God is Impassible and Impassioned: An Updated Framework for Divine Emotion

Last updated on: May 22, 2013 at 6:37 am By Kendrick Kuo

Review of God is Impassible and Impassioned by Rob Lister Impassibility is not a common topic of conversation in the pews, but it’s been a debate raging in religion departments and seminaries for quite some time. Rob Lister’s dissertation at Southern Seminary made it into book form as God is Impassible and Impassioned, where his thesis is in the title–God is both impassible and impassioned. Impassibility does not preclude having divine emotions. This book has become a go-to book among... Read more

The Great Gatsby and the Despair of Decadence

Last updated on: May 21, 2013 at 7:05 am By Justin Hawkins

Review of The Great Gatsby, Directed by Baz Luhrmann “There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, and it lies heavy on mankind: a man to whom God gives wealth, possessions, and honor, so that he lacks nothing of all he desires, yet God does not give him power to enjoy them…” -Ecclesiastes 6:1-2a The Great Gatsby is a grotesque movie. Its characters are too vicious, the costumes too flamboyant, the decadence too lavish, and the tragedy... Read more

Double Indemnity: Bleak Justice in Classic Noir

Last updated on: May 20, 2013 at 6:37 am By Paul D. Miller

Review of Double Indemnity, Directed by Billy Wilder Billy Wilder was more than the Steven Spielberg of his era. While Spielberg is one of the most prominent, acclaimed, and decorated directors of all time, Wilder is that and a writer as well. He wrote the screenplays for most of his best movies, including The Apartment (1961), Some Like it Hot (1960), Sunset Blvd. (1950), and Double Indemnity (1944). The amazing thing about that list is that it includes a comedy, a... Read more

Star Trek Into Moral Leadership

Last updated on: May 17, 2013 at 6:07 am By Kendrick Kuo

Review of Star Trek Into Darkness, Directed by J. J. Abrams A confession: I am not a Trekkie. I watched the film as someone with very little education on the Star Trek universe, having only seen Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan, Star Trek: First Contact, and J. J. Abrams’s Star Trek. If you want a perspective on Star Trek Into Darkness from a Trekkie perspective, read Paul Miller’s review. In fact, on the way to the theater, Paul was... Read more

Star Trek Into Terror

Last updated on: May 16, 2013 at 7:37 am By Paul D. Miller

Review of Star Trek Into Darkness, Directed by J.J. Abrams Star Trek Into Darkness is a thrilling, fun, loud, dazzling movie–a perfect summer popcorn flick. It is also much more fun if you know absolutely nothing about it before you go. I have no intention of spoiling that fun for you, which makes it difficult to write anything interesting about it. First, let me lay my cards on the table: I’m a Trekkie. I sat on the carpet at my... Read more

Biblical Theology in the Life of the Church (and why they need each other)

Last updated on: May 15, 2013 at 6:43 am By Kendrick Kuo

Review of Biblical Theology in the Life of the Church by Michael Lawrence What is biblical theology and why is it important to the local church? It’s easy to understand why theology in general is important since we need to know what we believe and apply certain biblical ideas to contemporary living. But when we talk about the importance of theology, I think we usually have in mind systematic theology (i.e., what does the Bible as a whole say about... Read more

Eyes of the Heart in Photography

Last updated on: May 14, 2013 at 6:57 am By Guest Contributor

Review of Eyes of the Heart by Christine Valters Paintner By JENNY BOSAK Eyes of the Heart, by Christine Valters Paintner, is about using photography to see images with the heart, rather than just “seeing” them in a technical sense. As a professional photographer, I was very interested in reading how I could both better my creative view of my work and also draw closer through photography to my Great Creator who lovingly put all things on this earth for... Read more

Classical Christian Doctrine sets the record straight on patristic theology

Last updated on: May 13, 2013 at 6:16 am By Kendrick Kuo

Review of Classical Christian Doctrine: Introducing the Essentials of the Ancient Faith by Ronald E. Heine This is the first installment of Reading Patristics–a review series dedicated to books about the early church fathers. These reviews will not be exhaustive summaries, but instead are meant to pique the interest of readers to pursue reading in this area of study and a guide to good books in the field. What did the early Christians believe? How different were they from Christians... Read more

Gatsby: Tragic Hero of Hope

Last updated on: May 10, 2013 at 6:56 am By Paul D. Miller

Review The Great Gatsby, Directed by Baz Luhrmann I rarely disagree with what the internet tells me to think about a movie, but today I do. The critics dislike Baz Luhrmann’s adaptation of The Great Gatsby. It has a 45 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes. They are wrong. Gatsby is a fine film. Baz Luhrmann is a highly distinctive filmmaker. He specializes in rapid editing, odd angles, swooping cameras, deliberate overacting, highly stylized sets and settings—all punctuated by a score... Read more

‘Bound Together’ in Suffering…and Salvation

Last updated on: May 9, 2013 at 6:47 am By Alexis Neal

Review of Bound Together: How We Are Tied to Others in Good and Bad Choices by Chris Brauns As Americans, we love our independence. I am my own man (or woman), I make my own destiny, I am autonomous, don’t tread on me. But for all our cowboy sentiment, there is a union, communion, and solidarity to humanity that we cannot escape. Despite my wish to the contrary, I am not solely my own man—I am affected by the choices of... Read more