Thinking Christian

Movie Review: War Horse

2012-01-29T15:38:00.001+10:30

Steven Spielberg (Saving Private Ryan, Schindler’s List, AI) is having a strong run with two movies on at cinemas at the moment. There’s the wonderfully enjoyable The Adventures of Tin Tin and the more serious epic War Horse.

Set during World War 1, War Horse tells the story of Albert (Jeremy Irvine) who enlists in the army after Joey (played by 6 different horses apparently), the horse he raised and loves, is commandeered by the cavalry. We follow the fortunes of both Albert and Joey as their journeys separate and cross in what, for the most part, is an exciting and sobering portrayal of the effects of war on both human and horse along the Western Front.

War Horse is classic epic story telling by a master of the art. Unfortunately, the quality of the film is undermined by the beginning and end of the story which comes across as cheesy and overacted. Apart from two memorable scenes – one of Joey running riderless through “no man’s land” and becoming entangled in barbed wire; and another near the beginning of the movie, where Albert has to entice Joey to plough a field – most of the film is simplistic – possibly the result of trying to make the movie straddle the whole family as its audience.

The actors do a worthy job but the real winners in this movie are the horses that portray Joey. I heard an interview with their trainer who stated that managing a horse, in a movie, without a rider is a particularly difficult challenge. For me, the horse was the most believable and enjoyable part of the movie.

War Horse is definitely not up with the best of Spielberg’s movies.

You will probably like War Horse if you liked The Black Stallion; Empire of the Sun; Saving Private Ryan

Positive Review
'There isn't a moment in the movie where you don't feel Spielberg's passion, and this time, the film is worthy of his enthusiasm. It's a knockout.' – Rene Rodriguez/Miami Herald

Negative Review
'Director Steven Spielberg doesn't have a steady grip on War Horse's careening tone, but he'll be damned if there's not 15 minutes in there for everyone.’ – Amy Nicholson/Boxoffice Magazine

Content Advice
intense sequences of war violence and themes

AUS: M15+
USA: PG-13

Atheism 2.0

2012-01-25T09:32:00.003+10:30

Very interesting lecture by Alain de Botton on what atheism can learn from religions. A good reminder for Christians, too, about some of the better aspects of religion.

Book Review: The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction

2012-01-05T09:19:00.001+10:30

Growing up in a conservative Christian home, I was taught that fiction was a waste of time and that I should be very careful about what I read so that I wouldn’t be seduced by error. I’m grateful that I completely ignored both of those rules. However, I used to read for information and, although I was a voracious reader and enjoyed reading, underlying my reading was always an instrumental assumption that I could use what I learned to advise others or make myself a better person. I also tend to be a person that likes to be organised in my reading – I keep lists of books I want to read and, until recently, I tended to read the next one on the list. It was difficult for me to just “randomly” pick something to read just for pleasure and just because it was of interest at the moment. And I also felt that, at some time in my life, I really needed to read all the “classics” or “great books” in the Western “canon”.

Apparently, I am not alone. According to Alan Jacobs in his delightful book The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction these types of approaches to “responsible” reading are widespread and part of the way we have been educated to read. But Jacobs will have none of it! He brings a breath of fresh air to reading that lifts any burden we might feel and, instead, recommends we read what we find pleasurable – without shame!

The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction is a meditative reflection on reading that avoids telling the reader what they should read. No rules here other than some guidelines about gaining the most from reading. Instead, we are to read at Whim. He writes:

… my commitment to one dominant, overarching definitive principle for reading: Read at Whim (italics in original)

….

Read what gives you delight – at least most of the time – and do so without shame.

Jacobs is not suggesting that we do not sometimes read the so-called “great books” that require us to commit to a demanding read. But he likens those to what we might eat at an elegant restaurant – we eat sometimes but not every day. Reading at Whim cannot be the only reason we read. But it is a type of reading we need to recover.

Jacobs does distinguish between lower-case whim and upper-case Whim. The lower-case version

…is thoughtless, directionless preference that almost leads to boredom or frustration or both. But Whim is something very different: it can guide us because it is based in self-knowledge.

Jacobs explores the difference between the two using examples from literature – demonstrating a vast richness of ancient and contemporary sources.

The idea that we can read at Whim is liberating! This book has already changed the way I read. He embraces new technologies (he has a fascinating discussion of the benefits of reading with a Kindle compared to a traditional book) and iconoclastically sweeps away a whole lot tired assumptions that make reading so burdensome for many people.

So… if you want to consider a new approach to reading that has the potential to enliven it again for you, then check out this excellent, Whimsical little book.

Technorati Tags: reading

Book Review: Godless

2011-12-30T18:43:00.001+10:30

Godless: How an Evangelical Preacher Became One of America's Leading Atheists by Dan Barker

I have mixed feelings about this book. Part 1 of the book entitled "Rejecting God" is the most interesting as it is the author's personal story of his journey from fundamentalist Christianity to atheism.

Part 2, "Why I am an atheist" is very dense and philosophical - and I appreciated some of Barker's arguments and critiques regarding God and the various arguments often offered for God's existence by Christian apologists - some of which are clearly wanting.

Part 3, "What's wrong with Christianity?", was the worst part of the book. It consists of a hurried survey through the Bible intended to prove that inerrantism is unsustainable (I agree that it isn't sustainable). But in this section Barker proof texts in much the same way as many fundamentalist Christians do - he gives almost no consideration to context (cultural, historical, or textual) unless it serves his purpose. For example, he criticises what he sees as the moral commands of the Beatitudes and doesn't realise that these are not moral commands. The context is Jesus blessing the marginalised oppressed group of people in front of him who were going through the experiences he was describing in each of the Beatitudes. While some Christians see the Beatitudes as a moral code, this is not the only way of reading the text. Baker's book fails in genuinely engaging with the text and sharing alternative perspectives with the reader. It is highly biased towards Baker's conclusions (which may not always be wrong but are not offered fair-mindedly).

Because Barker came from a fundamentalist background, he falls into the trap of treating the text of the Bible as a flat set of propositions. Apart from the fundamentalist, few educated Christians would take it that way. So this whole section of the book, in my opinion, would have been better left to another, more scholarly book, rather than plonked into this book in the way it is.

Part 4, "Life is Good!" becomes a boring listing of all the people Baker has met that he deems important to the atheist/humanist cause (it is hard to avoid thinking he is engaging in name-dropping) and events he has participated in. There are a few autobiographical stories that are of interest. His brief discussion on the scientific hypotheses for the origin of religion and his discussion of the basis of meaning and morality without God are worth reading but are overshadowed by the interminable minutiae of the rest of it.

In summary, Part 1 is worth reading to gain an insight into Baker's journey and what was going on inside his head as he struggled with the loss of his faith. I think there are other books that do a better job of the material in the other parts of the book. Baker needed a good editor to make this book shorter and more powerful.

Movie Review: Melancholia

2011-12-30T12:23:00.001+10:30

Lars von Trier’s Melancholia would have to be the “deepest” most demanding movie in cinemas at the moment. The word melancholia refers to profound depression, apathy, and withdrawal. In the movie, it also refers to a planet that is about to collide with earth bringing the world to an end and to the experience of one of the main characters of the story, Justine (Kirsten Dunst).

The movie opens with a stunning series of slow motion scenes (snapshots of what is to come) to the music from Richard Wagner’s Tristan and Isolde. The images are surreal and dark and create a degree of anxiety with an impending sense of doom. Following this prologue, the rest of the movie is in two parts – Part 1 is “Justine” and Part 2 is “Claire”. These are two estranged sisters and the story of the impending end of the world is told by focusing on each of them in turn, comparing the way in which each of the sisters deal with the end of the world. The whole movie takes place in a mansion owned by Claire’s husband, John (Kiefer Sutherland), beginning in the first part with Justine’s wedding reception and, in the second part, with Claire caring for Justine as she descends into a profound depression. Justine’s depression begins in the first part of the film and traverses the second part until she begins to improve just before the end of the world occurs.

There are many layers to this film and many possible “readings” of the story. The director has, however, left those things to the viewer to work out – there is no preachiness, no exegesis, just superb storytelling that leaves us deep in contemplation when it is over.

Melancholia is ambitious in using a cosmic event to parallel Justine’s depression. Dunst is superb in her role and, as someone who has experienced a major depressive illness, I resonated with much that she portrayed as she descended into her private hell. Ultimately, for me, the film portrays the different ways that people might face the end of the world (and depression) – opting out before it happens (in the case of John), becoming fraught with anxiety (in the case of Claire), or facing it head on with calm acceptance for what it is (in the case of Justine).

The end of the world is stunningly portrayed by von Trier. There is no cliché, no sensationalism, no “Hollywood” happy resolution. In fact, there is nothing clichéd about this movie at all. It is deeply courageous film making and will, therefore, not suit every viewer. It is tough to watch; patience is required as some parts move slowly; there are nuances to observe; and the subject matter is bleak and confronting.

Apparently, the idea of this movie grew out of von Trier’s own depression while he was in therapy. He came to understand that depressed people could, in the face of impending doom, act with rationality. Because of their experience managing depression, they could perhaps deal with this sort of event better than others (see Rene Rodriguez/Miami Herald for more on this).

God and/or religion is nowhere to be found in this movie. This is the end – that’s all there is. For many Christians, this will be an omission that is significant for them. Most Christians cannot conceive of people dealing with depression or obliteration without God. But they do – and often with ultimate peace and tranquillity. (Feel free to comment on this issue in the comments area below!) Melancholia is a stunning piece of moviemaking – except it is a bit long and slow in the second half. If you want to bypass the superficial fare of the holiday period, check this one out!

You will probably enjoy this movie if you liked Solaris, The Tree of Life, The Virgin Suicides, or The Antichrist.

Positive Review
'Leave it to von Trier to conceive an intergalactic sci-fi metaphor for a psychological disorder – and then make it work so astonishingly well.’ – Rene Rodriguez/Miami Herald

Negative Review
'Melancholia is his latest pile of undiluted drivel, nauseatingly filmed by a wonky hand-held camera and featuring a crazy, mismatched ensemble headed by Kirsten Dunst, who won an acting award in Cannes last year for looking totally catatonic.’ – Rex Reed/New York Observer

Content Advice
some graphic nudity,sexual content and language

Book Review: Heaven is For Real

2011-12-23T18:03:00.001+10:30

Right up front, let me say that I think Todd Burpo’s book Heaven is for Real: A Little Boy's Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back is one of the most naive, superficial, and disturbing “Christian” books I’ve read for a long time.

In brief, the book purports to tell of a 4 year old’s journey to heaven during a surgical procedure for a severe ruptured appendix. Following the procedure, and over a period of months and years, Colton, Todd’s son, gradually “revealed” bits and pieces of his alleged journey to heaven. Here’s what he “discovered” and/or “experienced” on his journey:

angels sang to him while he was in hospital
he was sitting on Jesus’ lap while he was in heaven
while in heaven, he saw his father praying in a small room in the hospital and his mother in a different room talking on the phone and praying
he met John the Baptist in heaven
Jesus has a rainbow coloured horse and wears a golden crown with a pink diamond
he was given “homework” to do in heaven while he was being cared for by his deceased grandfather – Pop
everyone in heaven has wings and flies around from place to place – except for Jesus who who levitates up and down like an elevator
everyone in heaven has a light above their heads (Todd Burpo interprets this in the book as a halo)
God is ‘really, really big’ and is so big he holds the world in his hands
Jesus sits at the right hand of God, Gabriel sits on God’s left, and the Holy Spirit is “kind of blue” and sits somewhere in the vicinity of the other three.
the gates of heave are made of gold and pearls
after Colton’s return to earth, he became obsessed with rainbows because of the incredible number of colours he saw in heaven
at times, following his return from heaven, Colton saw ‘power shot down from heaven’ while his dad was preaching
there are swords and bows and arrows in heaven that the angels use to keep Satan out of heaven
the weaponry described above will apparently be used in a coming battle that destroys the world – and Colton’s dad will be fighting in that battle
the final battle will be against actual dragons and monsters while the women and children stand and watch the men fighting them
he meets ‘a sister’ in heaven – who was lost through miscarriage by the mother years before – and which the parents claim they never spoke to Colton about
he claimed to see Satan in heaven but wouldn’t say what he looked like
and he described what Jesus looked like, comparing people’s ideas of Jesus in their artworks as not right, until he was shown a painting of Christ by Akiane Kramarik which he said got the picture of Jesus right

There are a few more “revelations” in the book, but these are the essential ones. And all this was discovered in 3 minutes in heaven!

There are a number of reasons one should be highly sceptical of this book. Firstly, Colton was just 4 years old when he began to talk about his experience mostly prompted by his father – except for the first of his comments about the angels singing to him when he was having his surgery. Four year old children are renowned for making up stories and not being able, at this age, to distinguish fantasy from reality. After all, many children have imaginary friends and use their imagination constantly in making up stories while engaging in play. It would seem that the parents are still thinking like four year olds if they take what their kid says as literally true!

Secondly, why so many months and years for the story to develop – with the prompting of the parents? Surely if a child visited heaven they’d come back and be talking about it excitedly all at once – at least to start with. Haven’t we all heard children bubble over with enthusiasm after having an exciting experience? Not Colton. He doesn’t even mention it until he happens to say something about where his parents were during his operation. But given that it takes years for his whole “story” to come out, one has to wonder how much of it was constructed in response to his father’s questioning.

Thirdly, the “information” provided by Colton is so obviously consistent with an evangelical fundamentalist view that it is not hard to see it has being informed by this culture as he grew up. Colton’s father is a pastor and he admits to reading Bible stories to Colton as he grew up. He would have attended Sunday School and been exposed to all the detail he has described even if unconsciously. It’s not surprising that his description of heaven draws on that culture.

Fourthly, Colton’s father holds to a literalist reading of the biblical Book of Revelation which most people quite rightly understand to be highly symbolic and figurative. Colton describes things like swords and horses (rainbow coloured, no less, obviously similar to the children’s Rainbow Brite toy!) in heaven and his father believes they are truly in heaven because verses in Revelation confirm it! So does Colton’s father believe there is really a slain lamb/lion creature actually there too?

Fifthly, if Colton’s descriptions of God on thrones with angels using swords to keep Satan out of heaven are to be taken literally, then God has been caught in an Old Testament era time warp. Are they really suggesting that God has eternally sat on thrones, ridden horses, fought with swords against real dragons? Most biblical scholars (and most Christians) would have a much more mature view of these issues than the childish view that Colton and his parents have. But then, of course, according to this book, we are to become like little children in our faith and just accept all this stuff without question.

Finally, the idea that Colton has told them a few things that he just couldn’t have known about is highly unlikely. Church communities are renowned gossiping communities and it is much more reasonable to assume that he heard some of these things than to believe they are supernaturally revealed.

There’s a lot more that could be said about this book. But the above will do. Heaven is for Real is simplistic, superficial, and naive. The most disturbing thing about this book is that it has become so popular – which doesn’t say much for the people that swallow it whole without a second thought – even to the extent of stating that they have had their faith strengthened by it. If this is all it takes to reaffirm faith then, to my mind, that faith is pretty fickle.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Book Review: Surprised by Oxford

2011-11-28T21:19:00.001+10:30

I was pleasantly surprised by Carolyn Weber's memoir Surprised by Oxford. I enjoyed it to such a degree that I had to keep reading. Carolyn, who comes from a loving but broken home and is highly averse to religion, heads to Oxford to study literature. While there, she meets all sorts of wonderful (and not so wonderful) people, engages in conversation, and is challenged by what she learns about Christianity from a friend who breaks the stereotypes she has held about believers.

The writing is a bit disjointed at times but the author uses language beautifully and describes Oxford University in ways which made me want to study there. She also shares her gradual and subtle journey from agnosticism towards Christianity. This journey sometimes includes a few cliched responses to questions that are issues for Christians but, on the whole, does not dominate the narrative.

To begin with, I wondered whether my interest could be sustained for over 400 daunting pages. But it was. With evocative descriptions of Oxford, reference to classical writers and poets, delightful turns of phrases, a bit of romance, it makes for a genuinely fresh reading experience. It's the sort of book you can relax with and be carried along on a gentle journey of delightfully meditative reflections. Beautifully honest and insightful.

Click here to learn more at Amazon: Surprised by Oxford: A Memoir

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Book Review: The God Debates

2011-11-27T13:49:00.001+10:30

John Shook's The God Debates: A 21st Century Guide for Atheists and Believers (and everyone in between) is a stunning addition to the sometimes highly volatile contemporary arguments over God that are so prominent. The author takes a serious in-depth look at just about every argument used by apologists of religion (particularly Christian) and teases them apart, describing how they are constructed, and uncovering the many flaws that make them ineffective.

Shook categorizes arguments for God in the following way:

Theology from the scripture - arguments for God based on special revelation and apologetics
Theology from the world - arguments for God derived from the natural world, morality, human experience, and human analogy
Theology beyond the world - cosmological arguments, teleological arguments, and arguments from the laws of nature
Theology in the know - Reformed epistemology, foundationalism
Theology into the myst - arguments based in mysticism, relativism, existentialism, and scriptural interpretation

In a section dealing with each of these categories, Shook describes the various arguments and ruthlessly analyses them and evaluates their validity - and most (if not all) of them fall short in terms of their evidence and/or logic. The final chapter presents a summary of where the God debates are now. He describes 12 modern worldviews and presents them in a diagram showing how each relates to the ones next to it and differs radically from those opposite. I've reproduced the diagram here:

After surveying each of these and their contributions to the relationship to faith and reason - the big question in the God debates - he argues that the best possibilities for the future development of ethical principles will come from humanism - not secular or religious humanism but ethical humanism. Based on reason and experience and without the what Shook sees as the flawed supernaturalism of religious apologetics, Shook sees ethical humanism as the providing the most hope for grounding of morality in a secular culture.

The God Debates is excellent reading and both Christian apologists and atheists will benefit from this comprehensive analysis. Christian apologists will see how inadequate most of the arguments for God's existence are flawed and the challenges they need to meet if they are going to be persuasive - a very difficult task indeed. And atheists will see a model of scholarly dialogue that avoids the emotive rhetoric of the so-called "New Atheists". They will also gain a deeper understanding of the structure of religious apologetics.

The God Debates is must reading for thinking Christians and thinking atheists. It sets a standard for future dialogue around the existence and nature of God and the role of faith and reason in developing a moral framework for those who do not believe in a supernatural being. It will be challenging for both - but, in particular, Christians (and other religions) are going to have to work very hard to sustain a belief in God in the face of this author's critique. I'll be looking forward to the responses of Christian apologists to this one!

Book Review: God Without Religion

2011-11-05T14:07:00.000+10:30

Andrew Farley has followed up his previous book, The Naked Gospel, with another brilliant turn in God Without Religion. Farley has the gift of making profound things simple - and nothing is more in need of simplifying than religious teaching about the gospel that persists in keeping Christians in bondage.

The central point of God Without Religion is that Christians now live under the New Covenant which has jettisoned the Mosaic Law and replaced it with a new ethical foundation in the gospel of grace soaked in the power of the Holy Spirit. For Farley, many Christians have not grasped the freedom they have in Christ. They are bound up (the original meaning of the term from which religion is derived) in the oppressive belief that the have to keep the at least some of the Old Testament laws.

Of course, many will object to this message of grace plus nothing and frequently appeal to NT passages about behavior, law, and obedience. But one of Farley's gifts is to exegete Scripture and he looks at these common passages, teasing out there actual meaning in their literary and historical contexts. His explanations are clear, simple, and penetrating and I often sat breathless as I wondered why I hadn't seen these things before.

If you are living a religion that insists on defining rules or laws for you that you must live by then you must read this book. St Paul, in Galatians 5, provocatively drives home the fact that the whole point of Christ's ministry was to bring freedom. And the only way to live as a Christian is to live by the Spirit - not by being lashed to the Mosaic Law. As Farley points out, the law can only provoke us to sin. It was never intended as a tool for Christians to live their lives by. The fruits of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, and so on) are produced in us quite separate from law.

God Without Religion is a stunning second book from Farley. He uses analogies and stories to good effect; he makes the Bible come alive; and he makes controversial issues, that have plagued the church, practical and relevant. Get this book without delay and come to know God without religion.

Book details: Farley, Andrew (2011). God Without Religion. Baker Books.

Movie Review: Red State (2011)

2011-10-26T20:10:00.001+10:30

Sex, religion, politics. Take these three ingredients and mix them together and you get one hell of an explosion!

In Red State, a group of teenage boys find an internet invitation for sex in a local location. Not believing their luck, they set out to take advantage of their opportunity only to find themselves drugged and kidnapped by an extreme fundamentalist Christian sect. The members of this sect have an intense antipathy to the way the world is spiralling down into moral oblivion – manifested especially by rampant sexual promiscuity and the evils of homosexuality being accepted in society. And they are doing something about it. Their worship service involves bringing God’s judgment to the wayward sinners in their midst after a rousing sermon from the Grand-daddy of the family sect. On their way to their sexual encounter, the three teenagers accidentally side swipe a police officer’s car and the officer tries to track them down – ultimately bringing them into conflict with the sect. The ATF (Burea of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms) are called in and political decisions are made to wipe out the sect with fire power.

If all this sounds reminiscent of certain historical events (like Waco, Texas and David Koresh) then you’d be right. But Kevin Smith (Clerks) has brought us an over-the-top horror-thriller that contains too much truth for comfort. It tellingly portrays contemporary tensions between religion and politics that so often centre around aspects of sex, particularly in America. The basic point is that neither religion nor government really know how to communicate and handle each other and when they come together it creates a tinder box of dangerous attitudes that have serious consequences.

Red State is very violent in making its point – but religion and governments have resorted to violence to try to “manage” their agendas. If you are at all squeamish – better not to see this one. If you do see it, you are in for a very confronting experience that will have you thinking deeply for a long time.

The acting is top-notch, especially Michael Parks as the sect leader and John Goodman as the ATF officer. The story is riveting and suspenseful. And watching it is like being tied to the tracks in the face of an oncoming train. Kevin Smith, the writer and director, has stated that this film is not a comedy (as many of his other films are) and that ‘[i]t’s a nasty-ass $4 million horror flick with few (if any) redeeming characters.’ The movie was shot in 25 days and it has a rawness about it as a result. Interestingly, there is no actual soundtrack to the film. The music you hear is all in the film itself. So what you see and hear is what there is.

One of the most disturbing moments (actually more than 10 minutes) is a sermon preached by the sect leader. You don’t hear many “speeches” in movies that go for this length of time. But this one punches below the belt. As you listen to it, you suddenly realise that the things we’re hearing are actually being said by individuals and groups in our society. And they form the basis of the horror that follows in the story.

Red State is already controversial and is receiving highly mixed reviews – it looks like critics either love or hate it. Essentially, Red State is, as Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter has said, ‘A potent cinematic hand grenade tossed to bigots everywhere.’

Go see it if you dare.

