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1:28 PM - Wed 3 Aug 2016

In Defense of Avatar contra "pasta" Mark Driscoll

My comment at the end of this article.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Friday, February 26, 2010

mark driscoll hates avatar (REALLY HATES IT

I found this video of Pastor Mark Driscoll at his YouTube.com account.  Apparently, Mark HATED Avatar. And he wanted everybody to know how much he hated it, so he posted this little video of him telling his church how much he hated it.

In this sermon clip he pretty much calls Avatar a Philistine, an enemy of God! His exact words are "[Avatar is the] most demonic, satanic film I've ever seen."

Wow. He must have seen it in 3D.

Mark goes on to tell us that Avatar contains a "false Jesus, false savior, a false resurrection, a false Heaven..."

And Sigourney Weaver smokes!! But he doesn't mention that.

I wonder if Mark knows the movie is fiction. I mean, it's just a hunch, but I'm not convinced that he realizes James Cameron knows the movie is false.

I mean, did Mark see The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe? Does he know the Lion isn't real?! And that Frodo is make-believe, too? How about The Fonz? He seems to definitely believe in The Fonz.

Eventually, Mark says... "People are just stunned by the visuals. Well, the visuals are amazing because Satan wants you to emotionally connect with a lie."

I will admit, when I watched the Smurfs as a kid, I did want to live in a mushroom house.

Mark goes on to say that "Nobody has ever accused him of being a fundamentalist!"

Really?! I find that really hard to believe.

But if that's the case, let me be the first: Pastor Mark Driscoll, you're a fundamentalist. You're like the late Jerry Falwell with tattoos, a faux-hawk, and a tendency toward belittling women.

But you know, at least Jerry knew he was a fundamentalist. He owned up to it. He didn't try to trick anybody into thinking otherwise.

Toward the end of the video, as a way to prove he loves creativity and the arts, Mark tells us how rich he is by listing off how many home theaters and Tivos he owns, and then adds, "Our film crew was just down in LA at Universal Studios shooting on the Spartacus set... getting footage for our Good Friday service..." (There's a punch line somewhere in all of that, but I won't go there...)

Anyway, to be fair, I didn't like Avatar, either. But not because I thought it was Satanic. But because the story and dialogue was awful.

If Mark is right about Satan playing a role in making Avatar, then it would have been a better movie, I think.

What do you think? Is there really that much difference between the world views of Avatar and that of movies like Lord of the Rings or Star Wars or The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe?

from
http://jesusneedsnewpr.blogspot.com/2010/02/mark-driscoll-hates-avatar-really-hates.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I've seen Avatar 3D.  It is one of the best art films in a long time and deserves a viewing by every Christian.

I note there is NOTHING from Christians that comes anywhere near it as a work of film art.  The closest is the secular adaption of J R Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" (which itself is far superior to the adaption of C S Lewis' Narnia.  Though Protestant Lewis was brought to Christianity by Catholic Tokien - and they remained friends for a while - in later life they had a falling out and Tolkien despised the preachiness and shabbiness of art in the Narnia tales.  Over time, Tolikien has been proven to be correct. Tolkien's art speaks more powerfully than Lewis' kitsch.)

Avatar is parable of modern times confronting the major problem of our fear of the Other which is dominant in USA style Fundamentalism.  It tells a truth without preaching.  It is a fairy tale where truth wins in the end.

The Na'vi are representative of the Other that Fundamentalists seek to demonise and destroy.  The Na'vi and those who Fundamentalists wish to evangelise with their "good news". The Na'vi don't think that the "good news" is very good at all. (See comments further on.)

Pandora is how Earth could be if the "Pandora's box" of unthinking Fundamentalism had not ruined the past 200 years.

Jake Sully is us - crippled by unthinking Fundamentalism that has destroyed our legs - the mind that God gave us.  He was a "jarhead dropout" but becomes enlightened by interacting with the Other.  In his interaction with the Other he can walk. Bound to the "sky people"(aka Fundamentalists) he is a cripple.

The military on Pandora may think that  they are "not in Kansas anymore" yet their rationale is very much Kansas Fundamentalism opposed to science, culture and art.

The "Hometree" in Avatar is a symbol of THE tree in the garden of Eden.  We are now living in exile from Eden. Eden has been destroyed by greed, technology, financial markets, war mongering and the USA war machine with their "In Oil We Trust" ... and Fundamentalism.  The Luddites were correct.
Technology destroys some very basic principles of humanity, truth and compassion ( "grace" in Christianese).

