\n<\/p>\n
When I was an impressionable youth I had an adult compare
\nthe Oscar statue to the idols of old, those stone figures that the Israelites
\nfoolishly worshipped instead of the true God. And so, for as long as I
\nremember, Hollywood and Christian were mutually exclusive. <\/p>\n
Fortunately for me, unfortunately for my parents, my thirst
\nfor the arts and my insatiable curiosity meant that I couldn\u2019t keep my little
\nfingers off music and movies my parents deemed not only inappropriate but
\ndownright demonic. I probably had to break the same Jay-Z CD at least 3 times
\nin high school alone.<\/p>\n
When I was in 5th<\/sup> grade I watched my first The irony of all this was that some of the foundational \u201cIs your father a ghost, or do you converse with the Almighty?\u201d asks Hamish. Stephen replies, \u201cIn order to find his equal, an Irishman is forced to talk to God.\u201d He then looks up, \u201cYes Father!\u201d and looking at Hamish says, \u201cThe Almighty says, \u2018Don\u2019t change the subject, just answer the fuckin\u2019 question.\u2019\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Stephen became a character that allowed me to see that God \u201cSometimes I think, when it gets too quiet up there, You say to Yourself, \u2018What kind of mischief can I play on My friend Tevye?\u2019\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Tevye was so transformational for me. He let me peek into \u201cHere is your final lesson\u2014do not commit the crime for which you now serve the sentence. God said, \u2018Vengeance is mine.\u2019 \u201cI don\u2019t believe in God,\u201d replies Edmond Dantes. Abbe Faria answers, \u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter. He believes in you.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n What I learned from Abbe Faria was his absolute patience On February 17 we have on the podcast Bible scholar Rhonda Burnette-Bletsch who teaches Bible & Film at Eastern University. Make sure to give it a listen \u2013 but in the meantime, as you anxiously await the Oscars on February 24, she has graciously given us a list of movies she would recommend if you are looking for movies that are impacted by the Bible, have explicit Biblical themes, or make you think about faith in new ways. Almost none of which I would have been able to watch if I still carried the beliefs of my youth.<\/p>\n 3:10 to Yuma (dir. James Mangold, 2007)<\/p>\n 12 Years a Slave (dir. Steve McQueen, 2013)<\/p>\n Adam\u2019s Apples (dir. Anders Thomas Jenson, 2005)<\/p>\n The Adjustment Bureau (dir. George Nolfi, 2011)<\/p>\n Apocalypse Now (dir. Francis Ford Coppola, 1979)<\/p>\n The Apostle (dir. Robert Duvall, 1997)<\/p>\n Babel (dir. Alejandro Gonz\u00e1lez I\u00f1\u00e1rritu, 2006)<\/p>\n Babette\u2019s Feast (dir. Gabriel Axel, 1987)<\/p>\n Barton Fink (dir. Coen Brothers, 1991)<\/p>\n Being There (dir. Hal Ashby, 1979)<\/p>\n Ben-Hur (dir. William Wyler, 1959)<\/p>\n Birth of a Nation (dir. Nate Parker, 2016)<\/p>\n Blade Runner (dir. Ridley Scott, 1982)<\/p>\n Blade Runner 2049 (dir. Denis Vileneuve, 2017)<\/p>\n Blue (dir Krzysztof Kie\u015blowski, 1993)<\/p>\n Breaking the Waves (dir. Lars von Trier, 1996)<\/p>\n Bruce Almighty (dir. Tom Shadyac, 2003)<\/p>\n C.R.A.Z.Y. (dir. Jean-Marc Vall\u00e9e, 2005)<\/p>\n Cape Fear (dir. Martin Scorsese 1991)<\/p>\n Children of Men (dir. Alfonso Cuar\u00f3n, 2006)<\/p>\n Contact (dir. Robert Zemekis, 1997)<\/p>\n Cool Hand Luke (dir. Stuart Rosenberg, 