The likelihood that one will reach the last days of the Book of Revelations and face an eternity in a place beyond the earth is a question only God can answer. The mockumentary Religulous, starring Bill Maher, attempts to tackle theological questions that go beyond Maher’s understanding while also trying to strengthen his comedic ethos in the process. The thesis of this film directly reflects Maher’s atheist beliefs, that if civilization continues to accept religion without doubt it should also be ready to accept all the prophecies of that religion including the end of times. Maher suggests that, “mankind abandon religion before people destroy the world in its name.” In this film he attempts to place doubt in the minds of religious leaders, followers, and the average Joe by refuting the word of God. Bill Maher presents a weak-argument in the film due to his overly inflated ethos, lack of decorum, unconvincing use of logical fallacies, and bad inductive logic.
To begin with, in this film Maher’s ethical appeal is deeply impacted through inflating his ethos. His opinions of religion take over almost all of the film and it is distracting. Each time he interviews someone and he is about to make a really good point the interview ends cutting straight to Maher’s commentary. For instance, Maher’s interview with Jesus the actor at the “Holy land,” the actor’s scene was edited just as “Jesus,” starts answering questions, and replaced with Maher gazing into the camera in a skeptical way attempting to be funny. Constantly seeing interviews like this one cut off in a film is annoying even when substituted with humor. It is almost like watching the Wile E Coyote chase the Road Runner then, just as the Coyote is about to catch him, the anvil f...
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...medic relief, this is difficult to watch even if it was just an actor it didn’t seem morally right to take part in such humor.
In the end, it takes more than a macho attitude to refute the word of God, or to successfully take on the world of religion and destroy its existence. Bill Maher’s overly inflated ethos, lack of decorum, unconvincing use of logical fallacies, and bad inductive logic are some of the key reasons why this film presented a weak argument. Eternity's a terrible thought. I mean, where's it all going to end? Said Tom Stoppard. Only God knows when and where it will all end neither certainty nor doubt will change that.
Works cited
Religuous .Dir. Larry Charles. Dist. Lionsgate. DVD. September 6, 2008
Stoppard, Tom “Eternity's a terrible thought. I mean, where's it all going to end?”
Quote. Web www.quotationspage.com/quote/147.html April 1, 2014
The Book of Revelation and the movie WALL-E serve as distinct forms of apocalyptic literature to expose the reality of the human condition beneath the surface. Even though there are blatant disconnects between the two, they both share common ground as criticisms of society and to warn humanity of its coming judgement. The Book of Revelation and WALL-E offer a frightening yet rectifiable future for humanity by remaining loyal to its “core values”.
On July 8th 1741, Jonathan Edwards preached the sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” in Enfield, Connecticut. Edwards states to his listeners that God does not lack in power, and that people have yet not fallen to destruction because his mercy. God is so forgiving that he gives his people an opportunity to repent and change their ways before it was too late. Edwards urges that the possibility of damnation is immanent. Also that it urgently requires the considerations of the sinner before time runs out. He does not only preach about the ways that make God so omnipotent, but the ways that he is more superior to us. In his sermon, Edwards uses strong, powerful, and influential words to clearly point out his message that we must amend our ways or else destruction invincible. Edwards appeals to the spectators though the various usages of rhetorical devices. This includes diction, imagery, language/tone and syntax. Through the use of these rhetoric devices, Edwards‘s purpose is to remind the speculators that life is given by God and so they must live according to him. This include...
Evans, C. Stephen. Critical Dialog in Philosophy of Religion. 1985. Downers Grove, IL. InterVarsity Press. Taken from Philosophy of Religion - Selected Readings, Fourth Edition. 2010. Oxford University Press, NY.
Overall the film was a very informative film for a more homophobic audience. The content was relatable and connected well with the information and discussions that have been within our society for a long time. It was a well-done film that really questions the homophobic opinions and while this is still a very real debate in today’s society the film does a great job at arguing the homophobic opinions.
In conclusion, I found a quote from Michael Medved that I thoroughly agreed with, he says, “This same habitual blindness to spiritual, substantive dimensions of every significant challenge continues to handicap Hollywood”. I believe what he wants to get across here is that the Hollywood industry always misses the mark when it comes to spirituality and this is his whole meaning throughout the book. Whether I agree with his wording or not, I am a Christian, and I should be concerned with the way the media is influencing the mind of the world around me. I am called to be the light in this world, and I do believe that is the one area Medved and I agree; in some way, we both believe that the world is under attack and it is our job to show the light to this darkened world.