More importantly Eden has been destroyed by the unthinking USA brand Fundamentalism which ignores the cultures of other civilisations and which tries to force their man-made dogmas upon those who have far more wisdom than in the whole of fundamentalist history since the 1800s.  Evangelicals
have preached a "good news" that was "bad news" for the majority of civilisation.  It has excluded the Other - like the Na'vi - the women, gays, lesbians, those who are not Anglo-Saxon, the artists, the intellectuals ... many of whom have fled the church to preserve their sanity and integrity. Those who are better educated are less likely to be members of their local church.  The blame for the destruction of contemporary Eden can be squarely placed at the feet of unthinking anti-art Fundamentalists.

Eywa is God but not a "Jesus type" God - human and able to do tricks with wine, bread and fish - more like the God that Paul Tillich derscribed as the Ground of all Being.  It is this type of God that Fundamentalists cannot fathom yet is the basis of conrtemporary thought in such books as Karen
Armstrong's "The Case For God (What Religion Really Means)" (The Bodley Head: 2009)

The Hallelujah Mountains are like "pie in the sky".

Toruk is the tamed Dragon of Revelation who is no longer a "boogey man".

The "tree of voices" is the collected wisdom of the ages in the sense of Jung. It more like the real "logos" envisaged by Philo.

Jake's partner is Grace - grace is something that Fundamentalists do not understand.  She is thus made an enemy of the more powerful forces of the "sky people" (aka Fundamentalists).

"pasta" Mark Driscoll is a Jesus Jingle writer - not an artist - just a Christianese Kitsch robotic producer.  His diatribe against Avatar shows in his inablility to appreciate good art.  He would have made a good right hand man for Savonarola and the Bonfire of Vanities which burnt Botticelli's art amongst many others.

The above is only one possible reading of this magnificient film ... but it is one that Fundamentalists ignore to their own peril.

Read a synopsis of the movie at http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0499549/synopsis

6:20 PM - 2/3/2010 - comments {0} - post comment

FAILED NEW TESTAMENT PROPHECIES

* Note that Matthew's gospel contains the most errors.

MATTHEW'S GOSPEL

Matthew 1:23 - The prophecy given in Is.7:14 referred not to a virgin but to a young woman, living at the time of the prophecy. And Jesus, of course, was called Jesus -- and is not called Emmanuel in any verse in the New Testament.

Matthew 2:5-6 - Claims that Jesus' birth in Bethlehem fulfils the prophecy in Micah 5:2. But this is unlikely for two reasons.
- "Bethlehem Ephratah" in Micah 5:2 refers not to a town, but to a clan:
the clan of Bethlehem, who was the son of Caleb's second wife, Ephrathah (1
Chr.2:18, 2:50-52, 4:4).
- The prophecy (if that is what it is) does not refer to the Messiah, but rather to a military leader, as can be seen from Micah 5:6. This leader is supposed to defeat the Assyrians, which, of course, Jesus never did.

It should also be noted that Matthew altered the text of Micah 5:2 by saying: "And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda" rather than "Bethlehem Ephratah" as is said in Micah 5:2. He did this, intentionally no doubt, to make the verse appear to refer to the town of Bethlehem rather than the family clan.

Matthew 2:15 - "Out of Egypt I have called my son," Matthew claims that the flight of Jesus' family to Egypt is a fulfillment of Hosea 11:1. But Hosea 11:1 is not a prophecy at all, as is clear when the entire verse is quoted ("When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt."). It is a reference to the Hebrew exodus from Egypt and has nothing to do with Jesus. Matthew tries to hide this fact by quoting only the last part of the verse.

Matthew 2:17-18 - Quotes Jeremiah 31:15, claiming that it was a prophecy of King Herod's alleged slaughter of the children in and around Bethlehem after the birth of Jesus. But this verse refers to the Babylonian captivity, as is clear by reading the next two verses (16 and 17), and, thus, has nothing to
do with Herod's massacre.

Matthew 2:23 - "He shall be called a Nazarene." Matthew claims this was a fulfillment of prophecy, yet such a prophecy is not found anywhere in the Old Testament.

Matthew 10:23 - Jesus tells his disciples that he will return before they can "go over the cities of Israel." Later (24:14) he says he will not come until the gospel is preached throughout the world. Well, his disciples went over the cities of Israel and then died waiting for the "return of the Lord." Now, nearly 2000 years later, and long after the gospel had been preached throughout the world, his followers still wait.

Matthew 15:21- Jesus visits Tyre which according to Ezekiel (26:14, 21; 27:36, 28:19) was not supposed to exist.

