Theology At The Movies

A practical area in which many Christians face legalism is in the area of entertainment in general and movies in specific. It might be helpful then, for the sake of our souls and the glory of God, if we study how theology should play out with entertainment. Are movies “of the devil”? Does it endorse the sins of Hollywood to see a film? Does God have a place in the cinema? These and many other questions are a part of what we will tackle as we consider Theology at the Movies.

Why Movies?
Since the popularity of movies exploded in the 1920s up to the present, the cinema has become, arguably, the most popular expression of the worldviews of various generations, groups, and individuals. Despite what many contend all art, even movies, has a message to share, and the fact that millions of people go to the movies each year makes it one of the largest forms of mass media[1]. This is why when considering the influence of entertainment we must zero in on movies, for various “messages” are reaching millions of people.

Theologian and professor John M. Frame wisely writes, “It is simply false to claim that art has nothing to do with ‘messages.’ Indeed, we are living in a time in which the messages of art are becoming more and more explicit.”[2] This is most noticeable in the genre of political films, such as Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11 and the more recent (2006) American Dreamz, but we will deal more with this later. So if you ask, “why deal with the subject of movies,” the answer, simply put, is that movies and television are among the most influential sources of media in the world, and deserve a Biblical analysis. But if, as Frame writes, “The worldview is the most important issue in film,” then we should begin by asking specifically what is a worldview.

What’s in a World?
If you live long enough every person will come to a point where they have to ask, either consciously or more indirectly, the seven[3] most basic question of human existence. James W. Sire lists the seven most basic questions in this way:
1. What is prime reality- the really real?
2. What is the nature of external reality, that is, the world around us?
3. What is a human being?
4. What happens to a person at death?
5. Why is it possible to know anything at all?
6. How do we know what is right and wrong?
7. What is the meaning of human history?[4]

If we stated those questions in more specific terms they might be said to be questions about: God, the world, humans, death, knowledge, morality, and history; or in philosophical terms we could say: metaphysics, external reality, humanity, death, epistemology, ethics, and history. In any case the answers to these seven basic elements make up a worldview. A worldview, then, may be stated as “a commitment, a fundamental orientation of the heart, that can be expressed as a story or in a set of presuppositions (assumptions which may be true, partially true or entirely false) which we hold (consciously or subconsciously, consistently or inconsistently) about the basic constitution of reality, and that provides the foundation on which we live and move and have our being.”[5] A worldview, in short, is a philosophical system through which we filter all of life. Education, theology, science, love, politics all these things and more are affected by one’s own worldview.

Most people are not even aware that hey have a worldview or can they articulate it in formal terms, but the answers which they give to these seven basic questions reveals that they do indeed have one. Examples of worldviews would be Naturalism or Scientific Humanism, Deism, Feminism, Modernism and Postmodernism, and even Christianity. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of worldviews in existence today, the most important point to grasp about this, however, is that everyone has one.

A worldview is not the same thing as a formal philosophy; otherwise, it would be only for professional philosophers. Even ordinary people have a set of convictions about how reality functions and how they should live. Because we are made in God’s image, we all seek to make sense of life. Some convictions are conscious, while others are unconscious, but together they form a more or less consistent picture of reality.[6]

Nancy Pearcey explains the origins of the word “worldview” in her book Total Truth. She writes:

The term worldview is a translation of the German world Weltanschauung, which means a way of looking at the world (Welt= world; schauen= to look). German Romanticism developed the idea that cultures are complex wholes, where a certain outlook on life, or spirit of the age, is expressed across the board- in art, literature, and social institutions as well as in formal philosophy. The best way to understand the products of any culture, then, is to grasp the underlying worldview being expressed. But, of course, cultures change over the course of history, and thus the original use of the term worldview conveyed relativism.

The word was later introduced into Christian circles through Dutch neo-Calvinist thinkers such as Abraham Kuyper and Herman Dooyeweerd. They argued that Christians cannot counter the spirit of the age in which they live unless they develop an equally comprehensive biblical worldview- an outlook on life that gives rise to distinctively Christian forms of culture- with the important qualification that it is not merely the relativistic belief of a particular culture but is based on the very Word of God, true for all times and places.[7]

With this in mind let’s turn our attention now to discussing how movies convey a worldview.

