I have to write an entry on this. It is so apparent that the world is on the fundamentalism bandwagon. If it is not Harry Potter corrupting all the children of the world with his "magic", it's Dan Brown's DaVinci Code making life for the modern-day Pharisee's down right unbearable. I have to admit, I just don't get it. When I was growing up, I didn't think that people had fairy godparents that would grant them any wish. I didn't think that taking a bedknob and turning it three quarter turns clockwise would make the bed, on which it was on, travel to the bottom of Naboomboo lagoon. I didn't think that, despite the fact that he wore a cool cape, Superman could really fly and stop bullets with his chest and jump over skyscrapers. It's called fiction. I am really getting tired of all the hype surrounding fictional characters and storylines. If you have nothing else to do but protest fiction, well then you really do have too much time on your hands. Fiction is by definition NOT REAL. I will admit that there are probably some poor souls out there that believe Harry Potter can cast magic spells or that Jesus was married and had children, but these people are also the ones that propitiate things like conspiracy theories, UFOs, and crop circles. I don't buy for a moment that sane, mature, clear thinking adults will believe the DaVinci Code or Harry Potter are things based on reality. They, as I, have seen these things for what they are, fiction (again not real). The other thing that bothers me is the people making the most noise about it are usually the people that have never watched a single minute of the Harry Potter movies or read The DaVinci Code. That really makes me ill. How can someone make a judgment call on someone else's opinion. I challenge anyone reading this blog, to read the DaVinci Code or watch an episode of the Harry Potter series. The catch is watching or reading without a presupposed opinion, that'll be the tricky part.
The bottom line is fiction is just that, fiction. It is not supposed to be reality. I really enjoy fiction for that reason. Reading or watching a movie/book of fiction allows me to go places I'll probably never go. See (in my mind) things I'll never see. It is an outlet from reality. It is a break from what is going on around me that I can't change. It's freedom, for a time, from the hecticness of life.
As a closer, I'll close with a quote from Jesus (my interp.),"The way you are judged is in direct proportion to how you judge".
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- Jared Funderburk, SIM CP
- Louisiana, United States
- A husband, father, and son.
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- Nomad, The Warrior; Thought I would give this a try. The only thing I can remember about this movie is the landscapes. Completely predictable, not very good.
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8 comments:
The problem with the Da Vinci Code is this in the preface:
“All descriptions of artwork, architecture, documents, and secret rituals in this novel are accurate."
Should this be included considering the incorrect statements and gross assumptions in the book (and I would also guess the movie)? We both know that there are many in churches today who could be easily swayed because they know little about the origin of God's Word and such.
Many are using this as an opportunity to educate Christians on matters of Biblical origin and the historicity of Jesus. Most pastors and Christians I've talked to are seeing this as an educational opportunity for the saved and an evangelistic tool to reach the lost. I wouldn't necessarily consider it the fundamentalist bandwagon. I'd call it contending for the faith or, as Paul did in Athens, using a secular object as an opportunity to share the Gospel.
Just my thoughts....
Your brother,
Thanks for you thoughts. I certainly agree that there are those out in the world that are weak spiritually, but where is the line drawn? Fiction is still fiction. The book is shelved in the fiction section at book stores and libraries. If someone buys the book or checks it out, they know that it is fiction. Even if the book has a disclaimer in the front, its still fiction. I have read several fiction books as I am sure that you have, and there have been "accuracy" statements made in them that I don't believe, but I do admit it makes the story more enjoyable. I am just tired of all the "us and against them" mentality. I know that you know my heart and these are just my opinions.
Yeah man...I understand what you mean.
I've been struggling with the US vs. THEM myself.
The Bible is clear that there is some separation though...
"Friendship with the world is hostility towards God." (James 4:4)
It also says, "Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him." (1 John 2:15)
We just need to be careful that in our effort to "win" the world that we still make a distinction of where we stand. The Bible does and calls us to do it also.
Many who fight these "battles" do so without demonstrating the love that they are supposed to possess. I think that is the major difference.
Also, I think books like this - that are supposedly based on historical figures - are much different from Harry Potter's land of make believe. Harry Potter is clearly fictional. The DaVinci code, while fictional, claims to have some factual basis.
I think you give the masses too much credit to think critically. I believe society today has lost much of its ability to look at facts and make accurate deductions. They even lack the desire to research things themselves, preferring to let media spoon feed them. Without the media blitz telling the truth, I believe many people would accept as fact the things asserted in the book and movie.
However...I could be wrong..lol
I guess to some degree people are just...people. We all come from so many backgrounds, so many different perspectives, its hard to find what's common. Where I am now is very different as compared to a year ago. I don't view people the same. I used to look at people as prospects for induction into a religion. I have changed the "glasses" that I was wearing and now look at people as people. I have been studying grace through works from Philip Yancey, Brennen Manning, and of course the bible and my ideas are certainly different. I choose now to let God be God and me be me. He loves me as I am as does He loves others as they are. Not everyone is right, granted, but not everyone is wrong either. I just have a hard time with "being seperate" from the world. As I understand Jesus and His motives, He was very much in the world and enjoyed the company of liars, prostitutes, swindlers, alcoholics, etc. The reason I believe He did is simple: He preferred being around real people. Yes, He said that the sick need a doctor and constantly reproached the Pharisees, but I think being around people that could give a flip about "how to's" and "following the law" gave Him not only fertile ground but companionship with "the world". I see a much more graceful Jesus than ever before. As far as the Davinci Code goes, I think the biggest problem facing The Church is that we are too easily offened by anothers comments or opinions. I agree that this book/movie is a good platform for telling the truth about Jesus to others, but that even seems to blur the line for me. I causes me to view people as prospects and not individuals. I think the method for evangelism is more relationship based and much less "knocking on doors of strangers". I don't see Jesus doing the latter. He was who He was and people approached Him about things that puzzled them, not the other way around.I guess for me, I need to live as Jesus as best as I can and let Him radiate through me. I don't have all the answers (I am really starting to think I don't have any, lol). The best I can do is seek Him that is the answer. When it all boils down, I am still struggling with "us" vs. "them".
