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“Blue Like Sad”: Robbie Sagers on Don Miller’s New Book

By on March 13, 2006 in Book Reviews, Theology/Bible

My friend and fellow traveler Robbie Sagers has written an excellent review of Don Miller’s new book To Own a Dragon. Sagers writes the review for the Journal of Biblical Manhood and Womanhood (JBMW), but you can read it now on the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood’s website.

Miller’s widely acclaimed book Blue Like Jazz left me wondering about the effects of Miller’s dysfunctional relationship with his father. According to Sagers, this book delves deeply into that subject. I haven’t read the book yet, but Sager’s essay has definitely piqued my interest.

When Sagers isn’t out late at night getting folks lost in Harlem, he proves to be an insightful and thoughtful writer [ :) ]. Go check out his review.

(HT: Russell Moore)

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Clubbing Clooney

By on March 10, 2006 in Culture

Peggy Noonan has a penchant for rhetoric, and sometimes she can be downright harsh. You should check out her piece on George Clooney’s acceptance speech at last Sunday’s Oscar ceremony, “Boy in a Bubble: What George Clooney doesn’t know about life.” Here’s a devastating snippet:

George Clooney is Hollywood now. He is charming and beautiful and cool, but he is not Orson Welles . . . Orson Welles was an artist. George Clooney is a fellow who read an article and now wants to tell us the truth, if we can handle it.

The Missional Baptist Blog thinks I was pretty harsh in my critique of George Clooney in my Baptist Press article “The Gospel according to Hollywood.” Well, at least I’m not as mean as Peggy Noonan! :)

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‘Misquoting Jesus’ in the Washington Post

By on March 9, 2006 in Book Reviews, Theology/Bible

Neely Tucker reviews Bart Ehrman’s Misquoting Jesus in last Sunday’s Washington Post (click here). Unfortunately, the review takes up some of the tendentious claims that Ehrman puts forth in the book. One such claim is Ehrman’s contention that the variations in the manuscript copies of the New Testament undermine the Christian faith. The Post review writes:

Most of these are inconsequential errors in grammar or metaphor. But others are profound. . . [One] critical passage is in 1 John, which explicitly sets out the Holy Trinity (the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit). It is a cornerstone of Christian theology, and this is the only place where it is spelled out in the entire Bible — but it appears to have been added to the text centuries later, by an unknown scribe.

The text in question is 1 John 5:7, the so-called Comma Johanneum (a.k.a. the “Johannine comma”). Yes, the reading was erroneously added by a later scribe. But the Post review wrongly implies that the doctrine of the Trinity is dependent upon this particular reading (which is reflected in the King James Version). Nothing could be further from the truth.

The 2nd, 3rd, and 4th centuries debates over the Trinity never appeal to this verse as a basis for Trinitarian theology. If the reading were so fundamental to that particular doctrine, it would be odd to find that the early church never referred to it. The fact is that the doctrine of the Trinity was not dependent on 1 John 5:7 because the doctrine of the Trinity was hammered out without dependence upon it.

This is just one of many baseless claims in Ehrman’s book. Unfortunately the Post is repeating the error.

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Click here for my review of Ehrman’s Misquoting Jesus.

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Have You Heard about Jason McElwain?

By on March 7, 2006 in Culture, Sports

This is the kind of story that makes your heart full and your eyes well up with tears. It’s a Rudy-esque tale about a kid with autism. It’s the story of Jason McElwain, and it’s so good that the movie studios are already lining up to make a movie about him.

Jason McElwain is the waterboy for his high school basketball team, and he’s also their biggest fan. Because Jason is a senior and the team’s most ardent supporter, the coach decided to let him suit-up with the team for the last home game of the season. Then, the coach actually let him play for the last four minutes of the game. As Jason goes into the game, the fans hit their feet and roar with excitement. This much of the story is enough for the makings of a great movie, but what happened next makes it even better.