Positive Review
'Red State is as profane and anti-establishment as any of his other films, but the stakes are infinitely higher this time: This Kevin Smith movie has an astonishing body count.' – Rene Rodriguez/Miami Herald

Negative Review
'Ugly characterizations and simplistic preachiness negate the terror in Red State - a film that eventually proves horrific in ways unintended by writer/director Kevin Smith.' – Nick Schager/Boxoffice Magazine

Content Advice
strong violence/disturbing content, some sexual content including brief nudity, and pervasive language.

AUS: MA15+
USA: R

Movie Review: The Cave of Forgotten Dreams

2011-09-28T18:25:00.001+09:30

Werner Herzog's Cave of Forgotten Dreams is an almost spiritual experience as we enter into the life and times of ancient humans through cave paintings that are 32,000 or more years old. Using 3D technology we are taken into the Chauvet Caves of Southern France - a rare opportunity as no one else has been allowed to film in the caves.
The caves were discovered in 1994 by a group of scientists. They contain the oldest known human drawings and represent a remarkable cultural and historical find. The French government immediately realized the value of the find and sealed the caves, only allowing a small group of paleontologists and archeologists annual access to its treasures. Access is extremely constrained and small non-professional cameras with limited lighting only were allowed on the first visit. On the second, state of the art 3D cameras were used allowing the rich texture of these paintings to be shared. It is awe-inspiring to think that over 30,000 years ago someone was painting these drawings illustrating the animals and birds that were part of their world and telling stories that we now are "hearing". But we can know very little even though what has been preserved is in pristine condition. Just to enter the caves in 3D is enough though. In places it is like a cathedral and the experience, along with the haunting music of the soundtrack, provides a humbling meditative experience.
At times, the commentary is a little over interpretive and the post-script is excessively hyperbolic to the point of almost spoiling the mood of the film. The film could be shortened by cutting some of the extraneous material. But overall it provides a rare opportunity.
For some Christians, certain difficult questions will immediately arise (and most likely quickly avoided or rationalized away). Specifically, those Christians who believe in a very young earth need to deal with the fact that these paintings are over 32,000 years old and some of them even older than that. More and more evidence mounts for a very old earth and for a chronology of human history that just doesn't fit with a literalistic reading of the Old Testament. None of these issues are mentioned in the documentary but a thinking Christian will inevitably need to deal with the implications of the facts.
The Cave of Forgotten Dreams is a simple film on one level. But the 3D immerses us into what soon feels like a real visit to these caves. I recommend the visit - particularly in view of the fact that very few people will ever get to actually step inside this monumental discovery.

Positive Review
'Director Werner Herzog's latest cinematic mind trip blows you away with its beauty' - Joe Neumaier/New York Daily News
Negative Review
'Cave of Forgotten Dreams feels stuck in a middling zone of too much conjecture and not enough scholarship.' - Joshua Rothkopf/Time Out New York
AUS: G
USA: G

Book Review: The Book That Made Your World

2011-09-18T09:53:00.001+09:30

Vishal Mangalwadi's The Book That Made Your World is an ambitious undertaking that is also deeply flawed. Mangalwadi’s thesis is concisely summarised in the Foreword to the book written by J Stanley Mattson:

‘[Mangalwadi’s] arduous research establishes the fact that the Bible and its worldview, contrary to current prevailing opinion, combined to serve as the single most powerful force in the emergence of Western civilization.’

In over 400 pages, Mangalwadi provides a sweeping series of historical narratives, entwined with his own personal experiences in India and the United States, which argue that features of Western civilization would not have occurred if it hadn’t been for the Bible. His outline of history includes the development of the valuing of humans as being higher than animals; the commitment to rationality; creative technology and its benefits; the formation of the concept of heroism based in humility and service; and the dramatic impact of the translation of the Bible into various languages. He also argues that literature, universities, and science would not have formed in the way they did without the Bible. For the author, the West is the best because of its higher ideals regarding morality, the family, compassion, true wealth, and liberty that transcend all other cultures because of the Bible’s influence. Ultimately, Mangalwadi wants to call the West back to a commitment to the Bible and its worldview to reverse what he sees as a rapid decline in relativistic morality and its consequential nihilism that results in despair. At the beginning of the book, the author holds up Kurt Cobain as an icon of modern culture arguing that his suicide was one of the rare occurrences when a nihilist genuinely followed through on their beliefs. Mangalwadi believes that this is the ultimate end of the West if it does not return to the Bible and its worldview.

There is no doubt that Mangalwadi is a good writer and very widely read. The fact that he is Indian and can make a comparison, from experience, between East and West provides for an interesting perspective. And his stories from his experience give a personal dimension that mostly enhances the history and philosophy that he surveys.

But there are some serious flaws in Mangalwadi’s argument. Firstly, reducing the entire development of the West to the influence of the Bible and its worldview is simplistic. While I am no historian, I am always suspicious when a single cause is offered for something. The world and history is surely more complex than that. For example, when he talks about the development of the wheeled plough, he argues that it only happened because of the biblical belief that toil was sinful (whereas work was part of God’s original creation). But as another reviewer has pointed out, farmers who are making a living from their work are surely going to look for more efficient ways of doing their work even if they did not subscribe to a “biblical” worldview! Mangalwadi also completely ignores a range of other influencing factors on the development of Western civilisation – the occurrence of plagues, growth in population, and a host of other historical events. For Mangalwadi everything is the result of the Bible and the adoption of its world view.

Secondly, Mangalwadi speaks of the worldview of the Bible. There is no acknowledgement in the book that the Bible has been the basis of multiple interpretations and “world views”. Mangalwadi presents what might be called the best of the Bible and the best examples of socio-cultural examples based on the Bible. But he fails to mention that the Bible has, for many people, been the basis of some very bad practices and used in support of genocide, slavery, and the “raping” of the environment.

Thirdly, Mangalwadi doesn’t mention any countries that have been successful without a basis in biblical theology or world view such as Japan and Singapore. How did they develop so well without a commitment to the Bible? And what about countries based firmly on a secular philosophy such as Sweden?

Fourthly, Mangalwadi completely dismisses any other religion or worldview has having much of value. But there is no sustained engagement with any of these alternatives. According to one Buddhist scholar who reviewed this book, Mangalwadi actually misrepresents Buddhism.

Overall, The Book That Changed Your World is an uncritical exposition of history. There are sweeping generalisations without any evidence being provided, selective use of the biblical text (on some occasions, no biblical evidence at all), and the equating of a romanticised view of the Bible (which is not as even in its presentation of God as Mangalwadi implies) that completely ignores the fact that Christians are just as prone to many of the social evils of our time as non-Christians (eg, teen pregnancy, divorce, domestic violence, child abuse).

In the end, The Book That Changed Your World is a work of apologetics rather than a scholarly and critical look at the relationship between the Bible and the development of Western culture. There is no doubt that the Bible has been influential – for good and for ill. While Mangalwadi’s book makes for an interesting read, it takes a too uncritical approach to history and the Bible to make it reliable. If one already believes that the Bible is solely responsible for the best in civilisation then this book will bolster that belief. But for a well-informed, educated believer, the evidence won’t be adequate to support the thesis as it is presented.

Acknowledgement: I found Jeff Swanson’s review very helpful, in particular, in parts of this review. I recommend it.

Technorati Tags: Bible,history,culture,Christianity

Movie Review: The Ledge

2011-09-10T13:02:00.001+09:30

The Ledge is a flawed but legitimate attempt to tell a story exploring the relationship between faith and reason – from an atheist perspective.

The story opens with Gavin (Charlie Hunnam) standing on a ledge on a tall building clearly planning to jump. Hollis (Terrence Howard) is the police officer in charge of talking Gavin down. In a series of flashbacks, we find out that Gavin has been having an affair with Shauna (Liv Tyler) who is married to Joe (Chris Wilson). Shauna and Joe are fundamentalist Christians. The mystery is what has brought Gavin to the ledge willing to jump – and it is not what you might think it is.

The writer and director, Matthew Chapman, to his credit, wrote the script and planned the movie determined to do it the way he wanted to – fully expecting not to have the movie made because of that. But it got made and it provides for thought provoking viewing even if it is somewhat amateurish in its execution.

The major problem with the movie is that it has a “preachy” flavour like so many Christian movies that offer black and white answers for complex questions. The dialogue is forced and some of the acting is artificial, although Wilson and Howard just about rescue the film with their interpretations of their characters.

Another flaw is that both the fundamentalist Christians and the atheist characters are too simplistic. The film overall is too dogmatic in its view of both and does not reflect the nuanced best of these antagonistic views. The premise of the story is brilliant and it had the potential to be a very profound piece of cinema. But, as Chapman has indicated in an interview I heard on Point of Inquiry, he wanted this to be an explicit argument from an atheist perspective. And that is what it is – an overt argument about faith and reason with cardboard stereotypes and simplistic reasoning. The “philosophical” agenda of the writer has overshadowed the story and made creative writing and professional production a secondary concern.

As a vehicle to stimulate some discussion around a number of issues, the movie has some value and there is a certain level of entertainment. But given the movie had such well known stars and was clearly backed by commercial support it is surprisingly amateurish. And the “winning” side of the argument is rigged from the beginning by comparing the best of atheism with the worst of Christianity – a poor thinking move itself.

For me, the most significant theme in the movie is whether people need God (or a belief in some external authoritative revelation of morality) in order to live good lives. I get very frustrated when I hear some Christians saying how atheists cannot have a system of moral values because they don’t believe in God. Clearly, many atheists do. They have reasons for living well and, sometimes, those reasons are based more in a care for humanity itself than some Christians who seem to merely be obeying the laws of God (as they define them) to avoid God’s displeasure. The gospel of grace subscribed to by most Christians should free them from serving for any other reason than love for fellow humans. And there is absolutely no reason to think that an atheist cannot do that.

Positive Review
'Chapman coaxes good performances from his cast, especially Wilson, who makes Joe's immense conflicts a matter of empathy as much as abhorrence.' – Peter Rainer/Christian Science Monitor

Negative Review
'There's nothing wrong with establishing a field of unlikable characters, but The Ledge not only relies on paper-thin stereotypes, it keeps its allegiances clear from the beginning.' – Jesse Cataldo/Slant Magazine

Content Advice
sexuality, language and some violent content

USA: R

Movie Review: The Tree of Life

2011-08-21T12:55:00.001+09:30

One of the most agonizing experiences in life is crying out for meaning in the face of suffering and loss of innocence – and getting no answer from God or the universe. In the face of silence to our questions, what gives meaning to life? Terence Malik’s The Tree of Life tackles this most profound of questions.

Set in the 1950s, we follow Jack, one of three brothers, as he moves from the marvellous innocence of childhood to the loss of that innocence following his troubled relationship with his father (Brad Pitt), experience of sickness, suffering, and death, and into adulthood (Sean Penn) as he works in a competitive concrete jungle business world where the self is the only thing that matters.

The Meaning of Life is a very unusual movie. The narrative is minimal and much of the 2 hours and 19 minutes consists of impressionistic cinematography around our universe and on our earth. The experience of the story’s protagonists are almost overwhelmed by the vastness of the universe’s history from its birth to its death – once again not told in linear form but rather in frenetically wonderful glimpses that are thematically related and which build to an experience of awe-fullness in which human life is reduced to near triviality. The overall experience of the film is one of meditation and humility as Jack struggles to answer the big questions of human existence. An answer is provided at the end of the movie – there is a meaning to life – but depending on your current point of view, you may or may not agree with it. I won’t reveal it here because it will have more impact if you discover it in the ambiguity of this stunning meditation.

Many Christians provide inadequate and insipid answers to the why questions when it comes to suffering. They appeal to nonsense like ‘God has a plan for your life’; ‘This was meant to be’; or ‘We will understand the meaning of our suffering in heaven’. All of these are inadequate and, for many Christians who cry out to God in their darkest moments, become downright offensive when there is no response from God to our cries – a God that is supposed to love and care for us. It may be that this film provides the answer – whether we are Christian or atheist, religious or secular.

The Meaning of Life is definitely not a mainstream film. Don’t go to see it just because your favourite film stars are in it – you’ll be disappointed. When it was shown in an Italian cinema over one week, the first two reels of the movie were accidentally switched and no one noticed – attributing the result to the director’s editing style. In some American cinemas, signs were posted warning cinema goers ‘about the enigmatic and non-linear narrative of the movie – following some confused walkouts and refund demands in the opening weeks.’ (IMDB) That should give you an idea of the nature of this film. As one reviewer has described it, The Tree of Life is a ‘total sensory immersion’ film.

But if you are willing to immerse yourself in an almost unfathomable meditation that takes patience, courage, and perseverance to survive nearly 2 and a half hours of ambiguity and slow exploration, there is much to be pondered. The Meaning of Life reminded me of the book of Job in the Old Testament (the movie opens with a quote from the book) – except The Meaning of Life proffers a different answer and one which may be more satisfying to some. Near the beginning of the film, we are told that ‘there are two ways through life, the way of nature, and the way of grace, and we have to choose which way to follow’. If you dare to experience a completely different type of movie – go and see it and make up your mind which way you will choose.

Positive Review
'There is simply nothing like it out there: profound, idiosyncratic, complex, sincere and magical; a confirmation that cinema can aspire to art.' – Ian Nathan/Empire

Negative Review
'Glibly put, this challenging time-skipping rumination is the big screen equivalent of watching that "Tree" grow.' – Roger Moore/Orlando Sentinel

Content Advice
Thematic material

AUS: PG
USA: PG-13

Technorati Tags: The Tree of Life,meaning of life,suffering

Book Review: The Australian Book of Atheism

2011-07-24T16:40:00.001+09:30

I've read a few books written by atheists in the last few years and have been mostly unimpressed with them. Some have been so dismissive of theism, often with unnecessary and disrespectful amounts of cheap sarcasm and insults, that they have lost my respect for them. Some have not demonstrated any accurate understanding of theism and others have made poor use of theistic sources in their critiques. But The Australian Book of Atheism is a whole different matter. It is respectful, intelligent, scholarly, and (mostly) objective.

Edited by Warren Bonnett, The Australian Book of Atheism is a collection of papers roughly categorized into themes and written by prominent Australians who are all atheists. The first section presents an overview of atheism in Australia. This section consists of three chapters covering a brief history of atheism/atheists in Australia and discussions of the relationship of atheism to the Australian Constitution and the law.

Part 2 offers the reader six personal perspectives on atheism which make excellent reading for anyone who genuinely wants to understand why many people see theism as impoverished and have chosen to reject claims in god, gods, God, or the supernatural.

Part 3 focuses on education and discusses the role and relationship of religion in education, up to date exploration of the controversial presence of chaplains in public schools, issues around evolution and creationism, whether intelligent design "theory" can be considered science, and a comparison between philosophy and theology.

The next section turns its attention to social and cultural issues such as the challenge of fundamentalism, debates on euthanasia and abortion, an argument for gods being human invention, the rise of "spiritualism" in modern culture, and social attitudes to death and dying. There's a particularly interesting chapter on the so-called Progressive Christianity movement.

Section 5 focuses on the political with an outstanding, wickedly funny, but profoundly serious argument as to why "God is a bloke". There is a highly informative chapter on the role of the Exclusive Brethren sect in Australian politics - something that many readers may know little, if anything, about. There is also some important material on why a secular society would ensure religious (and other) freedom rather than one based on religious grounds.

In Section 6 a number of writers explore philosophical issues including whether there is a basis for morality without God, atheism as a spiritual path, the creation of meaning in the absence of a belief in God, and the relationship between religion and violence.

The final section explores the biological basis of religious experience in a careful and scholarly manner. Finally, there is a brief appendix that outlines the financial cost of promoting religion in Australia through taxes and other government allocations of money.

I've outlined the contents of The Australian Book of Atheism to give an idea of now wide-ranging this collection is. And even then it only scratches the surface of possible topics! In my view, this book is essential reading for theists and atheists alike for a number of reasons. Firstly, it is an excellent example of good quality writing on a highly contentious topic. It is engaging, scholarly, respectful, honest, and stimulatingly provocative.

Secondly, Christians would benefit from hearing atheists speak for themselves rather than, as so many do, consume apologetic material against atheism which frequently casts atheists as evil, "of the Devil", or, at best, completely ignorant. The contributors include those who have always seen themselves as atheist, some who have converted from some form of Christianity, and some who have never been faced with a moment of choice because of their upbringing. A Christian reading this book would be hard pressed to construe atheists negatively. They might even realize that atheists can have a strong sense of moral obligation, and live happy and meaningful lives. So, if nothing else, a Christian who courageously decides to read it despite possible warnings from their spiritual leaders will gain a more accurate picture of what many atheists really think and believe.

Thirdly, I'm sure that many atheists will find much of benefit in reading this volume. For some it will provide reasons for strengthening a commitment to atheism and a framework for developing a moral framework based on rationalist/humanist grounds. It will also provide insights into the status of religion in Australian life and culture. And, perhaps more importantly, it provides a wonderful example of good conversation with others about beliefs.

Christians reading this review will undoubtedly wonder why I haven't criticized the book for its rejection of God as a real being. How can I be so positive about a book that strikes so deeply at the heart of a Christian world view? There are a number reasons in addition to the above:

It's a very good read! While some may fond patches of dryness, there's enough variety of writers and writing that everyone will find something of interest. And the writing is good writing.
Other (Christian) writers have written tomes of material arguing against atheism and for theism. I direct the reader to those if they wish to read arguments against the ideas in this book. But be careful - apologetic material varies hugely in it's quality and rigor.
One of the things I find most offensive is Christians arguing against positions they are ignorant about. In my opinion, a person who wishes to criticize another position should earn that right by demonstrating they fully understand that position. From my perspective, reading The Australian Book of Atheism would be a good start if a Christian wants a good, reliable introduction to atheist thinking.

Do I have any criticisms of the book? Not really. I'm a bit uncomfortable with the contribution by Tanya Levin, the author of People in Glass Houses, who seems to have a chip on her shoulder (judging by her own book and interviews I have seen of her). Sometimes emotion seems to overshadow objectivity. But this is a very minor criticism. And for some readers outside of Australia, there may be some irrelevancy given that much of it addresses the Australian context. Overall, The Australian Book of Atheism is an excellent addition to the dialogue on religion and atheism.

Movie Review: Mrs Carey's Concert

2011-06-22T05:48:00.002+09:30

We sometimes may wonder whether some kids will amount to much but Mrs Carey's Concert shows what motivation, inspiration, tenacity, and confidence in kids can produce.
Mrs Carey is the music principle of a Sydney girls' School. Every two years she organizes a school concert for the Sydney Opera House with the Year 11 and 12 students. In involves sophisticated classical voice and instrumental/orchestral music - and what a concert it is!
The documentary starts some months before the concert and follows the development of the students up to the night of the concert. The development is much more than musical ability. It includes emotional and psychological development with a number of students exposing themselves bravely to the cameras. One of the most interesting is Iris who doesn't want to be involved and the end of her "journey" comes as a surprise. Then there's Emily who plays a solo piece with all the emotional stress that comes with standing in front of a large audience when she is usually a retiring individual.
Knowing the journey of all the kids involved in the concert adds intensity to the climactic, spine tingling performances.
If you're interested interested in music or child development, make sure you check this movie out - you'll be glad you did!

Movie Review: X-Men: First Class

2011-06-07T21:42:00.001+09:30

With X-Men: First Class this Marvel Comics franchise has had new life breathed into it.

The story takes us back to the origins of the X-Men beginning in 1944 Poland as Erik Lehnsherr (later to become Magneto played by Michael Fassbender) witnesses his mother being shot by a Nazi scientist (Sebastian Shaw played by Kevin Bacon) who is trying to force Erik to demonstrate his telekinetic powers. At the same time, in Westchester County, New York, young Charles Xavier (later Professor X played by James McAvoy) meets Raven the shape-shifting girl disguised as his mother and is overjoyed to discover that he is not alone as a “mutant” after he exposes her. As the story progresses, Charles and Sebastian, who have different approaches to dealing with their status as mutants, move towards each other in a dramatic showdown as Shaw tries to spark a world war that will result in the dominance of mutants over the rest of humanity.

First Class is a refreshing re-envisioning of a franchise that was becoming tired and losing its way. The story is a little too long at over two hours but is mostly well-paced with a story that does a great job of tying into the rest of the series. There are a lot of characters and only a few of them are richly drawn as there is not enough screen time for many of them. The best are Charles Xavier and Magneto. There is lots of action that is well directed and the special effects are mind-blowing.

One aspect of the movie I particularly liked was the weaving of actual historical events into the story – although I was a little discomforted with the potential to trivialise them (eg, the Holocaust and Cuban Missile Crisis) by being associated with a comic superhero story. But the integration is quite well done. There is also some subtle commentary on contemporary issues (like the idea that security should override freedom of the individual) making it a little deeper and richer than some action movies. And there is some witty humour that evokes a laugh here and there.

Despite its few flaws it is an enjoyable and entertaining move. If you are an X-Men fan you won’t be disappointed.

Positive Review
'After undergoing some unfortunate mutations in recent years, a beleaguered Marvel movie property gets the smart, stylish prequel it deserves in X-Men: First Class.’ – Justin Chang/Variety

Negative Review
'A cameo from an old-school X-Man only serves to remind how stylish and witty the first installment was a decade ago. Lacking a single memorable joke or striking image, First Class is as perfunctory and passionless as would-be franchise resurrections get.’ – Karina Longworth/Village Voice

Content Advice
intense sequences of action and violence, some sexual content including brief partial nudity and language

AUS: M
USA: PG-13

Technorati Tags: X-Men: First Class,action,adventure,drama

Proclaim - Church Presentation Software

2011-05-29T12:38:00.000+09:30

Here's an interesting piece of software, shortly to be released, that allows the production of presentations in churches using internet cloud-based technology. Check out the video below to see a brief presentation. You can sign up to be notified when free trials become available.

What is Your World View?

2011-05-25T06:53:00.000+09:30

Here's an interesting little quiz that attempts to identify your world view based on a series of questions.

Make sure you realise it's limitations as there are certain assumptions behind some of the questions (eg, what does the quiz author mean by 'spirituality'?). But it's an interesting exercise. My world view, according to the results of taking the quiz, is postmodern. It is true that I do consider some aspects of postmodernism to be legitimate - but for much I have a modified view.

The quiz is fun and thought provoking - click here to give it a go!

Movie Review: Oranges and Sunshine

2011-05-22T16:16:00.001+09:30

Oranges and Sunshine is an extraordinary movie of a modern day humble hero – Margaret Humphreys – who uncovered a horrendous secret shared by the governments of the UK, Australia, and Canada until 2010.

Margaret (Emma Watson) was a social worker in Nottingham who accidentally uncovered the organised mass deportation of more than 130,00 children to Australia as late as 1970. These children, who were given into care by single mothers who were ashamed to publicly acknowledge they had a child out of marriage, were told their mothers had died and that they would be better off starting a new life in Australia – a land of oranges and sunshine. Until Mrs Humphreys started to delve into the case of one of these children who came to her for help in finding her mother, this mass “migration” program was not publicly known. Working against incredible odds including threats on her life and government resistance, Margaret persisted and exposed one of the most embarrassing cover-ups of our age.

