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June 14th, 2013
04:05 PM ET
Superman: Flying to a church near youBy Eric Marrapodi, Co-Editor CNN Belief Blog Baltimore, Maryland (CNN) - As the new Superman movie takes flight this weekend, filmmakers are hoping the Man of Steel lands not only in theaters, but also in pulpits. Warner Bros. Studios is aggressively marketing "Man of Steel" to Christian pastors, inviting them to early screenings, creating Father’s Day discussion guides and producing special film trailers that focus on the faith-friendly angles of the movie. The movie studio even asked a theologian to provide sermon notes for pastors who want to preach about Superman on Sunday. Titled “Jesus: The Original Superhero,” the notes run nine pages. “How might the story of Superman awaken our passion for the greatest hero who ever lived and died and rose again?” the sermon notes ask. (Disclaimer: CNN, like Warner Bros., is owned by Time Warner.) Similar campaigns to corral the country's large number of Christians into the movie theater have been used for "Les Miserables," "Soul Surfer" and "The Blind Side," all of which had at least some faith angle. Baltimore pastor Quentin Scott is among dozens of ministers who received an e-mail invitation from Grace Hill Media, a Hollywood-based Christian marketing firm, to an early screening of “Man of Steel.” “There was an actual push to say `We’re putting out something that speaks to your group,' ” said Scott, one of the pastors of Shiloh Christian Community Church in Baltimore. At first, Scott said, he didn’t buy the religious pitch. Then he decided to attend a free midweek screening in Baltimore. “When I sat and listened to the movie I actually saw it was the story of Christ, and the love of God was weaved into the story," said the pastor. "It was something I was very excited about that with the consultation of our senior pastor, we could use in our congregation.” CNN Entertainment: 'Man of Steel' director Zack Snyder on Superman's Christ-like parallels Grace Hill’s sermon notes are specially designed for churches like Shiloh that integrate multimedia into their services. “Let’s take a look at the trailer for `Man of Steel,’” the notes suggest after briefly introducing the movie’s history and themes. The man behind the notes, Pepperdine University professor Craig Detweiler, has prepared similar material for films like 2009’s "The Blind Side" and "The Book of Eli" from 2010. The spiritual themes in “Man of Steel” are abundant, Detweiler said, and his notes enable Christians to thoughtfully engage with pop culture instead of shunning it. “All too often, religious communities have been defined by what they're against. With a movie like `Man of Steel,’ this is a chance to celebrate a movie that affirms faith, sacrifice and service,” Detweiler said. It will be hard for even casual Christians to miss the messianic metaphors in "Man of Steel.” The movie focuses on the origins of Superman, who was sent from the planet Krypton as an infant to save his species. He is raised by surrogate parents who help him grapple with his special powers, even though they don’t fully understand the source of his extraordinary abilities. When he turns 33, Superman must willingly sacrifice himself to save the human race. Sound familiar? If that’s not enough, as a boy Clark Kent is shown wrestling with his superpowers, and asks his earthly dad, Jonathan Kent, “Did God do this to me?” “Somewhere out there you have another father and he sent you here for a reason,” says Jonathan Kent. Even the visuals hammer home the messianic motifs. During a fight with his archenemy, General Zod, Superman plunges down to Earth, his arms outstretched as if he were being crucified. Of course, he rises again. Detweiler writes in the sermon notes, “What Jesus and Superman both give us, through their `hero’ actions but also their `human’ actions – is hope.” “I think it’s a very good thing that Hollywood is paying attention to the Christian marketplace,” said Ted Baehr, who runs Movieguide, a website that reviews family friendly films from a Christian perspective. “Where it gets sticky is when they try to manipulate the market and when Christians try to manipulate Hollywood. But here I think we have the right balance.” But other Christians are heaving a supersized sigh at the movie marketing. "Any pastor who thinks using `Man of Steel Ministry Resources' is a good Sunday morning strategy must have no concept of how high the stakes are, or very little confidence in the power of God’s word and God’s spirit," writes P.J. Wenzel, a deacon and Sunday School teacher at Dublin Baptist Church in Ohio. "As they entertain their congregants with material pumped out from Hollywood’s sewers, lives are kept in bondage, and people’s souls are neglected," according to Wenzel, who said he was e-mailed information about the movie. Scott, the Baltimore pastor, said he knows that Warner Bros. Studios has a financial incentive in pushing the film to pastors. But he said that’s fine with him. “They’re using us but in fact we’re using them,” he said. His church won't show clips from the movie this weekend because it had already planned out its service. But he plans to use them later, during meetings with the church’s men’s group. “If you give me another opportunity to talk to someone about Jesus Christ, and I can do that because of your movie, that’s a win for me, because it is about spreading the Gospel.” CNN's Erin McPike contributed to this report. soundoff (6,545 Responses)« Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 Next »
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The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.  |
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frankly, i'm overwhelmed with all the proof the nazis have. 0
hardy har
lots a beautiful songs been written to horus.
