Brian Godawa - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Brian Godawa

... Special thanks to those who gave input on this manuscript in one form or another: dave Bahnse... more ... Special thanks to those who gave input on this manuscript in one form or another: dave Bahnsen, Ken Gentry, nancy Pearcey, Joel and michelle Pelsue, Ken Tamplin, and my fellow post-yadayada semper reformanda coconspirators, Jack hafer, neil uchitel, andrew Sandlin and ...

In the ancient land of Canaan, the reigning deity of their pantheon was Baal, the storm god, a “c... more In the ancient land of Canaan, the reigning deity of their pantheon was Baal, the storm god, a “cloud-rider” who was depicted as controlling the weather, bringing rain for survival, and meting out judgment with thunder and lightning. He also was depicted narratively as fighting the Sea and the sea dragon (symbolizing chaos) in order to achieve his imperial status as the “most high” god and to establish his order of reality. When Israel entered the Promised Land of Canaan, Yahweh not only engaged in a physical removal of the inhabitants of the land, He reinforced that dispossession with a literary subversion of the Baal narrative. Biblical authors utilized narrative motifs and images that were common to their surrounding ancient Near Eastern cultures in order to subvert them. Many Bible passages use the Baal epithet of “cloud-rider” for Yahweh, who metes out judgment with thunder and lightning. But they also tell of a divine battle with the Sea and defeat of a mighty sea dragon calle...

This is the first chapter of my book Hollywood Worldviews: Watching Films with Wisdom and Discern... more This is the first chapter of my book Hollywood Worldviews: Watching Films with Wisdom and Discernment. It became an important watershed in opening Evangelical Christians up to the reality that the Bible is rated R. Shallow critiques of sex, violence and profanity in movies and art are no longer legitimate outside the context of a worldview understanding. The redemption in your story is only as powerful as the accurate depiction of the depravity from which you are redeemed. God himself uses sex, violence and profanity in his Story as a counterpart to the Gospel.

Many Christians are afraid to attribute truth value to ancient books outside the canon of the Bib... more Many Christians are afraid to attribute truth value to ancient books outside the canon of the Bible. They fear that somehow the authority of Scripture will be compromised or worse, other texts may be falsely considered as Scripture. The book of 1 Enoch is one of those controversial books that has a long history of squabbling over its veracity and influence on Bible interpretation. This paper will be an introduction to the ancient book of 1Enoch, its content, its history, its affirmation in the New Testament, and its acceptance and rejection by the Christian Church.

God loves movies. I don't mean that they are merely "allowable" entertainment. I mean that movies... more God loves movies. I don't mean that they are merely "allowable" entertainment. I mean that movies may well be the strongest 21 st century adaptation of biblical communication. How can I say this? Because movies are visually dramatic stories, and in the Bible, the dominant means through which God communicates is visually dramatic stories -not systematic theology, not doctrinal catechism, and not rational argument. As biblically allowable as each of these other modern modes of communication are (and I certainly would not consider them useless), they simply do not hold a candle to the power and effectiveness of visually dramatic storytelling that God uses to bring His message to the world.

The movie Avatar is a worldwide box-office success, not merely because it is a technological marv... more The movie Avatar is a worldwide box-office success, not merely because it is a technological marvel of special effects, but because it is a religious myth on the level of ancient texts like The Epic of Gilgamesh. First, it is a postmodern multicultural critique of America and Western civilization, where the good guys are primitive natives who worship nature, and the bad guys are greedy multinational energy corporations protected by warmongering mercenary militia, facilitated by the scientific depersonalization of nature. Images and concepts of many religions, including Hinduism, Animism, and Christianity are integrated into its multicultural story creating global appeal. Second, it is a narrative incarnation of the pagan worldview of earth worship as described in the Gaia Hypothesis, a scientific theory of planets as living organisms with consciousness. The notion of nature worship in opposition to the Judeo-Christian notion of man's dominion over nature is an ancient theme that originates in Israel's battle for the Promised Land with the pagan nature religion of the Canaanites. This same theme is at the heart of Avatar and it fuels environmental religion and hatred of the West in third world and socialist countries, resulting in a "battle of gods" over the future of the planet.