The Motion Pictures and Their Messages
It’s easy to get caught up in the stimulation of the movies and forget that each film is saying something about the world we live in. It is a popular expression of our culture’s ideologies. So writes Russ Moore, Vice President of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, about the culture in general:

Christians should ask why culture resonates with the Superman mythology of a hero from beyond the stars who rescues humanity from itself. We should ask why country music singer Toby Keith sings about the unity-in-diversity he longs for in his song “I Love This Bar.” We should ask why, as the City Journal’s Harry Stein points out, trashy talk shows such as “The Jerry Spring Show” always end with a “moral lesson for the day,” despite the fact that the rest of the broadcast has dismissed the very idea of moral absolutes. Why do gangster-rap hip-hop artists sing so much about their rage against an absent father?[8]

All around us our culture is answering these seven basic questions, and they are offering to us a worldview. Movies are not exempt from this truth. For every film that we see there is a message being proclaimed. Some are very easy to discern while others are much more subtle, but nothing is neutral or sheer entertainment in motion pictures. So how do Motion Pictures share their messages? I have listed here five particular ways that we would do well to note.

First, films convey a message through imagery. This is the point that Gene Edward Veith examines in his article “Message Movies.” Paraphrasing Thom Parham, Veith writes, “Films work metaphorically. Language can communicate with clear propositions, but film communicates instead with symbols.” Then adding his own commentary he says, “What carries the message [in movies] is a good story. And the message is indirect, inherent in the film’s emotional impact.”[9]

Movies are a medium of visual stimulation, which explains why some poor stories can still do well in the box office. The imagery on the screen, the way that the plot plays out has as much to do with the message as anything else. Even something as basic as scenery can play a part in the delivering of a message. Let’s look at an example: the Academy Award winning “Brokeback Mountain.” Writing about the films projection of hatred for the Biblical family Dr. Mark Coppenger says:

“Brokeback Mountain” was billed a gay love story, but the movie was actually a hate story, dripping with contempt for conventional, moral life. Normally, these two utterly implausible homosexual cowboys were forced to suffer the squalor of bland or kitschy quarters, disappointing wives, creepy in-laws, wearisome children, thuggish bosses and dreary work back in town, but their spirits soared as they ascended the high country with rushing brooks, big skies, snow capped peaks, lush mountain meadows and crisp, clean air. Alas, after soulful hugs, etc., these Marlboro Men were forced to once again assumer their places in the sad world of heterosexual marriage, gainful employment, and civic responsibility, a world disparaged by director Ang Lee.[10]

According to Coppenger the director of this controversial film uses beautiful scenes to express his own idea of the beauty and freedom of homosexuality. It is not the heterosexual scenes that are depicted with “rushing brooks, big skies, snow capped peaks,” etc. it is the homosexual scenes. Not all films convey their messages this way, but it is important to note that nothing is neutral, aesthetics included.

Secondly, films spread their messages by means of story. This of course is the most basic means of the message. It takes no effort to see how the storyline of a movie like “Brokeback Mountain” contains a message, a pro-homosexual message. But all movies, whether blatant or subtler, contain a message. So even the Dreamworks film “Over the Hedge” is a “genial poke at the conspicuous consumption habits of food and lawn-care obsessed suburbanites from the perspective of wide-eyed animals just trying to survive,”[11] writes Veith. The story is, of course, what all the imagery points to, what the dialogue explains, and what most clearly demonstrates the worldview of the film as a whole. Some will be harder to discern, such as Tim Burton’s “Big Fish,”[12] others are obvious, like the environmentalist film “Hoot.” As Brian Godawa, a Hollywood screenwriter, testifies, “The story is where it all begins and ends. The lighting, cinematography, directing, acting, visual style…all are profoundly a part of the process, but they all serve the story- because the story is king.”[13] In many cases it might be appropriate to say, not that he story carries the message, but that the story is the message.

Thirdly, films spread their message through dialogue. This is another obvious one, but deserves to be mentioned for the power of words. The subtlety of dialogue is such that one might never pick up on some of the messages conveyed in films. Few movie gowers thought of Pantheism when they heard Mufassa tell the young Simba, “When we die, our bodies become the grass, and the antelope eat the grass. And so we are all connected; the great circle of life.” But likewise when Christians hear phrases like this one from “Kingdom of Heaven” they should shutter: There will be a day when you will wish that you did a little evil to serve a greater good.

