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 (May 2015)

Among other items, the Centre for Public Christianity has posted an audio download with Simon Smart and Justine Toh reflecting on how so many recent and current TV series (think Breaking Bad, House of Cards, True Detective, Game of Thrones) ‘hold up a truly bleak mirror to human nature’, and what this trend tells us about ‘our attitude to ourselves, the society we live in, and our hopes for the future’.

Also posted is a video interview with Geoff Broughton, talking about his work on the streets and in inner-city churches, and his new book, Restorative Christ, and a video interview with Brian Grim on the persecution of Christians around the world and why he’s optimistic about the future of religious freedom.

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.