More on Movies and Theology

I found a really cool video today of some "captial T" theologians from Southern Baptist Seminary in Louisville, KY, including seminary president Albert Moehler, discussing theology and the movie Avatar...and using it to discuss how Christians should engage movies generally and the culture at large. Some really interesting stuff is said that parallels some of our recent discussions in class.

Enjoy.

How to Watch Movies

The last couple of weeks we've been challenged to know what we believe and why...and to be aware of outside influences on us through entertainment and media that could challenge and undermine the truth. Though we Americans are probably over saturated with entertainment and could stand to dial it down, we are still going to view a LOT over the next few years. So instead of being passive receptors of whatever values and worldview (what I call little 't' theology) those storytellers have, we as Christians should consciously interact with it to 1) strengthen and fill out our own beliefs, 2) resist untruthful messages and influences, and 3) be discerning about what we subject ourselves and our family to.

I've compiled a list of suggestions and questions to ask below to help us in this endeavor. your homework is to run a movie/book/TV show through these things this week to try to flesh out the theology of a given story. I've suggested we could all do it with Star Wars (any of the episodes, but especially 4, 5 and 6 since I'm a geezer) and discuss in class this Sunday. I have since thought of a better idea...The Matrix! Either way, the goal is just to interact with the story and have some good discussion about either set of movies (or anything you want to apply it to).

‘Theology’, in the context of a story (movies, books, TV, etc.), is best understood in a more general sense as a philosophy, set of values, or particular perspective on reality rather than a proper Christian belief system. But we want to compare the theology in these stories with our (hopefully) orthodox Christian theology.

Look for explicit as well as implicit theology in a story. This will be necessarily subjective to some degree (different people might see different things, and we are many times guessing the author’s intention).

Look for intentional and unintentional parallels with orthodox Christian theology, in addition to contrasts and contradictions. Unintentional parallels are a result of the fact that the Christian view is the one based in reality, and since it is a reality and common to everyone including unbelievers, parts of it will show up in competing theologies sometimes unintentionally.

Here are the questions I suggest asking as a starter to try to figure out what the theology of a particular story might be. Of course there can be many more based on the individual story you are interacting with. Additionally, some of these questions might not make much sense in one story, but give you a lot to think about in another story.

· How does the story portray God (or its version of God)? If the story does not portray God at all that is still very significant. Does it assume God does not exist, or if He does that He is just not important or relevant? How does that impact the story?
· What is the significance or meaning of any supernatural events in the story…or lack of them?
· How does the story portray human nature, purpose and destiny?
· Compare and contrast the hero/heroine with Christ…stories love messiahs. Values, actions, words, etc. If there is not a clear hero, are there implications of that?
· Analyze the values and characteristics of the ‘bad guy(s)’. What makes them ‘bad’ from the viewpoint of the story teller?
· What in or about the story are you supposed to find funny (if anything)?
· What is it that you are supposed to really like about the story overall? (Some common things in movies are good looking people, cool/hip style, violence, etc.) What is the Christian view of those things?
· How does the story address the following themes: sin, forgiveness, evil, death and afterlife, religion, suffering, rebirth, etc?
· Overall, what characteristics or concepts does the story celebrate versus condemn? (Perhaps none are being either celebrated or condemned…what does this say? A very commonly celebrated concept is ‘romantic love’, for example. Though not necessarily bad and even good in some contexts, our culture tends to idolize it and props it up as the ideal or source of happiness...a position that only God should have.)

Often times, many of the celebrated and condemned values will line up in accordance with Christian belief due to a common understanding of morality (love is good, greed is bad, etc.).
However a very subtle, yet crucial, departure from Christian belief will be present in how the story portrays human nature, potential, and morality.

Train yourself to see life (and stories) through the glasses of the gospel…the understanding of which is based in theology!!!

Easter!!

The Easter Season is soon upon us!
We will be having our second annual Easter Egg hunt at the UT graduate student housing Breckenridge. This will be an awesome social event, as well as an outreach.
Please mark your calendars for Saturday, March 27 10:30-1 (the hunt will be at noon, we will hand out fliers, set up and have lunch before).
Also please start buying eggs and candy which we will be collecting in Sunday school and stuffing at an upcoming playgroup.
Great crowd from last year!

January-February 2010 Calendar

Christmas Party

Well this is as good as we got with our Christmas babies (sorry to Luke who just left and Noah & Judah who are covered). They are in it, but not a single smile!!! But we did have a great time.

Christmas Giving

Merry Christmas to all!
We hope you are having a wonderful Christmas season and wanted to share a few ways that you can give back to that baby who gave us so much!
1. Its the season for the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions. This supports Southern baptist missionaries around the world. Please pray about how your family can give generously and sacrificially this year and be creative-match your Dec tithe, give as much as you spend on gifts for family, give your unexpected bonus or if God isn't pressing on your heart to give really big, please give something. We are highly encouraging everyone in our church to give to this (for more details read below).
2. The Homebuilders Sunday school class is collecting money for Norman Elementary family Christmas food boxes ($35) and sleeping bags for homeless who attend Church Under the Bridge ($10). We will be accepting cash or checks (made out to HPBC) Sundays Dec 5 & 13 and a big in gathering at our Christmas party on Dec. 12. Let's see how many our class can do.
Thanks for your generous spirit this Christmas season!

Lottie Moon served as a missionary to China for almost 40 years during the end of the 1800s. She tirelessly wrote letters home to urge Southern Baptists to give so more missionaries could join her sharing the good news. A lot of changed since that time and the IMB now has around 5000 missionaries serving overseas. They are supported by Lottie Moon Christmas Offering and the Cooperative Program. Last year the LMCO fell $30 million short, so the number of missionaries being able to go in 2010 is extremely limited. Caleb and I went with a two year program in 2002 that is now on hold in 2010 so if we wanted to go this year the IMB would have to tell us sorry but there isn't enough money! Yes the economy is bad but we are very very blessed and all of us have money that we can give so others can go and share the gospel. Many other missionaries with other agencies spend years raising support to go but Southern Baptists have always supported missionaries so the didn't spend the time and have the financial worries; an independent missionaries normally raises $60-80,000 per year to live while the IMB only uses around $41,000 per missionary per year so the money is well spent. Let's not be the generation that stops supporting our missionaries. Let's let God soften our hearts and give so the $100,000 HPBC goal is blown out of the water!

Save the Date! Christmas Party...

We'll be celebrating Christmas with a traditional family dinner on Saturday, December 12th at 5 PM. There will be an ornament exchange for the children, so please keep that in mind as you do your Christmas shopping. Please save the date early so we can enjoy the beautiful season as a church family! An E-vite will follow in a few weeks.

Abraham Pt. 6 -- The Climax

This week we will study the climax of Abraham's story in Genesis 22. I anticipate only covering one chapter this time because of the richness and depth of the story as how it relates to our story in Christ.

Please take the time to read this chapter and meditate on how it relates to us. you should see some obvious parallels between this story and the gospel, as undoubtedly many have heard them before.

Often in OT study these parallels are called "types". Types are people, events or even themes in the OT that occur repeatedly. Often we see these types as foreshadowing events and people in the NT. Chatper 22 is rich in these types, so see what comes to mind when readng it.

Also, here are a couple of questions to consider:

1. How could a good and loving God really ask Abraham to sacrifice his own son? Doesn't that seem barbaric?

2. The Bible says God was testing Abraham...what exactly was he testing Abraham for? Abraham had already left his home and family and circumcised himself in trust and obedience to God...what more did God want?

3. If God knows everything, including Abraham's heart and thoughts, why does He need to test Abraham at all?



-casey