Matthew 16:28 - Jesus mistakenly tells his followers that he will return and establish his kingdom within their lifetime.

Matthew 21:4 - This verse claims that Jesus fulfils the prophecy in Zechariah 9:9.  But this cannot be since the person referred to in Zechariah (see verses 10-13) was both a military leader and the king of an earthly kingdom.

Matthew 23:36 - Jesus predicts the end of the world within the lifetime of his listeners.

Matthew 24:14 - Jesus says the gospel will be preached to all nations "and then shall the end come. Well according to Paul the gospel has been preached to everyone (Rom.10:18) yet the end hasn't come.

Matthew 24:34 - Jesus predicts that the end of the world will come within the lifetimes of his disciples. The world of course didn't end then, and according to Ec.1:4 it never will end.

Matthew 26:54-46 - "But all this was done, that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled." What scriptures? What prophets? There is no such prophecy in the Old Testament.

Matthew 26:64 - Jesus falsely prophesies that the high priest would see his second coming.

MARK'S GOSPEL

Mark 1:2 - Mark claims that John the Baptist fulfilled the prophecy given in Malachi (3:1, 4:1, 5). But the Malachi prophecy says that God will send Elijah before "the great and dreadful day of the LORD" in which the world will be consumed by fire. Yet John the Baptist flatly denied that he was Elijah (Elias) in John 1:21 and the earth was not destroyed after John's appearance.

Mark 7:24, 31 - Ezekiel (26:14, 21, 27:36) prophesied that Tyre would be completely destroyed, never to be built again. But it wasn't destroyed and continued to exist, as shown by this verse in which Jesus visits Tyre.

Mark 9:1 - Jesus prophesies that the end of the world will come within his listeners' lifetimes.

Mark 13:30 - Jesus predicts his return and the end of the world within the lifetime of his listeners.

Mark 14:62 - Jesus prophesies that the high priest would see his second coming.

LUKE'S GOSPEL

Luke 4:16-20 - "The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me." These words were spoken by Isaiah and referred to Isaiah. They were not a prophecy about a future prophet, as Jesus claims here, where he supposedly read these verses in the synagogue while applying them to himself.

Luke 9:27 - Jesus predicts that some of his listeners would live to see him return and establish the kingdom of God.

Luke  21:32 - Jesus says that all that he describes (his return, signs in the sun, moon, and stars, etc.) will occur within the within the lifetime of his listeners.

Luke 24:44, 46 - Jesus claims that his suffering and death were a fulfillment of prophecy. But there is no such prophecy in the Old Testament.

JOHN'S GOSPEL

John 5:25 - Jesus says that "the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live."

John 5:46 - Jesus claims that Moses wrote about him. Where? It's a shame he didn't give us chapter and verse.

John 7:38 - Jesus says that those who believe in him will, as the scripture says, have living waters flowing out of their bellies. Well that sounds like fun, but there is no such scripture in the Bible.

John 12:15 - This verse claims that Jesus fulfils the prophecy in Zechariah 9:9. But this cannot be since the person referred to in Zechariah (see verses 10-13) was both a military leader and the king of an earthly kingdom.

John 19:33, 36 - Verse 33 says that during Jesus' crucifixion, the soldiers didn't break his legs because he was already dead. Verse 36 claims that this fulfilled a prophecy: "Not a bone of him shall be broken." But there is no such prophecy. It is sometimes said that the prophecy appears in Ex.12:46, Num. 9:12 and Ps.34:20. This is not correct. Exodus 12:46 and Num.9:12 are not prophecies, they are commandments. The Israelites are told not to break the bones of the Passover lamb, and this is all it is about. And Psalm 34:20 seems to refer to righteous people in general (see verse 19, where a plural
is used), not to make a prophecy about a specific person.

John 21:22 - Jesus implies that he will return to earth during the lifetime of John.

ACTS

Acts 3:23 - Peter claims that Dt.18:18-19 refers to Jesus, saying that those who refuse to follow him (all non-Christians) must be killed.

Acts 7:5 - This verse admits that God's promise to Abraham was not fulfilled. (See Gen.12:7, 13:15, 15:18, and 17:8)

Acts 12:20 - Ezekiel (26:14, 21; 27:36) prophesied that Tyre would be completely destroyed by Nebuchadrezzar, never to be built again. Yet it wasn't destroyed, as is evident from this verse.

Acts 13:21 - Gen.49:10 says that all of Israel's kings will be from the tribe of Judah, yet we see in this verse that Israel's first king was from the tribe of Benjamin.