Oranges and Sunshine is a compelling, moving story told without sensationalism. While the movie, at one point, feels like it is going to get bogged down, it quickly recovers and carries the viewer on an emotional journey that leaves us speechless that such a thing could happen in a civilised society. These children were used as slave labour, abused, and suffered the loss of their identities with no concern for their welfare – although it was all done in the name of helping. Emma Watson is very good as the social worker thrust into this journey and she is well-supported by great Australian actors Hugo Weaving and David Wenham. I initially thought that using well-known actors would spoil the power of the story – but it wasn’t long before I forgot that as I was caught in the web of the story.

There may be some flaws in the movie – but these flaws should be overlooked and everyone should see this incredible story which demonstrates that even our own “civilised” societies can easily fall into rationalised evil in the name of good. Don’t miss it.

Opens in Australia on 9 June.

Technorati Tags: Oranges and Sunshine,children,child migration

Book Review: Breaking the Spell

2011-05-22T15:49:00.001+09:30

Daniel C Dennett's Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon is a book that every person interested in religion should read. It’s been on my reading list for some time but I have, of course, heard a lot about it before opening its pages. Christian critics, in particular, have labelled Dennett’s approach to religion/spirituality as reductionist and his argument based on the already discredited idea of the meme proposed by Richard Dawkins. But a good deal of the critiques I have read have quite plainly misunderstood what Dennett is on about.

In his book, Dennett wishes to achieve two aims:

Firstly, he wishes to argue that religion should be examined in the same way as we examine any other area of human experience. Religion has been protected from careful scientific scrutiny on the ubiquitous assumption that it is outside of the domain of science. But Dennett provides a compelling case for its urgent analysis. There is so much we don’t know about religion (despite continual claims for its benefit to society or, vice versa, claims that it is the centre of much of the strife in the world) and it has so much influence/impact on society. But there seems to be a social assumption that it is off-limits to inquiry. It is time for that to change.

Secondly, Dennett wishes to propose a possible theory of the evolution of religion as a natural phenomenon in human history. If the first of his wishes is that religion be open to scientific inquiry, then there needs to be a testable theory of religion. In the second half of the book, Dennett constructs a coherent theory of religion’s origins, development, and status in society. But he recognises that all he is suggesting are hypotheses and that they may very well be contentious. He quite openly concedes the contentious nature of some of his proposals including the idea of memes.

Breaking the Spell achieves both of these aims and in a highly intelligent, witty, and respectful manner. Dennett raises some profoundly important issues and provides a wealth of well-informed information on the state of religion in society. My preconceptions of this book were “blown out of the water”. Dennett is honest, plain speaking, and eminently reasonable, constantly acknowledging the limits of our (and his) knowledge about religion.

Religion has nothing to fear from Dennett’s approach – unless religious believers fear what we so frequently say we seek – the truth. It is about time that the sorts of questions Dennett poses in relation to religion were confronted and dealt with and that believers stopped hiding behind the “sacredness” of religion suggesting that its examination is off limits to those who do not believe.

Dennett does not claim to be stating the truth about religion. What he does do is plead for religion to be transparent to inquiry and that the “spell” it holds over society and culture be broken by answering the most basic questions about it. Then we can make fully informed decisions about the role of religion in society, how children are raised in relation to religion, and how religion relates to politics and culture. And why wouldn’t any intelligent Christian or follower of any other religion want that? After all, the truth will set us free.

Movie Review: Source Code

2011-05-08T20:14:00.002+09:30

Duncan Jones's (Moon) superb Source Code presents us with another intelligent sci-fi (Inception is the other recent one I'm thinking of) which bodes well for the genre.

A soldier (Jake Gyllanhaal) wakes up on a train not knowing anyone and not knowing how he got there. There's a woman sitting opposite him who knows him - but he's not who she says he is. And when he visits the bathroom to look in the mirror, the image staring back at him is not him! In the middle of his disorientation a bomb explodes and the train is blown to pieces. Instead of dying, he finds himself inside a capsule and discovers that he is part of a mission to catch a terrorist who has already blown up the train he is traveling on - somehow he's been transported back in time to minutes before the explosion. He experiences the same 8 minutes over and over again, including the explosion, until he is able to find out who the terrorist is in order to prevent another impending disaster.

Source Code is a very intelligent piece of sci-fi. Gyllenhaal plays the part of the soldier in a way that makes his character very human and conveys the anxiety inherent in his situation with his usual sensitivity. The other performers don't measure up to his skill, but the plot carries us along so that we don't worry about the mechanics of the film - it is fast paced and totally absorbing.

And it's intelligent! I won't give any more of the plot away except to say that the story touches on all sorts of philosophical themes - the nature of life and death, the nature of time and reality, and the ethics of science that occurs on people who may not be able to give their consent - for example on their body after they die.

Source Code is a refreshing movie that confirms the talents of director Duncan Jones. Source Code is more accessible than the very good Moon. Do everything you can to see Source Code.

Positive Review
'Director Duncan Jones achieves a strange and winning amalgam, a gripping action film that also works as poetry.' - Mick LaSalle/San Francisco Chronicle

Negative Review
'Somewhere under all that bloat is the greatest short subject of all time.' - Elvis Mitchell/Movieline

Content Advice
some violence including disturbing images, and for language.

AUS: M15+
USA: PG-13

Book Review: Why Christian?

2011-04-30T17:52:00.001+09:30

Douglas Hall is Professor Emeritus of Theology at McGill University in Montreal and the author of the trilogy Christian Theology in a North American Context. In Why Christian? he has taken a conversational approach to describing why Christianity offers a viable worldview in the context of a modern pluralist postmodern society.

Each chapter of the book consists of a summary of a “conversation” with an inquiring student who starts off by saying, “I’m sorry, but I don’t see why anybody today would be a Christian.” Precisely. This is a question that many are asking. This summary is then followed by an essay that seeks to provide a thoughtful response to the issues raised in the conversation. Despite Hall’s academic qualifications, he has managed to write a genuinely respectful, open, intelligent and simple (not simplistic) book about some of the most significant issues facing Christians in demonstrating the relevance of this worldview. Some of the issues addressed are:

why a person believes in a particular religion in the first place – isn’t it just an accident of birth?
the particularity of Jesus the Christ – what does it mean when it is claimed that all “salvation” comes through Jesus?
the nature of salvation – what does it mean to be saved? and saved from what? for what?
spirituality – what does spirituality mean in a highly secularised and pluralised society? And what are Christians talking about when they refer to the Holy Spirit?
what difference does believing in Jesus the Christ make to everyday living? How do the core values of Christianity - faith, hope, and love – work themselves out and provide meaning in a world that has seemingly deteriorated and where people are searching for meaning?
what about the fact that there are many different religions? what does it mean to be a “church” and/or “denomination” in a pluralistic society? how does Christianity conceive of itself in relation to the “others”?
What does Christianity have to say about “hope” and what is its view of “the end”?

Hall’s book is a delight to read – it is a breath of fresh air in the midst of the vocally powerful fundamentalist Christians who arrogantly assert their rightness, exclusiveness, and narrow-mindedness. Douglas Hall actually engages conversationally with his readers in an approach that is appropriate for the world in which we live. One gets a sense of Hall’s willingness to listen, humility in presenting his views, and a genuine engagement with what people are really asking about when it comes to Christianity. He presents a statement of Christianity which is attractive, authentic, and respectful of others.

So who would benefit from reading this book? Anyone who is:

a Christian who is having doubts about the relevance of Christianity in the modern world
a Christian who can no longer live with narrow-minded, arcane, arrogant, and rigid forms of Christianity
a Christian who experiences doubts and wants to be reassured that doubting is actually an essential part of growth and development
an atheist who wishes to read a statement of a form of Christianity that is more balanced, open, positive, constructive, and respectful than the one that comes from the fundamentalists
anyone considering Christianity as a worldview but has their doubts about what they are getting themselves in for
a Christian who wants an intelligent faith that is well-informed, real, and takes account of the fact that we are living in a very different world

There’s just one thing I would have liked to see in the book. Hall never discusses the historical nature of Christianity and the nature of the evidence that is used to support it – much of which is questioned nowadays by non-theist scholars and writers. The only reason given by the author for omitting so many important issues is that space is limited. I think I will chase up his other writings which, he states in this book, fill in the gaps he has left.

As you can probably tell, I highly recommend this book – for anyone interested in Christianity from whatever perspective they come.

Technorati Tags: Christianity,faith,doubts

Kathryn Schultz: On Being Wrong

2011-04-25T11:24:00.001+09:30

Many Christians refuse to entertain the possibility they could be wrong about what they believe. But, according to Kathryn Schultz, being wrong is one of the things that makes us human. While Kathryn is not discussing being wrong in a religious context, it is very easy to see the relevance of this for our theological beliefs.

Technorati Tags: Kathryn Schultz,Wrong,human,beliefs

Book Review: Tortured Wonders

2011-04-23T10:13:00.001+09:30

Rodney Clapp’s book Tortured Wonders: Christian Spirituality for People, Not Angels is a provocative presentation of orthodox Christian spirituality in very modern earthy terms.

Clapp emphasizes that spirituality must be grounded in the bodiliness of being human rather than spiritualized as if we are angels. The book is in two sections. The first is a survey of classic Christian spirituality and the “forces” that tend towards a denial of the significance of the flesh. For Clapp, a genuine spirituality is structured around creation, incarnation, and resurrection, all of which involve the whole human , including the body. The Eucharist provides a focal point for the believing community as it incorporates bodily involvement as part of a community that incarnates spirituality.

In the second part of the book, Clapp explains what an embodied spirituality means in a modern/postmodern world in regard to relationships, community, sex, diet and exercise. His intention is to bring the human body back into focus in Christian spirituality and so the second part deals with the difficulty of a spirituality in a modern world. One of the most interesting chapters is his use of the life of Elvis Presley to demonstrate aspects of contemporary culture that present a challenge to this project.

Clapp’s approach is not without its flaws. His commitment to orthodoxy means his answers to such issues as homosexuality, the exclusivity of Christ, and eternal punishment make it inadequate. The chapters that deal with these issues seem more an attempt to hang on to archaic attitudes to them rather than to draw on modern scholarship that questions some of the traditional interpretations of the biblical text that continue to oppress or engender unnecessary anxiety in believers.

While the book is written in a very engaging, and at times very earthy style, and it most certainly redresses those spiritualties that ignore the body, it is hard to recommend it because of the way important contemporary issues are ultimately dealt with.

Technorati Tags: Tortured Wonders,Rodney Clapp,spirituality,body

Movie Review: Thor 3D

2011-04-23T09:31:00.001+09:30

There is little more awesome than standing on the verandah of a house watching a thunderstorm. It is also understandable that the ancients attributed such incredible display of nature to the gods. For them, the god of thunder was Thor. If you have ever watched a thunderstorm you would have felt small and overwhelmed by its power. Unfortunately, while Thor: God of Thunder is entertaining, it doesn’t quite rise to the heights of an actual thunderstorm!

The story is simple. Asgard is the home of Odin (Anthony Hopkins) and his two sons, Thor (Chris Hemworth) and Loki (Tom Hiddleston). It is one of the nine realms of the universe. Odin has previously suppressed the warfaring nation of Frost Giants and there has been relative peace for many years. Odin is getting old and needs to make one of his heirs king. After Thor disobeys his father and attacks the Frost Giants and reignites the ancient war between the two nations, Odin banishes Thor to earth as punishment. Loki, his rival brother, attempts to keep Thor banished in order to take the throne. In the process, Thor learns what it means to be a true hero – with a bit of romance on the way.

Thor is certainly entertaining and moves along at a fairly rapid pace, apart from a dull patch in the middle. There are moments of brilliant space photography and the fight scenes are pretty impressive. Overall, though, the story is pretty inconsequential with common themes of true heroism, sacrifice for others, loyalty and betrayal. The music by Patrick Doyle (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire) is dramatic and Kenneth Branagh (Hamlet, Frankenstein, Henry V) does a good job of direction. His conceptualisation of the story was a Norse/comic-book twist on William Shakespeare’s Henry V) – something I will leave to those better acquainted to Shakespeare to comment on. Natalie Portman stars as Jane Foster, the love interest, but doesn’t shine as much as she does in recent work such as The Black Swan.

Thor is entertaining but I’ll vote for a real thunder storm any day!

PS: Make sure you stay for the end of the credits – there is a taster for The Avengers and you will see what happens to one of the main characters of Thor.

Positive Review
'The 3D is ace and the effects are spectacular, making this the most thoroughly enjoyable superhero flick since Iron Man.’ - David Edwards/Daily Mirror

Negative Review
'Somebody, somewhere, is proud of the art direction and animation that brings this city to life, but it just looks like a Lord of the Rings fan film.’ – Nick Deigman/Fan the Fire

Content Advice
intense sequences of frenetic violence, some menace and language

AUS: M
USA: PG-13

Technorati Tags: Thor,thunder,movie review

Book Review: The Gospel According to Judas

2011-03-29T22:09:00.002+10:30

Now here's an intriguing read! Novelist Jeffrey Archer, assisted by scholar Professor Francis J Maloney, has written a gospel for the 21st century that would also be believable by 1st century Jews and Christians. Judas Iscariot has been much maligned as the man who betrayed Jesus after accepting a bribe from the Jewish scribes of his day. After playing a central role in the death of Jesus he then hanged himself in shame. At least, that is how some of the New Testament gospels tell the story. But is that "history" correct?

In The Gospel According to Judas we hear from Judas's eldest son, Benjamin, about what really happened. Judas was deeply committed to following Jesus but misunderstood Jesus' mission. According to Benjamin he did not accept a bribe of 30 pieces of silver or suicide by hanging himself.

The Gospel According to Judas is a fictional gospel based on modern scholarship that questions some of the traditional gospels' events - or at least, the way we have traditionally interpreted them! For example, it is very unlikely that Judas would have hanged himself given that he was a pious Jew - something that would have been an unthinkable act for him. It is likely that his motivations were very good.

The Gospel According to Judas is a very clever piece of writing and illustrates how the gospels we have in the New Testament may have been written with particular emphases according to the authors' agenda. The Gospel According to Judas has material that clearly comes from the canonical gospels (in a similar way that Matthew and Luke drew from Mark and from another source) and is presented in red with references provided. At the back of the book is a glossary with scholarly notes and discussions about the basis of the claims made in the gospel itself. Variations from the traditional views regarding things like Judas's alleged accepting of a bribe are explained with evidence from historical and/or textual sources.

Reading this gospel raises some interesting reflections. For example, there are gospels that exist that have not been accepted as canonical by the Christian Church. But does that make them worthless? I don't think so. Whatever degree of authenticity they have, they provide a view of Jesus through the eyes of the author that is worth considering. They often raise legitimate questions worth exploring. In the case of The Gospel According to Judas we are led to question the assumptions we make about Judas. There seems to be good evidence that Judas has become a scapegoat when perhaps he might have been, at worst, misguided and, at best, a deeply committed follower of Jesus.

The Gospel According to Judas also illustrates the way in which "fiction" may convey truth. Some scholars have serious questions about the historicity of the gospels. Authorship of each of them is uncertain and they were written with variations that make it difficult to ascertain the chronology of events. But the truth about Jesus as understood by the early Christian Church is surely conveyed in these documents. In the same way, The Gospel According to Judas conveys it's own truth about Jesus. This "truth" may show us the way we might need to adjust some of our thinking about Jesus and those who associated with him. Most importantly, it provokes a revisioning of Jesus for our time and an opportunity for those who haven't thought about Jesus to read something contemporary but "authentic". Anything that gets people thinking about Jesus is worthwhile. The Gospel According to Judas is definitely worth a look.

Movie Review: Hereafter

2011-03-19T23:31:00.001+10:30

What happens when we die? Unfortunately we don’t have any objective empirical evidence of what happens. We do have many theories – secular, religious, philosophical. Even within religions there can be multiple beliefs about the nature of death. Within Christianity some believe in conscious existence of the soul and others believe in the cessation of consciousness. Some believe in individuals going straight to heaven or hell – literally or metaphorically. The biblical documents are varied in what they describe about death.

Whatever we believe about what happens after death we all have to eventually grapple with its reality. Clint Eastwood’s latest offering, Hereafter, tackles this contentious issue by looking at three people who have experiences related to death. Firstly, there is George (Matt Damon), a blue-collar worker who has a gift of communicating with the dead. But he doesn’t see it as a gift – who would want a life that is dominated by death? For him, it is a curse that has overwhelmed his life and he is trying to repress it and lead a “normal” existence. Second is Marie (Cecile De France) who has a near death experience during a tsunami which shakes her to the core and she sets out to write a book on other people’s experiences of death. And finally, Marcus (Frankie/George McLaren), a schoolboy who loses the closest person to him and who desperately wants answers.

Each of these three people are separately trying to find answers to their questions about death and, eventually, their lives intersect.

Hereafter opens with some incredible scenes representing the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami sweeping through a seaside town – poignant given what has been happening in Japan in recent days. Once this dramatic first act is over, the rest of the story takes a less sensational approach but with no less depth and momentum. Each of the characters is well-drawn and the narrative arc that brings them together is believable. Matt Damon once again impresses with his role and the other actors are also believable as the express the grief and disorientation that touches of death produces. But it is Matt Damon’s character that dominates the movie if only because of his prominence as an actor.

I don’t know what Clint Eastwood believes about death and I am not sure that is the point of the film. The final “resolution” of the narrative doesn’t provide any easy answers and it would have ruined the intelligence of the story if it did. Hereafter is more about the way various people cope and navigate their way through what is mostly a taboo subject in Western society. Eastwood directs with a sure and sensitive hand and one leaves the cinema with some deep thinking to do.

Hereafter does, however, suffer from a bias toward the assumption that there is some form of life in the hereafter. At no time do we see what those who do not believe in any form of afterlife grapple with in trying to deal with death. If the story could have included something addressing this it would have been a more balanced story. Additionally, the subtext of the story assumes a rather “new age” perspective – there is little that relates to a specifically religious approach to death.

As entertainment, Hereafter is a pretty good movie. The story moves along at a thoughtful pace and the suspense of waiting for the final intersection of the characters is maintained. While Hereafter doesn’t provide any ultimate answer to the nature of death or the hereafter, it does provoke examination of the issue and there will be many who will resonate with the desperation that people have for answers about death.

For the Christian, of course, the essential point about death is that, in Jesus Christ, death has been overcome – death has been put to death, as it were. Christians assert the historical reality of the resurrection of Christ from the dead as a promise of what awaits the believer after death. Whatever the specifics of the afterlife, Christians maintain a persistent hope that this world is not all there is. There is more to come of all that is all good and the eradication of all that is evil. This belief has brought comfort to millions throughout history.

Hereafter places before the viewer the fact of death and the anxiety that is associated with one of the certainties of life. It raises the questions and, because Eastwood is courageous enough to make the movie he wants to make without pandering to the addiction to tidy resolutions, we are left with more questions than answers. And that is the way it should be with something as mysterious as death.

Positive Review
'What's much more fascinating and enriching is Eastwood's Olympian vision, the sympathetic and all-encompassing understanding of the pain and grandeur of life on earth.' – Mick La Salle/San Francisco Chronicle

Negative Review
'It doesn't help that Eastwood's laconic style is as torpid as it was in such misfires as "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" and "Changeling."' – Joe Neumaier/New York Daily News

Content Advice
mature thematic elements including disturbing disaster and accident images, and brief strong language.

AUS: M
USA: PG-13

Technorati Tags: "Hereafter",death,grief,grieving

Movie Review: The Adjustment Bureau

2011-03-08T23:06:00.001+10:30

The Adjustment Bureau deals with some deeply philosophical issues in an entertaining and engaging narrative.

David Norris (Matt Damon) is on a fast track to political success when an episode from his past dashes his hopes. But then he meets the beautiful ballerina Elise (Emily Blunt) in a men’s bathroom and falls deeply in love with her. But their love is not meant to be. It is not part of the predetermined plan for David’s life and the Adjustment Bureau is brought in to get his life back on track. David is shocked to discover that the life he thought was his choice is, in fact, nothing more than a manipulation of events according to the plan mapped out for him by the “Chairman” of the Adjustment Bureau. Of course, David is not happy about his life being manipulated – especially when it means he is not supposed to be with Elise – the person who has, for the first time in 25 years, made him feel as though he is not alone. He tries to comply with the plan but finds his love for Elise overwhelming and he decides to take things into his own hands and assert his freedom of choice.

Many Christians believe that God has a plan mapped out for everyone’s life and that God manipulates all events to bring about God’s purposes. Nothing occurs by chance. Whatever happens is as God wills it. Apart from this not being a biblical teaching, it is logically incoherent. And The Adjustment Bureau, while not explicitly mentioning God, pulls apart the implications of this naive view showing what would need to be happening behind the scenes if it was true. Others believe in some vague idea of Fate controlling things and the same implications apply.

It must be said that the story itself is actually quite simple. And it may be that the story will be of more interest to those who have an interest in the philosophical and theological issues surrounding predestination and free will. Damon and Blunt do a good job of their roles with support from members of the Adjustment Bureau that could have been more impactful.

The end of the movie tends to collapse into an insipid assertion that we can have control over our lives by asserting freedom of choice – but that could have been more subtle leaving the viewer to come to these conclusions naturally. I personally like movies that leave me suspended in ambiguity rather than doing the thinking for me (consider, for example, Inception).

Overall, I found The Adjustment Bureau to be enjoyable, provocative, and contemporary. It has suspense, romance, and intrigue. Even those who do not come from a religious background of predestinarian thinking will benefit from the idea that we can take control of circumstances and assert our freedom of choice.

Positive Review
'An exhilarating balancing act, at once a science-fiction romp, a paranoid thriller and a philosophical treatise.’ – Calvin Wilson/St Louis Post Dispatch

Negative Review
'There's a startling moment 10 or 15 minutes into The Adjustment Bureau - the only time, really, when the film achieves any level of surprise. The dispiriting dullness of this dreary misfire hasn't had time to settle in and thicken: The movie hasn't yet revealed its utter and thorough ineptitude.’ – Rene Rodrigruez/Miami Herald

Content Advice
brief strong language, some sexuality and a violent image

AUS: M
USA: PG-13

Technorati Tags: "The Adjustment Bureau",predestination,free will

Movie Review: True Grit

2011-02-13T14:41:00.001+10:30

The Coen Brothers’ remake of the 1969 John Wayne movie, True Grit, opens with Mattie Ross (Hailee Steinfeld) narrating these words:

You must pay for everything in this world, one way and another. There is nothing free except the grace of God.

Isn’t that true! And justice is one of those things that is frequently not paid for. But in this story, it will be.

