In Search Of Truth, Romans 1:26-32

 

Romans 1:26-32

 

Earlier in this chapter (verses 21-23 and 25) Paul explains
that humans willfully make the decision to ignore what God has revealed about
himself, choosing instead to worship gods or false versions of God that they
have invented themselves.

 

It is because of this that God “gives people over” to
shameful desires. These “desires” are not necessarily sexual, but Paul gives
homosexuality as an example of behavior that happens when people ignore truth
and pursue their own desires instead of God’s design for our lives. (v. 26-27)

 

Some have suggested that the “penalty” for error in verse 27
refers to sexually transmitted diseases like HIV, though this is pure
speculation and is an argument that has some noticeable weaknesses.

 

God is strongly committed to the free will of humanity. So
when people decide to ignore God, he allows their minds to think illogically.
In verse 28, the Greek adjective used to describe a “depraved mind” means
“undiscerning, not distinguishing and void of judgment”. The implication here
is that acknowledging and worshiping God is the natural result of logical
thinking. In order to ignore God, we have to set aside logic, which God allows
us to do if that is what we want.

 

Once the human mind becomes “depraved” in this way, it
naturally gravitates toward choices and actions that are not suited to God’s
design for humans. Paul uses a series of descriptive words to identify the
symptoms of this state, and I’ve made an effort to examine each of these words
in their original Greek and convey some of their meaning below to help us better see these symptoms in humanity.

 

In this, humanity’s default, fallen state, our minds are
filled with all kinds of thoughts that oppose God (unrighteousness). We do
things that are harmful to others (wickedness), we crave money and
“stuff”(greed), our natural impulses and thoughts are contrary to God’s will
(evil), we aren’t happy unless we have what others have in either wealth or
attributes(envy), we lose sight of the value of human life and become willing
to snuff it out if it suits our desires(murder), we are in regular conflict
with each other(strife), we misrepresent the truth in either small, subtle ways
or larger ways in order to gain or avoid something(deceit), and we assume the
worst about people, having a tainted, negative outlook(malice). (v.29)

 

We become people who love to “talk dirt” about others when
they aren’t around(gossips) and misrepresent each other in negative ways. We
hate hearing, talking and thinking about God(haters of God). We are
purposefully rude to others because we are entertained by the
results(insolent). We draw more attention to and think higher of ourselves than
we do others(arrogant). We find ways to verbally showcase ourselves in a
positive, and exaggerated light(boastful). We spend creative energy exploring
new ways to do things that we know God does not approve of(inventors of evil).
We’re unwilling to listen and apply the Biblical guidance of our
parents(disobedient to parents). (v.30)

 

We fail to understand the most important truths in
life(without understanding), we back out of things we have agreed
to(untrustworthy), we don’t love our families(unloving), and we’re unwilling to
forgive or to give people some slack(unmerciful). (v.31)

 

And even though we are all aware that God has absolute legal
rights over us, and we know that punishment waits for those who disobey God, we
not only continue to disobey him, but applaud the disobedient actions of
others.(v.32)

 

Next Week- Acknowledging Who We Are

 

Coffee House Question- If this kind of depravity is the
natural state of the world, why do you think “God loved the world so much that
he gave his only son, so that whoever believes in him will not perish, but will
have everlasting life”?(John 3:16)

The Last Exorcism (Movie Review)

Many movies treating the subject of Exorcism inevitably draw from the well of “The Exorcist” in repetitive and uncreative ways, adding only new special effects and visuals to an already established status quo. “The Last Exorcism” certainly revisits some established concepts, but also carves a new path into the genre with its unique premise.

The movie is filmed in a documentary style, following a southern preacher who admits that his own belief in God is not genuine and that the many exorcisms he has performed were fake. He decides that exorcism should be exposed as fake and takes a camera crew with him to an exorcism in service to that end. The only problem is that this time he gets much more than he bargained for.

