Monthly Archives: June 2012

LIFEBOAT: Alfred Hitchcock’s Parable of the Strong Man

  The ship is sinking. The seas are rough. The only lifeboat can hold no more than six. Eight people climb aboard. Who should stay? Who should go? Many group discussions of ethical dilemmas begin with scenarios like this one. Partially to spur American entrance into the world war against the Nazis, Alfred Hitchcock appropriated […]

Not By Bread Alone: The Hunger Games: The Book

The original printing was for 50,000 copies. Twice the number rose to 200,000 copies. Today there are 15.5 million copies of Suzanne Collins’ dystopian novel, The Hunger Games in print. Fantasies which achieve such popularity usually tap into a deep hunger in the population. Following the Great War, J. R. R. Tolkien wrote his Lord […]

The Father’s Great Gift

“Father” is one of the images given to help us better understand the nature of God. It is a complicated image. Our biological father’s personality and behavior give us our first glimpse into an important aspect of God. Dad provides good things for us, but also most often says “Don’t” and “No.” And we don’t […]

Life or Death in Black and White

Debates between the Christian worldview and the secular world view seem very popular at the moment. Richard Dawkins and the late Christopher Hitchens frequented the debate circuit. Currently on stage, Sigmund Freud and C. S. Lewis square off in Mark St. Germain’s  Freud’s Last Session. Recently cable television weighed in with HBO’s abbreviated  film version […]