“My Own Eyes Are Not Enough:” Towards a Theory of “Christian” Art Part I

By guest blogger Andrew Winckles Eighteenth Century Culture The question of what constitutes “Christian” art or whether there is even such a thing has, within the past thirty years, become a bone of contention in evangelical Christian culture.  With the advent of the “culture wars,” there has been an increasingly loud call from some sectors of evangelicalism for Christian’s to “take back” popular culture by creating explicitly Christian art. Films like Left Behind, Fireproof, and most recently Courageous have all attempted to insert a Christian voice into the public sphere. However, this debate over “Christian” art is of relatively recent … Continue reading “My Own Eyes Are Not Enough:” Towards a Theory of “Christian” Art Part I

The Kendrick Brothers Have Ties to Christian Patriarchy Organizations

While the message in the Kendrick’s films appear to fit mainstream, Christian culture, it is important to pay attention to who these filmmakers chose to associate with. After all, if you give them money for their product then you are validating their connections to Christian patriarchy organizations such as Vision Forum. It remains to be seen if Sherwood Pictures will submit Courageous for consideration at the 2011 San Antonio Christian Film Festival. However, it’s highly likely, since their last film Fireproof was screened at the film festival in 2009 and won the best feature award.  A quick glance at the … Continue reading The Kendrick Brothers Have Ties to Christian Patriarchy Organizations

“Courageous” Subtly Promotes Male Headship and Racial Stereotypes

My ideological critique of “Courageous” is written from the perspective of a Christian feminist who fully supports the belief in Biblical gender equality. As Benjamin Titus Roberts, the founder of the Free Methodist Church, said in his book “Ordaining Women”: “The greatest domestic happiness always exists where husband and wife live together on terms of equality. Two men, having individual interests, united only by business ties, daily associate as partners for years, without either of them being in subjection to the other. They consider each other as equals; and treat each other as equals. Then, cannot a man and woman, … Continue reading “Courageous” Subtly Promotes Male Headship and Racial Stereotypes

“Courageous” Lacks Artistry and Preaches to the Choir

This is part of a series of articles I will be publishing this week on “Courageous.” A rhetorical critique will come out later this week as well as critique about the type of Christian associations the Kendricks have choose to align with. One star for decent action sequences and being better than my expectations (although they were incredibly low when I went to see it). The Kendrick brothers new movie Courageous is suspiciously similar to the 2004 film Crash, except that it’s a very poor knockoff. Running at 2 hours and 10 minutes, the film should have been a good … Continue reading “Courageous” Lacks Artistry and Preaches to the Choir