-Bass) last weekend to deliver overnight 70 additional copies to academics at a "Buffy" conference in Nashville after the first batch quickly sold out.
"I suspect [Riess' book] will quickly be considered part of the Buffy studies canon -- if it isn't already," said Tanya Cochran, who uses "Buffy" to teach freshman writing at Georgia State University.
"What Would Buffy Do?," published in April, joins a growing library of popular literature that deconstructs popular movies and television shows to expose their religiosity. In the last few years, books have been written about the spiritual lives of Harry Potter, the Simpsons and the Star Trek voyagers. And pastors often borrow from movies, television shows and catchy commercials to illustrate spiritual points or frame sermon series. At the Pastors.com website, the titles of available messages include "God's Extreme Makeover" and "Survivor: Surviving Life's Challenges."
The current trend of exploring religion through pop culture icons actually started 35 years ago when a small Louisville, Ky., publisher released "The Gospel According to Peanuts," by Robert L. Short, a Presbyterian pastor. The book has sold more than 10 million copies.
"That paved the way for all the rest of us," said Riess, who holds a doctorate in religious history and is the religion book review editor at Publishers Weekly.
