Today I came across an abbreviation that I hadn’t seen before in a Facebook comment stream. This one peeked my interest because of the context, so I went over to Google (the search engine, y’know) and started to look up the abbreviation to learn what it stood for.
What I was looking up isn’t important—I’m not going to tell you—but what popped up in the Google drop down I thought was more interesting. Continue reading
With the Bible as our guide to good storytelling, and just what is and isn’t permissible morality in stories, let’s take another look at how to interpret morality issues we face in fiction.
Some well-meaning conservative people wish that fiction would lack immorality—well, immorality that they don’t have a tolerance for. As I pointed out in the first part, the Bible has lots of immorality that no good Christian should take a liking to. Yet, the Bible depicts many graphic details of sin and immorality of all kinds that we should be on guard for. As we think about the meaning underlying fiction we either get on television, the theatre, internet (web shows), or novels, we should discern what the moral compass is of the fiction; whether the author/filmmaker is consistent with his own morality. If he wants to objectify women in an evolutionary way (do whatever you want with your body—who cares?) but doesn’t want to take a consistent view of evolutionary thinking as it relates to politics (Indiana Jones is opposed to Nazism just because ‘it ain’t right’) then he’s picking and choosing his morality out of thin air. There isn’t a basis for it except personal opinion, and that is not concrete or authoritative. Continue reading
Building on a proper understanding of the genres of fiction, and a thorough appreciation for the whole of stories and there individual scenes, let us look now at the culmination of morality in fictional works to interpret the intent — message/meaning, if you will — of a story.
Morality is one of the stickiest issues for religious people to cypher whether a story is a good one to read or watch. We get lost in the minutiae wondering about the suitable age range for audiences; whether the story is “Christian” enough; whether the villain’s worldview overwhelms that of the hero’s; we total up the number of expletives in the first act; we count the number of square inches on our TVs that are covered in a splash of blood in a bit of violence…. Continue reading
Have you ever considered that audible art (music and spoken word) has more in common with the literary arts than visual arts? A great deal of the visual arts have sound along with them these days, but purely audible art has to compensate for the lack of visuals much the way the written word has to communicate. Continue reading
Most people in western culture, consciously or passively, consider art to fit in one of two categories: secular and/or sacred arts. Few people know how to define these categories. Churches usually don’t educate their flocks on the arts, but along the way—going to church, Sunday school, Bible studies, etc.—members of the flock get an indirect idea of what religious art is, and what it is not. The rest of the culture wants to put sacred art into a box that they can tuck away from their lives. Only on the rare Christmas or Easter church services they attend do they enjoy religious icons, decor, or other religious artistic works. Continue reading
I’ve been using the ESV for three years. It’s short history (published only seven or eight years ago) has turned up many positive reviews from readers worldwide. I have yet to encounter someone that used the ESV that didn’t care for it or uses another Bible more. Continue reading
The original reason I started blogging more than a year ago was my desire to push myself to learn then share with others what I’d learned. Thanks to the sophistication of modern communication, you don’t need a university to teach you everything out of highschool. There are innumerable sources for knowledge and I was poised to tap them and find truth. Continue reading
I’ve often wondered, but never found, an answer to the question. In Genesis, the first chapter, God is creating the universe. I believe that a literal interpretation of all scripture on the subject of creation here and throughout the Bible points to 6 literal days of creation and that’s all—no gap theories. But, I want to address the nature in which God created man; not so much the time it took Him. Continue reading
Picking up where I left off last time, I want to hone on the point I’d really like to make. This is something I’ve been thinking about lately, and I think it is good to ponder for just about everyone.
You hold positions for every issue and ideal in life because of what you know. If you are like most people, experience is what guides you. If you are an exception from the crowd, it may be the teaching someone else has shared with you, and the teacher’s worldview is what dominates your decisions over your experience. If you go even a step further than that, you may be a “professional” of a subject, and your credentials and own experience examining a subject will be what guides you. This, and all the other conditions I’ve mentioned, are ultimately flawed, but common and usually effective ways to make your mind up on issues of life. Continue reading
