Spiderman 3 "Bible Study"?!

Those pesky Bible stories sure can be dry, boring and irrelevant. Unbelievers now-a-days prefer the stories in popular movies over the dusty tales of Holy Writ. Isn’t there some way that we can teach 'spirituality' without having to bore people by actually opening the Bible?

Answer: Absolutely! From one of America’s most liberal seminaries, the one that has been teaching its students to ‘de-mythologize the Bible using ‘higher criticism’ for the last 4 decades, comes a “Bible Study” guide that will allow progressive and hip pastors to teach about God’s Word without actually having to open the Bible. This new ‘Bible Study’ is sooooo kewl that it allows pastors to plumb the spiritual depths of that new fountain of spiritual truth, Spiderman 3. (We bet you didn’t even know that Spiderman 3 was a Christian allegory. That’s okay. Neither did we.)

If you take the time to download and read the Spiderman 3 Bible Study Guide, you'll find it is REALLY lite on the scriptures but heavy on 'behavior modification' and the Spiderman 3 story line. Oh, and Jesus isn't mentioned even once in this "Bible Study". (Even Spiderman is a sinner who needs Jesus' mercy and forgiveness). It's as if those folks at Fuller believe that any story can teach us how to be spiritual. It doesn't matter if it is in the Bible or even if the story is true. (That's the problem with the liberals at Fuller, they don't actually believe the Bible is historically accurate.)

Heck! Let's get with the times here! Those fuller dudes are clearly showing us that the church no longer needs expository Bible teaching. Maybe we should just do 'spiritual' movie reviews every sunday at church instead of having a sermon.

If this is what the church has come to, we think it's time to dust off that old 'Titanic Bible Study' because it sure looks like the Christian church is about to sink into the depths.

Comments

[Mark S]

It is one thing if Christians see themes in films, such as redemption, seeming repentance, forgiveness, selflessness. I actually enjoyed Spiderman 3 more than the other 2. But...to base a Bible study ON this film, or any other is just crazy.

I am not opposed to some references to popular media, so long as they are seen in context and discussed in terms of what is seen and what is absent in the film (e.g. the themes mentioned for Spiderman 3 might be brought up within a conversation, but not as the basis of it. Or the Lord of the Rings or Chronicles of Narnia -- books moreso than movies hopefully -- might come up due to clear Biblical allegory. Or it might be considered how the late 80's film Ghost shows the main character apparently going to "Heaven," without any indication of saving faith in Christ). But briefly considering messages in popular media and how they may illustrate some good things, but differ greatly from and fall far short of God's Word ... must not give way to using those media pieces and messages as a focal point of "Bible" studies. The Bible must be THE focal point, and the Word which we always come back to as the only faithful guide and Word of God for faith and practice.