Page - 160 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 07/01

160 | Frank G. Bosman and Archibald L.  H.  M. van Wieringen www.jrfm.eu 2021, 7/1, 145–171 • it is a guide book providing new arrivals with the right state of mind need- ed to join the sect. • it is an autobiography by Joseph himself, retelling his life’s story from his troublesome youth until the founding of his cult. • it is a collection of prophecies and apocalyptic visions Joseph has about the approaching destruction of the old world. The fourteen drawings contained in the book are thematically and aesthet- ically connected to the American Evangelical interpretation of the Christian apocalypse.18 It is not known who the real artists of the drawings are, and also no text-immanent artist is suggested. All but two of the pictures feature apoc- alyptic scenes, the majority of them located in the United States, for example in San Francisco (fig. 13), Miami Beach, or Hope County. The images’ message is clear: the world is burning, people are being killed, the Evil One is roaming the earth; the Apocalypse is nigh. From Rome to Hope County Content-wise, The Book of Joseph describes Joseph’s life story, from his trou- bled youth in Rome, Georgia (USA) until the founding of his cult decades later (unfortunately, the book does not provide the text-immanent reader with any dates or other chronological indications). Joseph and his two brothers, Jacob and John, were raised by an alcoholic and aggressive but at the same time very Christian fundamentalist father and a psychologically and emotionally absent mother. Eventually, the three are taken away from their parents by child protection and placed – first together, but later, after Jacob set fire to the farm of their abusive adoptive family, separately – in foster homes. The brothers lose track of each other until Jacob has grown up and decides to find his lost siblings. After a number of misadventures, Jacob manages to track down his brothers: John has become a rich and influential lawyer un- der the influence of his new religious-fanatic family, while Jacob has lost his psychological health as a US marine in Iraq and Afghanistan. Once united, the three start their Project at Eden’s Gate, first in Rome, but later, after an incident involving the violent death of a former cult member, in Hope County, Montana, the scene of the game. Joseph is the leader of the three and builds his cult from the “losers” of society: the addicts, the lonely, and the desperate, for whom he claims to offer a new family. 18 Hummel 2020.