One God in American Culture: From Captain Kirk to Captain America

The 2011 Blockbuster hit, The Avengers, caused a little controversy when Captain America says, “There’s only one God, ma’am, and I’m pretty sure he doesn’t dress like that.” This line comes when a character suggests the Captain sit out a fight between Thor and Loki, Nordic gods revealed to be powerful beings from another dimension.

In today’s America, such a statement is indeed scandalous. It is the height of arrogance, it is supposed, to assert any kind of transcendent truth claim about spiritual things, especially concerning God. Yet in Captain America’s 1940s, it was rather unremarkable for someone to make such a claim. Even near the end of the 1960s the rather progressive and somewhat liberal television show Star Trek makes a similar statement: 

Mankind has no need for gods. We find the one quite adequate.

—Captain Kirk, Star Trek Season 2, “Who Mourns for Adonais?”

In that story, Captain Kirk happens upon the god Apollo, revealed to be a powerful space being who visited earth thousands of years ago and was worshipped by the Greeks. When Apollo demands Kirk’s devotion, he rebuffs him with the statement above. It was likely more of a reflection of the 1960s culture than the personal convictions of the network or William Shatner.

Culture changes. The Roman Empire was largely opposed to Christianity until the conversion of Constantine in the fourth century. With the fall of Rome came new opposition in some areas where it had been embraced. Times change, but the Church should not change, at least, not where it concerns the gospel. Whether the culture loves us, hates us, or something in between, we should always be prepared to testify of the gospel of God’s grace.

Book Review: Finding God in the Hobbit

Finding God in the Hobbit. By Jim Ware. Colorado Springs: SaltRiver. pp. 208. 2006. ($14.99 Hardcover | $9.99 Kindle | 12.98 Audio)

Read a sample chapter!

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FIVE STARS!

Few authors have captured the imaginations of millions through multiple generations like J.R.R. Tolkein. His four primary works, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy introduced us to Middle Earth, and many of us enjoy travelling there once in a while simply because it challenges and changes us. These books speak to us and call our minds to contemplate bigger things. Books like these are rightly considered classics, worth reading and rereading, considering and responding to.

As believers, our responses to works of art, be they written, painted, or filmed, should necessarily be influenced by our faith. I enjoy one church’s online podcast of “Film and Theology” because it encourages us to view things in light of God’s revelation and to appreciate beauty and art as man’s creativity reflecting God’s creativity. Jim Ware’s book, Finding God in the Hobbit, does just that superbly.

This book carefully considers passages from The Hobbit in light of their context and role in the whole narrative of the entire Middle Earth canon and considers how the story reflects God’s story, how Bilbo Baggins unwittingly plays a crucial role in the ultimate destruction of not only Smaug, but the evil Lord Sauron himself, and how we too are created by God to fulfill purposes in His grand design that we ourselves may never be fully aware of.

This book is written well. I don’t say that about many books. And the audio version is narrated by Simon Vance, a veteran narrator, and his light English accent somehow makes the book seem more authentically Tolkein. Though this book came out in 2006, the audio book version is out just in time for the 2012 film adaptation of The Hobbit. I highly recommend that both The Hobbit and Finding God in the Hobbit be on your reading list in the immediate future. It’s that good.

I received this audio book from christianaudio for purposes of review.

Captain America: Theologian?

Since The Avengers has been smashing box office records, I must be the only person who hasn’t seen it yet. But I’m tempted to fork over what would probably amount to the cost of a brand-new Blu-ray of the film just to hear Captain America’s controversial quote.

I never got into comic books, partly because real books were more beneficial to my education and partly because I didn’t know the location of any comic book stores in my area. I’ve seen some superhero movies, and even though the movie Captain America: The First Avenger was a little corny and lacked a well-developed plot, I did enjoy seeing someone onscreen representing the Red, White, and Blue who was both moral and heroic.

In this new movie, Captain America is still adjusting to the 21st century after spending 80 years in a frozen, coma-like state. At one point in the movie, a scuffle breaks out between Thor and Loki—the Norse gods you learned about in mythology class. As they tumble off a sky fortress and fall towards earth, an agent says to our hero, “You might wanna sit this one out, Cap. These guys are basically gods.” Captain America replies, “There’s only one God, ma’am, and I don’t think he dresses like that.”

This depiction of Captain America certainly fits better with his 1940’s roots than the pluralistic society we live in today. Although nothing more is mentioned about the Captain’s beliefs, and I’m unaware of any theological discussions occurring in the comic books, the fact that he is a monotheist (and for all we know, a Christian) is enough to set people off in the blogosphere. I, for one, am happy he said it.

