“Nobody Wanted to Kill It”: The Rise and Fall of The Boy Who Came Back from Heaven

Abstract

ABSTRACT The rise and fall of The Boy Who Came Back from Heaven exposes some issues when religious faith is merged with consumable products. Christian media are marketed in part as serving ministerial roles. But how does the Christian mass media industry negotiate this perception of serving the evangelical subculture within a marketplace that privileges selling units and making profits? What does it mean when a profit-driven industry influences Christian beliefs and practices? This article examines the rise and fall of The Boy Who Came Back from Heaven to explore how the Christian media industry negotiates its perception of a ministerial tool with the profit-based demands of the marketplace. By analyzing the publisher's responses to criticisms about the book's veracity, this article advocates for framing Christian media around its money-making obligations rather than Christian service.