Book Review: Inside Narnia by Devin Brown

Date January 9, 2006 Posted by Roger Overton

   
       
           

           

       

   

Since The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
was printed in 1950, almost four-dozen books have been published on the
Narnian Chronicles, and most of these in the past few years. The danger
in writing a book on Narnia today is that so much has already been
said. Devin Brown sets the standard in the Preface to Inside Narnia in
describing how his book is different: “The strongest reason for any new
work must be that is (1) takes an approach not taken before or (2)
covers ground which has not been covered. I would offer both these
reasons for Inside Narnia.” (7)


Many books on Narnia focus mostly on the devotional or spiritual
elements of Lewis’s books; however, Devin Brown sees value in a
literary approach. “By devoting an entire work to The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,
I hope to provide the kind of close literary analysis it warrants and
also supply a good deal of supplemental information from Lewis’s life
and other writings. In addition, I offer a wide selection of comments
and opinions from other scholars, here for the first time collected in
a single work.” (7)

Continue reading at Never Enough Tea…

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Pray for Piper

Date January 7, 2006 Posted by Roger Overton

John Piper has been diagnosed with prostate cancer. What's amazing, and encouraging, is his attitude about it…

 

This news has, of course, been good for me. The most dangerous thing in
the world is the sin of self-reliance and the stupor of worldliness.
The news of cancer has a wonderfully blasting effect on both. I thank
God for that. The times with Christ in these days have been unusually
sweet.

Read his full letter to his congregation here. Let's keep him and his faimly in prayer as they face this challenge. (HT: Justin Taylor)

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Emerging Clarification

Date January 7, 2006 Posted by Roger Overton

Baptist Press has just released an opinion piece by Ed Stetzer on the emerging movement, “Understanding the emerging church“.  Stetzer assists us all in clarifying the emerging movement by dividing it into three types:

1) Relevants
2) Reconstructionists
3) Revisionists

Relevants want to communicate the gospel to today's culture in an understandable way.  Reconstructionists also hold to the gospel, but question and reconstruct church.  Revisionists question and revise both the church and the gospel.  Stetzer's response to these three groups is worth quoting:

To be in this conversation, we need to think biblically and critically. We should journey and partner with the “relevants,” seeking to make the Gospel understandable in emerging culture. We can and should enter into dialogue with reconstructionists — learning, discussing and applying together what Scripture teaches about church.

But, we can and must speak prophetically to revisionists that, yes, we know the current system is not impacting the culture as it should — but the change we need is more Bible, more maturity, more discernment and more missional engagement, not an abandonment of the teachings of scripture about church, theology and practice. Every group that left these basics has ended up walking away from the faith and then, in a great twist of irony, is soon seen as irrelevant to the world they tried to reach.

I wholeheartedly agree, and I appreciate Stetzer's insightful article.

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What Can We Expect From Emergent in 2006?

Date January 7, 2006 Posted by Roger Overton

What can we expect from Emergent in 2006?  Apparently, not much.  The National Coordinator for Emergent-US, Tony Jones, has written a cover story for the latest issue of Next-Wave titled “The State of Emergent 2006.”

In this article, he says that there will be no new books and no big events.  They will also be revamping their web site and working through how they can better assist Emergent cohorts.  All things said, it sounds as if they are using 2006 as a time to refocus and to plan the future.

It will be interesting to see how all of this plays out…  They have built up a lot of momentum (as well as criticism) over the past year.  Maybe this “down time” will be productive.  I'm skeptical, but we shall see.

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Is There More Aslan in Kong Than in Disney's Narnia?

Date January 5, 2006 Posted by Roger Overton

In the latest weekly audio offering (12/30/2005) from St. Anne's Pub, Michael Collender compares the movies King Kong and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.  His conclusion?  There is more Aslan in Kong than in Disney's Narnia.

I am not so sure.  While Collender makes some good points, I really find him stretching in his evaluation of Narnia.  I do not believe the movie is perfect, generally agreeing with Roger and others.  At the same time, is Aslan passive in the movie?  Is the main thrust of Narnia: “if humans would only believe then God could succeed”?  Collender suggests both, yet I do not find either necessarily to be the case.

I think Bruce Edwards' blog posts on these two movies are more helpful.  His Narnia review was posted on 12/8/2005 and his Kong review was posted on 12/18/2005.  Nevertheless, I have found these two drastically different comparisons enlightening.

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Never Enough Tea Goes Live!

Date January 5, 2006 Posted by Roger Overton

At long last, I’m finally launching my C.S. Lewis
blog: Never Enough Tea. Why at long last? It’s only been a month since
the movie came out, right? Well, I originally planned on launching the
blog in August of 2005. Then it got pushed back to September, October,
November, … you get the idea. So here it is, finally.

I decided it would be beneficial to read
everything Lewis ever wrote. (I’ll probably blog about why that is at
some point.) I figured that the best approach for doing so would be to
read Lewis chronologically- to read it in the progression he wrote it.
On one hand, it’s the only systematic method I could come up with. On
there other, I think reading chronologically provides unique
perspective on how Lewis’s thoughts and ideas developed over the course
of his life. How did he clarify his ideas, especially in light of
criticism? What changes occurred in his thinking?