Mattie Ross’s father has been murdered by a man called Chaney (Josh Brolin) who has gone scott-free by traveling into the Indian Nations with noone paying much attention to bringing him to justice. But Mattie is on the case and decides to hire a whiskey-swilling, one-eyed reprobate, US Marshall Reuben J “Rooster” Cogburn (Jeff Bridges), to help track down the killer and bring him to trial – or shoot him if that is not possible.

Because Mattie is only 14 years old, it takes some time for the adults in her world to take her seriously. But she’s a stubborn little character and she convinces Cogburn that she can pay for his services. She wants Cogburn because it has been said of him that he has “true grit”.

Cogburn accepts the job and then discovers that Mattie intends to accompany him on the journey. Cogburn tries to leave without her but Mattie will have none of that. She courageously and tenaciously pursues Cogburn across a river on her newly acquired horse (in a wonderful scene) and latches on to Cogburn with every wile she has at her disposal. Joining them is Texas Ranger LaBeouf (Matt Damon) who also wants to find Chaney. The threesome set off together on a tense journey with feisty relationships between them. As the story unfolds, we discover that every one of the characters in pursuit of Chaney exhibit “true grit” in their own ways.

True Grit is a great classic story with superb performances by all cast. But the standout is Hailee Steinfeld playing Mattie Ross in her first film. In a wonderfully mature performance that conveys determination and power, she dominates the story – as indeed her character should. Jeff Bridges (TRON: Legacy; Iron Man) is also excellent in a role that seems written for him. Matt Damon (The Bourne Ultimatum; The Departed), in one of his less significant roles, does a good job of playing off Bridges and Steinfeld.

The soundtrack is particularly interesting consisting of traditional hymns such as Leaning on Jesus that are adapted to support and enhance the story. Cinematography beautifully conveys the vastness of the open spaces and the close relationships between the three protagonists all seasoned with a Western flavour.

The whole movie is shot through with powerful themes of grace, justice, companionship and loyalty along with wry humour set within the western genre in what makes for a very entertaining, powerful movie experience.

Positive Review
'Terrific: tough, exciting, funny, gorgeous and bewitchingly acted, this is darn close to perfection.' – Angie Errigo/Empire

Negative Review
'The original western won John Wayne a puzzling and undeserved Oscar for finally falling off his horse. Don't expect the same miracle for Jeff Bridges. In the numbing hands of pretentious filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen, history does not repeat itself in any way whatsoever.' – Rex Reed/New York Observer

Content Advice
some intense sequences of western violence including disturbing images

AUS: M (violence)
USA: PG-13 (some intense sequences of western violence including disturbing images)

Technorati Tags: "True Grit",western

2010 Golden Globe Awards Winners

2011-01-17T21:28:00.001+10:30

You can check out the winners of the Golden Globe Awards for 2010 here.

I'm disappointed that 'The King's Speech' didn't make best picture. I agree with Colin Firth as Best Actor and Christian Bale as Best Supporting Actor. Can't comment on Natalie Portman in 'The Black Swan' as I haven't seen it yet. Melissa Leo in 'The Fighter' probably deserved Best Supporting Actress. In my opinion, 'How to Train Your Dragon' was the best of the animated films I've seen.

Technorati Tags: Golden Globe Awards

Book Review: Think of a Number

2011-01-17T11:41:00.001+10:30

If you like a good, intelligent crime read, look no further than John Verdon’s excellent, fresh Think of A Number: A Novel.

Dave Gurney is a retired detective, famous for solving of a number of high profile serial killer cases. An acquaintance he hasn’t seen for many years contacts him requesting some assistance with an issue troubling him. He has received a letter from an anonymous person asking him to think of a number. When he opens the accompanying small envelope, it reveals the number he was thinking of. The writer of the letter, using verse, suggests that the writer knows the recipient intimately and hints at some nasty things to come! Of course, the letter’s recipient is terrified and calls on Gurney to help solve the mystery.

There’s a lot of crime fiction out there and a good deal of it revolves around serial killers – and they all start to look a bit the same after a while. But Vernon has given us a very fresh story that is intellectually intriguing and challenging. The story is well-paced, characters are rich and nuanced, and the resolution of the mystery is clever and believable. Bad language is minimal but some of the violence is a bit gruesome.

As I was reading this, I was reminded of the classic Sherlock Holmes plots that were not just a straightforward story but also presented insights into problem solving and thinking. Vernon does this and writes in a straightforward narrative style that is engaging and sustains momentum.

Some of the issues explored are also significant – grief, marriage, friendship, retirement, meaning of work, and many others. There is food for thought here as well as high entertainment value.

If you are trying to think of a good crime read, then Think of a Number.

Movie Review: The King’s Speech (2010)

2011-01-15T14:17:00.001+10:30

The must-see-movie of 2010 has to be The King’s Speech. It’s a stunningly accomplished production with a gripping story of two men absolutely determined to overcome the profound speech impediment of one of them.

The Duke of York, ‘Bertie’ (Colin Firth), has been thrust into power at almost a moment’s notice after his brother (a surprisingly good Guy Pearce) abdicates rather than give up his relationship with a divorced woman. Like all regents, a great deal of public speaking is required as part of the office. But King George VI suffers from a very serious speech impediment that makes it almost impossible for him to string a sentence together making for some very embarrassing moments – especially in the new era of radio that made mass communication possible. The serious stammer began when Bertie was 4 or 5 years old and plagued him ever since. As a result, Bertie is not considered suitable to be king. So Bertie engages the assistance of an unorthodox speech therapist, Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush), to help him overcome his impediment. Together, during an unexpected and enduring friendship, the two men work on Bertie’s problem with some very funny, sad, terrifying, dramatic moments. The King’s Speech is the story of this friendship and the incredible perseverance that helped King George become the king he needed to be.

The King’s Speech is an almost perfect movie. Everything about it is brilliant. It is a deeply moving human story. Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, Helena Bonham Carter (who plays Queen Elizabeth, Bertie’s wife), and Derek Jacobi (playing Archbishop Cosmo Lang) are superb in their roles. Firth, Rush, and Carter are very real contenders for Oscars and it wouldn’t be a surprise to me if the movie took out Best Picture. The script is smart as a whip and the sets and costumes superb.

The King’s Speech is a stunning piece of story-telling and is one movie you must not miss!

Positive Review
'It's a fine, absorbing work, built with brilliance and without excessive showiness or flash. It feels, in fact, like a classic virtually upon its arrival.' – Shawn Levy/Portland Oregan

Negative Review
'Obvious, though, is the word for Hopper's direction. It amplifies to rock-concert level every pained plosive in Bertie's speech, forces certain characters dangerously close to caricature.’ – Richard Corliss/Time

AUS: M (coarse language)
USA: R (some language)

Technorati Tags: "The King's Speech",drama

Movie Review: 3D TRON: Legacy (2010)

2010-12-31T12:06:00.001+10:30

Back in 1982 I went off to see TRON at the movies and, if I remember correctly, enjoyed it quite a bit. Now, 28 years later, TRON: Legacy arrives at our screens in 3D – technology that did not exist back in the '80s. It’s a new story that loosely follows on from the first story but seeing the first movie is not necessary.

Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges), once known as one of the world’s best video-game designers in the world, disappeared 20 years ago without a trace. His 27 year-old son, Sam (Garrett Hedlund), is now a disinterested, disillusioned and rebellious owner of a massive software company about to float on the stock market and who is haunted by the his father’s mysterious disappearance. Pretty much all he does is try to interrupt the success of the company.

One of his father’s trusted colleagues receives a strange and unexpected message from a phone number which has been disconnected for years and which is located in an old games arcade previously run by Sam’s dad. As Sam investigates the source of the message he is drawn into a digital world in which his father has been trapped by a computer character he had created. Together, they will need use all their “gaming” skills to escape, aided by the beautiful Quorra (Olivia Wilde, House M.D.) who is a fearless warrior within the virtual world.

TRON: Legacy is pure entertainment with little of significance to say (although, there is the odd hint at the dangers of virtual worlds that become too realistic). The pace is uneven and the movie seems too long running at over 2 hours.

Technically, TRON: Legacy is very glossy with its over-hyped special effects that try too hard without success and, in my view, did not need 3D. It is interesting that the shooting of the film only took 64 days while the special effects that needed to be added afterward took 68 weeks! And this disproportionate emphasis on special effects shows in the movie’s overall dullness when it comes to the acting and narrative. The story is cheesy and clichéd, at times, and the acting is nothing more than adequate. It was hard to really care about any of the characters and viewing the movie always had the effect of being at a distance from the action. Film-makers need to accept that spending money on special effects and a good soundtrack (which it is) does not a movie make.

TRON: Legacy is a pretty average movie and looks even worse when compared to what we know is possible in a movie like Avatar, for instance. More attention to the story rather than special effects might have produced a very different result.

Positive Review
'On the heels of another revelatory turn in True Grit, Bridges is sensational again, here in a groundbreaking performance.' – Pete Hammond/Boxoffice Magazine

Negative Review
'Tron: Legacy will only be enjoyed by men in their thirties and early forties searching for a Proustian moment.’ – John DeVore/Premiere

Technorati Tags: "TRON: Legacy",scifi,virtual worlds

Movie Review: The Tourist (2010)

2010-12-28T10:16:00.001+10:30

I wasn't expecting much from The Tourist. Everything I had read by critics had been negative. But I was pleasantly surprised by this clever crime caper.

The beautiful Elise (Angelina Jolie) receives a letter from her lover, saying that it is dangerous for them to meet. So he has given her instructions on how to distract the police from identifying him. The police have been following her for two years waiting for Elise to contact her lover – a man who has embezzled over $2 billion. Elise is to allow herself to be tailed, hop on a train, pick a man of similar height and build, and sit down acting in such a way that the police will believe that it is him. While the police are distracted by all this, Elise will be able to be contacted by him. So Elise follows the instructions and the random man, of course, is Frank (Johnny Depp), who has recently lost his wife and who is overwhelmed by a random beautiful woman taking an interest in him. He soon discovers that he has become part of a cat-and-mouse game where his life is in danger.

Jolie and Depp are great in their roles. Jolie is consistently in control of the situation and clearly enjoys playing this game. Depp conveys a mixture of depression/sadness at the loss of his life, a willingness to go along with the bizarre events – he has nothing to lose – in a delightfully nuanced performance.

The plot is intriguing with a nicely revealed surprise at its climax. The story moves along at a good pace with some great scenery as we travel to Venice where most of the events occur. Venice is wonderfully portrayed and its waterways are used to great effect for some tense chases.

In my opinion, the critics who have come down hard on The Tourist, in particular criticising the chemistry between Jolie and Depp, have missed the obvious point that the relationship between them has been constructed for reasons other than romance. Frank is being used. Elise is in love with another man. If the chemistry had sparked a typical Hollywood romance it would have undermined one of the essential premises for the story happening in the first place.

The Tourist is not one of the best movies of the year. But it is good, clean entertainment with some subtle humour, good characters, and a decent story. It’s an old-style, Hitchcockian-flavoured, sumptuously photographed, espionage mystery. Check it out for a very pleasant couple of hours at the movies.

Positive Review
'If Elise and Frank are opaque to each other, they're opaque for a reason, as, sadly, lovers sometimes are. (Come to think of it, this picture has more in common with "The Lives of Others" than you might expect.)' – Stephanie Zacharek/Movieline

Negative Review
'In a year of craptaculars, The Tourist deserves burial at the bottom of the 2010 dung heap. It offers talented people trapped in creative inertia. A microscope and a search party could not discover any trace of chemistry between Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie.' – Peter Travers/Rolling Stone

AUS: M (infrequent coarse language and violence) – now showing
USA: PG-13 (violence and brief language) – now showing

Technorati Tags: "The Tourist",crime,mystery

Holy Cheating?

2010-12-27T22:48:00.004+10:30

I’m intrigued by the number of recommendations to pray for students around examination time – particularly the ones that ask God to help them do well in their exams. I can’t help wondering whether this is a form of holy cheating. Surely if God helps a person do better on an exam as a result of prayer but doesn’t help another student who hasn’t prayed, wouldn’t that be in the same category as a performance enhancing drug?
I’ve been trying to think of what one could pray for without cheating – better memory? answers to questions that haven’t been learned? increased energy after a hard night? Surely all of these are enhancing aspects that would provide an unfair advantage over others – cheating!
Maybe what students can pray for is the wisdom to know the relationship between hard work, lots of study, learning how memory works, critical thinking skills and good grades. Now that is something that could be prayed for! Let’s stop asking God to help our students cheat. Instead, let’s ask God to assist in making then better students before they enter the examination room.
POSTSCRIPT: I'm specifically referring to any prayer in relation to an exam that would involve God somehow giving a student an advantage over another student. As Christians, we are constantly exhorted to pray for things that are not appropriate. For example, a woman once told me that someone she knew would become a Christian because she had asked God to convert the person. But what about free will? God doesn't force people to accept God against their will - people have a choice and so for the woman to assume that someone she was praying for would definitely become a Christian, just because she was praying for them, attributes something to God that God would not do - as far as I can see from Scripture.
Asking God to help a person pass an examination by any supernatural means would be asking God to do something unethical. I work in a tertiary institution where, for example, it is forbidden to take notes into an examination. Students are severely punished if they are found doing so. So asking God to bring something to a student's memory in an exam by some sort of supernatural intervention, would be no different to taking notes in to the exam room.
Examinations are not the only place we hear Christians ascribing things to God that may be unethical. I have heard footballers claim God helped them win goals/games. Really? Is God intervening so that certain players/teams win a football game?
So: the point is - as Christians we need to think about some of the things we ask of God and expect God to do. What does the Bible say we should pray for? That is a question we need to all ask and spend our time praying for those things rather than asking God to engage in our sometimes self-interested desires. Check the New Testament some time to see the sorts of things we can legitimately pray for:

pray for our enemies
pray for the Holy Spirit
pray for wisdom
pray for peace
pray for joy
pray for healing
pray for one another

and so on...
I hope that clarifies things...

The debate begins (continues) again …

2010-12-19T11:06:00.001+10:30

With the release of the next in the Chronicles of Narnia film series, Voyage of the Dawn Treader, the debate over what is good and evil in literature rears its immortal head again. People who worry about such things want to characterise Rowling’s work (Harry Potter) as evil and Lewis’s (Chronicles of Narnia) as good even though they both use magic and mythology as central elements of the worlds in which the stories occur.

It seems to me that much of this discussion assumes the ability to categorise literature easily into "good" and "evil". I don't think it is that easy. Much overtly Christian literature has elements that I would be very wary of. And there is much that is overtly non-Christian that has much value. Surely the whole point of the need for discernment is because, in a beautiful fallen world, there is good and evil everywhere and we need to mine it for all it is worth. The human mind has the capacity to see and hear what it will in almost anything. If we wish to see evil - that is what we will see and hear; if we wish to see good - that is what we will see and hear. It is our initial frame of reference that determines, to a large extent, what we will see and hear. I don't think anything should be excluded from consideration and so would encourage all to read Lewis and Rowling and Tolkien and Pullman and much more. All creativity is evidence of the image of God in the world and to assert that only Christians can produce such slivers of imago dei is arrogant. Christians need to think critically about everything we read and permit expressions of God's grace in what may seem to be the most graceless literary places. The ruthless dichotomy of good and evil as if everything can be sorted in such a black/white way is, in my view, completely unhelpful.

Technorati Tags: literature,Harry Potter,Chronicles of Narnia,magic,paganism,good and evil

Movie Review: Somewhere (2010)

2010-12-19T10:50:00.001+10:30

Sofia Coppola’s (Lost in Translation) Somewhere is a movie of such ordinariness that it is extraordinary.

Johnny Marco (Stephen Dorff) is a Hollywood actor who lives the hard life – women and alcohol on tap, long hours, constant publicity, luxury hotels. But he is profoundly lonely and his life is a meaningless circularity. This frenetic lifestyle keeps the depression and boredom just at bay. The opening scene is symbolic of Johnny’s life. We see a dirt track with Johnny driving his sports car around and around for maybe five minutes. When he finally stops and steps out of the car, he stands with no sense of purpose.

Then he receives a call from his wife who is leaving and sending their 11 year old daughter, Cleo (Elle Fanning), for him to care for her until Cleo attends an upcoming vacation camp. We then observe father and daughter as their relationship slowly deepens and, as a result, Johnny begins to revitalise his connection to real life.

Sofia Coppola has directed Somewhere with absolutely precise pacing. The film, on one level, is boring as it mirrors the deep boredom and pointlessness of Johnny’s life. Perhaps the first third of the film is a repetitive “documentation” of monotonous ordinariness. By the time Cleo, his daughter, arrives we are desperate for something interesting to happen. And Coppola makes a decision that means this movie transcends the typical sensationalism of the “Hollywood” movie – we have more ordinary life as father and daughter get to know each other as they do ordinary things together – go swimming, eat gelati, go to ice skating class, and talk.

As we watch this story unfold, it is rivetingly mundane and yet shot through with a message that the most important things in life are about relationships. Johnny is forced to confront the reality of his unreal life as a celebrity and he begins to discover a sense of purpose and meaning in his relationship with his daughter. This is the message of the movie – we are built for deep relationships which occur in the ordinariness of everyday life. Without relationship there would be nothing but frenzied despair.

Relationships bring us to crossroads in life and we are forced to choose a life of meaning or a life of meaningless based on how we respond to the relationships that are available to us. Johnny is forced to confront this decision. What and how will he choose?

Somewhere will not be a movie for everyone. It is an hour-and-a-half of tedium that seems interminable. But after persevering with it Somewhere’s message haunts us as we are confronted with our own lives of ordinariness and how and where we find meaning in them.

Somewhere opens in Australia on December 26 and is in limited release in the US on December 22.

Positive Review
‘It may not have Lost In Translation's reach, but it's original and smartly funny with top performances.’ – Ian Free/Empire

Negative Review
‘Somewhere has a lot of good impulses, and a salutary faith in an audience's patience; but the film's tone, in its script, performances and visual style, is studiously uninflected. It's a document of people seen remotely, maybe from outer space.’ – Richard Corliss/Time

Content Advice
sexual content, nudity and language

AUS: M
USA: R

Technorati Tags: "Somewhere",life meaning,relationships

Book Review: Absence of Mind

2010-12-09T20:50:00.001+10:30

Science dominates our culture as the ultimate way of knowing. For many, if science can’t demonstrate it then it is not true. In her masterful book Absence of Mind: The Dispelling of Inwardness from the Modern Myth of the Self Marilynne Robinson, an award-winning author of fiction, argues that parascientific writings have too quickly dismissed the mind’s own evidence of its nature.

Parascientific literature is that which is written in response to scientific discoveries which are assumed to bring about a radical change in understanding and a complete reversal of what is known before. These include the “discoveries” of great thinkers such as Darwin, Nietschze, Marx and Freud. It is often assumed that thinkers like these have turned around our ideas of human nature to such an extent that all that has gone before that moment has to be radically revised or jettisoned.

Robinson comments on writers such as Rorty, Dennett and Dawkins arguing that, while their intention to bring a rational approach to topics such as religion, they do not do justice to the inadequacies of a rationalist, positivist approach which is limited in its ability to generalise about such things.

The first chapter of the book deals with human nature and the way in which humans have expressed and recorded their own experiences and understandings throughout the millennia – and the way in which modernist thinkers have unquestioningly accepted that ‘… we have stepped over a threshold that separates old error from new insight…’ resulting in a ‘[t]riumphalism [that] was never the friend of reason.’

Robinson describes how she

… was educated to believe that a threshold had indeed been crossed in the collective intellectual experience, that we had entered a realm called “modern thought,” and we must naturalize ourselves to it. We had passed through a door that could swing only one way. Major illusion had been dispelled for good and all. What we had learned from Darwin, Marx, Freud, and others were insights into reality so deep as to be ahistorical. Criticism was nostalgia, and skepticism meant the doubter’s mind was closed and fearful. (p. 21)

For Robinson,

The great new truth into which modernity has delivered us is generally assumed to be that the given world is the creature of accident, that it has climbed Mount Improbable incrementally and over time, through a logic of development, refinement, and elaboration internal to itself and sufficient to account exhaustively for all the complexity and variety of which reality and experienced are composed. Once it was asserted, and now it is taken to be proved, that the God of traditional Western religion does note exist, or exists at the remotest margins of time and causality. In either case, and emptiness is thought to have entered human experience with the recognition that an understanding of the physical world can develop and accelerate through disciplines of reasoning for which God is not a given. (p.23)

All of this (and more that she discusses just in the first chapter!) has led to a situation where those writing from a perspective of science about things religious, have not successfully constructed arguments that satisfy the rigorous demands of science itself. Robinson has made it clear in interviews that she loves science and the cosmological theories that have been developed are beautiful – but they do not necessarily say anything that is automatically antithetical to religion and religious understandings of human nature.

In the second chapter of Absence of Mind Robinson turns to ‘the strange history of altruism’. Explaining the altruistic impulse in human behaviour that has been a contentious issue between evolutionary theorists and those that wish to affirm the self-sacrificial nature of altruism. How is one to understand altruism if everything must be explained in terms of the survival of a group or a selfish gene? Here, too, writers of parascientific literature confidently assert ‘…that science has given us knowledge sufficient to allow us to answer certain essential questions about the nature of reality, if only for dismissing them.’ (p. 33) One of these areas is the ‘felt life of the mind’ – the self-reporting of the subjective experience of a phenomenon like altruism is dismissed on the assumption that science can now explain everything including what is “really” going on with the mind. According to Robinson, ‘… the renunciation of religion in the name of reason and progress has been strongly associated with a curtailment of the assumed capacities of the mind.’ (p. 75)

The third chapter then turns to analysis of the ‘Freudian self’ and the often-forgotten fact that Freud’s psychodynamic theories were developed within a very specific historical, political, and sociological context. One of the problems with Freud’s theories is that they are mostly immune to scientific criticism and reduce, once again, the phenomenon of altruistic morality and other aspects of the life of the mind to seething, self-centred, obsessive drives that completely deny the positive subjective expressions of the mind as it tries to understand itself. As Robinson points out, Freud’s fundamental and pervasive premise about the mind is that it is not to be trusted. Since Freud, the mind’s subjective experience has been devalued in preference to the parascientific assertions that all can be reduced to the physical, chemical, and mechanistic rules of evolution.

Marilynne Robinson calls for a rethinking of our approach to mind and, in particular, a recognition of the condescending, arrogant approach of parascientific writing that assumes it has all the answer for the questions raised by the mysterious human mind. Robinson, as she has said elsewhere, loves science. But she believes it has its place and that it has neglected the best of what religion may offer in our pursuit to understand the mind. The long history of the mind expressing itself needs to be listened to and we need to resist the poor thinking of parascientists who wish to reduce everything to their perspective.