Fourthly, films convey messages through their identification of heroes. This is an important point to mention as more and more stars of films are actually anti-heroes or vigilantes. This is most obvious from the recent 2006 film “V for Vendetta.” Speaking of the graphic novel turned movie Gene Veith writes:

In Alan Moore’s Graphic Novel, V for Vendetta, the Guy Fawkes- masked protagonist is introduced in a section titled, “The Villain.” In the big-screen adaptation of Mr. Moore’s work, no such moral ambiguity exists. Originally conceived as an extreme, anarchistic response to an extreme, fascist government in the near future, V for Vendetta has been translated, with a terrorist hero at its center, into a vicious, thinly veiled attack on American conservatives and Christians.[14]

Other films, however, have taken this same approach of glorifying evil in a less palpable manner. Take for example a number of comedies whose “heroes” have been pragmatists who engage in all sorts of crimes to “win the day.” Examples of these are “Fun with Dick and Jane,” where Dick and Jane Harper take to larceny and deception to win back the pensions of those put out of employment by a company’s crash. Or “Runaway Jury,” based on the John Grisham novel, which has the heroes blackmailing a filthy jury consultant into early retirement. We must never suppose that the end justifies the means, as many of these characters put it themselves. A true hero sees no value in doing the wrong thing for the right reasons.

Finally, a movie may express a message through its overall composition. The entire layout of the movie, put together with its cinematography, music, acting, dialogue, etc., display an entire worldview. I mentioned how Disney’s “The Lion King” is a movie that revolves around the philosophy of Pantheism, but a close analysis of “Star Wars” reveals similar conclusions (though this film is more New Age). Take screenwriter Charlie Kauffman for example. Mr. Kauffman’s films are often expressions of his own nihilistic, or hopeless, faithless, and truthless, philosophy. His most popular film “Being John Malkovich” is a visual scene of the cold hopeless doctrines of this philosophy, the dialogue reveals this hopelessness, and the storyline itself is, to quote the film, a “metaphysical can of worms.”

These are just a few ways that movies express their messages. The list could, of course, be expanded, but this is sufficient for us to be discerning as we go to the movies. Now comes the all-important question: If movies convey worldviews, and some of these worldviews are not simply bad but completely destructive, should Christians even go to the movies? What should we think of those who do? These are important questions and take up the focus of the next section.

War of the Worldviews
Christians have long been known as those who boycott the movies. The cinema has been hailed by some as the SINema, and Hollywood as the Devil’s machine. As we saw in the last chapter, there are many who still hold to a belief that any Christian who goes to the movies is not only spiritually immature, but is in fact in sin. As I explained in chapter 8, this is legalism[15] and has no place in the Christian church; but can Christians, whose own worldview is so opposed to the general worldview of Hollywood, receive enjoyment and value from movies? I believe so.

Dave Swavely is right when he says, “No other issue has been the source of more friction between Christians in our media-soaked, pleasure-worshipping society, and no other issue has given rise to so many legalistic rules in an attempt to keep us from being contaminated by the world.”[16] But he adds these wise words of wisdom to that initial comment:

First, we need to understand that the Bible offers very few specific rules about this issue, if any, and therefore we should not expect to find easy answers that apply to everyone. It is mostly an individual matter of “the heart”- a term which in the Bible means our “inner man,” where we think, desire, worship, and make choices…What we take in our eyes and ears can certainly temp or influence us…but it cannot necessarily cause us to sin. So the response of our hearts to what we see and hear is the ultimate issue in morality.[17]

This statement cannot, of course, be taken to exempt those who make and produce certain kinds of films from being judged for their actions when the Lord returns, but it can safely be applied to those of us who view movies with discernment. Viewing a movie in and of itself may not be sinful, what our hearts desire, dwell upon, and endorse before, during and after that viewing, however, can be. As is the case with most sins, it is not simply the external action that matters, but the internal state of the heart.[18]

That being said it is safe to say that movies are not inherently sinful, they are a form of art, which is a creative form of expression instilled in man by God. Art is one way that humanity reflects its Creator. God in creating the world displayed His artistic abilities. Think about that for a moment. God was in no way obligated to make the world so aesthetically pleasing (beautiful sunsets, various races, colorful creatures in many shapes and sizes). In creating man in His own image, God has likewise instilled in man the gift and ability to be creative. So writes Brian Godawa:

The arts (of which movies are a part) are a God-given means of expressing our humanity. The creation of art, though flawed or imperfect, reflects the creativity and beauty of our Creator. To reject any form of art in toto [total] is to reject the imago Dei, the image of God in humanity. Even though we are fallen, with our art partaking of this fallenness, we are still created in the image of God, and therefore our creations continue to reflect our Maker. As Francis Schaeffer was fond of pointing out, that image comes through even if the artist tries to suppress it. This is so because all truth is, in one sense, God’s truth, no matter who is saying it, be he prophet, infidel or donkey.[19]

There is value in art, even in movies, because of the simple fact that they remind us of our Creator. And there are ways to find redemptive value even in art produced by unbelievers. So Dave Swavely reminds his readers of a verse from Ecclesiastes which reads, “For to the one who pleases him God has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner he has given the business of gathering and collecting, only to give to one who pleases God….”[20] Sinners “gather and collect” for God’s people. And, as Godawa has said, all truth is God’s truth, no matter who says it. The difficult task for movie gowers, then, is to be able to discern the truth in movies and to pull out what is of redemptive value and throw away that which is not. More on this is to come.

Art has two main functions: (1) The Utilitarian and (2) the Pleasure functions. At it’s utilitarian function art gives form and expression to the human experience. So Leland Ryken writes:

A rich confusion of awareness lies below the level of our consciousness. Artists reach into that confusion and give it an order. As we stand before a painting or listen to music or read a poem, we suddenly see our own experiences and insights projected onto the details of the work before us. Artists turn our pain into art so we can bear it. They turn our joys into art so we can prolong them.[21]

Under the pleasure function the arts simply celebrate life and bring great joy to audiences, an element of life which is also a desire of God for His children.[22] These two functions are found in all art, including movies, and in that regard we may take value from them.

Another great value of watching movies is related to the disciplines of evangelism and apologetics. As I have tried to express already in this chapter, movies are an enormous part of our culture. The millions of dollars spent at the movies, by production companies and fans alike, the celebrity worship, and sheer number of movies produced each year testify to this fact. To live in our culture is to live amongst a people obsessed with the cinema. Being able to communicate with this culture, then, will require at least a surface level awareness of its cultural language, influences, and current setting. Godawa helpfully articulates this point when he writes:

Not only do [movie haters] miss the positive values that do exist in many movies, but also those who would completely withdraw from culture because of its imperfection suffer a decreasing capacity to interact redemptively with that culture. They don’t understand the way people around them think because they are not familiar with the “language” those people are speaking or the culture they are consuming. A communication barrier results, and these cultural abstainers often end up in irrelevance and alienation from others. I call these artistic teetotalers cultural anorexics.[23]

One way to see clearly the redemptive value that movies can have is to take an example of a common type of story used in film, a type, interestingly enough, labeled by Brian Godawa as the “Christ Myth.”

The Christ Myth
The motion picture industry is in the business of storytelling; part of this task is selecting a particular form in which to convey that story. Among the lists of forms we find such things as parables, fables, allegories, and the myth. The myth is, I believe, a commonly used motif because of all that is involved in a myth. While Fairy stories are more complex than Disney reveals, they are fairly optimistic and upbeat. It is with the myth that we find tragedy, chaos, suffering, and events and aspects that threaten human life. It is this form that appeals most to the modern film because it is the most like our lives; it connects on an emotional level with the audience. In many ways movies today are, as Godawa says, modern myths. What is a myth? The noted educator and mythologist Joseph Campbell best articulated what a myth was. Former Campbell student Christopher Vogler writes:

What is a myth? For our purposes a myth is not the untruth or fanciful exaggeration of popular expression. A myth, as Joseph Campbell was fond of saying, is a metaphor for a mystery beyond human comprehension. It is a comparison that helps us understand by analogy, some aspect of our mysterious selves. A myth, in this way of thinking, is not an untruth but a way of reaching a profound truth.[24]

It is important not to think of myth, here, as an untruth. Myth is a form of storytelling that, by means of analogy, brings an audience closer to the truth (or so it should. Of course some myths are false because the truth they are pointing to is false). In this light even Christianity is it self a myth. As C.S. Lewis wrote:

The heart of Christianity is a myth which is also a fact…By becoming a fact, it does not cease to be a myth: that is the miracle…To be truly Christian we must both assent to the historical fact and also receive the myth (fact though it has become) with the same imaginative embrace which we accord to all myths.[25]

Lewis’ point is merely that by embracing Christianity as fact we do not have to lose any of the beauty and creativity of the story. Godawa explains it perhaps in better language than Lewis:

We are creatures of story, created by a storytelling God, who created the very fabric of our reality in terms of His story. Rather than seeing our existence as a series of unconnected random events without purpose, storytelling brings meaning to our lives through the analogy of carefully crafted plot that reflects the loving sovereignty of the God of the Bible.[26]

As a myth Christianity contains one of the most beloved mythical genres: the Christ Myth[27]. While it may seem condescending it is probably necessary to point out the components of the Christ Myth. First, there are in this myth the common elements of every hero’s journey. The good guy overcoming great obstacles to achieve the best end, yet it brings with it, as Godawa points out, “unique concepts like subistutionary atonement and unmerited grace.”[28] This style has found re-duplication in several major motion pictures. Godawa, in his book Hollywood Worldviews, gives the positive example of “Green Mile” and the negative example of “Hannibal”. The most obvious example of a film using the Christ Myth, however, remains “The Matrix.”

This film gives the most obvious signs of identification with the Christ film. In a simple chart Godawa lays out all the parallels for his readers. He points out: Morpheus declares “the One” just as John the Baptist proclaimed the Christ. Neo is the New Adam. Trinity, the name of one character, is the Holy Spirit. The characters were at one time slaves to A.I., just as humanity is a slave to sin. Their waking up in the pod is representative of spiritual re-birth. Cypher is Judas. There is an Oracle, which is a synonym for prophet. Neo is “the One,” so is Christ. Neo is resurrected and even ascends, just like Christ. Likewise both return in a “Second Coming.” Zion is the name of the last human city, also the name of the Biblical Promised Land/Body of Christ.[29] Could the parallels be any more obvious? Some movies, then, can be redeemed through their expressions, however flawed, of the truth of Christ’s redemption of sinners.

Though this myth is a highly loved and appreciated myth among Christians, due to the disdain for Western culture that much of Hollywood has expressed, it is rarely used in such a full fashion in movies. There is another theme found in almost every movie, however, which brings good value with it but is less blatantly Christian: Redemption.

The Essence of Storytelling
If you were to ask me what every movie is essentially about I would have to conclude “redemption.” Redemption is the essence of all movies because it is the essence of all storytelling. It is the essence of all storytelling because redemption is that one thing we are all looking for in life. Most people have a realization that the world is not as it should be. People can quickly recognize the evil in the world (crime, violence, war, etc.), and if they are honest, within themselves. Such news is unsettling and so we look for something to set it right (i.e. salvation). The pursuit for redemption does not lead all people to Christ, though this is the only true redemption. Others have tried to create a savior in their false worldviews that satisfies this desire for wholeness and perfection without God and the Christ. So Existentialism offers salvation through means of “self-creation”. The universe is absurd, logic is a failure, and the only thing that makes us whole is the creation and definition of ourselves. Nihilism says nothing can save us and so they offer only abandonment and hopelessness (which is in itself their form of salvation). The point here being, of course, that we all seek salvation, and this is expressed at the popular level in film.

Brian Godawa explains the basic structure of storytelling, of course there are many complexed forms of this but I believe that at the most basic level this is at the heart of every good story. He writes:

A movie takes a hero with an inner flaw, who desires something and has a plan to get it. But he is blocked by an adversary until he almost fails but finally finds a solution. This process of goal, flaw, failure and self-revelation is the process of paradigm change or conversion in an individual.[30]

This basic structure of storytelling also happens to be the same basic structure of a Christian redemption. Again Godawa explains:

We, as individuals, have a goal for what we want in life to give us significance, fame, money, what have you. But Satan is our adversary, and our character flaw of sin keeps us from achieving that significance. We think that our control is our salvation, but we are wrong. We are the problem, not the solution. We get to the point in life where our constant attempts at achieving our goal are blocked to the point of apparent defeat. We get to the end of ourselves in a final confrontation when we realize that either we cannot achieve our misguided worldly goals or else we achieve them and realize they do not bring the significance we seek. And we finally have a self-revelation that what we wanted in life is not what we needed. Our alienation is caused by our own inner faults, our sins. We change our minds (repentance), which results in a changed life, our resolution. This is the common personal story of Christian conversion.[31]

Of course the Christian redemption has much more at stake and is much more meaningful than this paragraph explains, but Godawa is right in explaining that it has the same basic structure as the redemption stories found in most movies. Take for example movies like “Forest Gump,” “City Slickers,” “The Truman Show,” and “Chariots of Fire”. Each of these films presents a form of redemption, not all are Christian, in which the main character goes through these stages toward his salvation at the end of the film. In some films redemption may be rejected. This type of film is a tragedy and serves as a parable. In most, however, redemption is embraced and resolution is found. This is a basic element of all films and because of that there is an obvious way for Christians to find redemptive value in movies.