1967)<\/p>\n Creation (dir. Jon Amiel, 2009)<\/p>\n David and Bathsheba (dir. Henry King, 1951)<\/p>\n Dead Man Walking (dir. Tim Robbins, 1995)<\/p>\n Evan Almighty (dir. Tom Shadyac, 2007)<\/p>\n Eve and the Firehorse (dir. Julia Kwan, 2005)<\/p>\n Ex Machina (dir. Alex Garland, 2014)<\/p>\n Exodus: Gods and Kings (dir. Ridley Scott, 2014)<\/p>\n The Fountain (dir. Darren Aronofsky, 2006)<\/p>\n The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (dir. David Fincher, 2011)<\/p>\n God on Trial (dir. Andy De Emmony, 2008)<\/p>\n Godspell (dir. David Greene, 1973)<\/p>\n The Gospel According to St. Matthew (dir. Pier Paolo The Green Mile (dir. Frank Darabont, 1999)<\/p>\n The Green Pastures (Marc Connelly\/William Keighley, 1936)<\/p>\n Hereafter (dir. Clint Eastwood, 2010)<\/p>\n In the Valley of Elah (dir. Paul Haggis, 2007)<\/p>\n Inherit the Wind (dir. Stanley Kramer, 1960)<\/p>\n Jesus Christ Superstar (dir. Norman Jewison, 1973)<\/p>\n Jesus of Montreal (dir. Denys Arcand, 1989)<\/p>\n Jesus of Nazareth (dir. Franco Zefferilli, 1977)<\/p>\n Keeping Mum (dir. Niall Johnson, 2005)<\/p>\n Ladykillers (dir. Coen Brothers, 2004)<\/p>\n Last Days in the Desert (dir. Rodrigo Garcia, 2015)<\/p>\n Le gen\u00e8se (dir. Cheick Oumar Sissoko, 1999)<\/p>\n The Last Supper (dir. Th\u00f3mas Guti\u00e9rrez Alea, 1976)<\/p>\n The Last Temptation of Christ (dir. Martin Scorsese, 1988)<\/p>\n Life of Brian (dir. Terry Jones, 1979)<\/p>\n The Mission (dir. Roland Joff\u00e9, 1986)<\/p>\n Moonrise Kingdom (dir. Wes Anderson, 2012)<\/p>\n Mother! (dir. Darren Aronofsky, 2017)<\/p>\n Night of the Hunter (dir. Charles Laughton, 1955)<\/p>\n
\nRated-R movie. Having a best friend whose parents didn\u2019t think that the Devil
\nincarnated all things coming from Hollywood turned out to be a lifesaver. The
\nmovie was Bloodsport by the way. And it was Damme good.<\/p>\n
\ntheology I still cling to are things I learned in movies I wasn\u2019t allowed to
\nwatch. Here are a few characters that absolutely shaped my faith as a teenager:<\/p>\nStephen (\u201cthe Irishman\u201d from Braveheart<\/em>)<\/h2>\n
\nrelates to individuals differently, that we don\u2019t have to give up our
\nuniqueness to be Christians. I loved how quirky Stephen was and how people
\ndidn\u2019t trust his out-of-the-box weirdness, especially how he related to God,
\nbut he simply didn\u2019t care. And in the end he was in the inner circle of the
\nmost trusted, a loyal and faithful friend.<\/p>\nTevye (\u201cthe father\u201d in Fiddler on the Roof)<\/h2>\n
\nJewish culture where confronting God and questioning God was acceptable. He was
\nso secure in his relationship with God that his doubts did not seem to be an
\naffront to God but a sign of their incredible intimacy. I also loved his
\ncomplete inability to get anything right about \u201cthe Good Book.\u201d<\/p>\nAbbe Faria (\u201cthe Priest\u201d in Count of Monte Cristo<\/em>)<\/h2>\n
\nwith Edmond. That is, I learned that the love of God does not get frustrated or
\nimpatient when it doesn\u2019t \u201cconvert\u201d but is content with speaking a truth that
\naffirms the other. There was such a gentleness in his relationship with Edmond,
\neven though Edmond was obviously not in a place to believe in the God that
\nFaria believed in. It is not an overstatement to say that Abbe Faria is the
\ncharacter who helped me begin to question the militaristic approach to non-Christians
\nthat I had learned.<\/p>\n
\nPasolini, 1964)<\/p>\n