God and Movies

Would God Love Movies?Movies are about stories. The Bible is full of stories.

Movies and the BibleMovies are visually dramatic stories. About 70% of the Bible is also visually dramatic stories. The Bible, as inspired by God, makes extensive use of images, drama and storytelling. Only 30% of the Bible deals with doctrines or theology or rational arguments.

Cinematic and Biblical ImagesCinema is above all a visual medium. Likewise the Bible uses many images to convey its messages.

Dramatic Biblical ImagesBoth Cinema and the Bible use dramatic images to underscore the truths they proclaim.

Like a good sermon, a good movie provides powerful images for its themes.

Jean Valjean – forgiven Peter’s Vision – New Rules

Compelling Stories in the Bible and CinemaA good story touches us and compels us to think and act in new ways.

Movies: Contemporary Collaborative ArtMaking a film requires the creative efforts of a host of people.

A Film’s StoryAll the different creative inputs from all the collaborators making a film are unified by the story of a film. Good movies have good stories with interesting characters. They can be like powerful sermons to help us understand the issues involved in living responsible lives.

WorldviewsA worldview is a collection of beliefs about life and the universe that a person (or group) uses to make sense of life and to guide them in how they should live.

Worldviews in MoviesMovie stories convey values and worldviews. They can and do influence and persuade audiences to adopt certain attitudes and points of view regarding how we should live.

Some Deny That Movies Convey WorldviewsSome persons think that movies are just for entertainment. Samuel Goldwyn, Hollywood producer quipped, “If you want to send a message, use Western Union (telegraph).” Despite the fact that movies are a form of entertainment, their stories typically feature heros and villains with principles of right and wrong, based in some idea of what the world is like – in short, a worldview.

Viewing Movies With DiscernmentBecause movie stories and characters often have worldviews that differ from or are opposed to a Christian worldview, it is important for Christians to view movies critically to discern what is true and what is false about them. Many times films convey messages that we can agree with, but also messages that we can not accept as Christians.

Movies as “Church” ServicesGeoffrey Hill in Illuminating Shadows writes:

“…we congregate at the cinematic temple. We pay our votive offering at the box office.”

Movies as “Church” Services“We buy our ritual corn. We hush in reverent anticipation as the lights go down and the celluloid magic begins.”

Movies as “Church” Services“Throughout the filmic narrative we identify with the hero. We vilify the antihero. We vicariously exult in the victories of the drama.”

Movies as “Church” Services“And we are spiritually inspired by the moral of the story, all the while believing we are modern techno-secular people, devoid of religion.”

Movies as “Church” ServicesYet the depth and intensity of our participation reveal a religious fervor that is not much different from that of religious zealots.”

Do Movies Have The Power to Convince Audiences?If a good pastor in a church has the power to convince her/his congregation, certainly a good movie has equal or more power to convince since it employs dramatic stories, professional actors, strong visual images and sound tracks, enormous financial resources, all coordinated by media professionals.

Movie Power Utilized by Commercial InterestsMany manufacturers pay to have their products featured in films because they know the power of movies to sell their products. An actor hero using some name brand item makes that item more popular with the audience.

Do Average Persons Use Worldviews?Consider persons standing in line for a movie. A person comes late and tries to but-in towards the front of the line. Someone in line objects to this. This shows that (s)he has an idea of right and wrong (ETHICS-what is right/wrong), that everyone know this is wrong (EPISTEMOLOGY- nature and grounds of knowledge), that “first come – first served” and “what goes around comes around” is the way the world works (METAPHYSICS-fundamental nature of reality). In short we all operate day to day with a worldview.

Are Worldviews Relevant or Important?Worldviews often begin with the ideas of a philosopher or thinker. The average person on the streets usually thinks that these “ivory tower” thinkers have little importance to them.

MetanarrativesA worldview is a collection of beliefs about life and the universe that a person (or group) uses to make sense of life and to guide them in how they should live. A worldview is often referred to as a metanarrative or overstory, a big picture kind of story that gives meaning to our own personal stories.

Questions Answered by a Worldview1. What is real?

2. What is the world around us like?

3. What is a human being?

4. What happens after death?

5. How can we know anything?

6. What is right and wrong?

7. What is the meaning of human history?

The Elements of a Worldview StoryAll worldviews have a story or explanation for:

1.What was the original state of humans and the world?

2. What is the source of the problems that humans have?

3.What needs to be done to remedy these problems and to live a fulfilled life?

4.These elements are like the basic elements of the Christian story: Creation, Fall, Redemption

PreModern Worldviews Most ancient cultures believed that gods (or a God) controlled human destiny. These gods needed to be deferred to for humans to live successfully. These worldviews were common from 3000 BC to 1600 AD.

The Worldview of Christianity 1A Christian Worldview says that a Creator God brought our Universe into being. He created man as a free agent to care for and rule over our Earth-Region with the task of serving and preserving mankind and Earth’s creatures, in the process imaging His character by showing love, faithfulness, truthfulness, thankfulness, justice, forbearance and joy to all creatures.