What in the world does Nazis have to do with this? You are perhaps inebriated?
WOW WEE kaplow wee
now thars proof!
Hello faithy.............make sure to get new rubbers for the ride.
Any move that equates Jesus with another fictional comic book like character is a welcomed move. Hopefully people can start to connect that existence of JC (as written as a super natural being) is about as likely as the existence of superman
Iron Age comic books
Brass age movies. tinkle, tinkle
I experienced supernatural revelaton of God word. The Holy Spirit bears the truth.
Austin: You're such a liar!!
TP, got an insider friender in the NSA reading emails for ya??
lollygag: Sorry NSA has nothing to do with me. I'm in a country that doesn't fight over simple things that simple minds (you and your republitard friends) think are their business.
TP, s*p*o*o*k*s* and double s*p*o*o*k*s* roam far and wide.
"I experienced supernatural revelaton of God word. The Holy Spirit bears the truth."
You are a liar.
A coward
A fine christian apologist
If Austintasia experienced it, why can't the idiot explain what his "visions" mean?
What possible meaning is found in a blueprint of a house with an ABOVE GROUND POOL!!!?
How 'bout the pool won't work as a tornado shelter. An in ground one would have to be pumped out too, if ya got time. Whatever, it got his attention and the meaning for him can be revealed anytime, unless of course, you make demands of God, like dust balls do regularly.
"...the meaning for him can be revealed anytime,..."
Except Austin claims to know what they mean already. Do try to keep up.
lollypoop, don't even bother. I don't think you've ever typed a single coherent sentence on this site. Not even once. Not even by accident.
"uness you make demands of God, like dust balls do regularly."
i think they call it prayer
Summarizing:
The Apostles'/Agnostics’ Creed 2013: (updated by yours truly and based on the studies of historians and theologians of the past 200 years)
Should I believe in a god whose existence cannot be proven
and said god if he/she/it exists resides in an unproven,
human-created, spirit state of bliss called heaven??
I believe there was a 1st century CE, Jewish, simple,
preacher-man who was conceived by a Jewish carpenter
named Joseph living in Nazareth and born of a young Jewish
girl named Mary. (Some say he was a mamzer.)
Jesus was summarily crucified for being a temple rabble-rouser by
the Roman troops in Jerusalem serving under Pontius Pilate,
He was buried in an unmarked grave and still lies
a-mouldering in the ground somewhere outside of
Jerusalem.
Said Jesus' story was embellished and "mythicized" by
many semi-fiction writers. A descent into Hell, a bodily resurrection
and ascension stories were promulgated to compete with the
Caesar myths. Said stories were so popular that they
grew into a religion known today as Catholicism/Christianity
and featuring dark-age, daily wine to blood and bread to body rituals
called the eucharistic sacrifice of the non-atoning Jesus.