Acts 13:22 - Paul quotes God as saying, "I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will." But no such quote can be found in the Old Testament. (Although 1 Sam.13:14 does refer to David as "a man after his [God's] own heart.")

Acts 20:35 - In one of the few times that Paul quotes Jesus, he attributes to him words that are not found in the gospels.

Acts 21:3-4 - Ezekiel (26:14, 21; 27:36) prophesied that Tyre would be completely destroyed by Nebuchadrezzar, never to be built again. Yet it wasn't destroyed, as is evident from these verses.

Acts  26:22-23 - These verses claim that Moses and the prophets prophesied that Jesus would suffer and rise from the dead. But in what scripture is such a prophecy made?

ROMANS

Romans 10:18 - Paul says that everyone, even in his day, had the gospel preached to them. Even the Native Americans, Asians, Pacific Islanders? In any case, if Paul is right about that, then Jesus is a false prophet, since he said he would return before the gospel was preached to everyone. (Mt.10:23)

Romans 13:11-12 - Paul believed that the end of the world was coming soon. "The day is at hand."

Romans 16:20 - Paul believed that Jesus would return and defeat Satan "shortly" - within his own lifetime.

1 CORINTHIANS

1 Corinthians 1:7-8 - Paul tells the Corinthians to be good until "the day of our Lord Jesus Christ." (He expected Jesus to return within their lifetimes.)

1 Corinthians 7:29 - Paul, like Jesus and the other New Testament writers, expects the end to come soon. "The time is short." So there's no time for sex or marriage since the world will be ending soon.

1 Corinthians 10:11, 15:51- Paul says that the end of the world will come during his lifetime.

1 Corinthians 13:8 - "Whether there be prophecies, they shall fail."Paul prophesies that all prophecies will fail. But since this itself is a prophecy, it also will fail (if the prophecy is correct), making it a false
prophecy.

1 Corinthians 15:3-4 - These verses claim that the scriptures prophesied that Jesus would suffer, die, and be resurrected from the dead. But where are the prophecies that are referred to here? Hosea 6:2 perhaps? But this verse refers to the people living at the time (hence "us") and therefore cannot be fulfilled by the the death and resurrection of Jesus.


EPHESIANS

Ephesians 4:8 - Misquote of Ps.68:18, which says: "Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive: thou hast received gifts for men." The words and meaning of the psalm were changed from "received gifts" to "gave gifts".

PHILIPPIANS

Philippians 1:10 - Paul tells the Philippians to be good "till the day of Christ." So he must have expected Jesus to return within their lifetimes.

Philippians 4:5 - "The Lord is at hand." Paul thought that the end was near and that Jesus would return soon after he wrote these words.

1 THESSALONIANS

1 Thessalonians 3:13 - Paul expected Jesus to return within the lifetime of his followers.

1 Thessalonians 4:15, 17 - Paul thought he would live to see the rapture.

1 Thessalonians 5:23 - Paul prays that the Thessalonians will be good until Jesus returns, implying that he expected this to happen within their lifetimes.

2 THESSALONIANS

2 Thessalonians 2:2-9 - The day of Christ is at hand? If Paul wrote this letter (and many scholars think he didn't), then he is changing his mind about the timing of the Christ's return. The day of the Lord is no longer at hand. In fact it's nowhere near. Many things must happen first: there will be a great "falling away", a "man of sin" will be reveled, and Satan will show off his power by doing all kinds of signs and wonders.

I TIMOTHY

1 Timothy 6:14 - "Keep this commandment ... until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ."  The author expected Jesus to return within his lifetime.

HEBREWS

Hebrews 1:1-2 - The author of Hebrews believed that he was living in the "last days."

Hebrews 9:26 - Jesus sacrificed himself "in the end of the world."

Hebrews 10:37 - The author of Hebrews believed that Jesus would come "in a little while, and will not tarry."

Hebrews 11:9-13 - In Genesis (13:15, 15:18, 17:8) and Exodus (32:13) God promises Abraham and his descendants "the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession." But here the writer admits that God's promise went unfulfilled.

JAMES

James 4:5 - James quotes a scripture that says, "The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy." But there is no such verse in the Bible.

James 5:8 - James thought that Jesus would return soon.

1 PETER

1 Peter 1:5, 7, 20 - Peter believed that he was living in the "last times."

1 Peter 4:7 - "The end of all things is at hand."

2 PETER

2 Peter  3:4 - "Where is the promise of his coming?" The author of 2 Peter is aware of the failed expectations of early believers. He knows that Jesus, who was to come soon, didn't come at all. Many have begun to ask, "Where is the promise of his coming?" He tries to cover for Jesus by claiming that
"one day with the Lord is as a thousand years."