That is not to say, however, that all films that convey a message about redemption are distinctly Christian. Many are anti-Christian. Brian Godawa uses the example of “The Dead Poet’s Society” as a humanistic form of redemption.

In Dead Poets Society the redemption is asserted, by the schoolteacher Keating, that since we are food for the worms and there is no afterlife, we must “seize the day” by casting off social and moral restraint to find one’s self or potential.[32]

In this film the power for resolution lies within the self, and this is the common interpretation of redemption that films take today. Other examples of this humanistic framework are found in “Forest Gump,” “Babe,” and “Groundhog Day,” to name only a few. Nonetheless it is possible for Christians to see these films and while noting the misconception of redemption appreciate the films realization of the need for it. See how a film conveys its message of redemption and compare it with Scripture. See where it is right and where it is wrong. What does God’s word say about the type of redemption this film is attempting to teach? In this way we can be both practicing apologetics and growing in our understanding of Biblical salvation. This type of work is all part of what it means to find redeeming value in films; it is part of watching films actively and with discernment.

Active Viewing versus Passive Viewing
The big screen presents us with such images of intense action, drama, color, comedy, emotion, and special effects that often it is easy to simply be a spectator of movies. Perhaps the word “simply” makes you pause. I mean after all what else does one do with a movie besides watch it? Is there more to movie viewing than being a spectator? There is…much more.

If it is true, as I have tried to show above, that movies have messages, share worldviews, and express values, then no Christian can be a mere passive spectator in the viewing of films. If movies are the popular expressions of various philosophies then every time we watch a movie we are being bombarded with messages, therefore it becomes of paramount importance for Christians to watch them with discernment. That is what this section of the chapter is about: Viewing with Discernment, or as I call it, Active Viewing.

How can we discern what we are seeing and hearing in movies? How can we enjoy films, find redemptive value in them, and yet still avoid swallowing all the falsities that some films give out? There are a number of guiding principles laid out below that will help us all to do just that.

1) Aim to Glorify God. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 10:31 that whatever we do we are to do “all to the glory of God.” That word “all” is huge! This means no eating, no drinking, no playing, and no movie watching can be done ultimately to please ourselves. “All” means ALL things are to be done with the aim of bringing glory to God, exalting His name, and pleasing Him. This means that we watch movies with the intent of being edified. Perhaps that seems hard, but the rest of these principles will show how you can watch movies with the intent to be edified. The important point here is to realize that we cannot simply watch movies to pass the time or for sheer pleasure in and of itself, there must be the higher aim of communing with God through it.

2) Use Biblical Discernment. Philippians 4:8 says, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” It’s important to let the Bible be the judge of what is and is not edifying and glorifying to God. Dave Swavely writes:

How can you apply these verses to the entertainment you enjoy? First, you need to know what the Bible says, and you need to evaluate what you see and hear on the basis of what the Bible says. All of it! …So when you watch, read, or listen to anything, Christian or non-Christian, your brain should be in gear, not in neutral. You need to be interacting with the material in the art form in a manner that is illustrated by the phrase “talking back to your TV.”[33]

Engaging in the art is a must for all those who wish to glorify God in their movie watching. Remembering the way in which movies convey worldviews (as I listed above) will help you to think critically about everything from scenery to dialogue, from hero types to final resolution. The understanding of basic story structures will help you to search out for the type of myth being used, is it a Christ myth, a naturalistic myth. It will enable you as well, to conclude what the redemption story is in the film. These are all part of engaging the art form and thinking Biblically. Your answers to those questions must then be compared with the text of Scripture and a final judgment of the films overall message may be made. This, of course, takes into consideration the art itself. Thinking critically about the message of the movie does not mean that we cannot appreciate its artistic presentation, even if the message it conveys is one we do not endorse. I can disagree whole heartedly with the New Age religion espoused in “Star Wars” while still appreciating its influence on the development of CGI animation, and acknowledging its cultural influence.

