Today, as I write this, the world is learning about the death of Ronnie James Dio, who succumbed to stomach cancer at the age of sixty-seven. The heavy-metal singer replaced Ozzy Osbourne in the late ’70s as the front man for Black Sabbath. After several years and records, Dio went on to front Ritchie Blackmore’s […]
I think there is value in approaching art – including even the movies! – with humility, submitting yourself to the story, suspending your judgments along with your disbelief (the two are related, and neither is honourable) for at least the duration of the film. I think of the chastened Ebenezer Scrooge, his former arrogance dissolved by the sobering vision of his own life offered by the Ghost of Christmas Past, standing before the second of the Ghosts and saying “Tonight, if you have aught to teach me, let me profit by it.” We do well, confronted with such visions, when they say “Touch my robe!”, to obey and hold fast.
When her brother was jailed for murder, Betty Anne Waters dedicated her life to (yawn) tracking down the evidence that would… zzzzzzzzzzzz…
In this interview, Nathan R. Kerr reflects on some of the conversations that have emerged in the last two years since the release of his book Christ, History, and Apocalyptic: The Politics of Christian Mission. In particular, he explores the connections between Christology, the nature and task of theology, and the mission of the church in […]
Did The Social Network change your feelings about Facebook?
A few weeks ago, I was talking with a friend from church about films and how he’d recently come to appreciate films in which he could just sit back and watch life unfold. That’s probably as succinct a description as any for Hirokazu Kore-Eda’s Still Walking, which follows the events and rhythms of a family […]
I’m your biggest fan, I’ll follow you until you love me Papa, paparazzi —Lyrics from “Paparazzi” as performed by Lady Gaga The Greatest Day in New England History The streets of Boston course with life as a crowd greater than the city’s total population joins in celebration. Commerce grinds to a standstill. Women faint. Grown men weep. […]
Jim Emerson has some thoughts on Let Me In, and how it is different from Let the Right One In: “There is sin and evil in the world, and we’re enjoined by Scripture and the Lord Jesus to oppose it with all our might. Our nation, too, has a legacy of evil with which it […]
In an adapted excerpt from his upcoming new book, Pete Ward discusses how celebrity culture is a “kind of” religion which carries theological ideas as part of popular communication.