Re: [asa] Zeitgeist - the Movie

Good points, Merv!

I appreciate all of the responses.

It's one thing that the general public is wishy-washy towards spiritual
issues, but when this ennui and naivety are exploited by the snarling
ontological naturalist for a profit, it's a very very sad situation.

*The DaVinci Code* was IMHO more innocuous then this Zeitgeist opus. It's
a novel that was cinematized for obvious profit reasons, and it's
theological implications are not really that devastating. The putative
discovery of the tomb of Jesus in *The Lost Tomb of Jesus* was adequately
rebutted here: http://bib-arch.org/bswbKCtombmagness.html

My question is, should there be a published succinct rebuttal to this
*Zeitgeist* nonsense available on the web? This would effect a synopsis
of Merv's excellent points. It's does no good to either ignore this issue
or go hyperbolic over it. Merv's option 3, "use it!", seems the only
effective one.

God's Peace,

Roger

P.S. As an interesting illustration of the dearth of reasoning abilities
of the average U.S. college student and which hopefully delineates the
need to rebut such populist anti-Christian nonsense, here's an excerpt
from this fellow's paper (really an essay). My assignment was to answer
one or more of the following questions. "Does Big Bang theory eliminate
the need for a divine creator?" "Is there some concordance with Big Bang
theory and Ge 1:1-19?" "Is it possible for God to create a process?" The
last question was assumed to be answerable by students of any religious
tradition, including atheism. ;-) This student answered, "No, I do not
think God could create a process, because I'm not sure whether God
exists." Does anyone feel as pessimistic about the future of humanity if
this is the level of logical reasoning ability in the average college
student?

> There are a variety of Christian responses (& not all negative ones) to
> eruptions like this one when they emerge:
>
> 1. Hunker down & fight it. --spiritual warfare is very real, and
> somebody needs to be in the trenches.
>
> 2. Ignore it. Those who advocate this are quick to note that much of
> the popularity is fed by publicity freely & unwittingly given by the
> Christian right. How big a check should J. Rowlings write to Christian
> right organizations for her Potter series? Better publicity could not
> have been delivered & it was free of charge. That is not to say these
> works would not have thrived without specific Christian activities
> against them. Anybody who pokes at "establishment" is going to have
> some guaranteed audience no matter how the establishment reacts.
>
> 3. Use it. I heard an evangelist recently speak of his excitement
> over the Da Vinci Code. For the first time in years, he said, the
> topic of religion could actually be brought up (or arrived at) in polite
> public conversation. And popular fads like this are the ticket to
> steer the conversation around to important things. Bring it on! What
> does real truth have to fear from falsehoods flying around? Is truth
> so flimsy that we think it will disintegrate if (gasp!) the public
> becomes enamored with another falsehood?
>
>
> More recently, I guess, the "Golden Compass" is also attracting the eye
> of Christians. I also remember walking by a polite oppositional picket
> line to see "The Last Temptation" years ago. There is nothing new
> under the sun.
>
> --Merv
>
>
> Roger G. Olson wrote:
>> Folks,
>>
>> Sorry to interrupt the niggling about the nuances in our common belief
>> in
>> Creation and the Gospels, but I just heard about yet another attack on
>> our
>> common belief from the artistic media, namely a movie titled "Zeitgeist
>> -
>> the Movie" : http://www.zeitgeistmovie.com/transcript.htm
>>
>> It appears to be complete "conspiracy theory" nonsense. The Virgin
>> Birth,
>> Incarnation, twelve apostles, death, Resurrection after three days, are
>> tied to Bronze Age astrological phenomena and the Sun god. Yoicks!
>>
>> The reason I bring this up is that a student cited heavily from this
>> movie
>> transcript in a paper he was writing on the Big Bang and origins. He
>> seems to have latched onto this nonsense as a reasonable argument for
>> rejecting the God of the Bible.
>>
>> The movie is likely campy nonsense, but such nonsense is often scarfed
>> up
>> by those looking for yet another excuse to reject the Divine.
>>
>> Roger
>>
>>
>
>
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