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On April 24, 2023 By In Theology

Eastern Orthodoxy: Probing an Audacious Claim. And Finding It Wanting.

Let us not forget that the divide between Eastern Orthodoxy and Protestantism is wide and perilous. The Eastern church boldly claims that it is the one true Church, and that those (like us) who worship outside its bounds have never received the Lord’s Supper, hold to manifold heresies, are born of schism, and can have no assurance of salvation.

It ought not, therefore, be thought that our differences are trifle, or are peripheral in nature, or merely matters of liturgical taste. It is true that some modern Orthodox thinkers leave room for the possibility of salvation outside the Eastern Church, but nothing definitive can be said. Orthodoxy has spoken fairly clearly over the centuries. There is no salvation outside the Church.

Wrestling with such claims of exclusivity has troubled me mightily over the years. I well remember the anxiety and inner turmoil I felt while exploring Roman Catholicism as a young Christian. The sense of authority on offer, their interest in things ancient, the finely chiseled doctrine, the vast number of adherents—these all pressed upon me a deep sense of epistemological uncertainty, causing not a few dark nights of the soul.

I could wish that Eastern Orthodoxy didn’t make such bold claims, but they do; and given what I have experienced in recent years, my guess is that many of you reading this know of friends or family who have headed East.

Enter Father Josiah Trenham.

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On April 3, 2023 By In Culture

Are We Locked in a Simulation?

First off, if you haven’t watched The Matrix, you need to do so. It’s a shiny glowing gem of a movie that has not only aged well (it came out in 1999), but its themes continue to resonate strongly in today’s philosophical market.

Rather than serving as a simple parlor trick or merely the imaginative fancy of Hollywood, the best and the brightest of minds still find themselves perplexed, if not deeply troubled by the simple question: Is it possible that we are living in a simulation?

The reason why such a question is problematic is because it jabs a stiff finger right into our epistemological eye. How do we know what we know with any real certainty? Or, more sharply, how do we know anything with any certainty at all?

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On March 17, 2023 By In Church, Culture

SOFT WHITE UNDERBELLY: A Brief Reflection on a Pentecostal Snake Handler

The following reflection is based upon this fascinating and heartbreaking video by Mark Latia.

Never have I felt so conflicted about a man’s faith as when I listened to Pastor Wolford talk about his trust in God while handling venomous snakes.

On the one hand, the sheer simplicity of his unwavering trust hails from some impressive quadrant of childlike obedience, the likes of which may very well make a mockery of my own reliance upon God. On the other hand, the sheer unsophistication of his backwoods approach combines into what can only be described as a deadly foolish ignorance.

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On March 8, 2023 By In Film

Theology of a Psychopath: A Brief Reflection

[Spoilers]

Movie adaptations of novels rarely surpass the genius of the originals. No Country for Old Men comes close. Subtle changes in the action sequences caused the film to burst with tension and anxiety. I would but have you picture in your mind Moss sitting on the edge of the bed with his shotgun, watching the shadow of Chigurh glide under the door. Then the light in the hallway go black.

Perfect.

In nearly every way, the movie captured the tone and brilliance of the novel. Except for one key moment: the murder of Carla Jean.

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On February 13, 2023 By In Culture, Film

Reacting to the Reaction of Ben Shapiro. The Last of Us, Episode 3

As I was saying, The Last of Us, episode three, has garnered mounds of ire and frustration. Purists have trumpeted their disapproval for how the episode deviated from the game, while others have raised cries of alarm over the evident wokeism.

As for representatives of the second camp, Ben Shapiro leads the charge. At the time of my writing this, over half a million people have clicked on his review. You can find it here. In terms of my own sensibilities, he and I tend to harbor similar movie tastes, and because of that, along with his sharp wit and sense of humor, I try to keep tabs on him.

Granting this happy commendation, I must say that I was left wanting more in this instance.

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On February 9, 2023 By In Culture, Film

Wokeback Zombie Mountain? The Last of Us, Episode Three: A Review

The new HBO series The Last of Us is shaping up to be a solid cinematic experience. Based on the wildly popular video game—one which thoroughly captivated this seasoned gamer’s imagination—and which felt like a superb movie experience in its own right—The Last of Us has largely risen above the sad list of failed game-to-movie adaptations.

The opening collapse of society is tense, the main characters are believable, and the one hundred million dollar budget offers up strong visuals. This isn’t to say that there aren’t a few missteps here and there, but on balance, it’s a quivering, but relatively stable thumbs up—assuming, of course, that episode three remains a rainbow anomaly.