The Worldview of Christianity 2But Mankind chose to selfishly seek their own interests and to ignore God’s desires. God has allowed evil to exist, possibly a consequence of His bestowing the freedom to choose between good and evil. God came and lived among us to show us how to truly be alive and to deliver us from destruction. His death shows us his love and his resurrection shows us that in His power, our deaths merely usher us into a new existence with Him. He will return at some future time to make all things new, erasing the effects of mankind’s sins.

The Worldview of the Rationalist or ModernistA rationalist/modernist person views man’s irrational and emotional nature as the source of mankind’s problems. Organized religions based on emotions of fear or hatred are a major cause of the world’s problems in this view. This worldview says that living by logical and rational principles is the solution to our problems. Science and technology (based on reason and logic) will help us solve our problems and build a better future. Variations of these ideas occur from the 1700s.

The Worldview of Romanticism Romanticism in the 1800s developed as a reaction to the rationalism of the 1700s. Romantics said that the essence of a person is their emotions. The individual’s freedom and irrational feelings were supreme goals over impersonal rational philosophical systems. Self-fullfillment was the supreme moral imperative. Variations of these ideas appear from the 1800s.

The Evolutionary Worldview In this worldview, nonliving matter over long periods of time organizes itself into simple living organisms and these develop in complexity, eventually becoming self-conscious and reflective beings. In this worldview, there is a progression from simple to complex life forms and in its earliest version (Victorian Evolutionary Worldview), an increasing degree of perfection. This view involves Rationalism but there is no meaning so persons create it for themselves through relationships they develop with others. Variations of these ideas occur from 1859.

Christian ExistentialismIn the 1860s, the writings of Soren Kierkegaard, a Christian, were published and slowly gained some acceptance. He felt that a person needs an irrational “leap of faith” to find meaning in life. One’s faith is beyond logical proof, can not be reached through reason. A person begins living in a selfish way, eventually despairs at finding no purpose, makes a “leap of faith” now following God’s rules, and finally devotes his life to serving the Creator, following the Spirit’s inner promptings rather than legalistic rules and regulations. Kierkegaard’s ideas led to the worldview of existentialism.

The Worldview of Atheistic ExistentialismFriedrich Nietzsche in the 1870s proposed an atheistic existentialism. He wrote that “God is dead”, the concept of God no longer being necessary to explain existence. This worldview sees the universe as meaningless, leading to despair since there are no moral standards for humanity. Thus a person must create their own morality. As man has evolved from apelike ancestors, mankind will eventually evolve into supermen (Ubermensch) using their “will to power” to replace the “weak” values of Christianity with the “hard” values needed to survive and flourish.

The Worldview of MonismA monist worldview says that all life is essentially one and the same. When we think and act as if we are different (emphasize and exercise our distinctiveness), so we create problems for ourselves and this planet. We find harmony with ourselves and the planet when we recognize and live out our unity with all things, our interconnectedness. Sin and redemption are because of wrong and right thinking respectively. All the religions of the world are merely masks for the same God.

The Worldview of Dualism A dualistic worldview believes that the world and all things are composed of two co-eternal, opposing forces (good and evil). Existence is a combination of physical/spiritual or mind/body or mind/matter. The Star Wars Movies adopt a dualistic worldview in that the “force” has a dark and light side (evil vs good natures).

The Worldview of FateSome persons feel there is a force, Fate, which directs and determines how our lives unfold. Fate is seen as an all-powerful and impersonal force to resign oneself to. For most persons with this worldview, fate is an impersonal force. Fate becomes a substitute for God. When everything is going well, this Force is carrying you on its crest. If a person wants to do something shabby, the blind Force of fate, which has no morals, will not interfere with a person’s twisted desires or plans.

The Worldview of Existentialism This worldview sees human life as dominated by chance and ultimately meaningless, with no underlying purpose. God is an unnecessary concept. Humans lead themselves to “angst” or despair if they try to find a deeper meaning. We must create our own meaning through the relationships we develop with each other and this planet. Humans are totally free with no rules to live by. Since we create our own lives, we can blame no one but ourselves and must take responsibility for all the choices we make. Systems of beliefs are impositions, forms of oppresive slavery.

The Worldview of PostmodernismPostmodernism rejects all absolutes. Life is seen as meaningless. Reality is a chaos from which each person makes their own order, sense and purpose. Collective groups (cultures) construct their own reality, their beliefs and interpretations and impose them on others. We are not really individuals who are independent and free thinkers but are products of the culture we are raised in with all the prejudices and biases of that culture. Cultures use language to control and oppress those in the culture.

Wiccan or Neopagan (New Pagan) WorldviewsThis worldview rejects Christianity and other religions that are male biased. They worship earth gods/goddesses, especially the ultimate goddess, Sophia or Gaia, rather than the Christian God seen as a “Sky” God. Some persons see environmental problems as originating who are environmentalists see are Wicca or Neopagan with a focus

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