3) Expose Evil. Part of using Biblical discernment means exposing evil, acknowledging what is sin and not reveling in it. This is part of the dilemma of seeing films whose heroes are themselves the anti-hero. There are reasons to not see movies, and that is of the utmost importance to remember. In a moment I hope to address the issue of being cultural gluttons. The fact is that not all of the culture should be embraced. Films that devalue human life may have no redeemable value in them whatsoever. And other movies may just be so full of immorality and sin that whatever redeemable value is accessible in them is not worth seeking. We must acknowledge sin in the cinema and avoid the tendency to mindlessly or consciously endorse it with our laughter and applause, or even with our complete silence.

4) Be Aware of Your Weaknesses. Just as Joseph recognized the advances of Potiphar’s wife and fled, so we should flee from areas of temptation. Men, if you struggle with lust then it would be foolish to attend movies replete with nudity and sexuality. So writes Godawa, “As viewers we must be sensitive to our own weaknesses and negative propensities…we must be careful to draw personal lines that we will not cross, based upon what particular things affect us negatively when we are exposed to them in movies.”[34] Fight off your temptations by viewing movies with discretion.

5) Always Discuss. One of the most important steps to active viewing is discussion pre and post movie watching. Never let a movie pass by without serious contemplation and thoughtful engagement of the film. The best way to do this is by getting input from others. Again Godawa comments:

Two of the most frustrating replies to hear when asking people what they thought of a movie are “I liked it” or “I didn’t like it,” accompanied by an inability to explain why. But with an elementary understanding of the structure of storytelling, an informed moviegoer can watch a film and enjoy the story while also engaging his or her critical faculties to understand what the movie is trying to say about the way in which we ought or ought not to live.[35]

Discussion helps us avoid the generic “I liked it” or “it was good” expressions and discern what the film was really saying.

6) Make the Most Use Out of Your Time. Not all movies are created equal, therefore we must choose wisely what we spend our time watching. To be sure there are far more important things than movies to begin with. Reading, exercise, service, church, and family communication are far more important things to spend your time in. But when you have time to watch a movie choose wisely. Read up on a film, see what reviewers are saying, and don’t just pick films that look “cool.” It is here that a word about the cultural glutton is necessary.

To be sure the cultural anorexic, who avoids all culture because of its contamination with sin, has his problems (mostly in areas of evangelism and apologetics), but his counterpart is not without need of correction. The cultural glutton says that all culture is good and embraces all the latest popular films and appeals to evangelism and apologetics for justification. More often than not, however, as Godawa states it, “One person’s sense of exploitation may simply illustrate his own prudery, while another person’s tolerance may actually be her own indulgence in besetting sin.”[36] A blanket acceptance of all films, even with critical thinking, is not acceptable for Christians. There are far more important things that we need to be using our time on, and Paul wisely exhorts Christians to “redeem the time.” Christ will not be pleased to return and find us having spent our lives at Cinema 6.

And here, appeals to evangelism can only go so far. Many of these cultural gluttons will attempt to find justification for their indulgences in Acts 17:22. Here Paul stands before the Aeropagus and shares the gospel with these non-believers by means of their own poets. So, the defense often goes, Paul is using their own culture as a vehicle for evangelism. But, as Russ Moore writes, “Paul’s discourse on the Aeropagus is strikingly different from many Christian attempts to be relevant to popular culture.”[37] Paul’s use of the Athenian culture is not in an attempt to join them up with Christianity. “Yes, Paul quotes pagan poets, and yes, Paul takes note of the altar to the unknown god. But in neither case is he ‘building a bridge,’ at least not in the way pop evangelicalism wishes to do so….in the citations from the poets, Paul does not find some form of ‘redemptive analogy’ he can use among a people who do not acknowledge the authority of Scripture. To the contrary, he calls them to repentance on the basis of a Scripturally revealed storyline of humanity (17:26-27, 30-31).”[38] Our movie watching must avoid making movies idols, or simply more important than loving Jesus! No amount of text twisting can argue for movie-dominated lives.

Bring Your Briefcase
A dear friend of mine takes a bag full of books with him wherever he is going. He carries theology texts with him at work, in the car, on vacation, to visit family and friends. Why does he do this? He does it because he always likes to have resources at his fingertips from which he can pull to answer various questions and thereby be both apologetic and evangelistic. A continuously growing knowledge of the Bible remains his most effective and important tool in this task but there is an analogy in his example for all moviegoers.

