Talking Noah With the Fellows
“The Greensboro Fellows Apologetics class challenges participants to humbly, thoughtfully and winsomely engage culture from a Christ-centered perspective in a way that cultivates and defends the life of God.” – Elijah Lovejoy
In April I had the opportunity to host a live conversation with the Greensboro Fellows. I was invited by Elijah Lovejoy, who was working with the Fellows, teaching apologetics. This was a great time to encourage, examine, and engage a popular narrative that was creating conversations across groups with profoundly different world views. Though there is always a challenge in recording a round table discussion that involves 15-20 participants, I think this turned out pretty well and there was, indeed, a pretty great discussion to be had. I hope you give it a listen and maybe take a look at this film from an angle you had not considered before.
#023 – Noah and A Flood of Biblical Interpretation
On this episode of the Reel World Theology Podcast:
We are finally sitting down to talk about the Darren Aronofsky directed, Noah. This film has garnered a lot of attention from various religious and non-religious communities for both it’s perceived and actual take on the Old Testament account of Noah. While some of it is warranted, we will try to figure out where the divisions have been and maybe where they should be. From “Rock Monsters” to homicidal prophets to magic forests to all out war on the ark, there are a lot of conversations happening because of this movie and we want to add something positive to it.
Noah on the Modern Day Felt Board
If you heard the story of Noah and the great flood as a child, it’s likely you remember as I do sitting in a stuffy Sunday school classroom and watching as your teacher played it out on one of those wonderfully nostalgic felt boards. Or maybe you can recall the melody and some of the lyrics to the stuck in your brain for days song “Arky Arky” from having performed it in your children’s choir. Or perhaps you never grew up hearing the story.
Whatever your background with Noah, it is likely you are familiar with the bare essential details: God told him to build and ark, the animals came two by two, Noah and his family were saved from the flood. It is a miraculous story of both God’s justice and His mercy. But did you ever put yourself in Noah’s place? Ever imagine yourself watching from the ark as the entirety of mankind begged and screamed for help as they drowned? It’s tough to think about. The true cost of bearing a burden that large is no children’s story. And the basic goal of Darren Aronofsky’s film Noah is to explore that burden and the man who bore it. The film, though, reaches for so much more.
#022 – Divergent and Social Division
On this episode of the Reel World Theology Podcast:
We dive, again, into the world of young adult literature adaptations by conversating about the hugely popular film, Divergent. In the adaptation, up and comer, Shailene Woodley takes on our lead as Tris, who learns she’s Divergent and won’t fit in to a society that categorizes all it’s citizens into factions. When she discovers a plot to destroy Divergents, Tris and the mysterious Four (played by the surprising Theo James) must find out what makes Divergents dangerous before it’s too late. We will give our thoughts on the movie, as an adaptation of the widely popular Young Adult literature genre, and also explore the themes the book very intentionally raises about conformity, human nature, leadership, sacrifice, and identity.
#016 – The Hobbit: The Desolation of Storytelling
On this episode of the Reel World Theology Podcast: We take a look at the latest installment in Peter Jackson’s reimagining of Middle Earth via The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. In this installment of Jackson’s Hobbit Trilogy, the dwarves,…
#014 – The Hunger Games: Catching Unconditional Love
On this episode of the Reel World Theology Podcast: We are swept up in the blaze that is The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, the second installment in the Hunger Games series of 3 (or 3.5 if you base the numbers on…
#012 – Ender’s End Game
On this episode of the Reel World Theology Podcast: On this episode we are going to be taking apart the recent film, Ender’s Game. The film is based on the 1985 military science-fiction novel by Orson Scott Card. Set in Earth’s…
#003 – Much Ado About Whedon
On this episode of the Reel World Theology Podcast: We try to class the show up a bit by discussing Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing! or at least the latest interpretation of a popular Shakespeare play by one of the…