Amen
(references used are available upon request)
Don't need yer facilitating or mediating. I stopped at summarizing. The whole wurld of education was mesmerized by the Frankfurt School. No thanks, teach, I have a mediator. Tell Bloom to take a hike.
lollygag: When you learn to spell and use a dictionary your condemning others you might be taken seriously (or NOT), until that point you sound like a child who failed grade 1 spelling (if you even made it that far).
said a mediator. do you know this?
Austin,
"1Ti 2:5 For [there is] one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;"
Perfect solution, Son of man, Son of God.
"Luk 13:32 And he said unto them, Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to day and to morrow, and the third [day] I shall be perfected."
Evolution wins again..............
Big Movies and Other Cultural Products Have Evolutionary Roots
June 12, 2013 —
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/06/130612133317.htm
Shouldn't you be doin' some work down at the plant?? The sewage treatment plant. While yer at it Science, better wrap yer mind around nuclear waste.
Hey lol??...............pound sand..............my mother -in- law was a survivor of one of the A bombs that was dropped in WW II.
She married my father in law while he was stationed and fought in the Korean war.
Hey lol??............ a little history from the 40's during the Korean war............General Motors manufactured rifles/weapons for
the Korean War....................A metal Universe..........just add water = life.
You want the wurld to buy yer theology and you won't even own up to your OWN MESSES?? That's childish or just plain ol' nutzo.
Oops ......damn thumb 50's......(51 -53)
lol??: You lack the one basic human characteristic needed to get by in the world, no wonder you believe in fairy tales like jesus. You attacked Science for the sake of trying to sound intelligent and then attempt to turn it on him...absolute ignorance.
Learn the definition of compassion and try applying it.
To funny lol??............with out science you would not be able to post your BS on the blog......no god(s) needed
TP, ye ol' socie mentality of claiming victimhood has firmly worn a groove in yer bwain. It's based on a lie. Mobs are the bullies, silly. Gwooovy, dudette. However, beating up on the bride day in and day out on these blogs ain't gonna win you any "compassion points" from the groom.
Hey lol?? how is dot today ?
lollygag: What was that you are attempting to say??? English is not your first or second language is it???
TP, English is my second and only language, cuz I know you are above counting "groaning".
Your "second and only language"? Try to figure out how ridiculous you are.
Your crooked shrinks with all their classifying and Freudian theory BS based on bad data from a coke head are destroyin' the earth. A little caffeine in the water is one thing but ye ol' sewage treatment plants don't do any better with yer biotech this and biotech that Prozac. You're makin' the fish nutzo in your own image.
What do you think is gonna happen to the environment with yer Dr. Frankenstein biotech food?? Asian carp all over again, only this time for the plant world?? Bet you'll LUV eatin' it. It'll be gud fer yer bwains.
Fossil records are fact and the truth lol??
Evolution and 400 million years ago..........like the chondrites OLD.........no god(s) needed.
How fish won the oxygen war
June 17, 2013 – for immediate release
http://scinews.com.au/releases/787/view
Rotten eggs too thought it was the old chicken coop of Grandpas we pushed into the swamp !
http://phys.org/news/2013-04-feast-clue-ancient-earth.html
http://beforeitsnews.com/science-and-technology/2013/04/tiny-1900-million-year-old-fossils-from-rocks-around-lake-superior-canada-2581584.html
"shrinks"
You obviously need one.
TP, know any that ain't joined at the hip to the Beast??
lollygag: Beast??? You should give yourself more credit than that...low self esteem is not healthy!
The second coming of Jesus Christ is here now!
Look, and you will perfectly see.
http://www.holy-19-harvest.com
UNIVERSAL MAGNIFICENT MIRACLES
You're an idiot. Locate the nearest asylum and tell them this, they'll find you a nice padded room and give you some medication to help with the delusions.
“Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
Time-Warner, when I need another badly done CGI movie I'll call you. We'll do lunch.
A-K K. A. – now let's not let TW do a Chronicles of Thomas Covenant series, then...!
