J. Kameron Carter

Why Lord? Haiti and the God-Question

In this essay, theologian J. Kameron Carter considers what’s wrong with theodicy questions, or questions about God, suffering, and evil, in relationship to the recent earthquake in Haiti.

Jeffrey Overstreet

Two Lovers (Gray, 2009)

James Gray’s latest wraps three distinct, remarkable characters around a haunting question. It may make you miserable while you watch, but it will stick with you like few love stories do.

M.S. Smith

Susan Sontag and the Making of Souls

The number of film critics who have indelibly shaped my understanding of the cinema is relatively small, perhaps a half dozen, maybe a dozen at the most. Susan Sontag is chief among them, although I’ve never thought of her as a critic per se. During a youth spent at academic institutions in Berkeley, Chicago, Cambridge […]

M. Leary

Yuri Norstein and The Hedgehog at USC

“It is very difficult to get rid of that hard physic in film,” Norstein said towards the end of the screening. “The image is just an outer layer under which something else is hidden.”

M. Leary

Essay on Meandering Cinema

Unspoken Cinema just posted an essay on The Aesthetics of the Meandering Cinema that contains this intriguing tidbit: “When independent cinema however derives its weight from being socially relevant, there appears the question of the aptness or effectivity of its chosen aesthetic. Perhaps this is why there is always the nagging question of whether this […]

Eric J. Speece

Music in Worship: A Discussion

Since it’s been rather quite around here lately, allow me to take advantage of open-source thinking and pose a couple questions. What is the role that music plays in worship? and…. Is there a difference between playing music in a worship setting as opposed to other settings? To elaborate a little: It is certainly the […]

Nathan R. Kerr

“With Sighs Too Deep for Words”: On Praying With the Victims in Haiti

In this theological response to the Haiti earthquake, Nathan Kerr suggests that rather than merely speaking about God, Christians should inhabit a mode of speaking to God that responds to the oppressed victims of Haiti by living in solidarity with them, both in revolt against the powers that oppress and in hope that God might liberate them to live and love freely.