The Gospel of the Oscars

If you are an Oscar/Movie buff you may want to check out the panel discussion held at Southern Seminary: “Eden, Avatar, and the Kingdom of Christ: Just What are We to do With Popular Culture.” This is a very interesting discussion about the current themes in movies, in particular those found in Avatar. It is amazing how we celebrate creativity and originality in Hollywood, but if we were to pull back the curtain we would see that most of it is just rehashing many of the same themes found in Scripture – creation, fall, redemption, and renewal. These are the cravings of the human soul. We desperately long for them to be ultimately true and we express these desires in film. Yet, when we turn to Scripture we see ultimate reality, the true meta-narrative: creation, fall, redemption, and renewal in history and prophecy. Hollywood has written nothing new, yet film reveals that our souls are on a desperate quest. God has a plan. Our cravings can only be satisfied in Him.