Jim was baptized in the church as an infant in the Catholic
Church.
They moved to Wisconsin and attended a Lutheran Church.
They met an Evangelical Christian family in the neighborhood who
invited them to a Bible Study in their home and Jim made a personal
commitment to Christ
He went to Seminary after college, did some full-time ministry,
then returned to get his PhD and now is a part of the Catholic
church.
Those who are blessed to have jobs to talk about God as their
day job, on one hand is easier because people expect us to behave
and talk a certain way
It can be a temptation for those in full-time ministry to let
that be enough and not take their spirituality to the next
level
No matter what your day job is, it's important to be
intentional about, not let life pass you buy but be proactive and
ask how you are going to be engaged
For those who work in the church or academia, there are just as
many temptations to waffle on their ethics as those in the business
world
Jim's most recent book is a historical fiction novel called "A
Week in the Life in Rome", which includes a back story to real
characters in the New Testament
Jim had 2 goals for his book "From Star Wars to Superman:
Christ Figures in Science Fiction and Superhero Films"
1) make the case
that the story of Christ is hardwired into our psyche 2) Use
science fiction stories to teach about the real Christ
Since we're made in the image of God, our brains are hard-wired
to receive the reality of the incarnation. The proof of that
is the way these stories are written even by unbelievers
The question is how well the heroes in these stories line up
with the real hero, Jesus Christ
At the end of the day, these heroes are all about
salvation.
Depending on where you are in your journey, you perhaps should
only consume Christian movies and music
There are some movies that no Christian should ever watch,
there are other movie you shouldn't watch with your family, and
there are other movies that have a subtle message that it's
important to recognize
There are anti-Christian common themes in a lot of movies that
are driven by the atheistic beliefs of those who wrote them
Sci-fi often comes with atheistic assumptions, like "Religion
is somehow holding us back from our true potential", like on
Star Trek. You need to have your eyes open to this so it
doesn't sink in
The big misconception is that Christianity is against science
and the example they use is Galileo, which is a myth
Most of the great scientific discoveries were by Christians and
funded by the church
Orthodox means correct belief, our Christian beliefs as defined
by Scripture and by the History of the Church
Science Fiction includes some type of technical explanation
even if it's not proven now, Fantasy is like magic, there's no
explanation other than a different set of laws or physics.
The line between Sci-Fi and Fantasy is become blurred
Something like Lord of the Rings is more Fantasy than Science
Fiction
Anthropology is what we believe about humanity
Christology is what we believe about Christ the Savior
Incarnation is when God comes into human history, when the 2nd
person Trinity acquires a human nature and he's both God and
man
Soteriology is what we believe about salvation
2 heresies are salvation by example and salvation by
enlightenment
Only salvation by divine intervention is consistent with
Christianity
The orthodoxy score chart in Jim's book rates movie characters
as to the degree to which they are similar to Christ using the
elements in the Nicene Creed
Sonny from IRobot is very high on the orthodoxy chart, because
of Christ's 2 natures. He has 2 brains, one where his head
should be and the other where his heart should be. Heresies
include modalism which minimizes the differences between the 3
persons of the Trinity, and patropassionism, which puts the father
on the cross instead of the son
Wonderwoman and Superman were higher on the orthodoxy than the
other Superheroes because they start out as divine and become one
of us, rather than starting out as one of us and becoming divine
(as with Batman).
In Terminator movies, both Kyle Reese and the Terminator are
the Christ figures because they sacrifice themselves
In Planet of the Ape, written by Rod Serling an atheist, the
Christ figure is Taylor in the original movie. Dr. Zaius is
the Chief Defender of the Faith and the Chief Scientist, who knows
the truth that he doesn't want the people to know.
The Matrix has many overt references to the Bible, but scores
lower in orthodoxy, proving the point that unbelievers can use
Christian beliefs and symbols to promote a skewed view of what
salvation is and what is needed from a savior
Salvation in the Matrix is not about atonement, it's about
enlightenment
George Lucas, creator of Star Wars, said he hoped his movies
would encourage young people to believe in God, but not a
particular religion, but the movies do present a specific religious
view
Star Wars is adoptionist or arionism, salvation by example,
combined with salvation by enlightenment
Obi-wan-kenobi is the Christ figure. The balance of good
and evil is more important than good overcoming evil
God can't be manipulated by evil, so God is not the Force.
If balance of good and evil is the goal, then that means that
evil is necessary
Some new age cults come close to the beliefs in Star Wars
Gene Roddenberry, creator of Star Trek, believed religion was
good to keep people in line but ultimately humanity will grow out
of religion
The episode that dealt the most with religion is from Star
Trek: Next Generation about Kahless. They present a human
only savior and they say it only matters that we listen to what he
teaches, "perhaps the message is more important than the man"
There is a Klingon proverb referenced "questioning is the
beginning of wisdom", a rip-off of "the Fear of the Lord is the
beginning of wisdom"
These Sci-Fi stories are a great conversation starter, allowing
you to talk about the Gospel through these movies
Loving God, others and ourselves at work and at home. Interviews and ponderings, from a Messianic perspective, and with a focus on men. Formerly the Christian Men at Work Podcast.