So I knew it was important to approach this study from the perspective of someone who has been victimized by evil. Otherwise we can be pretty glib, engaging in all sorts of abstract theological discussions that have little to do with the real world.
I also believe every film should be united around a strong visual and thematic metaphor that we can return to repeatedly, first looking at it one way but then shifting our point of view as we progress through our argument.
When you put all of this together, 9/11 becomes a natural choice because it was a generation-defining event. It also provides us with arresting, evocative imagery that puts all of these issues on the table. All of us feel victimized by that event in some way or another, even today. And if our theology of hell can't help us make sense of that situation, it can't help us anywhere.
What do you think will surprise people most about your film?
It all depends on who you're talking about. I think your average evangelical viewer will be surprised to learn that some of the people who helped canonize the Bible and write the creeds did not share their view of hell—or a great many other things, for that matter. And yet they are revered as fathers and mothers of the church. In fact, some of them, such as Gregory of Nyssa, believed that all people would be ultimately reconciled to God. This should create some cognitive dissonance for conservative evangelicals, because they tend to portray themselves as the only ones who are faithful to the Bible, and that anyone who disagrees with their interpretation is going to hell. They write off Universalists and similar folks as sentimentalists, people who have no respect for the authority of Scripture and so on. But how do they handle the fact that some of the people who helped compile the Bible they love so much would find such a view utterly foreign? Are they going to lob the same accusations at them? Hopefully it will spur such viewers to rethink the certainty of their position.
If we are talking non-Christians, I'm hoping they will be surprised to discover how many thoughtful, intelligent, well-meaning Christians are actually out there thinking through these issues. Too often the extremists are the ones who get all of the press. And we are far too quick to paint religious people with broad strokes as fire-breathing fundamentalists. One of my agendas with this film is to offer an apologetic not just for Christianity but also for religion as a whole. A lot of people think religion is the problem, that the only solution is to get rid of it. I disagree. I think we need more religion, not less. But it can't be the rigid, imperialistic form of religion that brooks no rivals, dividing the world into two camps—us and them—and then projecting that same way of thinking onto God. That kind of religion certainly has to go.
The kind of religion I'd like to see more of is informed by a new logos or organizing principle—forgiveness, empathy, and self-giving love. It's a form of religion that offers an escape from the cycle of retributive violence in which we are currently stuck, not one that adds to it by using religion to legitimize our violent impulses. I believe Jesus' command to love God first of all, to love our neighbor—even our enemies—as ourselves truly is the "e=mc2" of the moral universe. As long as we refuse to do this, we will continue to experience weeping and gnashing of teeth. I know this is true in my own life, but it's also true on a global level as well. The problem is, we're all caught in a "Mexican standoff," to use a film term, and no one wants to be the first to lower their weapon. I think Christians are uniquely positioned to lead the way in this regard, seeing as we claim to follow someone who refused to take up arms against his oppressors but used his dying breath to plead with God to forgive them instead.
Come back tomorrow for Part 2 of our interview with Kevin Miller, where he talks about Christian universalism and his own theological beliefs about hell, the biggest challenge in making the movie, and his ultimate hope for Hellbound?
Read more from Kevin Miller at his Patheos blog, Hellbound?
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