I think anyone is in danger when they begin to view themselves, their group, or worldview as the sole repository of truth. God is the only source of absolute truth expressed completely through His Son. Denominational interpretations of that truth are very much fallible.
It is arrogant to assume that Christians are more capable than others of discerning facts. It is also dangerous and shameful that fundamentalists have reduced Christianity to a belief system of fundamentals and deemphasized the wonder of the relationship of the created with their Creator.
It's worth noting that Jesus did not spend his time drawing distinctives between Himself and outsiders. He spent His time erasing barriers between Himself and outsiders. The only people Jesus distinguished Himself from were the religious elitists of the day who claimed to have all the right answers.
I read today in The Man Called Cash, the authorized biography of Johnny Cash, that he was criticized for spending so much time with prisoners. He said that he thought there were three different kinds of Christians: "there's preaching Christians, church-playing Christians, and there's practicing Christians. I'm trying very hard to be a practicing Christian."
With regard to the previous comment: You wrote, "God is the only source of absolute truth expressed completely through His Son."
I agree with that statement with one qualification. I would clarify by saying, "God is the only source of absolute truth expressed completely through His Son as revealed in His Word." There are many who have their own version of Jesus - a Jesus who does not line up with the Jesus of the Bible.
You also said, "It is arrogant to assume that Christians are more capable than others of discerning facts." If you were responding to my comment, rest assured that is not what I said or meant. I simply stated that as a whole people(society) don't think as critically as they used to.(There is data to substantiate this conclusion.) I never made the distinction between the critical thinking skills of Christians vs. Non-Christians.
With regard to Jesus erasing barriers and such - I agree. However, how do we deal with the work and writings of Paul, of James, or of John? They preached and taught DOCTRINE. I find it interesting that one of the purposes John wrote 1 John was to promote fellowship(1 John 1:3). 1 John is a very Theological book - In it he teaches of separation from the world(1 John 2:15-17), the reality of sin in our lives, the person of Jesus(1 John 1) and other specific doctrins - All to promote fellowship!
Well, I'm rambling and I have work to do...lol I'll try to write more when I'm not swamped with work. Thanks for the discussion.
The only thing that I disagree with you on David is the Doctrine and Theology statements. I believe the bible has doctrine in it as well as Theology, but the problem for me is to see only those things. It seems very rigid and literal. Again, my views have so radically changed that the bible is much less doctrinal/theological and much more personal/relational. Not that you are seperating that. I see the person of Jesus very differently so this makes my thinking different. I really can't put into words what it is that I am saying (so why am I writing you might be asking, lol). As far as what I do with the passages that you listed, I really don't seperate verses or sections from whole contents. I am not saying that you are, but cutting and pasteing(this is spelled wrong)doesn't work for me anymore. I, as well as anybody with any knowledge of the bible, can make it prove just about any point. I take what the bible says seriously, don't miss that, but I don't use it anymore, I cherish it. It has and is a very different and difficult journey for me. I don't believe the way I use to about lots of things. I just don't. For what ever reason, I just don't. I still believe in very basic doctrine, such as the apostles creed. Beyond that, I am not all together sure what I believe or if it is important that I believe one way or another about things outside of basic doctrine. This is all so crazy. The more I travel the more I seem to be standing still and I am not sure that is a bad thing. Thanks for the input....
I believe we may simply have a philosophical/theological difference that can't be reconciled. I believe the Bible is the "record of God's revelation to man." It is not the revelation. I do not esteem or elevate the Bible to a place of authority near the Trinity.
One of the reasons it has become so important for Southern Baptists in particular to shift to Jesus as the "focus of revelation" and the Bible as the revelation is that the Bible is something that can be manipulated and interpreted to suit denominational whims of the decade.
I believe the whole of the Bible which was filtered through human messengers should be interpreted through the person of Jesus Christ. I also believe that the "word of God" predates the written record of His word, i.e. John 1, and that Jesus' presence among His disciples was a far purer revelation of Himself than that recorded in the Gospels.
Having to put words to my convictions only confirms for me and no doubt others that I am far more liberal than I used to be, and I am unashamedly so. It does not bother me that people may have different "versions of Jesus."
I don't feel compelled as do fundamentalists to issue doctrinal approval certificates for private interpretations. There was a time in Baptist life when we believed in the priesthood of the believer which granted individual access to God with no other mediator than Christ Himself, which included the ability and right to know God for oneself and interpret scripture through the aid of the Holy Spirit and not the Baptist Faith & Message 2000. Those days are gone and so is my identification with Southern Baptists and religious conservatives.
I figure God is big enough to handle people misunderstanding Him and that all of our viewpoints will be laid aside when we know fully even as we are fully known. Until that time I'm all for fundamentalists separating themselves from the world. They're embarassing the heck out of the rest of the body of Christ. Until then I'll throw my lot in with the sinners.
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