I’ve read plenty of rhetoric from religious and political liberals who believe that anyone who represents the United States (and sometimes, anyone who comes into contact with other people) should be either irreligious, like an agnostic, or pluralistic, accepting all religious worldviews as valid. What dents people up about Captain America is that he was speaking as Captain America and denied the validity of other people’s worldviews.

For the United States to be a free country, everyone, from the President to the school janitor, should be allowed to have religious convictions and to express those religious convictions. There’s a difference between using a position of public trust to advance your religious convictions and advancing your religious convictions while holding a position of public trust. But it is difficult to separate the two. And although some politicians can easily divorce their religious beliefs from who they are, true Christianity doesn’t allow for that.

So I give kudos to the people who thought up that line because it was both true to who Captain America would have been in the 1940s, and it upholds the belief that all people, even those who may, in some ways, represent a religiously diverse group, can hold exclusive religious convictions.

Maybe I’ll stop by the comic book store this weekend and pick up some new reading material.

Movie Review: The Eagle

Every once in a while Santa gets me something for Christmas without telling my wife. He’s usually good at not spending very much, and this year he got me the movie The Eagle.

The movie is based on a book that was written in the 1950s that creates a fictional backstory to the 9th Roman Legion that apparently disappears from the history books sometime around the construction of Hadrian’s Wall on Britannia. In the film, the unit is believed to have been obliterated by the northern Scottish tribes. Its emblem, a gold eagle, is believed to be lost or captured.

The son of the unit’s commander grows up to become a legionnaire himself, and after an injury that secures his discharge, he decides to take along a slave from the highlands to cross over Hadrian’s wall into the land of the barbarians to recover the lost eagle and restore honor to his family name and to Rome.

The PG-13 rating is definitely a good determination of age appropriateness. The film is definitely too dark and violent for younger audiences who think pirates and gladiators are the good guys. Although the film lacks much of the gore and graphic images that we’ve come to expect from movies like Gladiator and Apocalypto, there are plenty of violent killings and throats being slit (including that of a young boy).

The main character, Maximus, played by Channing Tatum, was not portrayed as well as the supporting character, Esca, played by Jamie Bell, who I liked much better. Esca had personality, whereas Maximus never seems to develop beyond the tough-guy/soldier stereotype.

Still the movie had some high points, such as Maximus’ compassion for his men and Esca’s loyalty to Maximus. The movie also highlights hypocrisy in both the Roman and tribal concepts of barbarianism and reminds viewers that our culture may be just as barbarous as those we consider to be barbarians.

Book Review: The Apostle

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The Apostle: A Life of Paul by John Pollock is a biography of the apostle Paul written at the popular level. The author traveled through the areas where Paul lived and served and adds additional historical, geographical, and cultural details you usually have to read a commentary to find. As a whole, the book is extremely accessible and a quick read, despite its length (304 pages or 10.7 hours).

Since the New Testament only gives so much information about the life of Paul, the author made inferences and assumptions about the apostle that you may or may not agree with, but the background details on the places bring an extra layer of cognizance to readers that are unfamiliar with the eastern Mediterranean (like myself).

The narrator is clear and understandable, though I would have appreciated a little more emotion and dramatic emphasis, but it’s an audio book, not radio theater. Clarity and flow are the most important things.

In short, I’d consider this book to be on par with a professional Hollywood film like The Passion of the Christ or The Nativity Story: there’s a certain degree of artistic license, but you recognize the story well enough.

To buy the book (print), click here.
To buy the audio book, click here.

I received this book free from Christian Audio as part of their audio book review program. I was not obligated to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are mine.

Fear the Lord and the King

My son, fear the Lord and the king,

and do not join with those who do otherwise,

for disaster will arise suddenly from them,

and who knows the ruin that will come from them both?

Proverbs 24:21-22

Reading these verses in my quiet time reminded me of a movie I watched the other day with my wife. Hannah told me we could get a Redbox rental and I could pick the movie. I had been wanting to watch a few different films, so when I checked out what was available, I saw The Conspirator.

The movie is based on the true story of the trial of Mary Surratt. She owned the boarding house where John Wilkes Booth and others plotted the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, among others. Though the plot largely fizzled out, the primary goal of killing Lincoln succeeded. Booth was killed. Most of the conspirators were captured. Except one. John Surratt, the son of Mary Surratt was still at large.

Mary had already been arrested for her connections with the crime. And she was aware of more than she cared to admit. Whether she was aware of the intent to kill is still a matter of debate. But the nation was in mourning and people in high places wanted a quick resolution to the lingering questions of motive and means.

These verses could have been shown at the beginning of the film. It certainly speaks to the reality that Mary Surratt faced as she was on trial for her role in the conspiracy to kill President Lincoln, Vice President Johnson, and Secretary of State Seward.