I did not see the movie until the experiment was complete, in order to keep this experiment unbiased. I think that the anti-semitism in the movie was extraordinarily clear. I actually think it is totally contrary to the Catholic doctrine. Another thing is the history of the Gibson family. Mel’s father, Hutton, is an open anti-semite, holocaust denier, and accuses the current pope of being Jewish. When a person grows up in a household learning that, it stays with the person. I can prove this with another experiment. Kids who grow up getting physically abused, are usually abusive parents themselves.
The movie’s theological perspective on Jesus is different from what is usually portrayed in christian films. The movie uses Jesus in a low Christology way in which he is more of a human figure than a divine figure. It focuses on Jesus having very human characteristics like anger, irritation,
In my opinion it is about time that someone made a decent film about Christ and showed how brutally tragic his death actually was. Gibson's goal was simply to tell us how it was while entertaining us at the same time. He succeeded immensely.
The Matrix, directed by the Wachowski brothers, a film about the journey of Neo discovering the real and simulation world, revolves around how he is “The One” destined to save mankind. As critics may say that The Matrix is either an action packed movie containing philosophy or a philosophical movie containing action, critics also miss the fact that it could possibly be considered as a religious themed movie because it contains a plethora of Biblical references, such as symbolic evidence. In Gregory Bassham’s article, “The Religion of The Matrix and Problems of Pluralism”, he discusses how the film contains Christian themes, non-Christian themes, and lastly, religious pluralism. The rhetorical
O Brother, Where Art Thou? was phenomenal, and I found myself laughing an abundance of times throughout the movie. After viewing the film and the video essays, I agree that part of the reason why this story is truly successful is because Joel and Ethan Coen play with morality and in some ways, punish the characters repeatedly. Every time that something good occurred for a character, I was on the edge of my seat waiting for the next bad thing to follow. I feel that their constant play on morality kept the audience 's attention and left them wanting more. It also added a more humorous aspect, as Everett, Pete, and Delmar would grow confident and let their "seven deadly sins" (i.e. Everett struggled with pride) arise once again when they
Literalist fundamentalists read Revelation’s multivalent visions as predictions of doom and threat, of punishment for the many and salvation for the elect few. Scholarly scientific readings seek to translate the book’s ambiguity into one-to-one meanings and to transpose its language of symbol and myth into description and facts. In Elisabeth Schûssler Fiorenza’s The Book of Revelation: Justice and Judgment, a third way of reading Revelation is depicted. The collection of essays in this book seeks to intervene in scholarly as well as popular discourses on the apocalypse from a liberationist feminist perspective.
... of this ideology in a way the reader can connect to. Through the foundation and attempt to understand the lack of reason, clear narration of important text and a human perception of absurdity, the novel prominently transcends the absurdity presented in the film. Absurdity is conveyed to be a school of thought, wherein humans attempt to answer and quantify the grandest questions of the universe, but ultimately come to a conclusion that the greatest answers are beyond us. As George Bernard Shaw said, “The more you learn, the more you know. The more you know, the more you forget. The more you forget, the less you know. So why bother to learn?”
Movies and books such as The Da Vinci Code that carry themes that are directly related to the Bible are going to face criticism, especially when the themes within them display controversial information that undermines how Christians and the Church understand the Bible. The Da Vinci Code explores a conspiracy about the Vatican and Jesus, and director Ron Howard displays on screen what author Dan Brown presented as historical truth in his novel. Much like Brown, director Darren Aronofsky presented his 2014 film Noah to be a truthful account of the famous Biblical story, but in reality rewrote the story to be what many argue is an “anti-biblical” representation of the true story of “Noah’s
Throughout history, people have anticipated the second coming of Jesus Christ. The last days of time are near according to signs that were prophesied by the Lord. Many books, songs, and articles have been written about the end times. Unfortunately, most people refuse to accept that we are living in the last days. The Bible has forewarned its readers to be on guard at any moment. There are signs of Jesus’ return everywhere which proves that this generation is living in the last days of time. Some of the signs include The Holocaust and the Nazi’s, the rise in natural disasters and the Mark of the Beast, and preachers only preaching good news gospel, the violence of today’s society, and open and flaunted homosexuality.
God reveals himself to the tribe of Judah through Jesus, although they reject him. The movie ultimately shows God’s plan for restoring his relationship with mankind, through the sacrifice of his son Jesus. The greatest personal insight gained from the movie was the political and spiritual battle with the religious establishment and the blindness of the Jewish culture that lead to the rejection of their symbolic spiritual Passover.