When Jason hits the court, he starts shooting the basketball. He misses two shots right off the bat—one jump shot, one lay-up. On his third shot, he drains a three-pointer, and the crowd goes absolutely nuts. He then proceeds to drop five more three-pointers, finishes the game with 20 points, and ties the school record for most three-pointers in a game.

As the buzzer sounds, the student body rushes the floor and carries Jason off the court in triumph.

I know this sounds too fantastic to believe, so I would encourage you to see for yourself. Someone videotaped the game. Greatness.

CBS News – “Autistic Teen’s Hoop Dreams” (video)

ABC News – “Hoop Dreams for Autistic Student” (video)

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Speak Softly? Not When It Comes to Iran & Nukes

By on March 7, 2006 in Politics

Speaking on behalf of the Bush administration, Vice President Dick Cheney vows that the U.S. will not allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon. He also will not take the military option off of the table (click here to see the story).

In this case, I think the administration is doing the right thing. Sometimes saber-rattling achieves more than “speaking softly while carrying a big stick.”

Do you remember the “Axis of Evil”? It’s Iraq, Iran, and North Korea. If Iran thinks that Bush is not serious, they have another thing coming.

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Not a Fan of “Crash”

By on March 6, 2006 in Culture

Last night, “Crash” won the Oscar for Best Picture at the Academy Awards. I saw “Crash,” but I am not a fan of the movie. I thought that it was hokey and superficial in its treatment of a serious subject.

In an essay for MSNBC.com, Erik Lundegaard sums it up well.

But what is [the movie] saying? That we all bear some form of racism. That we all “stereotype” other races. That, when pressured, racist sentiments spill out of us as easily as escaped air.

Here’s my take. Yes, we all bear some form of racism — that’s obvious. Yes, we all “stereotype” other races in some fashion — that’s obvious. (Particularly obvious in the Los Angeles of “Crash,” where so many characters are stereotypes.) But, no, we don’t easily give voice to our racist sentiments. And that’s why “Crash” rings so false.

Last month I wrote an article on the best picture nominees (called “Anything But ‘Crash’”) in which I talked about how the most potent form of racism in this country is no longer overt but covert. Once upon a time, yes yes yes, it was overt, which is another reason why “Crash” [is an awful movie]. It’s doing what simple-minded generals do: It’s fighting the last war (source).

Lundegaard is right on target. The dialogue in this movie simply does not ring true. Real racism typically does not surface in the way that this film alleges. The situations in “Crash” seem contrived and unrealistic at best.

I still can’t believe that this movie won Best Picture. In my view, it was awful.

If you don’t agree with me, that’s okay. But I recommend that you go and take Lundegaard’s “‘Crash’ Quiz” (click here). It may change your mind.

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P.S. I am reminded by my wife of another reason not to see this movie. Apparently, there were some objectionable scenes in it. I had forgotten about them because I never saw them. We skipped over the scenes when we watched the DVD.

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The Gospel according to Hollywood

By on March 6, 2006 in Culture, Theology/Bible

Christians aren’t the only ones who preach. Hollywood does it too, and with great effect. This was no where more clearly seen than in two men who won Oscars at the Academy Awards March 5. George Clooney and Ang Lee both made a point of saying that movies can and should advocate for causes that the rest of the country may not support.

In the acceptance speech after winning the Oscar for best actor, Clooney celebrated the disconnect between his own liberal views and the views of mainstream America.

We are a little bit out of touch in Hollywood every once in a while. I think it’s probably a good thing. We’re the ones who talk about AIDS when it was just being whispered, and we talked about civil rights when it wasn’t really popular. And we, you know, we bring up subjects. This Academy, this group of people gave Hattie McDaniel an Oscar in 1939 when blacks were still sitting in the backs of theaters. I’m proud to be a part of this Academy. Proud to be part of this community, and proud to be out of touch. And I thank you so much for this (source).

