“Severance” and the Way of the Cross, One More Time

“Severance” and a Theology of Suffering with Kelsi Klembara.

Image credit: Apple TV+

I hope it doesn’t seem like I’m beating a dead horse with this take, but I truly believe that the AppleTV+ series Severance offers one of the most searing lenses through which we can see human suffering and the very human solution to it. I’ve traced this theme here and here, but there are, to be sure, many more tendrils to follow that allow for the weight of the human condition, broken as it is, to be analyzed in stark white honesty. To wit,

Kelsi Klembara

recently had me on her podcast, “Outside Ourselves,” for a special “summer break” episode to discuss Severance, the impotence of human means to refine away suffering, and the gospel’s message of finding God in the middle of it all.

For the audio-only version, check out this episode on Apple Podcasts and on Spotify.

My overriding thesis for Severance is that it portrays what Martin Luther would call a theologia gloriae in all of its pantomime hope and torrid failure. Taken to its nth degree, a theology of glory posits that human acumen, intuition, knowledge, and will-power are capable of not only discerning who God is, but also imbue one with the requisite resources to find hope, peace, and belonging. Suffering, in this paradigm, is an overcomable, even refinable, entity. It need not be endured. In contrast stands the theologia crucis (“theology of the cross”), which insists that God and the gospel are only found in the heaving form of the Crucified One.

While Severance itself won’t make the leap from a theology of glory to a theology of the cross, what makes it such a beneficial outing is its blistering portrayal of humanity’s quest for glory via the elimination of pain, suffering, and loss. In short, we’re shown why that won’t ever work. The only outcome of such a project is more grief, more tears, more loss, and more suffering. For any semblance of hope and redemption, there is only one place to find it — namely, at the foot of the cross where Jesus died.

Grace and peace to you, my friends.