Centre for Public Christianity (June 2019)

Among other items, the Centre for Public Christianity has posted an audio interview with film critic C.J. Johnson about ‘the magic and meaning of film’.

Jubilee (Summer 2018)

Jubilee is published three times a year by the Ezra Institute for Contemporary Christianity. It’s available both in print and electronically.

The latest issue (from here and available as a pdf here) is devoted to film and TV:

‘As Christians we believe in the Lordship of Christ over all of history – including the history of communications – that God is working in and through historical events and persons to accomplish his eternal purposes which can never be thwarted (Job 42:2).’

Centre for Public Christianity (November 2017)

The Centre for Public Christianity has posted an interview with film and TV critic Alissa Wilkinson – ‘Zombies, Faith and Politics’ – on pop culture’s obsession with religion.

Centre for Public Christianity (March 2016)

The Centre for Public Christianity has posted an audio interview with John Smith and Collett Smart ‘about where true self-worth might be found’, and an audio interview with screenwriter Paul Aiello and producer Patrick Aiello on their latest movie, Risen, talking about ‘the writing process, casting Jesus, and why the resurrection is still an important story to tell’.

Also posted are some video interviews with Roland Chia ‘about why theology and the humanities generally are relevant to questions of biomedicine and biotechnology; why bioethics is an issue for everyone; why we should resist the commodification of the human body; and how people with very different worldviews can have a productive dialogue about these issues’.

Tell Me... Do You Bleed?

I contributed this week’s ‘Connecting with Culture’, a weekly email service provided by the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity.

Can it really be that one who is all powerful could also be all benevolent?

Today sees the cinema release of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Echoing the concerns of some fans at the end of the previous installment, Man of Steel, Bruce Wayne is fearful about Superman’s destructive abilities, and feels compelled to re-don his Batman suit to make sure such power is put down. It is, as one character puts it, ‘the greatest gladiator match in the history of the world – god versus man’. ‘Tell me’, says Batman in one of their confrontations – more as a threat than a question – ‘do you bleed?’ A god bleed? Surely not.

Like all such movies that could so easily be dismissed as a special effects extravaganza or for its clunky dialogue, it still sheds light on contemporary fears and aspirations. Even watching the official trailers, one is struck by the repeated use of the word ‘power’ on the lips of various characters. ‘That kind of power is very dangerous.’ ‘Human beings have a horrible record of following people with great power.’ ‘He has the power to wipe out the entire human race.’ ‘The oldest lie... that power can be innocent.’

It may be that Superman represents one sort of power and Batman another, but the trailers hint that they come together with common allies against common enemies, who are even darker, more ferocious, more destructive – the power of sheer ferocity, the power of egotistical manipulation.

We have seen evidence of a certain kind of power at work even this week in Brussels...

But this Friday, around the world, Christians will tell again the story of a different sort of power, seen in the death of Jesus. The cross subverts human expectations about the way power operates, about the way things get done. As the apostle Paul wrote, ‘the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God’ (1 Corinthians 1:18). Yet the cross also brings what we long for. According to Paul, that which is most desired by Greeks and Jews – wisdom and power – is delivered in that which is most despised, in ‘Christ crucified... the power of God and the wisdom of God’ (1 Corinthians 1:23-24).

All power and all benevolence in shed blood.

Mike Cosper on TV and Movies

One of the things I’d like to do more of this year is to post mini summaries and reviews of books I’ve read. I don’t know how this will turn out, but here’s one to be going on with...

Mike Cosper, The Stories We Tell: How TV and Movies Long For and Echo the Truth (Wheaton: Crossway, 2014).

TV and films are pervasive in their reach and powerful in their ability to reflect and shape our deepest desires. Mike Cosper helpfully explores the connection between the stories we tell ‘with the bigger story that God is telling, and... what these stories reveal about being human, being fallen, and longing for redemption’. Drawing on a variety of examples, from Avatar to The X-Files, he explores themes related to the loss of innocence, the search for love, the reality of frustration and fear, darkness and violence, the search for heroes, the yearning for a better world, and more. As Cosper shows, all these stories are echoed in the biblical story and find their deepest answer in the gospel.

Missing the Boat?

I contributed this week’s ‘Connecting with Culture’, a weekly email service provided by the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity.

Said to be ‘inspired by the epic story of courage, sacrifice and hope’, and starring Russell Crowe, Darren Aronofsky’s Noah opens in UK cinemas today.

Given that religions and cultures around the world have for centuries told variations of a flood story, you’d expect the film to raise fundamental questions about the nature of God and the place of humanity in the world. In that respect, it doesn’t disappoint, with issues of life and death, mercy and judgment, right and wrong, good and evil all found in the mouths of the various characters.

Inevitably, Christians will disagree with each other as well as with the film makers about the level of poetic licence allowed in reimagining the biblical story. To be fair, Aronofsky and his co-writer Ari Handel have not made any claims of faithfulness to the account in Genesis. Indeed, the ‘silences’ of the text have been filled in different ways through the years, and the film merges parts of Genesis with interpretations of the Book of Enoch and other ancient Jewish works of a mystical bent.

Even so, one significant feature is that the flood comes not with the pitter-patter of gentle rain drops, but with a deluge from above and below. This matches the narrative in Genesis, where the flood is seen as a return to the watery chaos which existed before the world was made – a reversal of creation which then leads to a new creation. As Russell Crowe’s Noah puts it, ‘the Creator destroys all, but only to start again’.

However, unlike the film, God is the central actor – and speaker – in Genesis. Far from being an impersonal force, God is portrayed as one ‘whose heart was deeply troubled’ (6:6) with the world. And it’s God who takes the initiative, who sets his love upon Noah (6:8). It’s God who reconstitutes humanity through Noah in ways that echo Genesis 1, his relationship with humans and the created world being described here for the first time using the word ‘covenant’ (6:18; 9:8-17), reinforcing his commitment to them.

Salvation by grace and the establishment of a covenant with God through one man by which the human race (not to mention the whole of creation) is preserved ought to sound familiar to the ears of Christians. Aronofsky’s Noah might raise the questions, but only the God of the biblical Noah provides the answers.

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Damaris has produced some free community resources, along with a leader’s guide, to enable groups to make the most of the film.