Take your theology with you to the movies. No movie, nor any element of that movie, is neutral. Everything conveys a message, a worldview, that is true or false. Films contain elements that may be redeemable and minister to our souls, but they also contain elements that deceive us and manipulate our emotions. That is why we must engage the art and think critically about it. That is why our theology must accompany us at the movies, to help us discern what is good and bad, to glorify God and edify our souls while we live in the 21st century’s culture. “Avoidance of pop culture is not possible,” writes Moore, “especially among the unbelieving American populace we’re seeking to evangelize.”[39] And while it is possible to both love the cinema and hate the sin, it can only be done if you bring your theology with you.

The movies are a gift from God.[40] We may and should enjoy them, and since the Bible contains no rules against proper and moderate viewing we can have fun at the movies. So, buy your ticket, grab your popcorn, and don’t forget to leave a seat for your theology.

[1] Of course magazines, newspapers, and television most likely are larger forms of mass media, the celebration of films in recent decades makes it a noteworthy part of this group.
[2] John M. Frame, “Introduction.” Theology at the Movies. Available only online at www.frame-poythress.org/frame_books.htm
[3] I suggest here that there are seven basic questions about life, others would argue for more and some less. My list I have borrowed from James Sire in his book The Universe Next Door. (Downer’s Grove: IVP, 2004). It seems that Ronald Nash might claim only five (Life’s Ultimate Questions. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1999). 14-17) and Nancy Pearcey might suggest only a broad three (Total Truth. (Wheaton: Crossway, 2004). 124). I am taking Sire’s view in part because I think it is more specific than the others, but I am not dogmatic about there being seven.
[4] Sire, The Universe Next Door. 20.
[5] Ibid. 17.
[6] Nancy Pearcey, Total Truth: Liberating Christianity from its Cultural Captivity. 23.
[7] Ibid. 23-24.
[8] Russ Moore, “Pop Christianity & Pop Culture on Mars Hill,” The Tie. Spring 2006. 74:1. 5.
[9] Gene Edward Veith, “Message Movies.” World Magazine. September 3, 2005. 20:34.
[10] Mark T. Coppenger, “Love and Hate at the Movies.” The Tie. Spring 2006. 74:1. 12.
[11] Veith, “Creature Comfrots.” World Magazine. June 3, 2006. 21:22. 12.
[12] “Big Fish” is actually based on the novel by the same name by Daniel Wallace. It is hard to grasp, but when you do it is worth re-watching.
[13] Brian Godawa, Hollywood Worldviews. (Downers Grove: IVP, 2002). 10.
[14] Veith, “V for Vile.” World Magazine. April 1, 2006. 21:13. 10.
[15] Dave Swavely’s book deals at greater length than I have on the issue of legalism in the area of entertainment. He even gives a critical exegesis of one legalist’s own text on pages 135-138. cf. Dave Swavely, Who Are You To Judge?. (Philipsburg: P & R, 2005).
[16] Swavely, Who Are You To Judge?. 131.
[17] Ibid. 132.
[18] Note, for example, the way Jesus speaks of sin in the Sermon on the Mount. Specifically sexual sins, which the Jewish leaders took to mean only the external act of sexual intercourse, and Jesus applies to even lust.
[19] Godawa, 13-14.
[20] Ecc. 2:26.
[21] Leland Ryken, The Liberated Imagination. (Colorado Springs: Shaw, 1989). 32.
[22] For further defense that God desires His children to have joy see John Piper, Desiring God. (Sisters: Multnomah, 2003).
[23] Godawa, 13.
[24] Ibid, 25-26.
[25] C.S. Lewis, God in the Dock: Essays on Theology and Ethics. ed. Walter Hooper. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1970). 66-67.
[26] Godawa, 32.
[27] Again, in using the word myth in reference to Christ’s life, death, and resurrection, I am in no way saying that the Biblical account of Christ’s redemption is false, fabricated, containing any errors, historically unreliable, or even an allegory to some moral/philosophical truth. It is the factual death of Jesus of Nazareth in the flesh on the cross for the salvation of sinners. I embrace a fully orthodox soteriology.
[28] Ibid, 34.
[29] Ibid. 37.
[30] Ibid. 51.
[31] Ibid.
[32] Ibid. 51.
[33] Swavely, 140.
[34] Godawa, 178.
[35] Ibid. 43.
[36] Ibid. 178.
[37] Moore, 4.
[38] Ibid.
[39] Ibid. 5.
[40] For a more thorough articulation of the point that art is God’s gift to mankind see Leland Ryken, The Liberated Imagination. (Colorado Springs: Shaw, 1989).