The show has been both praised and criticized by atheists, agnostics, liberals, conservatives and religious people in general for its portrayal of faith and religion in society.
The church's denomination is identified as the "Western Branch of American Reform Presbylutheranism" in the episode "The Father, the Son, and the Holy Guest Star."
In a 2001 article for The Christian Century, John Dart argued that "[T]he enormous popularity of The Simpsons, now in its 12th television season, suggests that religious people have a sense of humor — contrary to the usual wisdom in Hollywood.
The program takes more satirical jabs at spiritual matters than any other TV show, yet the erratic cartoon family has an appreciative audience among many people of faith and among many analysts of religion.
"[5] In July 2007, Christianity Today film reviewer Russ Breimeier gave The Simpsons Movie a positive review, stating "Most television shows don't translate well to the big screen, and that's especially true for 15- or 30-minute cartoons that don't have the depth or nuance to expand into feature length.
The Simpsons Movie reunites several of the veterans responsible for the golden age of the series, including creator Matt Groening, director David Silverman (Monsters, Inc.), and contributing writers James L. Brooks, Al Jean, John Swartzwelder, David Mirkin, Ian-Maxtone-Graham, among others—eleven writers, four consultants.
"[6] In December 2009, an article published in L'Osservatore Romano, the Holy See's official newspaper, praised The Simpsons for its "realistic" way of dealing with religion.
While discussing The Simpsons' treatment of religion in his Drawn to Television book, M. Keith Booker cites a scene from the episode where Milhouse asks Bart what religions have to gain by lying about concepts such as the existence of a soul – and then the scene cuts to Reverend Lovejoy counting his money.
[8] The episode has been used in church courses about the nature of a soul in Connecticut and in the United Kingdom,[9][10] and was shown by a minister in Scotland in one of his sermons.
The episode portrays her adoption of Buddhism as spiritually fulfilling in contrast to her poor experience in church, and it serves as an example of how religion can accept consumerism without being overtaken by it.