{"id":7644,"date":"2011-02-16T05:30:56","date_gmt":"2011-02-16T10:30:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.geneveith.com\/?p=7644"},"modified":"2011-02-16T05:30:56","modified_gmt":"2011-02-16T10:30:56","slug":"the-gospel-according-to-sling-blade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2011\/02\/the-gospel-according-to-sling-blade\/","title":{"rendered":"The Gospel according to Sling Blade"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

I am happy to report that Anthony Sacramone, once of\u00a0 Luther at the Movies<\/a>, is back from his blogging hiatus and is posting\u00a0 again at Strange Herring<\/a>.\u00a0 Amidst his wry observations, humorous rants, and theological zingers, he will post thoughtful meditations and perceptive film criticism.\u00a0 For example, here he discusses What Is a Christian Film?<\/a> and puts forward an unlikely-seeming candidate:<\/p>\n

To me, the most explicitly Christian film ever made is Billy Bob Thornton\u2019s Sling Blade<\/em>. Consider: the central figure is Karl, who in today\u2019s parlance who be described as mentally challenged or autistic, played by an unrecognizable Thornton himself. We meet Karl as he sits in an institution to which he has been consigned for murdering his own mother. Yet this strange, dangerous man with this creepy affect is about to be let loose on an unsuspecting society. Unsuspecting because Karl is by far the most enlightened person in any room he walks into. And that is for one good reason: he has a keen appreciation for his own capacity for evil. He is not self-deluded. He has a grasp of reality such as would drive most other people to drink.<\/p>\n

\nBut this self-knowledge is not born of hubris but of humility. When Karl realizes that he must commit another crime, and thus forsake his hard-won freedom for the sake of another \u2014 a little boy who is being tormented by his mother\u2019s boyfriend and their self-destructive lifestyle \u2014 the first thing he does is ask to be baptized. He is identifying himself with the crucified Christ because he is about to sacrifice his own \u201crighteousness\u201d (i.e., that fragile social acceptance that permits him to live in civil society) for the sake of another, to save another. Karl knows he is a sinner. He knows he must die for his sin. But he also knows that he has a redeemer, who can save him even as he is about to descend into hell.\n

And so we leave Karl just as we found him. Incarcerated, but strangely free.<\/p>\n

Partly on Mr. Sacramone\u2019s earlier recommendation\u2013he listed Sling Blade <\/em>among his \u201cLutheran movies\u201d\u2013I watched it, and he\u2019s right.<\/p>\n

Could we agree to this?:\u00a0 A\u00a0 movie that is\u00a0 uplifting or moral or positive is not necessarily a Christian movie.\u00a0 Rather, for a movie to be Christian, it must have something to do with sin, redemption, and Christ.<\/p>\n

Can you think of other examples?<\/p><\/div>\n<\/blockquote><\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I am happy to report that Anthony Sacramone, once of\u00a0 Luther at the Movies, is back from his blogging hiatus and is posting\u00a0 again at Strange Herring.\u00a0 Amidst his wry observations, humorous rants, and theological zingers, he will post thoughtful meditations and perceptive film criticism.\u00a0 For example, here he discusses What Is a Christian Film? […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1281,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[177,439,2027],"class_list":["post-7644","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-movies","tag-anthony-sacramone","tag-christian-art","tag-sling-blade"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Gospel according to Sling Blade<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I am happy to report that Anthony Sacramone, once of\u00a0 Luther at the Movies, is back from his blogging hiatus and is posting\u00a0 again at Strange Herring.\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2011\/02\/the-gospel-according-to-sling-blade\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Gospel according to Sling Blade\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I am happy to report that Anthony Sacramone, once of\u00a0 Luther at the Movies, is back from his blogging hiatus and is posting\u00a0 again at Strange Herring.\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2011\/02\/the-gospel-according-to-sling-blade\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Cranach\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/cranachblog\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-02-16T10:30:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Gene Veith\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Gene Veith\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2011\/02\/the-gospel-according-to-sling-blade\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2011\/02\/the-gospel-according-to-sling-blade\/\",\"name\":\"The Gospel according to Sling Blade\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-02-16T10:30:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-02-16T10:30:56+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#\/schema\/person\/f9ca8670bcc51908a78994c0484dbfa1\"},\"description\":\"I am happy to report that Anthony Sacramone, once of\u00a0 Luther at the Movies, is back from his blogging hiatus and is posting\u00a0 again at Strange Herring.\u00a0\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2011\/02\/the-gospel-according-to-sling-blade\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2011\/02\/the-gospel-according-to-sling-blade\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2011\/02\/the-gospel-according-to-sling-blade\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Gospel according to Sling Blade\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/\",\"name\":\"Cranach\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#\/schema\/person\/f9ca8670bcc51908a78994c0484dbfa1\",\"name\":\"Gene Veith\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/054d79faea5d476edd8f99e5f14fb17f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/054d79faea5d476edd8f99e5f14fb17f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Gene Veith\"},\"description\":\"Gene Edward Veith, Jr. is a writer and retired literature professor, serving as Provost Emeritus at Patrick Henry College. 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