They won't touch it because of how the story goes and the first book is "Lord Foul's Bane" (as I recall dimly – I'm too lazy to dig through my library to make sure).
After they got done re-writing it there would be nothing left but some giants and leprosy-filled dream sequences, I have no doubt.
Instead of teaching about "supermen" to people teach them the truth set in the bible. If you did you would have less members going to church, but you would have quality...but because it is not that way, you perfere throwing party's and teach them "supermen", then you get tons of people going to your church, many of them beeing there because they feel entertained, and dont really give a crap about being a Christian, and you pastors get what you most love...Your money!!
Parties, not party's.
@TheTruth – I'm sure that went right over their heads, considering they are wallowing around like pigs in a holler without any self-control in their cult fantasy world.
N.A.D.A
National
Airhead and
Dumb-ass
Association
Well? Do I win something?
North American Dipshlt Association
Noodles
And
Danishes
Administration
North Atlantic Dimmerswitch Authority
Nordic Arbolast Defense Alligators
Never Add Di-lithium Anhydrate
Never Ask Dave Anderson
Nitrous Anti-Diatomic Arsenium
Nihilistic Atheist Declaration Association.
North American Dingleberry Artists
Okay, break time...
Nad Adjustment Distractionary Association (look over there!)
Navy Aeronautical Diving Aircraft (the Penguin T-3 and Pelican XB-4)
Night Automotive Derby Association (hotdogs and beer)
Nascar Addiction Derping Asshats (they exist!)
Nerf Anal Douche Anklet (get yours today)
New Alloy Dildo Artist (find it on youtube)
Nude Artistic Dancing Amish (barn raisings a specialty!)
C'mon guys, let's see what you've got!
National Automobile Dealers Association ..............a metal universe faithy
Non-theism
The belief that the universe and all living things, even with their degree of complexity on both the micro and macro level, resulted from purely natural phenomenon, with the aid of time and chance.
Boy, are you stupid.
non-theism is not a real word.
Using just the parts of this word that you made up, it would mean a lack of theism – nothing more could be listed under that word.
Try "atheism" it means the lack of theistic beliefs or the lack of a belief in any gods.
I guess you are out of school for the summer, right? How old are you, devin?
And then there's...
The belief that a cosmic Jewish Zombie who was his own father can make you live forever if you symbolically eat his flesh and telepathically tell him you accept him as your master, so he can remove an evil force from your soul that is present in humanity because a rib-woman was convinced by a talking snake to eat from a magical tree.
Hey, devin, you forgot the part about evolution. You know, adaptation in order to survive, and success building upon success in order to create greater complexity.
I realize that it can be a difficult concept to people who aren't willing to think past "god did it", but it's a lot more realistic and honest.
Chris*,
In the RCC & EOC, the most traditional and ancient expressions of Christian belief, eating His flesh is not symbolic. The NT records how he lost many disciples due to this. But they, and many today, do not understand the Communion/Eucharist in the fuller context of the biblical theology. Christ's body is the dwelling place of God the Son. Today, his Church is his body, or place of incarnation, or the dwelling place of God the Son. Finally, Christians partkaing of the Communion/Eucharist become His Church (and thus his incarnate body). We believe its real, but that its mystical. If you mock the Eucharist, at least try to understand how Christians understand it.
As to original sin, the ancient EOC has always believed that we do not inherit original sin, but we inherit the screwed up (or fallen) world resulting from original sin. Sin is simply separation from God, not so much transgression.
God the Son comes and dwells amongst on in Jesus Christ and goes to that place where God is not. In other words, God himself can relate to atheists directly. Atheists are not alien to Christ. There is a union with God (salvation) far beyond our understanding.
"He who hung the earth upon the waters, today is hung upon a tree"
– Vespers of Great and Holy Friday
The tree is the cross
And there is the believers' version that God came from nothing and then created the universe from nothing.