With a cast of unknowns, this movie is a great example of the wonderful kinds of performances that can come to life in film when a studio doesn’t limit themselves to established Hollywood faces. I found every character in this movie to be believable and fascinating to watch. Of particular note is the actress who played Nell, the 15 year old girl who is the subject of the Exorcism. Her sweetness and innocence is almost moving in and of itself and contrasts incredibly with her demon persona later in the film.

As one would expect with this style of filming, there are not a lot of special effects. Effort is made to ground things in realism and suspense is created more by what you don’t see than what you do. Those who have a fear of the unknown and like to sit on the edge of their seat may find a rewarding experience here.

That’s not to say that the film doesn’t have special effects. At least, I think it does. That, or the actress playing Nell is also an amazing contortionist! Some creepy and realistic looking body bending provides a few good spine tingles the last third of the movie.

There is plenty to talk about after seeing this movie, and I wish I could sit down with the writer and director to hear some of their thoughts about specific issues.

First off, there is no positive representation of genuine Christianity in this movie. One of the first lines out of the main character’s mouth is about how he learned from his dad how to “hook” people into his preaching and get their money. In this movie, Christianity is represented only by those who are not what they appear to be or are ignorant and superstitious.

A brief all-inclusive statement is made near the beginning of the film that “religions all over the world perform exorcisms”. And the foundational truths of Christianity are given no unique ability to combat evil. If anything, Christianity comes out of this movie looking pretty weak.

Having said that, this is not a movie that will line up with an Atheistic worldview, either. This flick provides great opportunity to talk about demons and whether or not they exist during the drive home. The main character also makes it clear near the beginning that if you are a Christian and if you believe in Jesus, you have to believe in demons, because Jesus taught that they existed and performed exorcisms. So in this respect, the movie does uphold the basic value of logical faith, as opposed to picking and choosing what we want to believe from the Bible.

During an attempted Exorcism, the preacher spouts off scripture in an attempt to ward off the demon, to which the demon mockingly replies “Words, words ,words!” Though some may see this as an invalidation of the power of God’s words, I saw it as a validation of Christ’s power and not our own. The Bible is not a magic spell-book that we can recite “incantations” from to defeat evil. It is Christ himself who defeats evil or keeps it at bay.

An odd cliché the film does fall into is the upholding of Latin as a "spiritual" language. Given that the Bible was written primarily in Hebrew and Greek, this felt like Catholic traditional baggage more than anything else. I’d love to see a movie of this kind where the demons speak in Greek or Hebrew, rather than Latin.

The preacher also uses an old Latin tome, not the Bible, as his primary informational resource about demons. He doesn’t believe in demons, but it seems to be established in the film that real Christian exorcists would validate this mysterious Latin “demon encyclopedia”. Though it is never explained why this book is considered authoritative.

Like much religious superstition, this book is given authority not because it has been tested for historical authenticity, but simply because it is old, religious, and written in a dead language. Frankly, I’m ready for Hollywood and everyone else to get over using this kind of thinking. It just doesn’t make any sense.

If you like scary/supernatural movies and don’t mind the documentary style, this is a really enjoyable flick. You’ll also likely have lots to talk and think about afterward.

Rated PG-13 for disturbing violent content and terror, some sexual references and thematic material.

Quality: 9.0/10

Relevance: 9.5/10

The "Hazards" Of Subbing

Well, my plan had been to put "In Search Of Truth" here this week, since I took Monday off. But last night I got a call to substitute teach Wednesday through Friday of this week.

One of the hazards of substitute teaching is that, even though it's a side gig, it forces me to instantly drop whatever else I have planned for at least a day and sometimes for up to a week.

All things considered, it's a great way to make a little money while running a small business. But it doesn't allow me to do much advance planning. So if you're waiting to hear from me about an e-mail or something like that, know that I haven't forgotten you (as far as I know) and add about three days to whenever you thought I might get back to you.

;-)

I'm pretty close to finishing "In Search Of Truth", so plan on seeing it here this Friday! Thanks for your patience!

-Paeter Frandsen