It is impossible for me to do justice to Absence of Mind in this brief review. Based on a series of lectures, it is a short book but each page requires deep thinking. It is a polemic against poor thinking and a call for deep inquiry that respects the intransigent mysteries of the mind. The language is often abstract but always prosaic with a vocabulary that provokes deep reflective thought. This is a book I am going to return to again even if only for the inspirational perspective that the mind is more than the sum of its physical parts, rationalist sociological processes, reductionist evolutionary forces, or unconscious negative psychopathologies. The mind is a mystery and that mystery will never be comprehensively quantified by limited perspectives that ignore the rich heritage the mind itself has produced – art, music, philosophy, religion. Absence of Mind is a great book and worthy of every thinker’s bookshelf.

- Steve Parker

Book details

Robinson, M. (2010). Absence of Mind: The Dispelling of Inwardness from the Modern Myth of the Self. New Haven: Yale University Press.

Technorati Tags: "Absence of Mind",religion,self,mind

Steve Parker wants to stay in touch on LinkedIn

2010-12-08T07:48:00.001+10:30

Blogger,

I'd like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn.

- Steve Parker

Steve Parker
Associate Dean (Teaching & Learning) at Flinders University
Adelaide Area, Australia

Confirm that you know Steve

Book Review: 36 Arguments for the Existence of God: A Work of Fiction

2010-11-26T23:20:00.001+10:30

On the shelf in the bookstore, Rebecca Goldstein's work of fiction, 36 Arguments for the Existence of God: A Work of Fiction, looked like it promised to be a meaty and entertaining philosophical novel on a topic that has had high public profile in recent years. But it was a disappointment.

Cass Seltzer (get the joke – Alka-Selstzer – there are lots of these), the main protagonist of the novel, is a psychologist who has leapt to fame following the publication of his book The Varieties of Religious Illusion. He has been called ‘the atheist with a soul’ by the media and his approach to religion has resonated with a wide readership. As the novel progresses, we meet various people Cass knows including a philosopher who has very strong delusions of grandeur. As the story tediously meanders through 344 pages Cass develops a relationship with a six-year-0ld mathematical wizard who is part of a fundamentalist sect and who is destined to become its leader. There’s also a past lover that turns up who is pursuing immortality. These are just a few of the many characters populating the story, none of whom we really come to feel much care for. Cass, his philosophical mentor, and his love interest, and the math genius are really the only characters that are developed with any degree of depth.

According to the author’s comments on Amazon.com, because ‘Arguments alone can’t capture all that is at stake for people when they argue about issues of reason and faith’, she wished to

… place in fiction, in its power to make vividly present how different the world feels to each of us and how these differences are sometimes what is really being expressed in the great debates of our day on the existence of God.

Unfortunately, 36 Arguments suffers from the author’s uninhibited exploration into all sorts of esoteric subjects which distract from the narrative arc of the book and mostly prove how clever and knowledgeable she is. There is a tenuous relationship between these forays of obtrusiveness and the theme of religious experience. If you read the book, keep a dictionary handy! It’s almost unreadable at times and I have to admit to skipping a few chapters during the last third of the book.

I did appreciate Chapter 34 which describes a debate between Cass and a Christian apologist which articulates the nature and basis of a secular morality wrapped within an argument on the existence of God. I was relieved to arrive at this chapter as the essential perspective of the author coalesced in a moment of clarity.

In case my readers jump to the conclusion that I am biased against this book because I am a theist and it essentially argues against the existence of God, I hasten to tell you that the Appendix following the story is worth the price of the book! In this appendix, Goldstein outlines 36 arguments often used in support of the existence of God. For each one, she identifies the significant flaws that undermine their power. This is done concisely, articulately, and, at times, with wit. Anyone wishing a brief summary of the best arguments and counterarguments on the existence of God will find this very valuable and deeply thought provoking. It is a shame the novel itself did not have these same characteristics.

Technorati Tags: "36 Arguments for the Existence of God",religion,faith

Recent DVD Release Recommendations

2010-11-18T12:07:00.001+10:30

Animal Kingdom

A very compelling Australian drama of a family caught in the web of crime. Very moving.

Positive Review
‘It's a remarkable film: A gritty, gut-churning, crime thriller based on a true story. Its greatness lies in its unwavering fidelity to human nature and the unstoppable laws of the wild.’ – Amy Biancolli/San Francisco Chronicle

Negative Review
‘Michôd wants a Greek epic but doesn't have the material. Animal Kingdom is a work of obvious ambition, and seeing a debut filmmaker swing for the fences like this is its own kind of moviehead satisfaction.’ – Michael Atkinson/Village Voice

Get Him to the Greek

Some funny moments but not really impressed.

Positive Review
‘So comically fertile and yet so grounded in the reality of its characters that it's really a kind of marvel.’ – Mick La Salle/San Francisco Chronicle

Negative Review
‘This final act goes on far too long and devolves into such a miasma of pap that it's clear Stoller had no idea how to wrap things up.’ – Marc Mohan/Portland Oregonian

Movie Review: The Loved Ones

2010-11-12T20:55:00.001+10:30

What a lovely title for a movie – The Loved Ones. But don’t be misled! This Australian movie is one of the most shocking revenge horror movies to come along for a long time.

Six months have passed since Brent (Xavier Samuel) has lost his Dad in a car accident he caused. He is riddled with guilt and has immersed himself in metal music, drug use, risk-taking behaviour and is a complete mess. But he is still the most eligible young guy in high school.

Holly (Victoria Thaine) has agreed to go with Brent to the upcoming school prom. Holly recognises the despair that Brent is experiencing but is prepared to take on this relationship because she can see beneath the surface. But Holly is not the only one interested in Brent. Lola (Robin McLeavy), an angelic, sweet, vulnerable young girl also asks him out and, of course, Brent says no. Big mistake!

Lola and her Daddy (John Brumpton) have their own prom celebrations planned for Brent. They kidnap him and drag him off to their quaint little house on a farm where the party consists of torturing poor Brent with knives, injections of Drano, electric drills, psychological abuse, and actions that just cannot be described here. While all this is happening, we are shown a series of flashbacks and parallel subplots that eventually come together in a loose sort of way.

As a genre movie, The Loved Ones is far superior to the torture movies coming out of the US like the Saw franchise and Hostel (which I have never seen but the trailers tell it all!). The Loved Ones adds a layer of serious teen issues like grief, loneliness, desperation for meaningful friendships, and guilt which propels this genre into new territory.

Within that wrapping, however, is some very twisted, perverse, shocking torture which some have suggested verges on “torture porn”. As an example of the revenge horror genre, it is better than most. But I definitely do not recommend it!

Technorati Tags: "The Loved Ones"

Jesus Only?

2010-11-05T11:57:00.001+10:30

There's a lot of nonsense spoken in the name of God/Jesus. I'm sitting in a bookshop next to a table where there are two guys having a conversation. One of them is telling the other about a talk he's giving to some young people on the upcoming weekend. Here's the essence of his talk:

Friends are unreliable. We may expect them to satisfy our needs but they never live up to our expectations. The only friend that can bring complete satisfaction is Jesus. If I found myself on a desert island with no other people (friends) I could experience complete satisfaction because I would have the perfect friend in Jesus. Adam and Eve, in the Garden of Eden needed no one else but God to speak with. So that is all anyone needs. So if I find that my friends are letting me down, remember: they are fallible. Jesus is completely reliable and is the only friend I really need to be completely satisfied.

This is, of course, complete nonsense for the following reasons: It completely ignores what we know about relationship needs from psychology. Humans have a fundamental need for relationship with other humans. This includes a profound need for physical touch, without which humans cannot thrive. If one is going to use the Eden story to support the complete fulfillment of a person with God alone, one could just as easily argue that God making a couple after not finding a partner suitable for Adam from the animal kingdom, demonstrates that true fulfillment comes as a result of human relationship. Adam's initial aloneness is conveyed as something that needed to be rectified. That is why the story has God making Eve with the narrative culminating in them meeting and Adam celebrating their union. The whole Bible sees community as core to faith. It is only in the modern West that individualism has become so dominant as the norm. The New Testament is shot through with the communal basis of faith with metaphors of relationship. While Jesus is most certainly described as the matrix within which these relationships exist, there is constant advice to love, support, and encourage one's family, "family", and neighbors. What makes the plans of the speaker to give young people such thoughtless advice is the obvious irony of the situation. Firstly, the guy was married! Clearly, Jesus wasn't enough for him! After his talk to the youth he could go home and cuddle up to his wife. What right does he have to stand before kids who may be aching with loneliness and say Jesus is the only friend you really need and then go and satisfy his own human needs for relationship by being married? And he wasn't alone at the table (obviously). He and his conversation partner were obviously close friends. So here he was putting together a message that Jesus is completely satisfying in an intimate friend relationship! And all this happened to take place in a Christian bookstore coffee shop. Do you think that, as I looked around, I saw people all sitting at tables by themselves with looks of complete satisfaction as they communes with an invisible Jesus? Not at all. Every table (other than one) had at least two people leaning forward sharing conversation together. What response would this speaker likely get standing up to pontificate to lonely kids that then only friend they need is Jesus who will bring them complete satisfaction? Christians throughout history have been isolated from their communities for all sorts of reasons - persecution, accident, circumstances. Imagine a Christian shipwrecked on an island and completely alone. Have any in such circumstances refused rescue because they have found complete satisfaction in Jesus? Certainly many in these situations would describe God as sustaining them through ordeal. But it is an ordeal because it is a not how humans are made to exist. We need to get real with our spiritually vacuous advice to people. Apart from the mystics who deliberately went against their human nature and isolated themselves to commune with God alone, I know of no one would choose a life cut off from others. Surely a message to these young people would be that we are made for relationship. And if you are feeling lonely and neglected and isolated, we are here for you; we will genuinely listen to you; and we will support and encourage you while you learn to relate to others, develop friendships, and navigate the rou sea of living with other flawless people. A satisfying relationship with Jesus will only occur if it is enfleshed in real people who love and accept the lonely and marginalized in the same way Jesus did. Let's hope those young people the presenter was planning to speak to don't leave depressed, disillusioned -- and lonely.

Movie Review: Summer Coda

2010-10-30T12:46:00.001+10:30

Summer Coda is a languid, relaxing, summer movie set in Mildura’s (Victoria, Australia) stunning orange groves.

Heidi (Rachael Taylor) is travelling back from the US to her birth place to attend her estranged father’s funeral. She hasn’t spoken to him since she was seven. She needs to bring this part of her life to a close. As she hitchhikes her way there, she is picked up by Michael (Alexis Dimitriades) and a friendship forms. After the tense funeral and subsequent wake, Heidi decides to stay on for a while to work through her emotions, relationships with family, and the deepening romance between her and Michael. She is employed on Michael’s orange grove as a picker. As she works alongside the regular itinerant fruit pickers, an undercurrent of tension mounts which confuses Heidi. Something is not right and she doesn’t know what it is.

Summer Coda is a very slow, gentle, beautifully nuanced story where most of the action is emotional and character-driven. It’s about grief, relationships, and the struggle to resolve pasts that haunt us. Taylor and Dimitriades are both good in their roles and the relationship they form is believable.

While it is a good movie, it does tend to lose momentum at times. It’s a thoughtful story and provides a refreshing relief from the more sensational fare on offer. It may be one you choose to wait for on DVD.

Recent DVD Releases and Recommendations

2010-10-21T20:42:00.001+10:30

Iron Man 2

Positive Review
‘Iron Man 2 sets gold standard for sequels thanks to Robert Downey Jr.'s Stark performance.’ – Joe Ne

Harry Brown

Book Review: Road Out of Eden

2010-10-18T15:29:00.001+10:30

I usually enjoy books that describe the spiritual/religious journeys of people. But LouAnne White’s Out of Eden – From Adventist to Atheist doesn’t quite achieve the qualities it needs to make it worth the price. I will approach this review by addressing two aspects of the book: the personal journey of the author; and the quality of the book.

The Personal Journey

Out of Eden tells the story of LouAnne White as she journeyed from Seventh-day Adventism to her current position of atheism. Her story is deeply moving as she recounts experiencing what she labels child abuse. She writes:

Growing up in Adventism or in many religions where a religion is pushed upon a child’s mind to be absolute truth is in my experience a form of emotional and psychological child abuse. (p. 14)

White describes how, for example, her father would tell his children, when they were young kids, ‘that there were bears under our bed in order to keep us from getting out of bed at nighttime.’ (p. 15) She was taught that God’s love is conditional on being good. For White, her upbringing occurred in

… a very controlled and legalistic environment. Besides feeling guilt and shame from believing that God was judging me on a constant basis and determining my salvation based on my performance there was also the threat of judgment and hell fire that was used to control our actions. It was emotional blackmail. (p. 16)

White also describes how some of the unique doctrines of Adventism, such as the endtime scenarios arguing that Sunday laws would come in and persecution and death could result by not keeping Sunday as the Sabbath, led to a fearful relationship to God and religion.

After exploring the ideas and experiences that provided her with a very negative view of God and religion, White tells us how she went ‘from one extreme to another’ and, like the prodigal son, sewed her wild oats in the ‘”sinful world”’. Her “rebellion”, however, resulted in mounting feelings of guilt which led her to intermittently return to church, be rebaptised, only to leave again. Guilt and perfectionism sent her from bad to worse as she returned to the writings of Ellen White, Adventism’s prophetess. On the basis of her writings, she joined an extreme, cultic offshoot of Adventism that emphasised perfectionism and the keeping of a long list of rules derived from Ellen White’s writings. LouAnne documents about 43 of these rules covering just about every aspect of life — eating, drinking, dressing, sex, and on and on.

Her marriage to a member of this cultish form of Adventism, initially believed to be an “equally yoked” marriage, turned out to be hell as her husband emotionally abused her under the guise of religious piety.

LouAnne always had a desire to find the truth. And so she begins to study into the early history of Adventism and discovers what many had before her — the tendency of Ellen White to use her authority to control people and discourage them from questioning her writings. Quotes from Ellen White were read to LouAnne such as:

It is Satan’s plan to weaken the faith of God’s people in the Testimonies (the “testimonies” were her [Ellen White’s] writings (sic) Next follows skepticism in regard to the vital points of our faith, the pillars of our position, then doubt as to the Holy Scriptures and then the downward march to perdition.”

Quotations like this clearly strike fear into the heart of someone who wishes to think and question their faith. But LouAnne persisted in her search, discovering the many Adventist leaders and theologians who have been evicted from the denomination or defrocked of ministerial credentials for their questioning of official doctrine, including Desmond Ford in the 1970s and ‘80s.

Finally, she leaves Adventism and then, as she continues to explore and discover, she realises, at age 50, she has moved away from religion altogether and adopted atheism. LouAnne describes how she struggles with old emotions and, in particular, the difficulties dealing with family members and others who are intolerant of her thinking and deciding for herself.

LouAnne’s journey is an interesting one and many who have travelled a similar journey will no doubt relate to her story. And it certainly raises issues about the nature of some forms of religion that are fundamentalist, sectarian, legalistic, and cultic in their approaches. Her story also shows how a person may experience severe emotional consequences, such as depression, for many, many years.

For all these reasons, there are many worthwhile aspects to this book.

The Quality of the Book

While the above positive aspects of the book can be identified, overall, the book is of a very poor quality and standard. Essentially, it needs a good editor to guide the writing and publication. It is full of grammatical and formatting errors that make the book irritating to read. It is clearly self-published and suffers for it. The presentation of the book is amateurish.

More seriously, in those places where White discusses the information she based her decisions on, much of the text is either a direct copying of source material or “dot-pointed” noting. While all of this material is acknowledged, it means the personal dimension of the journey is lost, apart from a few comments here and there by White herself. In the chapter on ‘The Origin and History of Religion’, the major source is D M Murdoch’s (aka Acharya S) Origins of Christianity and the Quest for the Historical Jesus. There are pages of material uncritically excerpted and presented as dot points to the reader.

Acharya S believes that Jesus was not a historical figure and that Christianity’s construction of Jesus is based on a range of pagan myths from various cultures. Nothing new in that. However, relying on Acharya S to make decisions about factual matters may not be very wise. She has been widely criticised, even by skeptics like Richard Carrier and Robert M Price (who also, by the way, believes that Christ was a mythological figure). So her ideas and theories are, to say the least, contentious, even from the point of view of those who agree with the idea of a mythological Christ.

The point here is that the material offered by White as evidence she considered in her move from Christianity to atheism is highly questionable. At least, to be fair minded, White should offer a critical view of this material.

White also cursorily surveys various reasons to abandon Christianity. Rather than articulate her own reasons, however, she summarises a pamphlet by Chaz Bufe, a contemporary anarchist author (according to Wikipedia). The summarised criticisms of Christianity are sweeping generalisations with no careful distinction or criticism made about them. For example, ‘Christianity is based on fear.’ Well… certainly, much of Christian theology is certainly based on fear. But not all of it. And one could argue, for example, that the New Testament specifically emphasises love as the basis and motivation of true religion. Not only that, much contemporary scholarship in Christianity itself criticises a fear-based approach to religion.

Or, ‘Christianity is anti-intellectual, anti-scientific.” Yes, fundamentalist brands of Christianity are; but any well-informed person will be able to easily identify many, many segments of Christianity that value intellectual activity and scientific enterprise.

In a remarkable irony, after citing all this material on the mythological Christ, White writes:

In light of this entire ridiculous repeating of fables down through history that has obviously been used to create all the different criteria for a deity for all the different cultures including the Christian deity and the fact that the few mentions of Jesus from historians came about during a time of rampant forgeries by the early church I must conclude that Pope Leo X hit the nail on the head when he said:

“What profit has not that fable of Christ brought us!” – Pope Leo X (p. 96, emphasis in original)

The irony? This alleged quote from Pope Leo X is completely inauthentic! For a detailed account demonstrating how this quote is derived from a satirical, anti-Catholic work by John Bale (1495-1563) click here. So one must ask the question: How well did White critically examine what she accepted as she read these works critiquing Christianity?

Summary

So Road Out of Eden is a mixed bag. The best parts are where White focuses specifically on her own experience, in particular, the emotional dimensions of her upbringing and the impact of that on the rest of her life. Her struggle to come to terms with her belief system and the confinement of legalistic, perfectionistic religion convey a sense of frustration, pain, and courage, as she tries to make sense out of her experiences. If the whole book had focused on this and had the benefit of a good editor, there would be a great book here. But the poor writing and presentation, and the uncritical repeating of secondhand ideas of others, reduces its value and makes it an unreliable guide for anyone else to follow the same intellectual journey.

Movie Review: The Town

2010-10-17T16:57:00.002+10:30

Bank heist movies are a dime a dozen. But the Ben Affleck-directed The Town stands head-and-shoulders above the rest of them in some important ways.
The Town opens with a number of quotes informing us that Charlestown, a blue-collar neighbourhood in Boston, is a place where crime is a part of everyday life. In fact, it is America’s capital for all sorts of nasty activity including bank robbery. Doug MacRay (Ben Affleck) has grown up in this neighbourhood where a life of crime is passed down from father to son. Doug is the brains behind a group of ruthless gang members who are planning a bank robbery. Doug is desperate to leave Charlestown and make a new life for himself. But his friends expect that never to happen — certainly not until they have made all the money they need.
During the action-packed heist, Doug forces the bank manager, Claire (Rebecca Hall), to open the safe. Because the robbers are all in masks, they are not able to be identified. When the robbers leave the bank, they take Claire as a hostage, covering her head with a bag. Once clear of the bank, they drop her off, head still covered, at a beach, telling her to keep walking until her toes hit the water. She is terrified and traumatised.
But then the gang discover she lives near them in the same neighbourhood. Has she seen too much? Might she recognise them somehow? What is she saying to the tenacious FBI agent who is investigating the crime. One of the gang would rather kill her than take any risks. But Doug wants to proceed with caution. So he tails her to see if he can determine whether she represents any danger to them. Then he goes further and makes actual contact.
And, of course, Doug becomes attracted to Claire and begins to establish a relationship with her. And so begins a tense romance with Doug living in two worlds and the inevitable stress that results. I shall tell you no more … the rest of the movie is premised on this relationship and is set alongside the attempts of the FBI agent to bring the robbery gang down.
The heist narrative of The Town is not really new. If that were all there was to this movie, it wouldn’t be much of a movie at all. What makes it special is that it is character and place driven. The quotes referred to above that appear at the start of the movie, drive home the fact that this story is as much about Charlestown as it about anything. And then there are the characters. Ben Affleck, Rebecca Hall (The Prestige, Vicky Cristina Barcelona), Jon Hamm (Mad Men) and Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker) all put in excellent performances and the relationships between them all provide the backbone of the movie. These relationships are sensitively and subtly drawn and we come to care deeply about them, particularly the two leads.
This is the second major film that Ben Affleck has directed. His previous one, Gone Baby Gone was excellent. But in The Town Affleck shows us how much real potential he has, building on the stunning co-writing he did for Good Will Hunting so many years ago. The action sequences are excellent, the dramatic tension palpable, and the cast give us believable characters that are flawed in very human ways. It’s a great movie.

Positive Review
‘A rich, dark, pulpy mess of entanglements that fulfills all the requirements of the genre, and is told with an ease and gusto that make the pulp tasty.’ – Lisa Schwarzbaum/Entertainment Weekly
Negative Review
‘Given the debased standards of action cinema these days this might be enough to make The Town a hit. But almost everything else about the movie is badly off balance, starting with Affleck's decision to cast himself as the implacably sexy and good-hearted Doug.’ – Andrew O’Hehir/Salon.com

Technorati Tags: "The Town",heists,romance,thriller

Movie Review: Buried

2010-10-10T12:28:00.001+10:30

It is hard to believe that a 90 minute movie with only one actor and only one location — an old wooden coffin buried underground — could hold one’s attention. But Rodrigo Cortes’s Buried does precisely that.

Paul Conroy (Ryan Reynolds) is working in Iraq as a US contractor when he is attacked by a group of Iraqis and knocked unconscious. He wakes up to find himself buried alive in a wooden coffin with nothing but a cell phone and a cigarette lighter. He has until his oxygen runs out to escape. Can he do it?

The first seven minutes of Buried are unbelievably tense as we live through the first moments of Paul waking up to his fate. The tension is unrelenting and we wonder how is it going to be possible to do anything with this situation to keep our interest. But just as we are about to give up thinking that this is going to be 90 minutes of monotonous claustrophobia, things start to happen that keep us on the edge until the very last frame (literally!).

This movie should have been impossible to make but here it is! And it is brilliant! There are nasty surprises and twists, brilliant acting by Reynolds, and a wonderful script. And everything that happens inside that coffin is absolutely real and believable.

I won’t tell you anymore. Go see it.