Observer, Christians do not believe that God came from nothing. We believe that God was always here and had no beginning. Empty your mind of thought and let our souls explore that – because our minds are not capable of beginning to grasp that concept.
Ak
I'm guessing you 're not a brain surgeon. Nontheism actually is a word, minus the hyphen. You would have made an excellent copy editor however.
tall
Didn't "forget the part about evolution" at all, it just had no bearing on my statement in which I was referencing first cause.
maximo,
"Empty your mind of thought"
That's not much of an endorsement for religion, is it? Now you understand the problem.
Observer, why dost thou takest me commentos out uva thee context? You no wanna do serious dialogue.
"Observer, Christians do not believe that God came from nothing. We believe that God was always here and had no beginning. Empty your mind of thought and let our souls explore that God had no beginning – because our minds are not capable of beginning to grasp that concept that God had no beginning"
Just as one can analyze a musical composition for increased appreciation, to fully understand and appreciate the music, one will have to also at time just listen to the music.
Name the artist:
"Gotta get a message
Get it on through
Oh, now mama's go'n' to after 'while
Oh, oh, listen to the music
Oh, oh, listen to the music
Oh, oh, listen to the music"
maximo,
Yours is a common theme: understanding the Bible works best if you throw out all your education, logic and common sense. Like Christians often say, what is intelligent to man is not to God.
Kinda sums things up.
you know the doobies' oringal lyrics might have been
Oh oh oh, get out your voltmeters
Oh oh oh, get your oscilloscope
Oh oh oh, get your fourier transforms
Oh oh oh, calculate the spectrum
and then the doobies might have sang:
oh observer, takes it all out of context
oh oberser, its called observer propaganda
oh observer, oh oh theres hope for you yet
So I was right about you enjoying summer vacation? What are your plans after you reach puberty? Going to be chaste? lol
Hey observer, just havn a little fun – we good bro?
maximo,
I Corinthians 3:18-20 “Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you seems to be wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their own craftiness”; and again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.”
Try church.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Publication_history_of_Superman
Z. E. R. O.
hows the weather shaping up tonight?
its five degrees below zero here now.
oh wow its heating up.
theres not enough mercury
What is, "the number of functioning brain cells in faith's head", Alex.
Zebras
Everywhere
Reject
Ocelots
How'd I do?
No? How about..
Zanzibar
Economic
Recovery
Organization
??
Zen
Echo
Rubber
Omnibus
??
Give me a hint here...
Zod's Ephemeral Rorschach Observations (did he have them? CNN special coming up!)
Zebadiah Ebadiah Rochmaninoff Ostoyevskyi (give him a call and ask him if he's real)
Zlotys Everywhere Return Ostentatiously (okay I made this one up)
Well, don't everyone chime in at once! Take turns!
can someone solve this 0 puzzle for me? (_0_)
Clearly it is the number of gods that have gone from mythology to actuality.
And the number of people helped by medicine.
faith,
Re: Puzzle
Oh my, what a big azzhole you have, I mean, are.........................................
Such a striking likeness. It resembles every christard's head, actually. Is it a self-portrait?
0
I like that number! 😀
It's the number of sentient thoughts faith has ever had.
And the number of people convinced.
The 0 of o's big O is un-bare-o0O0o-bull.
I'd like to pop the big O right about now. I'm going to go grab my husband and work on that.
Ok, just got home from watching the movie. What a joke Warner Brothers is playing on christians! I love it! NO christian meaning or references whatsoever. There's this really awkward spot where Superman (for some unknown reason) goes to a church that's not even been in the movie, you get a close up of the priest swallowing (fun) in fear and then he tells Superman that faith leads to trust. And you christians think that is strictly a christian trait??? You're all very sad little things if you do.
did i hear 0?
Are you drunk again, faith?
so sorry
0
DM Murdie, zero
ruby was a bag man 4 the dallas police
And the moon landing was faked. Uh huh. Adjust your foil cap accordingly.