In this special back-to-school episode, Garrick Bailey and Timothy Paul Jones are joined by Dr. Grady Adkins and Dr. Joshua Swindall, two researchers who have spent the past year exploring which specific Christian beliefs are the most difficult for college students to believe and to defend.
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Rob Plummer: How Did Judas Iscariot Really Die? + “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper” (Blue Öyster Cult)
One of the most difficult dilemmas in the entire Bible has to do with how Judas Iscariot actually died. According to Matthew’s Gospel, Judas Iscariot hanged himself, and priests purchased the field where he died for 30 pieces of silver. But, according to the book of Acts, Judas fell headfirst in a field that he had acquired and his intestines burst out. So which is it, and what does this mean for how we read the New Testament? Today, in the Three Chords segment of the program, Dr. Robert Plummer joins Timothy and Garrick to discuss the fate of Judas Iscariot. In the Truth segment, your intrepid cohosts discuss a Christian theology of death by examining “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper” by the Blue Öyster Cult.
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Culture: Comic-Book Superheroes in a Christian Worldview
“Comics are the new Bible,” film critic Anne Billson recently declared, “and devotees never tire of seeing their idols save the world.” Her elevation of comic books to canonical status in the culture is overstated, but I think she may be close to the truth in suggesting that part of the current appeal of comics is […]
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Todd Miles: Jesus, Superman, Captain America, and Other Resurrected Superheroes + “The Great American Novel” (Larry Norman)
So what do Superman, Captain America, Professor X, and Jesus Christ all have in common? According to the canonical accounts of their lives, each one has been raised from the dead. So why is it that, even in fiction, humans yearn for heroes who die and return to life? That’s one of the questions that Timothy Paul Jones explores in this episode with cohost Garrick Bailey and Western Seminary professor Todd Miles, author of the B&H Academic book Superheroes Can’t Save You. Then, in the second half of the program, Garrick and Timothy go digging for God’s truth in the music of Larry Norman, the father of Christian rock.
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Culture: The Marvel Cinematic Universe and the Metanarrative of God
Every human being is hungry for a single overarching storyline that ties all of our smaller stories together. Since 2008, evidence for this hunger has been as close as your nearest cinema. That’s when the release of Iron Man marked the genesis of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The Marvel Cinematic Universe is not merely a series of movies, neatly […]
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Culture: A Quick Guide to the Marvel Cinematic Universe
At the center of God’s story stands this singular act: In Jesus Christ, God personally intersected human history and redeemed humanity at a particular time in a particular place. Yet this central marvel of redemption does not stand alone. It is bordered by God’s good creation and humanity’s fall into sin on the one hand […]
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Culture: Iron Man 2 and the Metanarrative of God
This exploration of Iron Man 2 is the fourth in a series of posts exploring theological themes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. You can find the rest of the series here. I recommend using VidAngel to filter the content of this film for your family. Every part of Tony Stark seems to have been forged in […]
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Culture: The Incredible Hulk and the Metanarrative of God
This exploration of The Incredible Hulk is the third in a series of posts exploring theological themes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. You can find the rest of the series here. I recommend using VidAngel to filter the content of this film for your family. Spider-Man teaches us that, with great power, comes great responsibility. Iron […]
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Culture: Iron Man and the Metanarrative of God
This exploration of Iron Man is the second in a series of posts exploring theological themes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. You can find the rest of the series here. I recommend using VidAngel to filter the content of this film for your family. The Marvel Cinematic Universe launched in 2008 with the story of Tony Stark, […]
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