Positive Review
‘In theory, we go to movies for enjoyment. Director Rodrigo Cortés inverts that notion with Buried, a terrific, claustrophobic, fist-clenching film in which he tortures his audience in exquisite fashion.’ – Bill Goodykoontz/Arizona Republic

Negative Review
‘Rodrigo Cortes keeps the action bound to the box, limiting his lighting to naturalistic approximations, so that much of Reynolds's performance consists of him grunting and heaving in the dark.’ – Karina Longworth/Village Voice

Technorati Tags: 'Buried',movies,thriller

Book Review: The Reason Driven Life

2010-10-09T17:46:00.001+10:30

The moment I began reading Rick Warren's book The Purpose Driven Life I didn’t like it. It was immature, simplistic, theologically inadequate, and ripped biblical verses from their context. But I have come to dislike it even more now I have read Robert M Price’s The Reason Driven Life: What Am I Here On Earth For? Price’s book is a brilliant critique of fundamentalist Christianity as illustrated by Warren’s book. And while Price is responding specifically to Warren, one doesn’t need to have read Warren’s book.

Price is an intriguing character. He has been a fundamentalist evangelical, a pastor of a liberal Baptist church, and came to eventually reject theism altogether. Reading his life story, as described in the introduction to the book, one can see he was a very committed fundamentalist Christian practicing as one would expect of a Christian in this tradition — attending church, having daily “quiet time”, training for Campus Crusade for Christ, president of InverVarsity Christian Fellowship, and so on. He has doctorates in theology and New Testament. He describes himself as a humanist and is currently, I believe, a member of the Episcopal Church. Price is also a fellow of the in(famous) Jesus Seminar and sometimes describes himself as a Christian atheist. He has also authored a number of books on the historicity of Jesus which he questions.

I recently heard Price speaking on a podcast addressing atheists who, in his view, disrespect the Biblical documents in the way they dismiss them. He argued that atheists need to at least treat the biblical documents with the same regard they treat other great classics of literature such as The Iliad. Instead, because of narrow-mindedness, many of them are blind to the Bible’s beauty and wisdom, even if they do not take it literally or accept the absolute claims made for it by fundamentalist Christians.

Hearing how Price spoke in such respectful language regarding the Bible and the deep scholarship and expertise he clearly had prompted me to buy The Reason Driven Life and have a read. And what a read!

Price’s essential message is that fundamentalist Christianity is narrow-minded, immature, and unthinking. In forty short chapters (emulating Warren’s book) Price explores the characteristics of fundamentalist Christianity and suggests that they:

are obsessively focused on continual religious activity to the exclusion of living life to the full
place people in a double bind of valuing the self and denying the self
deny scientific discoveries and understandings of human nature and existence
confuse and equate limited human perspectives and interpretations of the Bible with the very voice of God
take an immature approach to living life and making decisions and, instead, place this responsibility on a god who is constantly intervening even though it makes no sense to do so
constantly experience anxiety and depression at not measuring up to what is understood to be God’s standards for living and behaviour
discourage thinking and promote the need to adopt the absolute truth as understood by the denomination or church
require conformity to the group rather than development of individuality and uniqueness
construe as heretical any position that does not conform to denominational creeds and reject independent thinking
use friendships and other relationships for evangelising rather than experiencing these for their own value
and much more…

Price most definitely has a point! Anyone who has grown up in, or lived in, any religious group that leans towards a fundamentalist milieu will have experienced many of these things. Thinking — real, genuine, independent, critical thinking — is not high on the agenda. And many fundamentalist Christians, under the guise of faith in God, live lives of egocentric wish fulfilment. For many, God is more interested in them getting a car park or finding their keys than rescuing the millions of men, women, and children who suffer natural or moral disasters around the globe. Or God is mostly concerned about correct belief, defined by them, than about genuine loving of others.

There is an enormous amount of benefit in reading Price’s book. One of the most liberating paragraphs is found in the introduction where he says that he

…does not much care what you end up believing, partly because you should not jump to conclusions. Part of living the reason-driven life is that you no longer feel the false urgency to make up your mind right now what you believe. You realize you are not under any deadline. Nor are you likely ever to arrive at some definitive truth. Your thinking about the meaning of life will be an ongoing project, its own reward. And the conclusions you do reach will be tentative and always open to revision in light of new insights you may encounter.

This is, indeed, a liberating position to take in life. One of the features of fundamentalism is a constant need to be certain. The degree of certainty one feels is often made a matter of life and death. But with maturity comes an approach to living that does not require certainty about everything. Living with uncertainty and adopting one’s right to think for oneself rather than being told what to think is sometimes painful but always liberating.

For some Christians reading Price’s book, there will be many things unacceptable. For example, Price denies the historicity of Jesus and the reality of a personal God. In his view, there is inadequate evidence for either. He deeply respects people’s right to believe in either or both and he associates with Christians, even to worshiping with them and identifying himself as an Episcopalian. At times, he has accepted the term ‘Christian atheist’ to describe his perspective although he prefers to be called a humanist.

The Reason Driven Life is a fascinating book by a fascinating author. His essential critique of fundamentalist Christianity (his primary target) is often apt and accurate. Despite different readers probably rejecting some parts of the book and some of his ideas, it’s a good wakeup call to fundamentalist Christians to start thinking more seriously about their religion and their faith.

Technorati Tags: fundamentalist Christianity,religion,Christian atheism,'The Purpose Driven Life','The Reason Driven Life'

Movie Review: Boy

2010-09-26T16:43:00.001+09:30

The way we construct our images of people when we can’t see them is always dangerous. When the reality appears, it can be devastating. The reality is rarely, if ever, as we imagine and we are often disappointed and struggle to come to terms with that reality.This is the central theme of the delightful New Zealand movie Boy written and directed by Taika Waititi.

Boy (Janes Rolleston) lives on a farm with grandmother, younger brother, Rocky (who believes he has magical powers which killed his Mum), and a goat called Leaf. When Gran leaves for a week to attend a funeral Boy is left in charge. Boy’s father, Alamein (played by Taika Waititi) turns up after being released from prison. He and his mates have formed a gang of three and are looking for some money from a previous robbery buried in one of the paddocks of the farm. During the absence of his father, Boy has imaginatively built his father into a hero of larger-than-life proportions. Of course, the reality is very different than Boy’s larger-than-life picture and, while he struggles to maintain the wish he has for his father to really be a hero, the reality gradually sinks in that his father is nothing more than a loser.

Boy is a delightful story filled with humour and sadness, joy and pain. The soundtrack tends to dominate a bit at times, but the characters are quirky and endearing and the struggle to come to terms with reality are wonderfully represented. The cinematography is just as one would expect from a New Zealand landscape but the buildings reflect the themes of the movie as they undermine the beauty of nature — the tension between idealised fantasy and everyday reality are a constant undercurrent in the film.

The poster for the movie is iconic of the story — innocence, beauty, humour. It’s a heart-warming narrative that takes you through heartache before a beginning maturity that can tackle reality headon arrives for Boy. The movie’s unassuming nature makes it unlikely to appear in mainstream cinemas. But, if it comes to a cinema near you, don’t miss it.

Technorati Tags: "Boy",movies

Book Review: Ayn Rand for Beginners

2010-09-13T19:52:00.001+09:30

I have been attracted to Ayn Rand's philosophy for quite some time. This interest was originally triggered by reading one of her novels for which she is very well known — The Fountainhead. Her other novel, Atlas Shrugged, I’m yet to read. And I have read a couple of other books on her philosophy plus some internet-based material. It’s been difficult to find something that simply summarises her ideas with authority — until now.

Andrew Bernstein’s Ayn Rand for Beginners is an excellent, easy-to-read, simple, and comprehensive introduction. He begins by introducing us to the Russian-born Alyssa Rosenbaum (who later changed her name to Ayn Rand) who, at the age of six, taught herself to read. At nine, she decided that her career was going to be writing fiction. Following the Bolshevik Revolution and the confiscation of her father’s pharmacy and years of severe poverty, Rand escaped to America at the age of 21 and stayed there for the rest of her life. Bernstein takes us from that point on her journey writing movie scripts, plays, and a novella until, in 1943, she published The Fountainhead after seven years of writing and rejection from multiple publishers. He then describes the rest of her life of writing and the development of her philosophy.

Bernstein then takes us on a brief journey to meet the main characters and the major themes of her two novels. This is followed by a chapter on the development of Ayn Rand’s philosophy, a chapter introducing the reader to her main ideas, another chapter going a bit deeper into her philosophy, and finishes with a discussion of the modern movement which keeps her ideas alive and disseminated.

Ayn Rand called her philosophy objectivism. According to Rand, values provide the meaning to life. The values an individual holds motivate all their actions. For Rand, the highest good was the pursuit of one’s values and she considered that a person should do so ‘selfishly’. She did not mean selfish in the common sense we use it. Instead, she believed that if a person focused completely on living by their values it would result in genuine care of others because of the values that would result from that care. She held that human life requires the achievement of values and that they should not be sacrificed for any other cause. For her, the best thing one could do was encourage others to achieve their own values and considered it morally wrong to sacrifice what is important to oneself for others. A rational human being who is working for their own happiness naturally loves others to achieve one’s own happiness. So other people then benefit from a ‘selfish’ approach to the pursuit of personal values. Helping others is a personal choice (rather than a result of an obligatory command). Helping of others cannot be good if it is not the result of personal choice.

For Rand, genuine love and care for others, then, is a result of self-interest and thus chosen rather than imposed. It is, therefore, a paradox that ‘selfishness’ leads to genuine care of others because of the mutual benefits that result.

And where do values come from? They should be derived from objective, rational thinking on the basis of evidence (hence the term objectivism for her philosophy). It is here that Rand comes into conflict with much religious thought which usually bases values on revelation from a god or gods. For her, these values are imposed and accepted by faith rather than derived from empirical evidence. As a result she rejects any form of religion.

In a secular society (which Western cultures are rapidly becoming/have become), it is not appropriate that values derived from a particular religion are imposed on the rest of society. An objectivist approach may provide common ground for exploring values in society. With increasing religious tensions within multicultural societies, this may be something we need. The challenge, of course, is to find objective bases on which to derive values that are a priori believed on faith. Many Christians won’t be willing to move to this approach because of the absolutist approaches to morality that is considered to be part of Christian foundational belief. It may also mean the jettisoning of some values that have no basis in any evidence.

In this brief review, it is impossible to do justice to Rand’s philosophy. I’m only learning about it myself. But if you want a plain introduction, then Bernstein’s Ayn Rand for Beginners is a good place to start. Bernstein clearly has a deep understanding of Rand’s thought and approaches it with respect and balance. Rand’s philosophy is fascinating, fresh, and provocative. Definitely worth a look!

Book Review: Darwin, Creation and the Fall

2010-08-29T11:13:00.001+09:30

Last year (2009) was the bicentenary of Charles Darwin’s birth and the 150th anniversary of his world-shattering book Origin of Species. Many Christians, particularly those on the conservative end of the spectrum, have had a very difficult time with evolutionary theory as it is considered, by them, to completely undermine the biblical narrative of human origins.

In the book Darwin, Creation and Fall: Theological Challenges, we have a fascinating exploration by a group of scholars who are conservative evangelicals and who accept the current consensus of scientists on the evolutionary origins of humans. Now that is interesting!

The two editors of the book come from different disciplines. R J (Sam) Sperry was Professor of Genetics at University College London 1984-2000. T A Noble is Senior Research Fellow in Theology at the Nazarene Theological Seminary in Kansas City. They have gathered a number of writers who, in this volume, explore the relationship between the biblical account of origins and Fall in Genesis 1-3 and the contemporary understanding of origins as articulated by the theory of evolution.

Each of the contributors to the book takes a particular aspect of the issue and describes, and attempts to resolve, some of the challenges once one accepts the biblical documents as authoritative and the modern consensus on evolution. The book begins with a chapter that sets the doctrine of creation in the context of worship of the Creator. This is followed by a historical survey of Darwin’s struggle to come to terms with his scientific discoveries and their theological implications. The next chapter takes a look at Darwin himself and the theological challenges that arose for him as he worked on his science. Another chapter revisits the early chapters of Genesis and discusses the issue of interpreting this text. Following this is a discussion of the concept of original sin and provides some fresh perspectives on the doctrine of the Fall. The last two chapters engage with two theologians — one ancient (Irenaeus) and one modern (Henri Blocher) who have contributed significantly to the discussions of the Fall, original sin, and theodicy.

In the epilogue to the book, the authors affirm the following:

An insistence that as new information emerges, Scripture, whilst God-given and authoritative, must be re-examined and may require reinterpreting. Christians of a former age had no doubts that the sun moves round the earth and supported their ideas from the Bible …; nowadays we unhesitatingly interpret the passages which seemed to speak of a fixed earth in other ways.
An awareness of the compelling genetic and fossil evidence that human beings have descended from an ape-like line, and that we are therefore related to other living beings.
The uniqueness of human beings as the only creatures made in God’s image, albeit ‘fallen’ so that life in fellowship with God is now only possible because of Christ’s redeeming and reconciling death. (pp. 197-198)

The authors conclude that they have arrived at a ‘…position which seems impossibly conservative but also surprisingly radical.’ (p. 198) They warn of the danger of ‘…rush[ing] too quickly to conflate the narrative of human origins and Fall in Genesis and the narrative of human origins given by modern science’, and they acknowledge the necessity of each discipline (science and theology) maintaining their own integrity with each contributing different perspectives on the issues. They arrive at the hypothesis that:

Our prehuman ancestors cannot be called immoral (let alone ‘sinful’) on the grounds that they killed, deceived, behaved promiscuously, and so on. But when God created the first humans, apes now in God’s image, or Homo divinus as John Stott has called them, these creatures, since they were now brought into this unique relationship to God, became moral agents. Although they shared many inherited — including behavioural — traits with their ancestors and animal relatives, this did not mean that they were dependent on or determined by them. Sociobiologists fall into the naturalistic fallacy when they argue that human ethical norms are no more than correlates of our evolutionary history. But the new relationship to God, being in his image, which led to new moral possibilities and responsibilities, was followed by a failure to believe and obey God, and consequently a failure to grow into the spiritual and moral greatness we were meant to exemplify. (pp. 200-201)

This hypothesis demonstrates how deeply radical and conservative the authors’ position is. The main benefit of this book, though, is not so much in the position they arrive at (which, of course, needs to be discussed, evaluated and critiqued) but more in the model it presents for conservative and liberal Christians in engaging both with science and with scripture. It demonstrates an approach which moves beyond dogmatism and the conflation of interpretations of the Bible with what the text may, in fact, authentically mean.

In the concluding paragraphs of the book, the authors write that

It is our conviction that there is no conflict between Holy Scripture and modern science. Indeed the Christian doctrine of creation provided the ground for the rise of science. The idea that Christian faith and science are in conflict and always have been is a myth propagated by Humanists for ideological reasons, but sadly they are helped by sincere Christian believers who think they are defending Holy Scripture when in fact they are doing nothing more than defending interpretations of Holy Scripture which are sadly inadequate. That does not mean to say that all the questions are answered, all the problems settled and all the mysteries resolved. That is never the case in either theology or natural science! Both are ongoing quests for deeper understanding. (p. 204 – emphasis in original)

Darwin, Creation and the Fall is going to be very tough reading for conservative Christians. Undoubtedly, many will accuse the authors of heresy and blasphemy. If they do, then they will not have seen how deeply committed the authors are to the Bible and to God and how they are determined to give due weight to the biblical text as well as due weight to what we now know about human origins from a scientific view.

And, undoubtedly, there will be those who see these authors as doing nothing more than trying to rationalise their religious beliefs in order to legitimise what many atheists see as an outmoded, irrelevant, and even immoral, system of belief.

But for those of us who want to affirm our commitment to God and struggle to understand that commitment in the context of what we now know from science, this book will be a fascinating journey that, as the authors say, won’t answer every question, but will provide the opportunity to hear from others about a way forward in resolving an unnecessary conflict between faith and science. For anyone interested in these questions, and who are not afraid to think in new ways, this book is essential reading.

Book deteails: Berry, R. J., & Noble, T. (Eds.). (2009). Darwin, Creation and the Fall: Theological Challenges: Apollos.

Technorati Tags: Charles Darwin,creation,the Fall,theology,evolution,science

Recent DVD Releases + My Ratings!

2010-08-27T18:33:00.001+09:30

Released: 2010

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Beneath Hill 60

Brendan Cowell, Steve Le Marquand, Alex Thompson, Mark Coles Smith, Anthony Hayes, Chris Haywood,

Released: 2009

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The Last Station

Helen Mirren, Paul Giamatti, John Sessions, Kerry Condon, Tomas Spencer, Wolfgang Häntsch,

Released: 2010

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The Book of Eli

Denzel Washington, Mila Kunis, Jennifer Beals, Joe Pingue, Michael Gambon, Chris Browning,

My Review

Technorati Tags: "The Book of Eli","The Last Station","Beneath Hill 60"

Book Review: How to Read Exodus

2010-08-21T22:55:00.002+09:30

I have had a few conversation lately with people who level criticisms at Christianity on the basis of material in the Old Testament that describes God doing all sorts of things that we wouldn’t accept in our modern world. Richard Dawkins, in his book The God Delusion, writes that:

The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully. (Chapter 2, p. 31)

The mistake that people like Dawkins make is to forget that the documents they are reading are thousands of years old and written in a very different culture and historical context than ours today. It is completely inappropriate to read texts this old as if they were written today and discuss theology in a way that we are used to now.
The book of Exodus is one of those Old Testament books that has come under intense scrutiny, particularly for its stories of miracles that occurred as the Israelites made their way from Egypt and travelled through the wilderness for forty years. Stories like the plagues, the parting of the Reed Sea, manna from heaven, and so on, have all been considered to be myth or explainable in natural terms. But once again, it is important to remember that these books were written in a particular historical and cultural context and we will not understand it unless we try to read it through the eyes of those for whom it was intended at the time.
Tremper Longman III has provided the reader of Exodus with an extremely helpful little volume in his How to Read Exodus. Longman is an Old Testament scholar who has written similar books on reading Genesis, the Psalms, and Proverbs.
The book is divided into five parts. In the first part he develops a strategic approach to reading Exodus. After summarising some of the issues in reading the book, he settles on the project of reading it in such a way as to rediscover the message the original author had in mind. He develops a number of principles for doing so that include recognising the literary nature of the book; exploring its historical background; reflection on the theological teaching of the book; and reflecting on our own situation, our society’s situation, and the global situation. In particular, he is anxious to warn the reader of the danger of imposing one’s own particular view onto the book.
The remaining four parts of the book deal with reading Exodus as literature, including its narrative structure; reading it as history in its own historical context; reading it as God’s story as God rescues Abraham’s descendants from bondage, gives Israel God’s Law, and provides instructions in building a tabernacle; and finally reading the book as a Christian.
In reading the book as a Christian, Longman focuses on the way Christians experience the Exodus, in particular, in the context of the New Testament; the role of law in the Christian life; and the way the motif of tabernacling in relation to Christ becoming flesh and living among humanity.
Two appendices deal with the issues of authorship of Exodus and an annotated bibliography of a number of commentaries Longman recommends for further consultation.
How to Read Exodus, although written by a scholar, is easy to read yet nuanced enough to encourage an appropriate contextual reading of the book. Longman gives due weight to the original context of the book and then moves to the way in which the contemporary Christian can relate to the text.
If you’ve read Exodus before and want a good guide to understanding it; or if you have read it before and dismissed it as irrelevant; or perhaps have never read it before; then this book is a good place to start. And maybe if people like Richard Dawkins read the Old Testament following a guide like this they might actually understand what these ancient texts are really saying.
Read my review of another of this author’s books How to Read Genesis by clicking here.

Technorati Tags: Exodus

Movie Review: Salt

2010-08-19T15:30:00.001+09:30

Released: 2010

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Salt, Angelina Jolie’s new espionage thriller, is one exhilarating ride!

Evelyn Salt is a CIA operative who interviews a potential Russian defector who accuses her of being a Russian spy in the early scenes of the movie. From that moment, the rest of the story is a thrilling chase movie as Salt attempts to prove her innocence – unless, of course, she isn’t! Who is she?

The director, Phillip Noyce (The Bone Collector, Clear and Present Danger, Patriot Games, Rabbit Proof Fence), has given us a very well made chase movie with excellent action, a twisting and turning plot, and a character that only Angelina Jolie could have pulled off. It’s a very smart genre film that will have you sitting on the edge of your seat and so breathless at the end that you will be too exhausted to exit the cinema.

The script for Salt was originally written for a male lead and Tom Cruise was approached to play the title role. However, when he backed out, the script was rewritten for a female lead and Angelina Jolie accepted the role. And I’m glad she did! It is great to have a woman in a movie like this and, apparently, Jolie did most of her own stunts. Wow!

While I’m sure that there will be many who will pick holes in the plot big enough to drive a truck through, it is simply exhilarating entertainment. So sit back, strap yourself in, make sure your hot drink and popcorn are secure, and go on a great ride!

Positive Review
‘It's gloriously absurd. This movie has holes in it big enough to drive the whole movie through. The laws of physics seem to be suspended here the same way as in a Road Runner cartoon.’ – Roger Ebert/Chicago-Sun Times

Negative Review
‘Salt is about as believable as a secret training program for military pilots consisting entirely of kangaroos in flight helmets. But it must be said that the star carries her load admirably.’ – Rex Reed/New York Observer

Content Advice
intense sequences of violence and action

Technorati Tags: "Salt"

Recent DVD Releases

2010-08-07T14:57:00.001+09:30

Released: 2009

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Crazy Heart

Jeff Bridges, Anna Felix, Tom Bower, Beth Grant, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Jerry Handy,

Released: 2009

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A Single Man

Colin Firth, Nicholas Hoult, Jon Kortajarena, Ryan Simpkins, Teddy Sears, Aaron Sanders,

Released: 2010

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Alice in Wonderland

Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Crispin Glover, Michael Sheen, Alan Rickman, Paul Whitehouse,

Movie Review: Inception

2010-08-01T18:18:00.001+09:30

Released: 2010

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One night, Zhuangzi dreamed that he was a carefree butterfly, flying happily. After he woke up, he wondered how he could determine whether he was Zhuangzi who had just finished dreaming he was a butterfly, or a butterfly who had just started dreaming he was Zhuangzi. (Wikipedia: ‘Dream Argument’)

So goes an ancient rendering of a paradox that has intrigued philosophers for centuries. At it’s heart, the brilliant movie Inception (directed by Chris Nolan who brought us Memento and The Dark Knight) plays on this paradox. What is reality and what is dreaming? Which is the most real: when we are dreaming or when we are awake? How do we know, when we are awake, that we are not really dreaming?

For the first 15 minutes or so, Inception completely disorientates and we flick from scene to scene with constant shifting of perspective and confusion of what is real and what is not.

In the near future, the technology exists for entering into a person’s dreams and extracting hidden information from the subconscious. Dom Cobb (Leonardo diCaprio) has made good use of this technology by stealing secrets for corporate espionage. He’s made a lot of money but he is also constantly on the run and has given up all he holds dear for the “benefits” of crime. He is a highly sought-after mercenary.

