My colleague, Randy Wilson, is disenchanted with the superhero movie. He’s concerned that the overblown CGI robs us of our imagination. He’s worried that the genre lacks moral depth. And he’s afraid that we, as a society, aren’t using our gifts to say anything meaningful, to say anything true.
I would encourage him to look for the baby in the bathwater.
In my last post, I wrote about how Christians should engage with the Olympic games. Since then, I’ve been pleased to see a number of Olympians give glory to God for their achievements. Perhaps the most notable of these athletes is Gabby Douglas who won gold in the women’s gymnastics all-round competition. Gabby’s winning smile and outspoken Christian witness have catapulted her to Tim-Tebow-like status among Christian sports fans. Continue reading
The Games of the 30th Olympiad begin this evening in London, so the world will once again pause and reflect on the heritage that the ancient Greeks bequeathed us. The funny thing is that the ancient Greeks probably wouldn’t recognize these games. Lots of time has passed since Greek athletes last converged on Olympia to celebrate their quadrennial games in honor of Zeus. Our modern Olympic games probably tell us more about the values of the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth century than they do about the ancient Greeks. The ideals of the modern Olympic games are the values embodied by the progressive spirit of the post-Enlightenment. Both of these models of Olympic virtue, however, are problematic for Christians.
