Now here is an interesting and worthwhile Little book. Francis Schaeffer: A Mind and Heart for God (P&R, 2010), edited by Bruce Little, is a collection of five essays on Schaeffer’s work and its continuing relevance in our world, written by arguably the four premiere Schaeffer scholars alive (all of whom knew Schaeffer well and two of whom are his sons-in-law): Udo Middlemann, Jerram Barrs, Ranald Macaulay, and Dick Keyes. It is 108 pages of … [Read More]
Taking God to the Movies (6): Two Questions & A Conclusion
Bruce Riley Ashford
Before concluding this series, I want to address a few of the questions and issues that often arise in a discussion of cinema and worldview.
To Love or to Hate?
In Hollywood Worldviews, Brian Godawa makes the point that we tend to “love” or “hate” a movie with such ferocity that we are unwilling to give it an honest critique, and likely to discourage others … [Read More]
Taking God to the Movies (5): What Ocean’s 11, The Incredibles, The Notebook, Cast Away, Hannibal, The Gladiator, The Green Mile, and Other Movies Have to Say about God, the Gospel, & Life
Bruce Riley Ashford
In the last two installments of “Taking God to the Movies,” we covered the nine elements of (nearly) every movie and then applied those nine elements to two particular movies, Braveheart and Tommy Boy. In this post, I will choose six … [Read More]
Taking God to the Movies (4): Deep Thoughts By Braveheart & Tommy Boy
Bruce Riley Ashford
Now that we have taken a look at the nine elements in (nearly) every movie, let’s try our hand at picking out those nine elements in a couple of popular movies. I’ve selected Braveheart and Tommy Boy, because in my experience teaching seminars on cinema, those are two movies that nearly everybody has seen, and because they are two very different … [Read More]
Taking God to the Movies (3): Nine Elements of a Hollywood Storyline
Bruce Riley Ashford
This third installment of the “Taking God to the Movies” will include a brief look at the nine elements in nearly every Hollywood movie: theme, hero, hero’s goal, adversary, character flaw, apparent defeat, final confrontation, self-revelation, and resolution. Once the viewer can identify these nine elements, he or she is ready to begin analyzing the movie and responding to its storyline … [Read More]
Taking God to the Movies (2): The Master Storyline
Bruce Riley Ashford
In this second installment of “Taking God to the Movies,” I give a concise summary of the Bible’s grand narrative, stretching from Creation and Fall through to Redemption and New Creation. This narrative provides the starting point, trajectory, and framework for analyzing the stories told in Hollywood’s films. Each of the biblical narrative’s plot movements is significant; indeed, if we are to view the world … [Read More]
Taking God to the Movies (1): Introduction
Bruce Riley Ashford
No offense intended toward seminary professors, publishers, and pastors, but the most influential theologians in the United States of America are screenwriters, producers, lyricists, and musicians. These Hollywood theologians’ convey their messages through movies, televisions shows, and popular music, which become the lingua franca of the various cultures and sub-cultures of the USA: John Mayer, Jay-Z, and Black Eyed Peas have more access to American homes … [Read More]
What is the Missional Gospel? Part 5: The Evangelical Missional Church
By Keith Whitfield
At a recent conference, Tim Keller addressed the challenges of evangelism in a post-modern context and gave six principles on how to pursue evangelism in this context. The first principle was “Gospel Theologizing,” and what he meant by this is phrase that all theology should articulate the gospel message. He says our theology should be an exposition of the gospel, and our presentation … [Read More]
What is the Missional Gospel? Part 4: The Emerging Missional Church
By Keith Whitfield
Brian McLaren announced in 2004 at “The Billy Graham Center Evangelism Roundtable” that “we are in need of radical strategic rethinking of our current strategy as gospel-oriented Christians seeking to follow the Great Commission” (“The Strategy We Pursue,”). He argues that this need is urgent and apparent given the low church attendance by people in our culture, the number of Christian kids dropping … [Read More]
What is the Missional Gospel? Part 3: The Ecumenical Missional Church
By Keith Whitfield
The ecumenical missional church arises from a growing dis-ease with an approach to church that they claim was inherited from Christendom. Their concern with this approach to the church is that it views the church as a place and a “vender of religion.” Breaking from this, they attempt to return to the gospel to set forth a new vision for the church and … [Read More]