We can all agree with AIDS awareness and the promotion of civil rights. But Clooney implies that current left-wing causes (like the normalization of homosexuality) are morally equivalent to the advent of civil rights for African Americans. Such a position is in fact “out of touch” with the vast majority of Americans (and contrary to the Gospel), but I don’t think it’s anything to be proud of. Clooney is proud to be “out of touch” with mainstream America because he believes Hollywood’s values are superior to those of the “fly-over” states.

In Ang Lee’s long list of “thank yous,” he expressed gratitude to the homosexual characters in “Brokeback Mountain”

First of all, I want to thank two people who don’t even exist . . . Their names are Ennis and Jack. And they taught all of us who made ‘Brokeback Mountain‘ so much about not just all the gay men and women whose love is denied by society, but just as important, the greatness of love itself (source).

In so many words, Ang Lee is very clear that he intends for this story to teach viewers. He aims to teach all of us about the “cruelty” of society’s stigmatizing homosexuality. As far as Ang Lee is concerned, mainstream America still clings to outdated sexual mores and ideas about gender, and he means to change that with movies like “Brokeback Mountain.”

Both Clooney and Lee indicate their intention to advocate in their movies a secularized vision of the world. Make no mistake; they don’t mean merely to reflect culture in their movies, but to shape it.

As Christians, it’s important for us to take note of comments such as these. The Gospel of Christianity is one that tells a story that goes from Eden, to the fall, to redemption, to new creation — a story that is summed up and realized through the work of Jesus Christ crucified and raised.

Hollywood is telling another story, one that simply will not be compatible with that of the Gospel. To the extent that Hollywood or anyone else tries to impose its stories in place of God’s story (the one true story), we have a sacred obligation to speak up with the Gospel.

We don’t need to wait for a Gospel revival in Hollywood to meet this obligation. By God’s grace, let us all resolve to herald the true story whether Hollywood is on board or not.

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This article appeared in the Baptist Press, March 8, 2006 under the title “The Gospel according to Hollywood.”

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Unspeakable Abortion Tragedy

By on February 24, 2006 in Culture, Politics, Theology/Bible

I read an unspeakably tragic story today in the BBC News (click here to read it). It’s about a 16 year old girl who tried to abort her twins early in her pregnancy. Later in the pregnancy, she found out that one of them survived the procedure.

Now, the surviving twin is four years old, and the mother is suing the hospital because “she suffers an impediment in her ability to obtain employment in consequence of her care for the child.”

Consider these lines from the mother and weep: “I still don’t know if, or what, I am going to tell Jayde when the time comes. Maybe when she is nine or 10 I will sit her down and explain it to her.”

As my wife completes her seventh month of pregnancy before the delivery of our first child, tragic stories like these take on a new poignancy. It just takes your breath away that this story could possibly be true.

Maranatha.

(HT: Justin Taylor)

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New Testament Scholar, Ben Witherington, Takes a Whack at the ESV

By on February 21, 2006 in Theology/Bible

Ben Witherington’s apocryphal account of the origin of the English Standard Version (ESV) of the Bible has been roundly refuted on the ESV Bible Blog (HT: Justin Taylor). Among other things, Witherington alleges that the ESV translation too often manifests conservative biases rather than accurate translation.

His comments imply that he detects complementarian biases being manifested in the ESV’s translation of texts like Romans 16:7, 1 Timothy 2:12, and Ephesians 5:21-22. Witherington writes, “The ESV doesn’t do justice to any of these texts, and at the expense of women.” Continue Reading →

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Scot McKnight on the Emerging Church Movement

By on February 18, 2006 in Theology/Bible

One of the most dangerous things that a theologian can do these days is attempt to describe and/or define the Emerging Church Movement. It’s a perilous task not because one is literally risking life and limb, but because those within the movement have taken great pains to resist being pigeon-holed into any rigid system of belief. Not only that, the movement is in many ways so disparate that characterization has appeared to many to be a well-nigh impossible task. Continue Reading →

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