A picture of a goldfinch I took. All rights reserved.
Another week, another round of posts for you to enjoy, dear readers! This week has an exciting lineup–hopefully with some posts that will get you thinking and talking! This week, we have horror movies and Christianity, the Gospel Coalition’s (non-)engagement with culture, apologetics for kids with elephants and waterfalls, debate over the relation between the Father and Son in the Trinity, and the topic of the use of guns. As always, I’m curious to read your thoughts. I don’t always agree with 100% of everything I link, but try to choose posts that get me thinking and that I hope will get you thinking as well! [EDIT: I accidentally had one link to the wrong post. My apologies! It is fixed now.]
Why Horror Movies Make Me a Better Christian– I don’t like horror movies at all. Unless by “horror movies” you mean black-and-white horror movies with monsters that are hilarious now due to special effect differences (i.e. Creature from the Black Lagoon, etc.), then I love them. Can horror movies, with all their gore and violence, really have any redeeming qualities? This post made me think about that in a fresh light. What do you think?
The Gospel Colition and How Not to Engage Culture– Can The Gospel Coalition really claim to be about engaging with culture when they continually silence critics on social media? Check out this post for more information on this issue.
How Elephant is a Waterfall– How do you get kids thinking in different categories? What is concrete/abstract? What is a contradiction? Here’s a post from an exciting new site about apologetics for kids.
The Coming War: Nicene Complementarians vs Homoian Complementarians– There is a debate raging within complementarian camps over the subordination of the Son to the Father in the Trinity. Here is an outline of that debate. Read the follow-up posts as well for more. I’ve written on one side of this debate before- “Is the Son ‘Equal to God‘?”
Actually, Guns do kill people (Think Christian)– Think Christian is a great site for engaging culture and getting us thinking about topics we might not normally. This post is, I think, thought provoking regarding issues related to gun violence. It doesn’t offer solutions, but rather a way to conceptualize. What do you think about this issue? How might Christians engage with the topic of gun violence–or should we?
J.W. Wartick - Reconstructing Faith 
Reblogged this on Talmidimblogging.
Posted by Vincent S Artale Jr | June 17, 2016, 7:20 AMI agree about horror movies – with some qualifications. I like a well-done horror movie because it engages the viewer on the most serious of issues. When done properly, it breaks through our modern cynicism and apathy and makes us wrestle with the causes of and solutions for pain, suffering, and evil in the world. The movies listed are good example to make the author’s point; however, I’ve seen plenty of others that would undermine it. I like to use this template (and it’s not original with me): is it good (is it artistically excellent), it is true (is it honest about reality) and is it noble (does it make me want to be a better person). Some horror does that; some does not. As always, discernment is important – and I suspect the author of the article agrees with me on that point.
Posted by Anthony Weber | June 18, 2016, 7:01 AMYes, I was wondering how much of the article was in part due to a selection effect. I mean I can’t imagine that _all_ horror movies have some kind of redemptive theme therein.
Posted by J.W. Wartick | June 18, 2016, 1:44 PM