You may or may not have heard (depending on how closely you follow the movie nerd sphere) that episode three is either the greatest thing to ever have occurred in the history of the world, or it is a woke dumpster fire causing grunting men to gnash their teeth in fury and agitation.

Here’s a simple breakdown in case you missed it.

A lone survivalist named Bill creates a little utopian outpost in a post apocalyptic world. Years of prepping has paid off—big time. He has a massive generator, enough guns to arm a small country, high grade defenses, and stores of tasty delicacies. Several years pass. Then Frank shows up. He’s a congenial, jovial, good-natured fellow who, after fleeing a dire situation, falls into one of Bill’s zombie-catching pits.

Fast forward to a formal dinner, a soulful piano playing moment, and then, you guessed it, sex. As the years pass in romance, they pick strawberries together, fend off a group of bandits (well, one of them does), grow old, and eventually commit suicide together, due to Frank having contracted some kind of life degenerating disease. They both drink wine loaded with enough Vicodin to drop an elephant. Then they lay in bed waiting for death.

Setting aside the fact that all this clearly agenda driven, it’s a fairly well-crafted tale. Various virtues are exhibited throughout: sacrifice, faithfulness, courage, love. It makes sense why some find it compelling.

Allowing for these congenial concessions (and here I am still ignoring the five hundred pound gorilla in the room), it simply doesn’t make sense why so many critics think it is the greatest thing since sliced bread. But then again, maybe the sheer willingness to loudly applaud what is at best a side quest to the main storyline highlights a deep gravitational force at play in society.

Duh, right?

After listening to about ten reviews on YouTube, and after perusing a handful of online reviews, the amount of over-the-top gushing can scarcely be viewed as anything less than a deep gravitational pull.

Supercuts Delight proclaimed: “The Last of Us Episode 3 is HBO’s Magnum Opus.”

Forbes declared that it is a “Television Masterpiece.”

Add to such headlines various images of women weeping on their YouTube thumbnails, along with media outlets comparing episode three to the opening of Pixar’s Up, and you have what can only be described as a motivated desire to see glory in it. I say that, because, to stress again, and with as much objectivity as I can muster, it wasn’t that good (still ignoring the gorilla, folks). The acting and script was solid but not that compelling. If it was a heterosexual couple experiencing essentially the same things, would these reviewers have hailed it as a masterpiece? They’d likely note its quality and undoubtedly praise it, but to this extent?

Frankly, I doubt it.

Interestingly, the development of this love story was completely absent from the video game. It utilized Bill in a far more interesting manner, in my opinion. Therefore, its addition to the HBO series, which has very closely followed the game, reveals their true objective: they wanted to insert a gay love story because such things ought to be celebrated.

That’s the clear agenda.

Now here’s the thing. I actually don’t fault creators for pushing certain agendas. I do it. And I happen to believe that the Creator of all things has a capital A agenda as well.

So, no, there’s nothing wrong with advancing what one believes is beautiful and good. The central question that has to be answered is this: What is the true and the beautiful and the good? When we answer that question, the rest slides into place. We’ll then have a foundation from which to adequately judge what is true and right and good.

Worldview is everything.

This brings me to a few final thoughts.

When Hollywood produces a well-crafted story that also harbors elements of virtue, the Christian’s task of disentangling what is laudable (in the abstract) from what is not laudable can prove challenging when trying to explain such things to unbelievers. There are praiseworthy elements in the episode, and outsiders are correct to want to prize such things. But when said elements are couched in a sinful context, the virtue is soiled. Muslim terrorists, for example, exhibit tremendous courage and conviction at times. But their zeal is misplaced. Sex and love and faithfulness and courage and sacrifice are all beautiful things, but like all good things, they have to operate within certain confines, lest they bleed into unrighteousness.

Here I am reminded of a conversation between Joe Rogan and Ben Shapiro. Rogan couldn’t understand why Shapiro would insist on heterosexual unions when a segment of the population clearly experiences same sex-attraction.

“Why do you care so much?” asks Rogan. “How are they bothering you?”

Sadly, Shapiro didn’t have a good response. Neither did Matt Walsh.

Unless we back up and talk about our relationship to God as Creator and how it is an affront for humans to say “No, I don’t think what you’ve established is best, or most beautiful, or most fitting as a picture of greater realities,” then we’re not going to be able to disentangle what appears to be wholesome in the eyes of some. Human autonomy with all of its fateful consequences has to stand in the foreground, along with the Fall, and the groaning of creation, since only in the light of those truths can we make sense of disordered, sinful desires.

None of this, of course, guarantees that we’ll prove persuasive. But it ought not come at the expense of trying to provide a thoughtful, rational, and yes, persuasive explanation for why episode three of The Last of Us falls grievously short in what it tries to portray as beautiful.