1 JOHN

1 John 2:18, 4:3 - John thinks he is living in "the last times." He "knows" this because he sees so many antichrists around.

1 John 2:28 - John warns his followers to get ready because Jesus is coming soon.

1 John  3:2 - John expects to live to see Jesus return.

JUDE

Jude 14-15 - Jude says Enoch, "the seventh from Adam", prophesied that God would come with 10,000 of his saints "to execute judgment upon all." But this prophecy is from the Book of Enoch, not from the Bible.

Jude 17-18 "Remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles" ... that they told you there should be mockers in the last time." The author of Jude thought he was living in "the last time."

REVELATION

Revelation 1:1, 3 - John believed that the things that he wrote about would happen soon, within his own lifetime. After nearly 2000 years, believers still believe that "the time is at hand" and that the events described in Revelation will "shortly come to pass."

Revelation  3:11, 22:7, 12, 20 - John quotes Jesus (1900 years ago) as saying, "Behold, I come quickly."

Revelation 22:6 - "Things which must shortly be done" All the crazy stuff in this book was supposed to happen soon. And crazy people today still expect it to happen soon.

adapted from http://www.skepticsannotatedbible.com/proph/long.html

3:45 PM - 11/2/2010 - comments {0} - post comment

Ecclesiastes and Vanitas Art

3:43 PM - 11/2/2010 - comments {0} - post comment

Sacrifice is not required

3:40 PM - 11/2/2010 - comments {0} - post comment

Your god may be sleeping

3:38 PM - 11/2/2010 - comments {0} - post comment

Vasari - "Lives of The Artists"

3:36 PM - 11/2/2010 - comments {0} - post comment

"Christian Anti-Intellectualism" - William Lane Craig

6:04 PM - 7/2/2010 - comments {0} - post comment

Christian anti-intellecualism

Anti-Intellectualism

Anti-Intellectualism in the Western World

Anti-intellectualism is a disposition to discount the importance of truth and the life of the mind.
-Os Guinness

We live in what may be the most anti-intellectual period in the history of Western civilization. . . . We must have passion-indeed hearts on fire for the things of God. But that passion must resist with intensity the
anti-intellectual spirit of the world.
-R. C. Sproul

The result of all this is that Americans are the best entertained and quite likely the least well-informed people in the Western world.
-Neil Postman

Anti-Intellectualism in Evangelicalism

I must be frank with you: the greatest danger confronting American evangelical Christianity is the danger of anti-intellectualism. The mind in its greatest and deepest reaches is not cared for enough.
-Charles Malik, Former President of the United Nations General Assembly

The scandal of the evangelical mind is that there is not much of an evangelical mind.
-Mark Noll

We speak of "the modern mind" and of "the scientific mind," using that word mind of a collectively accepted set of notions and attitudes. On the pattern of such usage I have positied a Christian Mind, chiefly for the purpose of showing it does not exist. . . . There is no Christian mind. . . . the Christian Mind has succumbed to the secular drift with a degree of weakness unmatched in Christian History.
-Harry Blamires

The contemporary Christian mind is starved, and as a result we have small, impoverished souls.
-J. P. Moreland

Anti-Intellectualism Is No Virtue

God is no fonder of intellectual slackers than of any other slackers.
-C. S. Lewis

At root, evangelical anti-intellectualism is both a scandal and a sin. It is a scandal in the sense of being an offense and a stumbling block that needlessly hinders serious people from considering the Christian faith and coming to Christ. It is a sin because it is a refusal, contrary to Jesus' two great commandments, to love the Lord our God with our minds. Anti-intellectualism is quite simply a sin. Evangelicals must address it as such, beyond all excuses, evasions, or rationalizations of false piety.
-Os Guinness

Anti-Intellectualism Is a Hindrance to the Gospel

False ideas are the greatest obstacles to the reception of the gospel.
-J. Gresham Machen

Towards a Solution to Anti-Intellectualism

The Christian religion flourishes not in the darkness but in the light. Intellectual slothfulness is but a quack remedy for unbelief; the true remedy is consecration of intellectual power to the service of the Lord Jesus Christ.
-J. Gresham Machen

http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justintaylor/2006/10/06/anti-intellectualism/

6:01 PM - 7/2/2010 - comments {0} - post comment

Pre-Easter Jesus (The historic Jesus) / Post-Easter Jesus (Christ of Faith)

5:59 PM - 7/2/2010 - comments {0} - post comment