Her loyalties to family, and possibly her hatred of the North, led her down the path of opposition to the governmental authorities and the violation of God’s law. Disaster came upon the other conspirators quickly. “Who knows the ruin that will come from them both [that is, the Lord and the king]?” Watch the movie and find out!

Ar of Colombia (Prayer Request)

I saw in my feed reader today that there is another prayer request coming out of Colombia. Today's Prayer

is for national and Southern Baptist missionaries seeking to reach the Ar people of Colombia. Many tribes in South America have had little to no contact with Westerners, much less with the truth about Christ.

 

AR OF COLOMBIA (ahr). Thank you for praying for the national missionaries who work with the Ar people of Colombia, asking that they would move forward in their language learning and in their contacts with members of this people group. Thank the Lord for a missionary from a Great Commission Christian group who specializes in language learning who was willing and able to visit with J and A for a week of intensive study on how to learn a new language. Pray that they will be able to put into practice what they have learned, that God will provide a member of the Ar people group to continue to help them in their language acquisition, and that they will learn quickly and be able to communicate effectively with the Ar people. Pray for God's Word to be heard, understood and responded to by V, her family, and other members of the Ar community as the Lord leads.

I recently watched a documentary describing the Colombian tribe that was used in the filming of The Mission. It reminds me of the urgency of this and other requests for tribes, tongues, and nations that have not heard the gospel.

Movie Preview: The Book of Judges

What would be better than an action flick based on the book of Judges? I've mentioned how much I'd like to see a film based on this Old Testament book, but I'm afraid it would be rated R. It doesn't hurt to dream though, and for our church's Big Game Bash this weekend, I've made this killer movie trailer. All voices (except one) were done by me.

New Christian Movie

Our church is having a party this year to watch the Big Game. To the joy of many parents, and the chagrin of many high schoolers, we will not be showing the commercials

But to add to the festivities, the congregation will be making them. There will be a competition and the best commercial will win a prize.

Mine may not win, but I hope people like it. I just put some finishing touches to it last night. It is going to be a trailer for a movie to come out next year. The whole thing is fake, so don’t get excited, but the commercial should be pretty good.

I’m planning on post it sometime between now and the Big Game.

To give you a preview (of the preview), I’m including this photo from the trailer:

Dawn Treader

I’ve been listening to the Spanish audiobook version of C.S. Lewis’ The Voyage of the Dawn Treader to refresh my memory for the new movie coming out soon. I’ve seen the BBC version of the film, and I’ve read portions of the book before, but I’ve never gone from cover to cover before and I’m quite happy with the end product. Lewis did not write a strict analogy here, but his fluidity and style allows the analogy to come out time after time. Here are some analogies I look forward to seeing in the new movie that also appear throughout the series: 

1. The eternality of the King

Edmund, in a moment of greed and jealousy points out to Caspian X that his older brother was king over Narnia long before Caspian was and as such Caspian owed allegiance to him. There is a sense of a continuous or eternal kingship. The best sense of an eternal kingship in this series is not found in the Pevensie children, but in the lordship of Aslan. He is the default sovereign over Narnia and all the lands and seas surrounding it. When the Dawn Treader comes across islands previously unknown to Narnians, Aslan is there. Christ is the eternal king from the line of David. We cannot go where He is not present. 

2. Our inability to deal with sin
 
Eustace, the Pevensie’s cousin, is turned into a dragon in a way that closely parallels the statement in James 1 about the transformation of desire to sin. Aslan tells him to disrobe his dragon skin, but try as he might, Eustace is unable because his dragon-ness springs forth from inside. It is only Aslan who can take away the dragon skin, and after bathing Eustace, the boy finds himself human again. The link here between repentance and surrender, along with baptism (the spiritual reality), is one of the strong points of the story. 

3. The divine providence

At the end of the story, at least in the print version, the narrator makes it clear that there is a destiny, or divine providence, that guides the characters and brings them to their journey’s end. This idea is most vividly portrayed in another book, The Horse and His Boy, but I hope the film preserves it here. I’ve heard some people described as an inconsistent Calvinist. I think that describes Lewis as well.

There are many more that could be mentioned, some major, some minor. There is a parallel between one character and the catching up of Enoch and Elijah. The epic story has throwbacks to the journey of Christian in The Pilgrim’s Progress. There is also a warning against greed and the desire for wealth, showing it to be a curse rather than a blessing. Lucy’s question about Eustace is basically a paraphrase of Peter’s about John in the last chapter of John’s gospel. And, as I discovered last week reading Daniel 5, there is even a link between Belshazzar’s mishandling of the temple treasures and the mishandling of a sacred object in Narnia.

There is so much to look forward to. Which analogy did you notice or like?