Then Cobb is faced with the possibility of recovering his life and all he has lost. To do this, he needs to carry out a procedure that has possibly never been successful before, but that Cobb believes he can do — inception. Objective: enter into a person’s subconscious by entering his dreams and, rather than just stealing ideas, plant a subtle idea that leads to him carrying out something he would not normally do. Cobb agrees to carry out this procedure on a multimillion dollar oil company heir. The idea is to get him to split up the company following his father’s death. Will they be able to enter his dreams and carry out the objective without getting caught and maybe dying in the process itself? To do this he gets a team together and a plan…

Inception has been described as The Matrix crossed with James Bond — an apt description. This is one extraordinary movie! It explores the nature of dreaming; the paradoxes of humans “living” in their dreams and their connection to real life; the subconscious; the nature of persuasion; free will; and so much more. Join that with an incredibly complex plot and relentless action and suspense and you have got two-and-a-half hours of entertainment that seems over in minutes and that will have you thinking for weeks.

The acting is superb, the illusions brilliantly executed, the dream worlds beautifully rendered, the action suspenseful, and a story that is intellectually satisfying. Inception is a near-perfect movie. The only negative is that I didn’t feel emotionally invested in the characters. But this is a very minor flaw. Inception is going to become a classic of science fiction. After 101,964 votes by registered users on IMDB, Inception is now #3 in the list of the top 250 movies of all time. That should tell you something!

It is impossible to convey the depth and complexity of this movie. But while it is complex, Nolan has done a brilliant job in telling the narrative so we can follow along. Go and see this movie! Watch it on a big screen. And don’t fall asleep!

Positive Review
‘When was the last time you had your mind blown by a movie? Because when Inception ends and the lights come up, you'll be sitting in your seat, staring at the screen, wondering what the hell just happened.’ – Elizabeth Weitzman/New York Daily News

Negative Review
‘I'd like to tell you just how bad Inception really is, but since it is barely even remotely lucid, no sane description is possible.’ – Rex Reed/New York Observer [make sure you check out the reader comments below the review!]

Content Advice
sequences of violence and action throughout

AUS: M
USA: PG-13

Technorati Tags: "Inception"

Movie Review: Creation

2010-07-24T17:31:00.001+09:30

Released: 2009

Go to IMDb page

Information © IMDb.com

In the ironically entitled movie Creation we observe the agonising process of Darwin trying to come to terms with the publication of his book Origin of Species.

Charles Darwin (Paul Bettany) has been writing his book The Origin of Species and realises that his theory would be a bombshell to the faith of his deeply committed Christian wife, Emma (Jennifer Connelly). And if it is a bombshell to her, then it would be a bombshell to the wider Christian believers of his day. The problem is that Charles is a man who wants to follow the evidence wherever it leads him. His wife is more interested in protecting the faith she has. The tension between them leads to mental and physical illness for Charles. The only family member who comes anywhere near understanding what Charles is working on is his daughter, Annie (Martha West).

Charles becomes increasingly desperate as his priest pressures him to abandon his project and his friends pressure him to publish his work. Charles and Emma’s relationship goes from bad to worse to worst. Charles is almost destroyed when his daughter, Annie, dies from what may have been scarlet fever or tuberculosis. The spiral down is unrelenting until Charles and Emma come to a resolution and Charles’s book is published — and the world changed forever.

Creation is a stunning movie and should be seen by everyone — especially Christians who take a simplistic view of Darwin and his theory. The movie is not about the theory of evolution itself. It focuses relentlessly on the relationship of Charles and his wife and the way the tension between her faith and his science almost destroys their marriage.

Connelly and Bettany, who are husband and wife off-screen, are brilliant in portraying Charles and Emma. The story, based on Randal Keynes biography of Darwin) is profoundly moving and is iconic of the endless tension between creationists and evolutionists to this day. For Emma, Charles has ‘killed God’ (in the words of Thomas Huxley, one of Darwin’s staunchest defenders. And for many creationists in our modern world, that is what evolution has done for them. Creation drives home the agony that Darwin experienced as he waited for about 20 years to publish his book for fear that his marriage would be destroyed. Emma says, to Darwin, ‘Do you not care that you and I may be separated for all eternity?’ Because his relationship with his wife was so deep, and because his belief in his theory was so deep, it ironically nearly destroys the relationship he values so deeply.

Creation is deeply involving, deeply moving, and deeply provocative. It provides a brilliant insight into the heart and mind of Darwin. This was not a man who was out to destroy people’s faith. All he was doing was acting on what he saw as the facts which led him to an inescapable conclusion. If he was to live with integrity, he need to share with the world what he had discovered. Not to do so was an assault on his conscience. Creation deals with all these issues with depth and sensitivity with a brilliant script (one of the most moving scenes being the death of an orang-utan that Darwin had been working with). The only deviation from the high quality was an overstated last scene. But this was minor when put in the perspective of the whole movie.

Creation is moving and very, very timely. Don’t miss it!!

Positive Review
‘Thoughtful, moving, and Bettany is brilliant. To be reminded of the power of love to redeem and repair, catch Creation.’ – Empire

Negative Review
‘It's impossible to say who's more unhinged: Darwin, caught between faith and reason, or the filmmakers.’ – Wall Street Journal/Joe Morgensern

Content Advice
Some intense thematic material

AUS: PG
USA: PG-13

Technorati Tags: "Creation",Charles Darsin

Interview with Peter Hitchens about 'The Rage Against God'

2010-07-18T09:56:00.003+09:30

Did you know that Christopher Hitchens, the outspoken atheist, has a brother, Peter, who became a Christian after being an atheist? Peter has written a book called The Rage Against God: How atheism led me to faith. I haven't read it but it is on my list. Here is a brief video of an interview with Peter Hitchens.

Movie Review: The Hedgehog (Le Hérisson)

2010-07-11T11:35:00.001+09:30

It must be tough being a hedgehog. I’m sure that, somewhere beneath the prickles is a nice cuddly creature. But getting past those prickles can be difficult. Surely the hedgehog must get frustrated at everyone assuming that what is on the outside is the real creature.

In the same way hedgehogs are primarily related to according to their prickles, so too we tend to relate to other people by what we see on the surface. How often, though, do we get to know someone and realise that we have misjudged them. This human reality is at the heart of Mona Achache’s absolutely delightful film Le Hérisson (The Hedgehog).

Paloma (Garance Le Guillermic) is a very bright 11-year old girl living in an apartment block with her rich family. She is older than her years and interested in art and philosophy. Her mother is neurotic and her father is a busy politician and her sister is completely self-absorbed. Palomo decides she is going to kill herself on her 12th birthday. But before she does, she decides to create a video journal of her boring life in the apartment block including the eccentric residents in the building. As she does, she gets to know a number of characters who begin to make her wonder whether she will go ahead with her plan to suicide. She develops friendships with two people in particular — the concierge who is the “hedgehog” of the story’s title; and a widowed Japanese man.

An 11-year-old contemplating suicide may seem to be a rather depressing premise for a story. But The Hedgehog strikes a superb balance between dark and light to produce a superb comedy/drama about life, death, love, friendship, family, and the beauty of those who, initially, come across as remote and “prickly”.

Guillermic is absolutely brilliant in her role as Paloma and her narration as she makes her video journal are incisive, trenchant, and witty. The rest of the cast support her with wonderfully rich and understated performances.

The Hedgehog is moviemaking at its best — entertaining, meaningful, sophisticated, simple, and a true delight to watch. Don’t miss it!

AUS: M

Technorati Tags: "The Hedgehog"

Movie Review: The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

2010-07-06T18:55:00.001+09:30

Released: 2010

Go to IMDb page

I took myself and family off to see Eclipse, the third instalment of The Twilight Saga, last night and what a disappointment after the first two were so good.

The central narrative of Eclipse has Bella (Kristen Stewart) desperately trying to choose between two men she loves — the vampire Edward (Robert Pattinson) and the werewolf Jacob (Taylor Lautner) — her decision potentially igniting the endless tensions between the vampire and werewolf. The backdrop to this emotional struggle is a series of killings that plague Seattle and Bella’s fast-approaching graduation after which she has decided to decide whether she is going to live the life of a vampire or not.

There is obviously plenty of fodder for a good movie. But Eclipse is plagued by poor performances, insipidly clichéd dialogue, and special effects that don’t quite live up to the action sequences they portray. There are a few moral overtones such as waiting until one is married before losing one’s virginity. But the moments of dialogue that even hint at significant issues are so cheesy they lose their effectiveness.

It’s unfortunate that Chris Weitz, who directed New Moon, felt unable to commit to Eclipse because of his work completing New Moon. And in my view, the current instalment suffers as a result. I thought New Moon was actually better than Twilight and I am disappointed he wasn’t able to follow through on this one.

If you are one of those people who are following the story or are desperate to see Jacob without a shirt, then you will obviously want to go and see this latest offering. But prepare to be disappointed and hope the next one returns to the quality we have come to expect. Of course, if you are addicted to the series, you will easily delete any flaws from your mind. It is interesting to note that, on IMDB, nearly 14,000 voters have rated this one very low indeed. Make of that what you will.

I love Roger Ebert’s summary of this franchise:

The “Twilight” movies are chaste eroticism to fuel adolescent dreams, and are really about Bella being attracted and titillated and aroused and tempted up to the … very … brink! … of surrender, and then, well, no, no, she shouldn’t.

That about says it all…

Positive Review
‘The story, at heart, is earnest and humorless teen romantic glop, but its feelings aren't fake, and the movie is compulsively watchable; it has a passionflower intensity.’ – Owen Gleiberman/Entertainment Weekly

Negative Review
‘You brace for a certain amount of hand-wringing, lip-biting and pinup posing aimed at middle-schoolers; given the way that Eclipse initially suggests a potential for reaching beyond a preteen audience, you just wish the beefcake and cheese didn’t eventually overshadow its better qualities.’ – Time Out New York

Content advice
intense sequences of action and violence, and some sensuality

AUS: M
USA: PG-13

Book Review: The Naked Gospel

2010-07-03T13:54:00.001+09:30

In traditional Christian theology there has been three uses of “the law”:

1) provoke a sense of sin in a person
2) drive people to the cross of Christ
3) provide the ethical basis for living as a Christian

The so-called “third use of the law” has usually become the focus of living the Christian life. But, as the apostle Paul has pointed out, particularly in his letter to the Romans, the law, while good, actually provokes sin in a person rather than resolving the problem. Focusing on the law as a Christian actually has the opposite of the intended effect — leading to legalism, frustration, oppressiveness, and a loss of the freedom that God intended to come as the result of the work of Jesus Christ on behalf of humanity.

I have spent most of my life living under the law and have experienced all of the negative consequences of doing so. It wasn’t until I came to a deep understanding of the difference between the old Mosaic covenant God made with Israel and the New Testament covenant of grace brought by Christ that I was liberated into the true freedom the apostle Paul celebrates in Galatians 5:1. In this verse, Paul pleads with his Roman Christian readers to live in the new freedom Christ has brought. He writes:

… Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law.

Much Christian teaching directly works against the Christian living in this freedom and nothing more so than the teaching that the New Covenant Christian is still subject to the law. Since I have come to an understanding of the new covenant and the fact that the Christian is no longer under the law but lives by the new way of life in the Spirit, biblical passages I used to have to twist to conform to the old thinking have become refreshingly clear.

There is an urgent need for many Christians to discover the “naked gospel” of the New Testament so that they can be liberated from the imprisonment of the law and live in the brilliant freedom that the New Covenant has brought. And there is, perhaps, no clearer articulation of this new covenant than Andrew Farley’s book The Naked Gospel: The Truth You May Never Hear in Church.

Farley has written a superbly simple (but profound) book that describes and explains the gospel and which strips away ‘all the religious fakery' (from a comment by Leonard Sweet about the book) that has accrued over the centuries.

Farley begins his book by describing “obsessive-Christianity disorder”. He describes his own experience of works-based Christian living that left him frustrated despite how much he tried to keep the law. For those of us who have tried to genuinely live under law, his story resonates as it portrays the anxiety, guilt, and emotional exhaustion of trying to live up to the law. It is no wonder that, in Farley’s words, ‘Christianity is seen [for many] more as a cancer than a crutch.’

Then, Farley launches into a magnificent articulation of what it truly means to live under the new covenant. He explains how:

noone can live successfully under the old covenant law
it is not the “Law of Moses” that is written on the heart of believers
some Christians are fixated on the law even though it was a shadow pointing to a reality that has arrived
the law has one intended audience — unbelievers; NOT the believer
being under the law is like being prison
legalism never produces love
the law sets us up for failure
the law is a poor substitute for the Holy Spirit
the law is irrelevant to life in Christ
the law breeds two things: defeat if you’re honest and hypocrisy if you’re not
Christ has brought us genuine freedom

Of course, all of these assertions (which Farley superbly bases in the Scriptural text) raise many questions: does that mean we can do anything we like? how, then, do we know how to live as a Christian? what does sanctification mean for a Christian? and many more…

Farley deals with each of these issues in a very considered, simple, engaging, way. And finally he explores the way in which the fact of a person in Christ being a new creation brings a radical new liberty to be all we were meant to be.

I cannot exaggerate how good this book is. It’s an absolute pleasure to read. Every Christian would benefit from reading it. In fact, those who have been long-time Christians may find it radically changing the way they view their relationship to God. And if non-believers want to read about the very best, most liberating form of Christianity, then they should take a look at it as well. Go and buy one immediately!

Check out Andrew Farley’s website where you can watch videos and download a free preview of the book.

Technorati Tags: The Naked Gospel,Andrew Farley,new covenant,gospel,grace,law

Book Review: The Psychic Tourist

2010-06-13T14:09:00.001+09:30

It is astounding that psychic-related activities are so prevalent in our culture. People relying on knowing the future by consulting tarot cards, astrology, mediums who claim to speak to the dead are placing their trust in highly unreliable sources. And this becomes even more evident when you read William Little's delightful book The Psychic Tourist: A Voyage into the Curious World of Predicting the Future.

William Little unthinkingly gave his sister, Sarah, and 9-year-old niece a horoscope each for Christmas. He was shocked to discover that both of them predicted a horrible death by water. He tries to tell Sarah that it is a 'load of nonsense'. She asks why, then, did he give it to them. Now they are highly anxious and have started to avoid holidaying anywhere there is water.

William decides, in order to convince his sister that there is nothing to astrology and she should just take it as a joke, decides to travel the world in search of an authentic psychic. Not only does he want to do it for Sarah; deep down, he has always wondered whether there is any truth in psychic claims. As a well-known and respected journalist, he is admirably suited to dig deeply into the question and gain access to the very best, most respected psychics. So he sets out to travel the world and The Psychic Tourist is a wonderful story of his adventures. He interviews famous celebrity psychics, TV mediums, gypsies; examines those who believe they are able to assist police in finding missing people; and much more.

The Psychic Tourist is an absolute pleasure to read and Little infuses his anecdotes with humour and wisdom. Of course, despite his openmindedness, he is unable to find any psychic capable of doing what they claim and he finishes his book with some very sensible advice to those who wish to put their faith in such things rather than celebrating their freedom to choose and take responsiblity for their lives.

While the author doesn't deal with scientific evidence (except for a few references to various studies where relevant), his story is wonderfully reassuring to those who maybe fear that there might be some truth to psychic claims as he shares his experiences, thoughts, and conclusion. The sad thing is that so many are fed such blatant lies covered by a veneer of legitimacy.

Check out this interview with the author

Recent DVD Releases and Recommendations

2010-05-14T20:55:00.001+09:30

Released: 2009

Go to IMDb page

New Moon

Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Anna Kendrick, Justin Chon, Taylor Lautner, Jackson Rathbone,

Released: 2009

Go to IMDb page

The Lovely Bones

Mark Wahlberg, Susan Sarandon, Michael Imperioli, Rose McIver, Reece Ritchie, Nikki SooHoo,

My review

Released: 2009

Go to IMDb page

Where the Wild Things Are

Max Records, Max Pfeifer, Joshua Jay, Catherine Keener, Mark Ruffalo, Paul Dano,

Released: 2009

Go to IMDb page

A Serious Man

Michael Stuhlbarg, Fred Melamed, Aaron Wolff, Peter Breitmayer, David Kang, Jack Swiler,

Released: 2008

Go to IMDb page

The Black Balloon

Rhys Wakefield, Toni Collette, Gemma Ward, Sam Fraser, Oliver Brookes, Bradley Orford,

Released: 2012

Go to IMDb page

John Cusack, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Oliver Platt, Woody Harrelson, Liam James, Zlatko Buric,

Technorati Tags: movies

Movie Review: The Book of Eli

2010-05-14T20:31:00.001+09:30

Released: 2010

Go to IMDb page

The Book of Eli is a fascinating movie: action, adventure, drama, thriller, western, with a bit of religion (actually, quite a large bit) thrown in.

The Book of Eli is the post-apocalyptic story of Eli (Denzel Washington) who journeys across America to deliver a sacred book that contains advice on the salvation of humanity.

I really enjoyed The Book of Eli. Not only was it entertaining, but it actually had lots of subtle allusions to religious (read Christian) and philosophical ideas. One of the central set pieces, for example, is an obvious reference to the death and resurrection of Christ — with Eli as the Christ-figure. There is plenty of tense action as Eli defends himself from characters who have sunk to crimes of survival and opportunism in the wake of the devastated land. And it gets pretty violent at times.

The second act of the story draws on a whole range of western-movie clichés made fresh by placing the story in a new context. Carnegie (Gary Oldman) has taken over a town and is using his henchmen to go out and rob people of books, hoping to find the legendary sacred book that Eli happens to carry. When Carnegie realises Eli may have the book, he uses all the foul means he can muster to acquire it — even if it sacrifices the life of the man who is carrying it. Carnegie believes that the book will give him absolute power of the town and many others.

What is the book and what it the nature of the book? There is a very nice twist even though you might be able to predict what the book might be.

The story of The Book of Eli is entertaining, tense, engaging, and thought provoking. As Roger Ebert has said, ‘… don’t talk to anyone about the film if you plan to see it.’ But do go and see it!

Positive Review
’The film looks and feels good, and Washington's performance is the more uncanny the more we think back over it. The ‘ending is "flawed," as we critics like to say, but it's so magnificently, shamelessly, implausibly flawed that (a) it breaks apart from the movie and has a life of its own, or (b) at least it avoids being predictable.’ – Roger Ebert/Chicago Sun-Times

Negative Review
’The Book of Eli combines the maximum in hollow piety with remorseless violence.’ – David Denby/The New Yorker

Content Advice
Some brutal violence and language

AUS: MA
USA: R

Technorati Tags: Book of Eli

Podcast: The Watch and the Watchmaker: Philosophy and Intelligent Design

2010-05-01T08:29:00.002+09:30

Check out this excellent discussion with ‘a philosopher who argues that though the Intelligent Design camp is wrong, the philosophical Darwinians are not always right.’

It's an old question: could there be a watch without a watchmaker? In other words, could there be a universe without a god who made it? These days, the proponents of what is known as Intelligent Design argue that there must have been a designer and that the theory of natural selection cannot tell us how we and other animals got to be here. This week we meet a philosopher who argues that though the Intelligent Design camp is wrong, the philosophical Darwinians are not always right. (Program website)

Book Review: Why There Almost Certainly Is a God

2010-04-30T22:13:00.001+09:30

To put it bluntly, Keith Ward’s book Why There Almost Certainly Is a God: Doubting Dawkins shows how ignorant Richard Dawkins is, in the bestseller The God Delusion, when he moves away from his expertise in evolutionary science into the field of philosophy and theology.

The back cover of Professor Keith Ward’s book summarises his credentials:

[He] was formerly Regius Professor of Divinity at the University of Oxford. He is a member of the Council of the Royal Institute of Philosophy, and was elected a Fellow of the British Academy on the same day that Richard Dawkins was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society.

According to Wikipedia his areas of interest are ‘comparative theology and the interplay between science and faith’ and has written in this area. He is not a Christian fundamentalist and has even published a book, What the Bible Really Teaches: A Challenge for Fundamentalists, in which, according to Wikipedia, he argued that

fundamentalists interpret the Bible in implausible ways and pick and choose which of its passages to emphasise in order to fit pre-existing beliefs. Ward argues that the Bible must be taken seriously, but not always literally and he does not agree with the doctrine of Biblical inerrancy,saying that it is not found in the Bible…

In the Preface of Why There Most Certainly Is a God Ward tells how his

… arrival in Oxford was heralded by a letter from Richard Dawkins to a public newspaper calling for [his] resignation, on the ground that there was no such subject as theology, and that [Ward] was a particularly stupid example of a theologian anyway.

Why did Dawkins write the letter? Because he had taken a joke by Ward seriously, thinking that it was offered as evidence for the Christmas story! Ward goes on to write:

From that moment, the gloves were off. Even though Dawkins lived and worked in a university with one of the largest and ablest theology faculties in Britain, he went on refusing to admit that there was any such subject as theology. Despite the fact that he and I had entirely friendly and rational personal contacts — as he did with Richard Harries, former Bishop of Oxford, and the vicar of the University Church in Oxford, and the chaplain of his college — he went on proclaiming that all religious believers were stupid, deluded and dangerous.

Following this interesting background about Ward and his relationship to Dawkins, Ward launches into a specific critique of three chapters in The God Delusion — Chapters 2, 3 and 4. The critique of these chapters constitute three parts of Ward’s book and they provide a devastating response to Dawkins’ inadequate understanding of theology and philosophy.

In Part 1, Ward responds to Chapter Two of Dawkins’ book in which Dawkins discusses the so-called God Hypothesis which is defined by him as:

there exists a superhuman, supernatural intelligence who deliberately designed and created the universe and everything in it, including us.

Ward accepts this hypothesis and then goes on to discuss two arguments that, in his view, makes the existence of God highly probable. These two arguments are 1) the irreducible existence of consciousness and 2) the irreducible nature of personal explanation. Ward explains how Dawkins’ commitment to a materialist perspective results in a reductionist philosophy that is unable to coherently synthesise the two types of explanation – the scientific and the personal. In other words, Dawkins refuses to acknowledge that some questions might need to be answered by using different types of explanations.

Ward then proceeds to tackle Chapter 4 of The God Delusion. Ward superbly demonstrates the inadequacies of Dawkins’ ‘Boeing 747 Gambit’; discusses the nature of the new Intelligent Design arguments (that are quite different to the original arguments from design); and clarifies Dawkin’s superficial understanding of simplicity/complexity in reference to the nature of God. Ward also clearly explains the new questions and suggestions raised by recent studies in cosmology and the inadequacy of imaginative theories about multiple universes that are more unlikely to be true than the God hypothesis. In doing all this, Ward provides a wonderful argument around issues to do with the existence of consciousness and the intractable challenges it presents for a materialist view.

After providing substantive arguments for point of view, Ward spends some time in answering potential questions that may be raised in response to his arguments.

Ward provides and excellent discussion of Aquinas’s Five Ways or ‘proving’ the existence of God. Essentially, Dawkins understands both the purpose and content of these arguments.