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On January 16, 2023 By In Culture

In Defense of Nihilistic Films and a Movie Pick: Nightcrawler

Nihilism is a blackness of night without so much as a pinprick of light. Meaning and pleasure take whatever shape a man chooses. There are no good guys, there are no bad guys. There is no dawn of justice waiting to break on the horizon. Evil is merely one shade of gray lost in an infinite spectrum of grays. Life is utterly relative.

In view of this, one might ask whether or not a film has any merit if it is drenched in nihilistic themes. Or, to state the matter more provocatively, should a Christian dare enjoy a nihilistic film?

It’s a fair question, and not a little tricky.

Here I should make a candid confession. As a lover of stories, I naturally and readily find all types of tales, even more nihilistic ones, if done well, compelling, even enjoyable. Naturally, my fear is that I am betraying something of a sadistic mind with this admission. This stems, in part, from my firm belief that all good things come from the Father of lights (James 1:17). Conversely, one might say that all bad things crawl out of the vile wellspring of sin. Nihilism is a very bad thing, therefore nihilistic movies must be very bad things.

The above logic harbors an alluring simplicity. Yet for all its apparent force, I would argue that there is a place for nihilistic films—that there can be value in watching them.

Sometimes a shard of light is seen to shine more brightly against a very dark canvas. This is more than evident in God’s Story. The very fabric of our world has been doused in sin, and as a result, some among us embrace the darkness, ultimately and finally, suffering destruction. This is to say that their life is radically tragic. There is no happy ending. There is no bright light of hope and redemption for them.

When set in the larger framework of God’s dealings, such instances of bitter tragedy nevertheless prove meaningful. History is a stage whereby we are obtaining the knowledge of good and evil. God is demonstrating that sin in all its awful variety purchases misery and ruin. In so doing, He is using such evil to more greatly magnify His glory (Romans 9:22-24; Acts 2:23). One might say that our world is exhibit A (Eph 3:10). None of this, of course, justifies our enjoyment of nihilistic films as a kind of rejoicing in evil; but it does mean that they can serve as powerful tools for impressing upon us the bitter outcome of sin, whatever its peculiar blend. They can serve a larger purpose—much like God’s own utilization of sin in pressing upon us its utter bankruptcy (Romans 6:21).

Here I should hasten to add a sharp qualification. This is not a justification for watching pornography or anything of the like. There are plenty of things we should not “learn” about through film. Let the Word of God be a firm guide here. My point is that there is a place for bleak, largely hopeless films that powerfully portray the folly of sin. These types of productions, if done well, will not only evoke a sense of thankfulness to God for salvation, but they can also serve to instruct and sharpen the light, even if that light is not given direct space to shine on screen. We bring an overarching narrative to the film and digest it in view of that larger panorama. Thus, one might say that dark movies can function as a kind of fable, if you will, portraying some bit of wisdom or insight, providing a cautionary tale.

You would be correct, for example, to be disgusted by the mother in The Florida Project. But such disgust provides a fertile context for a reflective conversation about motherhood, life, choices, evil and its effects on children.

Consider this part of my rationale for recommending certain nihilistic films. If you demur, I respect that, having no interest at all in changing your mind. Life has enough darkness to instruct; movies and novels are not required.

If you are still with me, consider the movie Nightcrawler. To this list could be added such films as No Country for Old Men, or Oslo August 31st, or Joker, or There Will Be Blood. But my guess is that many of you are familiar with at least some of those picks. In the case of Nightcrawler, it tended to fly under the radar of moviegoers.

In this gritty tale of unbridled ambition, Louis Bloom (played brilliantly by Jake Gyllenhaal) scavenges the darker corners of Los Angeles with a camcorder, hoping to capture the next tantalizing scene of suffering, whether it be gruesome accidents or disturbing crimes. Willing to do anything for the “next great shot,” we watch him crawl his way into the good graces of a local news outlet and grow in deviancy.

It’s a powerful exposé of depravity, conjuring as much intrigue as it does horror throughout the film. One need only watch a handful of Mark Laita’s soul-crushing interviews on YouTube (see “Soft White Underbelly”) to know that such broken figures exist in our world. Or, sadly, like most of us, we’re aware of such depravity because it’s found in the branches of our family tree—or the branches of our own hearts.

Whatever the case, if your constitution is sufficiently robust, and you don’t mind dipping a toe in the dark of nihilism to catch something of its terrible vision, Nightcrawler is a movie I would recommend for your consideration, especially if you have a spouse or group of friends to discuss it with afterward.

“Happy” watching.

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