Reviews

By Trevor Baker

January 2017

Book

PERSONAL VIEW: The single Christian and romance

Trevor A. Baker (Wigan) discusses issues arising out of Stuart Burgess’s book, God’s way for romance: getting back to biblical courtship, published by Day One (112 pages, £6.00; ISBN: 978-1-84625-497-0). There are three key problems with God’s way for romance: getting back to biblical courtship. First, the author seems to confuse Western cultural traditions with biblical teaching. For example, Dr Burgess appears to equate ‘marriage’ with a church ceremony (pp. 96-97) that involves saying vows taken from the Book of Common Prayer (pp. 60, 88). Throughout, he contrasts that with ‘relationship culture’, never distinguishing between casual sexual relationships and long-term committed relationships. Church marriage ceremonies...

By Paul Milner

February 2015

DVD

How to watch a ‘biblical’ movie

With the recent release of Exodus: Gods and Kings following the earlier Noah movie, how should Bible-believing Christians consider engaging a film based on a Bible story? When we watch a normal secular film or TV programme, how do we watch it? For most of us we would make sure the content was appropriate and check the plot to make sure it was going to be worth our time. But what then? Do we switch off because it is mindless entertainment? Or do we engage the storyline, think about the themes and characters, weigh up the message of the story and bring the gospel to bear on our...

February 2015

DVD

Unbroken

Unbroken Many readers will be aware of the book War and grace by Don Stephens (EP Books), a collection of short biographies of Christians from the two World Wars. Its first story concerns an American of Italian extraction called Louis Zamperini. The new edition of the book reveals that he died on 2 July 2014 and mentions the 2010 biography Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand, and a forthcoming film of the same name, directed by Angelina Jolie. Well, this film has now appeared, going on general release in British cinemas on Boxing Day, 2014. We are always looking for ways to introduce Christ to our unbelieving...

By Paul Milner

February 2015

DVD

Exodus: Gods and Kings

Exodus: Gods and Kings is the latest ‘biblical epic’ movie to be released. The emphasis is on the ‘epic’ rather than the ‘biblical’. Director Ridley Scott only broadly follows the Bible story. He is willing to depart from the biblical text to tell the story he wishes to tell. The focus is on spectacle: the magnitude and brutality of the slavery building Egyptian cities; the stunning visuals of the ten plagues and their impact; the vastness of the exodus and the tsunami-like waves of the Red Sea crossing. It has received mixed reviews. There is much we could profitably discuss about the film’s depiction of...

By Paul Milner

December 2014

Their own poets – Interstellar

‘As some of your own poets have said…’ Acts 17:28 These articles are intended to provide insight into aspects of popular culture which might provide opportunities to speak to non-Christians about the relevance of the gospel. Paul quoted non-Christian poets to make a meaningful connection with unbelievers. Interstellar is the latest movie by Christopher Nolan, a critically acclaimed director known for his thought provoking Hollywood blockbusters, such as the recent Inception and the Batman trilogy. Interstellar is science fiction, but not in the vein of Star Wars or superheroes. It is more like 2001: A Space Odyssey, Silent Runnings,...

By Gary Brady

May 2014

DVD

Noah?

Paramount Pictures Directed by Darren Aronovsky Starring Russell Crowe Cert. 12A One of my pet hates is the dinky sort of ‘Noah’s ark’ you see in toy shops and children’s books. The ark in Paramount Pictures’ film Noah is nothing like that. It is a hulking great thing, and when the animals come into it and it floats on the surface of the water in a worldwide flood, it is a great sight to behold. However, that is probably the best that can be said for a film that most Christians will be very disappointed with. The fact that I need to use the...

By Andrew Rowell

August 2013

Book

Holiday reading

2013 Books of the month January February March April May June July August

August 2013

Book

Summer reading

In our increasingly busy lives it is often not possible to find time to reflect, meditate or concentrate on the bigger issues and more important questions of life — questions like the state of our relationship with Christ, or how we spend our time here on earth. Sometimes a week or two’s break is the only opportunity we have to really think. Biography Can books help? Christian biography is a great way to discover how the Lord has worked in the lives of others. Occasionally we might wish that biographers were less prone to hide their subjects’ warts, for they remind us we are all earthen...

All articles in category Reviews

By Trevor Baker

January 2017

PERSONAL VIEW: The single Christian and romance

By Paul Milner

February 2015

How to watch a ‘biblical’ movie

February 2015

Unbroken

By Paul Milner

February 2015

Exodus: Gods and Kings

By Paul Milner

December 2014

Their own poets – Interstellar

By Gary Brady

May 2014

Noah?

By Andrew Rowell

August 2013

Holiday reading

August 2013

Summer reading

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