The majority of critics of religious broadcasting, the so-called "electronic church," are members of the "liberal" or ecumenical Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish groups. In a historical context, however, these critics, along with the major radio and television networks, are as responsible for the electronic church as are the…

In order to stimulate scholars to investigate systematically and fully the religious dimension of dramatic television content, the first part of this paper develops a basic framework for such study. After establishing the importance of this kind of research, it defines and explains the four basic variables that would have to be examined: general…