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‘Apocalypto’ & ‘Breaking and Entering’

One is set in modern-day England, the other among the ancient Mayans, just prior to the time the Spaniards arrived.  Both are about 'nice' people who encounter outlaws.  In both, the characters' ordeal is such that nothing will be the same for them afterwards.  In both, a startling revelation alters the whole paradigm.  In both, at the end, the main characters are desperately clinging to a love fiercely tested.

The Good German

What was it like in Berlin, in the summer of 1945?  In "The Good German," we get a surreal glimpse, and the picture isn't pretty.

There's rubble everywhere.  Bombed-out buildings are part of the landscape, as are the gaunt faces, the food lines, and the palpable smell of despair.  The Allies have already partitioned the defeated city, and the rifts between them are already swelling to the surface, even as the Potsdam Conference decides how the victors will divide the spoils.

Books for 2006 holiday reading and giving

 

Another sign of the holidays--the Outlook book editor compiles a sampling of books that make both good gifts for Christmas and good books to get and read for yourself. Here is the 2006 list:

 

Resources for Year C

Luke for Everyone, by Tom Wright.  WJKP, 2004. ISBN 0-664-22784-8. Pb., 320 pp. $14.95.

Wright's popular for Everyone series combines the diligence of his New Testament scholarship with his passion for preaching and teaching in the life of the church. Here Wright offers constructive expositions and useful illustrations for each section of Luke's Gospel, along with his own translation of each text.

 

New Proclamation Commentary on the Gospels, by Andrew Gregory, David Bartlett, Morna Hooker, and Henry Wansbrough. Fortress, 2006. ISBN 0-8006-3752-6. b., 320 pp. $35.

A one-volume commentary on the four Gospels as they are represented in the Revised Common Lectionary.  The authors represent Anglican, American Baptist, Methodist, and Roman Catholic traditions.

“The Nativity Story” is first feature film to premiere at the Vatican

Editor's Note: On November 26, the film, "The Nativity Story", will become the first feature film ever to premiere at the Vatican, in Vatican City (Rome), Italy, reports Religion News Service. It is scheduled for a December 1 release in the United States. The premiere will be held at the Vatican's Aulo Paolo VI (Pope Paul VI Hall) with 7,000 invited guests. The event is a benefit, with contributions going toward construction of a school in the village of Mughar, Israel, located approximately 40 kilometers from Nazareth, which has a diverse population of Christians, Muslims, and Druze.

Ron Salfen, Texas pastor and OUTLOOK film reviewer, had a chance to attend an advance showing of the film and interview the film's director, Catherine Hardwicke. His review is posted along with this report. Here is the interview:

  
Outlook:  First, let me be a non-typical critic, and tell you that I really liked your movie. I thought it was fantastic.

CH: Thanks very much.  You know, I grew up Presbyterian. ... I grew up in First Church in McAllen, Texas. Now my parents have moved to Bend, Ore., but they go to the First Presbyterian Church there, and my Dad still sings in the choir.

Outlook:  You've chosen to combine the accounts of Matthew and Luke, and at the end, the manger scene looked like a lot of Nativity sets, with all the characters huddled around the cradle.

CH:  Yes, that was our nod to popular imagination, and what we knew people would expect.

The Nativity Story

It's not easy to make a movie about the birth of Christ. If you're too literal, it feels like an awkward bathrobe play, and even the Gospels themselves contain commentary. Besides, what to do about the different ways the Bible itself presents the story, and how about the prophecies leading up to the birth of the Messiah?  Which to utilize?  And how about the background music?  Is it going to be "authentic indigenous," or Gregorian chant, or traditional hymnody, or contemporary "soft rock"?  And how about the biblical characters?  Are they going to be stentorian; stiff and awkward, and perhaps somewhat filled with a sense of self-importance? Or are they just going to be "ordinary people," and how do you manage that with a Hollywood cast?

“Women’s Ordination: Past, Present & Future” DVD

How important are the stories we carry in our hearts! They guide our lives and nurture our growth. Evelyn Fulton, a lifelong advocate for women and the first woman to graduate from Pittsburgh-Xenia Seminary in 1949, recalled: "My mother, and my father, too, always said 'You can do anything you want in this world.'"

For the past two years--2005 and 2006--we women have been telling our stories. We have laughed, cried, and been amazed again at what God has called us to do. In our stories is the history of the Presbyterian Church opening its ministries to women.

On the DVD, "Women's Ordination: Past, Present & Future," thirteen of these wonderful women tell their stories. They all eventually became successful as pastors, executives, community leaders, moderators, and theologians, but it was not easy. The DVD was produced by the Women's Ordination Mission Team of Chicago Presbytery to be sure these women's stories can be an inspiration to a new generation of women and men.

Update or upstart? Biblical scholars debate language usage of TNIV

It may seem unlikely that Focus on the Family's Dr. James Dobson and Rolling Stone Magazine would have much of anything in common. Sure, both are seeking to make an impact upon American culture by communicating particular messages and beliefs. But that is like saying that Saddam Hussein and George W. Bush are similar because they both desire to motivate and persuade a particular group of people.

Granted, it has been for very different reasons, but James Dobson and Rolling Stone have found at least a bit of common ground in that both recently have been at odds with the relatively new and somewhat controversial TNIV. "The TNI...what?" was the response I received most when attempting to gather thoughts and opinions from Presbyterian friends. I have to admit, upon first hearing of it, I thought the T stood for "Teen." It doesn't.

In review: Today’s New International Version

The Bible: Today's New International Version (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2005).

 

Since the appearance of the English Revised Version in 1870, considered by many the beginning of modern English translations of the Bible, more than 150 translations (often of only the New Testament) have appeared. Many of these are forgotten private translations, although some of the "giants" are still remembered (e.g., James Moffat, E. J. Goodspeed, J. B. Phillips).

The major advance in translation by a committee was made with the appearance of the Revised Standard Version (New Testament 1946; complete Bible, 1952). The next two major moments were the publication of the New English Bible (1961; 2d ed., 1970), a British production with a very interpretive flair, and the New International Version (1973), done in part to have a "conservative" alternative to the RSV.i

How I use the TNIV

After a year with the TNIV ... I have found it illuminating to do my daily readings in new Bible translations. Often I see familiar passages in fresh light because of new turns of phrase or word choices. Not long after its initial publication, I found the NIV a wonderful new rendering of our beloved Book. But over the years it has come to feel dated on several accounts -- something unavoidable when the goal is to translate into language as current as possible.

Stories as Nourishment

 Â©2004 by John R. Erickson. Used by permission.

 

I was surprised the first time an elementary school librarian invited me to read my Hank the Cowdog stories to her children.  

I knew nothing about children's literature and never dreamed that children could understand the subtle humor in a story whose main character might be summed up in a paraphrase of St. Paul: "That which I do, I should not, and that which I should not, I do--all the time." Hank, who narrates the stories, exaggerates, often tells little lies to cover his mistakes, has no self-knowledge, and ... well, isn't very smart. That's pretty subtle, and I wrote the first Hank book for adults, not children.  

Six million books later--most of them purchased by or for children--it is clear that I was not a marketing genius.

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