As I was deciding upon the project, I thought it
would be a good idea to journal my reflections as I went along. Then
one day I frightened my co-worker (Derek) by becoming excited about the
idea of blogging my reflections. Perhaps I was too excited, but it
seems to make sense- why not blog what I was going to journal?

Continue reading at Never Enough Tea…

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In Case Anyone Besides Me Needs to Hear This…

Date January 1, 2006 Posted by Amy Hall

The new year is almost
here.  As you're planning goals for the coming months, you may need to be
reminded of the following verse from Ecclesiates:

“One hand full of rest is better
than two fists full of labor and striving after wind.”


Don't forget what's important in this coming year.  I made the mistake in the past few months of
neglecting my relationship with God in order to pursue many good things.  They ended up meaning nothing to me without
the closeness of His presence that I lacked and sorely missed.  With Him, all is completed and filled with
joy.  Without Him, everything is
empty. 

I hope you'll make plans to work hard for Him this year but also
a commitment to rest with Him before all else. 
This is my prayer for all of us.

Happy New Year!

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More on Evangelicals and the Movies

Date December 31, 2005 Posted by Roger Overton

Given my previous post, which shows a shift in the way evangelicals handle movies, a believer may ask how he or she should critically watch and interact with movies as well as other forms of entertainment.  Joe Thorn has written a great introductory answer to this question, “Advice for Watching Movies.”  In this post, he gives three suggestions:

1) Don’t be Reactionary
2) Be Thoughtful
3) Be Redemptive

Thorn gives great advice, and his whole blog entry is worth reading.  Another helpful evangelical voice is Brian Godawa, a Christian screenwriter.  He has written a much needed book, Hollywood Worldviews: Watching Films With Wisdom & Discernment. 

Let us engage our culture (and its stories as told through movies) with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

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How Should Evangelicals Witness to Mormons?

Date December 31, 2005 Posted by Roger Overton

Russell D. Moore, dean of the School of Theology at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (the school I currently attend), has posted an interesting commentary on his web site, “From the Salt Lake to the Jordan River.” (This post was originally printed in the Summer 2005 issue of The Southern Baptist Journal of Theology, pp. 70-72)  In it, he says:

To understand the draw of Mormonism, evangelicals should read the works of Latter-day Saints who explain why they love their religion. Some LDS intellectuals who have concluded, to their regret, that Joseph Smith constructed from his own mind the narrative of the Book of Mormon and the “translation” of the Book of Abraham are instructive here. Grant Palmer's An Insider's View of Mormon Origins, for instance, warns that his conclusions are not for children or new converts. Demonstrating the roots of the Book of Mormon in the nineteenth-century world of King James Bible, freemasonry, occultism, and frontier Americanism; Palmer nonetheless remains a committed Mormon–because he loves the social and theological vision of the LDS culture. Likewise, Coke Newell, a convert to the LDS church in his late teens, lays out why a drug culture vegetarian would find the LDS church compelling. In so doing, he glories in the ancient mysteries of Mormon cosmology and eschatology: from a God and a Goddess who produce offspring to a future in which deified humans rule a vast cosmos. Newell makes clear that he isn't simply convinced by Smith's claims; he is convinced because he loves the picture of reality they portray.

This should come as no surprise to evangelicals who have read the Apostle Paul's revelation of the roots of human idolatry in the first chapter of Romans. Fallen humans have affections and inclinations that they then prop up with beliefs, convincing themselves that their systems are true. This could not be clearer with Mormonism, which is in reality little more than an Americanized version of a Canaanite fertility cult. With this the case, evangelicals should take more than a scattershot approach to knocking down Mormon claims (although this is necessary). We must also present a counter-story to the Mormon story: one that resonates with the beauty of truth and holiness.

While I am not sure how Moore can compare Mormonism with a Canaanite fertility cult, his article is thought provoking when considering how we should witness to Mormons.  Check out what he has to say and see what you think.

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Evangelicals and the Movies

Date December 29, 2005 Posted by Roger Overton

I recently came accross an engaging article in the New York Times.  The news story, “New Cultural Approach for Conservative Christians: Reviews, Not Protests” (registration required), examines the shift among evangelicals in our approach to movies.  It demonstrates a growing maturity in interacting with popular culture.  The newswriter points out:

This critical ambivalence represents a change in the way conservative Christians engage popular culture, said Robert Johnston, a professor of theology and culture at Fuller Theological Seminary, an evangelical institution, in Pasadena, Calif. Until recently, he said, Christian groups would have ignored a sexually explicit movie like “Brokeback Mountain” except to protest it.

“Ten years ago, conservatives would say 'Schindler's List' should not be shown because of its nudity,” said Professor Johnston, adding that he had not yet seen “Brokeback Mountain.” “But just as in the wider culture, evangelicals as a group are becoming more sophisticated in their interaction with popular culture. There's been a recognition within the evangelical community that movies have become a primary means, perhaps the primary means, of telling our culture's stories. For this reason, evangelicals have become much more open to good stories, artfully told, but they also want stories whose values they can affirm or understand.”

I applaud this new approach.  At the same time, we must always be vigilant in our discernment.  I am concerned with Christians uncritically imbibing popular culture.  We need to continually remember the wise counsel of the Apostle John: “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world–the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions–is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.” (1 John 2:15-17)

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