Category Archives: Religion

Sci-Fi Religion and Politics

Benjamin Plotinsky writes about how religion, particularly Christianity, has surged in popular sci-fi and fantasy movies and books lately, overcoming dominate politic themes, but politics appears to be coming back a bit. He points to Star Wars as the best example, saying the original movies had a bit of Christian imagery, but nothing like the more recent prequels. “More generally, why has mainstream sci-fi and fantasy as a whole become so religious? One reason may be the religious revival that the United States and much of the world have been undergoing since the 1970s. This ‘revenge of God,’ in French scholar Gilles Kepel’s phrase, has seemingly begun to be felt even in secular Hollywood.”

Plotinsky points to the recent Battlestar Galactica series as an example of political themes coming back.

Star Wars: A Musical Journey - Press View

“What language shall I borrow to thank Thee”

Lyrics from “O Sacred Head Now Wounded”

Now from Thy cheeks has vanished their color once so fair;

From Thy red lips is banished the splendor that was there.

Grim death, with cruel rigor, hath robbed Thee of Thy life;

Thus Thou hast lost Thy vigor, Thy strength in this sad strife.

My burden in Thy Passion, Lord, Thou hast borne for me,

For it was my transgression which brought this woe on Thee.

I cast me down before Thee, wrath were my rightful lot;

Have mercy, I implore Thee; Redeemer, spurn me not!

What language shall I borrow to thank Thee, dearest friend,

For this Thy dying sorrow, Thy pity without end?

O make me Thine forever, and should I fainting be,

Lord, let me never, never outlive my love to Thee.

Be Thou my consolation, my shield when I must die;

Remind me of Thy passion when my last hour draws nigh.

Mine eyes shall then behold Thee, upon Thy cross shall dwell,

My heart by faith enfolds Thee. Who dieth thus dies well.

Friday Fight, supplementary

Danish Viking Crucifix

I’ve written a fair amount in this space about the idea of honor-based cultures, from the point of view of someone who studies one particular honor culture (that of the Vikings) pretty obsessively.

Considering the way honor cultures operate (never admit wrongdoing; never overlook an insult, etc.), you may have wondered how in the world the Norse were ever converted to the Christian religion, a religion whose absolute foundation involves confession of sin, repentance, and humility—not only before God, but before one’s neighbor—even one’s enemy. Continue reading Friday Fight, supplementary

The Friday Fight: Good Friday

(Isaiah 53) Who has believed what he has heard from us?

And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?

For he grew up before him like a young plant,

and like a root out of dry ground;

he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,

and no beauty that we should desire him.

He was despised and rejected by men;

a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief;

and as one from whom men hide their faces

he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Surely he has borne our griefs

and carried our sorrows;

yet we esteemed him stricken,

smitten by God, and afflicted.

But he was wounded for our transgressions;

he was crushed for our iniquities;

upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,

and with his stripes we are healed.

All we like sheep have gone astray;

we have turned—every one—to his own way;

and the LORD has laid on him

the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,

yet he opened not his mouth;

like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,

and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,

so he opened not his mouth.

By oppression and judgment he was taken away;

and as for his generation, who considered

that he was cut off out of the land of the living,

stricken for the transgression of my people?

And they made his grave with the wicked

and with a rich man in his death,

although he had done no violence,

and there was no deceit in his mouth.

Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him;

he has put him to grief;

when his soul makes an offering for guilt,

he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;

the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.

Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied;

by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,

make many to be accounted righteous,

and he shall bear their iniquities.

Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many,

and he shall divide the spoil with the strong,

because he poured out his soul to death

and was numbered with the transgressors;

yet he bore the sin of many,

and makes intercession for the transgressors.

Interview with Michael Horowitz

“In so many ways, Christians had become the Jews of our time—the scapegoats of choice for the thug regimes around the world,” Michael Horowitz says in this interesting interview with World.

Q: How can Christians involved in politics make the world a better place?

Take a look at what William Wilberforce did. His lessons: Be very attentive to defining yourself and not letting others define you. Understand that politics is seductive and corruptive. Understand that “us against them” and demonization of the other side is not very Christian—and won’t succeed. And don’t simply say, “I care about these issues” and sign letters, because that doesn’t count.

Life Bookends

Everything you do and all that you are are like books on a long open shelf. Without bookends to hold up those various sized books, you’re likely to lose some of them. But fear not. God offers two bookends through faith in Christ Jesus. “One bookend is the righteousness of Christ; the other is the power of the Holy Spirit.

Why the Tree in the First Place?

Rebecca started a theological fight while visiting a Sunday School class in Minnesota. This post gives you a summary of the fight so far (you can backtrack on her blog to read a few more details), and the fight continues here.