In the penultimate chapter, Ward turns to an exploration of the personal explanation. This chapter includes personal and subjective evidences arising from a personal relationship with the divine. These are:

visions and voices
the sense of the infinite
the path of self-transcendance
the Christian experience of Christ and the Spirit

The material in this chapter is balanced but, because of its subjective nature, it is difficult to see how someone who doesn’t believe in the existence of God would be persuaded. The prior arguments in the book, in my view, are very powerful and the personal experience arguments derive their persuasive power from the philosophy arguments in the previous chapters.

The final chapter brings the argument to a conclusion by discussing why there almost certainly is a God. There is an excellent discussion on the nature of certainty and probability which needs to be taken into account when deciding on the God hypothesis. He finishes with an account of what it would look like if a person believes in God for good reasons.

Why There Almost Certainly Is a God is a superb read. Ward writes with great clarity, logical thinking, and intellectual humility — all of which is a significant contrast to the dismissive and superficial style of Dawkins’ writing on this subject. What makes this book so significant is that Ward is an expert in philosophy — the territory into which Dawkins has deigned to enter without the necessary understanding and scholarship.

If you are looking for a book that deals with Dawkins’ approach to the God Hypothesis, then this one is highly recommended. For those who do not believe in God, Ward shows how belief is not a delusion or stupidity and is, in fact, deeply intelligent and supported by very sophisticated philosophy. For those who do accept the God hypothesis, there will be a strengthening affirmation that there are significant philosophical and scientific grounds on which to base a faith in God.

— Steve Parker

Book Details

Ward, K. (2008). Why There Almost Certainly Is a God: Doubting Dawkins: Lion. (Buy)

Technorati Tags: Keith Ward,Richard Dawkins,God Delusion,God Hypothesis,existence of God

Recent DVD Release Ratings

2010-04-20T13:43:00.001+09:30

A new feature for the Thinking Christian blog! Each month, I will provide a list of recently released DVDs with my star rating so you can get a bit of an idea of what you might like to watch at home. If I have previously reviewed the movie, I will provide a link to the review as well. So… for this month:

Released: 2009

Go to IMDb page

Hachiko: A Dog's Story

Richard Gere, Joan Allen, Jason Alexander, Robert Capron, Forest, Robbie Sublett,

Released: 2009

Go to IMDb page

Whiteout

Kate Beckinsale, Tom Skerritt, Alex O'Loughlin, Joel S. Keller, Arthur Holden, Bashar Rahal,

Movie Review: Kick-Ass

2010-04-17T11:42:00.001+09:30

Released: 2010

Go to IMDb page

In many ways, Kick-Ass is a difficult movie to review. On one level it is highly entertaining. On another level it is deeply unethical. For that reason, I will not be providing a star rating because it is too difficult.

Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson) is a loner at school and loves his comic books. He begins to wonder why noone has ever thought to try to be a superhero even though they don’t have any special powers. So he sets out to do just that, dressing in a wetsuit and calling himself Kick-Ass. He has previously been involved in an accident following which his nerve endings have been damaged (so he doesn’t feel pain) and the metal replacements for his broken bones mean he is strong.

After surviving a couple of violent encounters, he makes the news and inspires a wave of other would-be “superheroes”. But things get complicated when a Big Daddy (Nicholas Cage) and his daughter, Hit Girl (Chloe Moretz) decide to take revenge on a local mobster whose son eventually becomes Kick-Ass’s arch-nemesis.

As a piece of entertainment, Kick-Ass is a thoroughly enjoyable movie for the modern age. Tons of action, slapstick comedy, one-liners. But it is extremely violent with lots of coarse language. And it is here that the questionable ethics of this movie raises its head.

The scene stealer, Chloe Moretz as Hit Girl, is an 11 year old girl who engages in extremely explicit violence and high level coarse language who, at times, is highly “sexualised”. Roger Ebert, of the Chicago Sun-Times has described it this way:

A movie camera makes a record of whatever is placed in front of it, and in this case, it shows deadly carnage dished out by an 11-year-old girl, after which an adult man brutally hammers her to within an inch of her life. Blood everywhere. Now tell me all about the context.

… and that’s just scratching the service of the violence, most of it coldly delivered with no consideration of the reality of death.

Kick-Ass is based on a very violent comic book and much of the violence is, no doubt, meant to be comic book in style. The problem is that the violence is very realistic. And the movie makes no attempt to consider the morality or consequences of the violence. What parent would be happy for their 11 year olds to take Hit Girl as a role model? I don’t mind seeing violence on the screen when it is a relevant part of the story. But this sort of violence by an 11 year old made me squirm.

So… while I can appreciate the entertainment aspects of Kick-Ass, the fact that it is so dominated by blatant, excessive violence by teens and an 11 year old (plus the high level swearing coming from the same child) unfortunately puts this movie into the morally reprehensible category. The problem is, of course, is that this movie is going to be very popular and, when it is released on video, no doubt will be seen by teens and kids too enamoured by it to think about its moral implications.

Go see something else!

Positive Review
’It brings together several popular strains of contemporary moviemaking and combines them into one big, shameless, audacious, compulsively watchable, irresistibly likable piece of pure entertainment.’ – Mick La Salle/San Francisco Chronicle

Negative Review
’Kick-Ass - based on a graphic novel - thinks it's so brave and bold. But it's more like the title character, a dweeb who just thinks he's tough.’ – Joe Neumaier/New York Daily News

Content Advice
strong brutal violence throughout, pervasive language, sexual content, nudity and some drug use - some involving children

AUS: MA
USA: R

Technorati Tags: Kick-Ass

Movie Review: How to Train Your Dragon (3D)

2010-04-07T21:39:00.001+09:30

Released: 2010

Go to IMDb page

How to Train Your Dragon 3D is SO GOOD!

Hiccup (voiced by Jay Baruchel) is a young, hapless Viking who wants to be like every other person in the village and learn to hunt and kill dragons — because that is the done thing. But he really doesn’t have the skill or the desire to achieve this goal. But his people see killing a dragon as a rite of passage to adulthood. He accidentally befriends a dragon (one of the most feared by the clan) and begins to learn that everything he has been taught about dragons could very well be wrong!

Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders (the directors) have brought us one of the most enjoyable, stunning animations I’ve ever seen. And in 3D it moves into the absolutely brilliant! The story is fresh and engaging. The animation is superb and detailed. There is great character development and plenty of action sequences. And the 3D is perhaps the best ever done for an animated film. Everything about this movie is spot on — I can’t praise it highly enough. It is a truly fantastic family movie (although perhaps not for really little kids — parents need to heed the PG rating). And the central message to not believe everything we read and are told is a timely one for our contemporary youth.

Get to the cinema and see this movie and make sure you see it in 3D if you can!

Positive Review
‘Rouses you in conventional ways, but it's also the rare animated film that uses 3-D for its breathtaking spatial and emotional possibilities.’ – Owen Gleiberman/Entertainment Weekly

Negative Review
‘Adequate but unremarkable animated tale.’ – Ella Taylor/Village Voice

Content Advice
sequences of intense action and some scary images, and brief mild language

AUS: PG
USA: PG

Technorati Tags: How to Train Your Dragon

Movie Review: Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

2010-03-27T13:49:00.001+10:30

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is a brilliant Swedish crime thriller based on the first in the popular Millennium trilogy by Stieg Larsson.

Forty years ago, Harriet Vanger disappeared from a family gathering without trace. Her uncle believes she was murdered by a family member and has been receiving an annual gift of framed flowers from various places around the world. The body has never been found. He employs Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist), a journalist who has been convicted of slander and is waiting for his prison sentence to start. He is joined by punk computer hacker, Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace) when events coincide to bring them together. As they investigate the disappearance, they begin to uncover an appalling family history and their lives are placed in increasing danger.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is an incredibly intense, atmospheric crime thriller that is totally engaging with the 2½ hours seeming to go in an instant. The story is superbly developed with the revelation of what is going on at just the right moment.

The standout performance is Noomi Rapace who plays the punk computer hacker, Lisbeth, with great depth and nuance. She is compelling and the personal history and current circumstances of her life are shocking as we learn more about her character's background leading to profound emotional scarring and baggage. Lisbeth is one of the most intriguing, fresh, complex heroines to come along in crime fiction. In fact, the character of Lisbeth Salamander is almost more interesting than the story of the movie itself!

The direction is spot-on with the cold, oppressive Swedish winter providing an apt backdrop to the unfolding events. The music eerily and suspensefully supports the narrative.

I haven't read the book on which this movie is based. But I have to say that, after watching the movie, I'm sorely tempted to do so. The movie is, at times, very hard to watch as much of it is very disturbing — particularly what Lisbeth has to bear to survive her life. One of the core themes of the movie is violence against women and no punches are pulled in representing this. The original Swedish title of the book was "Men Who Hate Women" and is, perhaps, a more apt title for the themes of the story.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is one of the most compelling crime thrillers I've seen in a long time...

Positive Review
'A compelling thriller to begin with, but it adds the rare quality of having a heroine more fascinating than the story.' - Roger Ebert/Chicago Sun-Times

Negative Review
'Though Ms. Rapace is a fine professional scowler, with cheekbones that thrust like knives and a pout that’s mostly pucker, she tends to register as an intriguing idea instead of a thoroughly realized character. She more or less looks the part that the filmmakers don’t let her fully play.' -

Manohla Dargis/The New York Times

AUS: MA
USA: R

Technorati Tags: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,crime,thriller

Movie Review: Green Zone

2010-03-21T13:33:00.001+10:30

Released: 2010

Go to IMDb page

Green Zone is great entertainment with a message of substance.

Matt Damon plays Chief Warrant Officer Roy Miller who leads a number of raids in Iraq on sites that are suspected of hiding weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Each time nothing is found and Miller begins to wonder why — particularly when casualties start mounting up. He starts to question the intelligence reports coming in and speaks out publicly in a briefing. He is basically told to mind his business and get on with his job. After meeting with a CIA man with long experience in Iraq and a New York newspaperwoman whose articles supported the US claims of WMD in Iraq, Miller begins to think the intelligence has been deceitfully constructed for political reasons. He becomes involved in a complex series of actions to make sure that the deceit surrounding the justification of the war under the guise of finding WMD is brought to light.

Green Zone is a very fast-paced action thriller that has a complex but easily followed plot line. The fact that the story intersects with contemporary themes and facts makes it highly relevant — even if it is difficult to distinguish fact from fiction. Green Zone, it must be remembered, is fiction despite its allusions to well-known history. But it's a fantastic ride and makes a very significant point about the treatment of the Iraqi army and the desperate need that people have in Iraq to make their own choices.

Whatever the faults of Green Zone), they are overshadowed by superb pacing, excellent camera work, great storytelling, and gritty realism. Peter Greengrass, the director, brings all his action skills from previous movies The Bourne Ultimatum and The Bourne Supremacy and ties them to a story that unabashedly confronts the political situation surrounding the war in Iraq. Real life characters such as New York Times reporter Judith Miller and Iraqi politician Achmed Chalabi, have fictional counterparts in the movie.

The beauty of Green Zone is that the message of the movie doesn't overwhelm the entertainment of a great thriller. It kept me on the edge of my seat for its nearly 2 hour length. Loved it!

Positive Review
"It is a thriller, not a documentary. It's my belief that the nature of the neocon evildoing has by now become pretty clear. Others will disagree. The bottom line is: This is one hell of a thriller.' - Roger Ebert/Chicago Sun-Times

Negative Review
'Green Zone is an exercise in commercial cowardice masquerading as a thriller about political bravery.' - Ray Greene/Boxoffice Magazine

Content Advice
Violence and language

AUS: M
USA: R

Technorati Tags: Green Zone,Iraq war,weapons of mass destruction

Book Review: The Next Reformation

2010-03-14T20:56:00.001+10:30

Many Christians believe the term postmodernism is a dirty word. Not Carl Raschke who argues in his book The Next Reformation that evangelical Christians must '...embrace postmodernity' (the subtitle of the book).

For Raschke, evangelical thought is in crisis as it is challenged by postmodernism. Postmodernist thought has changed our culture and, according to Raschke, '... has only recently begun to pound at the door of evangelical thought and faith.' (p. 11) The door has been answered by a number of evangelical authors with perspectives that are dismissive, misinformed, or misrepresentative of postmodernist thought, as far as the author is concerned. The evangelical reaction to postmodernism is, according to Raschke, because '[p]ostmodernism is saying what we really do not want to hear. So we pummel the messenger and deny the message.' (p. 48)

The first half of The Next Reformation takes us on a somewhat dense history of the development of postmodernism. This is meaty stuff which will be quite mind-bending for some readers. But with perseverance, it is a very interesting and insightful summary of the people and ideas underpinning what has come to be called postmodernism. There is no doubt that Raschke knows what he is talking about — his philosophical and theological expertise shine through and yet he writes engagingly and informatively.

One of the major postmodern criticisms of evangelical theology is that it has concretised it into a reductionist set of abstract propositions that claim to contain absolute truth. But, as Raschke pointedly declares,

God is holier than any theology. Theology depends on the parceling out of reality in nominative quanta of formal language and draws on the categorical schemes of Greek metaphysics. Theology ends where faith begins. (p. 57)

In other words, evangelical theology has not provided the space for genuine faith to be experienced because of its obsession with objective propositions of truth. In fact, Raschke goes so far as to accuse theistic representations of God as 'not only inadequate, but when they pretend to be adequate, they become idolatrous.' (p. 58) For Raschke, whether speaking of the left or right of Protestantism, it has,

with its denominational, ministerial, and ecumenical councils, its political action committees, its preoccupation with palaces proffered as church buildings, its elaborate financial schemes and fund-raising—has swallowed the theology of glory with one gargantuan gulp. It has buttressed these totally worldly ambitions with a regal rationalism that aggrandizes the institution of the church and its claims at the expense of broken souls crying out for grace and forgiveness. (p. 110)

It is hard to disagree with Raschke's analysis of the state of institutional Protestantism.

Over and against all the criticisms of postmodernism coming from the evangelical camp, Raschke believes that 'postmodernism is congenial with evangelicalism' (p.21) and desperately needs to embrace it if a new, much needed, reformation is to occur that will bring the grace and forgiveness for which so many yearn.

In the second half of the book, Raschke turns to an explanation of how postmodernism can, in his view, lead to his vision of a 'new reformation'. In doing so, he tackles a number of core Protestant themes:

Sola fide (faith alone)
Sola scriptura (scripture alone)
The priesthood of all believers
Ministry
Worship

For Raschke, Protestantism desperately needs to return to faith alone (sola fide). For the author, Protestantism has erected a theological and institutional tower of Babel in its attempts to reach toward heaven. But this has resulted in nothing more than a babble of confusion which needs to be abandoned. The idea that humans can arrive at objective, absolute truth expressed through one totalising metanarrative enshrined in one exclusive religion has, in the postmodern era, become totally dismantled. The many languages that try to name God and contain God within its narrow boundaries is, according to Raschke, 'a divine sign that the One whose name is above all names must be honoured not with sound and consistent theology, but with a contrite and humble heart.' He continues:

There is nothing that can please God except faith. The ruined tower is the only acceptable worldview in the eyes of faith. Within that worldview we behold an endlessly expansive horizon. That is the view from the desert. Faith, however, has no compulsion without content. Sola Fide is an empty cry apart from another Reformation dictum: sola scriptura (by Scripture alone). (p. 114)

When it comes to Scripture, Raschke sees the principle of sola scriptura completely destroyed and ineffective because of the doctrine of inerrancy—the common evangelical idea that the original texts of the Hebrew and Christian bibles are without error in their original autographs. As Raschke explains, the doctrine of inerrancy (which, thankfully, is not held by all Christians) is really the product of a desperate attempt to defend the Bible against critics and has led to a rationalist apologetic for the Bible's truth. This agenda has distracted believers away from the truth as it is manifest in a person (Jesus Christ) and located it in an idolatrous biblicism. Raschke explains that

The inerrantist demands that the whole story to be "true" as a tableau of impersonal facts, when in fact the facts themselves are signs of God's all-encompassing and awesome presence. Nothing about God is "impersonal." The inerrantist ... demands to be shown Scripture, when indeed the fullness of Scripture is the whole person of God in Christ. If that were not the case, then Jesus would have not gone to the cross. He would have simply written a better book. (p. 134)

Raschke's call for Evangelicalism to recover an experiential engagement with the God of the Book rather than with the Book itself would seem to be a timely and appropriate call if one surveys the battle over the Bible that has gone on over many decades in the US in particular.

When it comes to the priesthood of all believers (worshippers) the need is a return from hierarchy to relationality. People, nowadays, have very different views of authority and hierarchical structure than they used to. In a paraphrase of '... Hegel's epigram that the "real is rational and the rational real"...', Raschke makes the point that, for the postmodern Christian, '... Christian corporate life could be summed up as follows: the real is relational and the relational is real.' (p. 158) It is easy to see how congregations that do not take this shift seriously will slowly die from dwindling membership.

When it comes to postmodern ministry, Raschke, appeals for a sensitivity to modern culture in proclaiming the gospel of grace and forgiveness. While there are cautions needed to not merely accommodate to postmodern culture, there is a need to package evangelism in ways that are consistent with the way in which postmodern society thinks — there is no point in speaking if no one is listening because we speak and proclaim in ways that are foreign to the hearers. The modus operandi of modern culture is conversation rather than argument.

The greatest disappointment for me in Raschke's book is his chapter on worship entitled Dancing with the Lord: Charismatic Renewal and the Deconstruction of Worship. While there may be much of value in his discussion of the history and approach of the charismatic/Pentecostal movement(s) and the grounding of worship in activity of the Spirit, Raschke's approach is grounded in his own emotional experience of being "slain by the Spirit" in a worship service. There is no doubt that much evangelical worship needs to be revived. But surely that doesn't require an emotionalist subjectivist experience that is in danger of losing its moorings to reason altogether.

Overall, Raschke's book is an important perspective on postmodernism that is a corrective to the absolutist disdain shown to it by many evangelical Christians. It's a provocative, rigorous, intense conversation around important themes to Christians and the future of Christianity. While we may not wish to become quite as enamoured of postmodernism as this author does, there are important questions and perspectives that need to be seriously considered if Christians are going to renew their faith, their relationships, and discard the modernist idolatry that has removed the heart of the institutional Christianity of today.

Technorati Tags: postmodernism,evangelical Christianity,reformation

Movie Review: Daybreakers

2010-03-07T12:58:00.001+10:30

Released: 2009

Go to IMDb page

Daybreakers is a fresh take on the vampire mythology based on an interesting premise and is possible of evoking all sorts of thematic considerations.

Across the globe, humans have "turned" to become vampires desperate to live forever. But, of course, the more vampires there are the less humans are available for blood. And now the shortage has become a crisis. A large corporation has been harvesting human blood by capturing them and hooking them up to machines that drain it. This blood, because of the shortage, is being sold at premium prices. And the research is on to try to invent a synthetic blood when the true thing runs out. The hematologist working on the project is sympathetic to humans and motivates his research on the synthetic blood. However, he meets someone who has found a way to convert back from vampire to human which changes his view on finding a solution to the blood shortage. His changed views place him at odds with the corporation for whom money, rather than human value, is clearly the main aim.

Without deliberately giving anything away, the obvious themes for me were:

The incompatibility of light and darkness.
Light as a means of healing.
The need for death to live fully.

Light vs Darkness

One of the obvious themes in any vampire story is the way vampires have to spend their lives in darkness. Any exposure to light and they risk being consumed by light and exploding to a permanent finality of unconscious death.

The Christian tradition often links light to the presence of God and, specifically, to the entrance of Jesus Christ into the world. Jesus is described as a light that judges those who live in darkness.

"... this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.”

Other traditions also have much to say about light which often represents the light of knowledge or truth. In colloquial language we often declare, when coming to a realisation of something, that we have 'seen the light'!

It is not hard to see the relationship between the themes of light and darkness in vampire mythology. The vampire is not truly alive but "lives" a life of fear and avoidance of the reality of the light. When the light touches them, they recoil in horror at the potential to be destroyed by that light.

The philosopher Laurens van der Post describes the way in which,

[i]n a profound sense every man has two halves to his being; he is not one person so much as two persons trying to act in unison. I believe that in the heart of each human being there is something which I can only describe as a "child of darkness" who is equal and complementary to the more obvious "child of light."

From a Christian perspective, humans have been "bitten" and "turned" — by nature they are children of darkness. We naturally run from the light because it exposes reality for what it is and that reality is not pretty! Outside of Christian traditions, it is common to conceive of humans as having a dark side. If we are to be truly human again we need to consider the next theme I see in Daybreakers — the need to come into the light to be healed.

Light as a means of healing

I don't want to say too much about this theme in the movie as it will spoil a significant element of the plot. Suffice it to say that, in the story, exposure to the light of the sun turns out to be significant in a way that is unexpected. Light as a means to healing is a very common theme, particularly in a large proportion of new age and gnostic perspectives.

In a Christian theological sense, to be fully human we must allow ourselves to be completely exposed to the light of Jesus Christ. Because of what Jesus has done for us in making it safe to come into the presence of God, we are able to endure the consuming light of God's presence which makes us fully human again. To come into the light exposes reality for what it is and allows an honest evaluation of where we are on our life journey.

In addition to light being a means of exposure, it is also often seen as a means of healing. The Greek god, Apollos, was associated with the sun and healing. Astrid Alauda has aptly described the sun as 'nature's Prozac'.

In essence, to be healed means we must confront the very thing that may, at first glance, be that which may harm us and which we may fear. But we need to let go and bask in that which brings healing and regeneration.

The need for death to live fully

One of the most intriguing questions raised by Daybreakers is the role of death in the human capacity to live life fully. The vampires' achievement of immortality does not necessarily bring happiness. In many religions, including the Christian, there is an assumption that the ideal life is one that is lived forever. But a non-ending life may have unexpected consequences.

A core proposition of Daybreakers is that unending existence may, in fact, completely undermine the joy of living and render the the pursuit of fulfillment a life of quiet desperation (to use Henry Thoreau's potent phrase). One meaning of eternal is 'exceedingly great or bad; -- used as a strong intensive.' (Thinkexist.com) In other words, maybe eternal life has more to do with the intensity of goodness experienced rather than the length of time. The Daybreakers story postulates that death is necessary if humans are to experience living with the intensity of experience that brings joy in the present. An everlasting life may, in fact, undermine the motivation required to live life to the full. An interesting idea!

These are just a few of the themes that come to mind after watching Daybreakers. I'm sure others will identify more. Daybreakers provides rich fodder for discussion and is, on the way to that, an entertaining narrative.

Positive Review
'A darkly stylish horror film.' - Joshua Rothkopf/Time Out New York

Negative Review
'Any higher intentions are brought crashing down by predictability, wooden characters, giggle-inducing attempts at scares (shrieking bats, anyone?) and cinematography so gloomy it should be checked for serotonin deficiency.' - Michael Ordona/Los Angeles Times

Content Advice
strong bloody violence, language and brief nudity

AUS: MA
USA: R

Related Links
Official website

Technorati Tags: Daybreakers,vampires