Conversations, preaching and the Da Vinci Code
Yesterday, I went with my church to watch the Da Vinci Code.
After the film, a couple in our church invited us home to talk about what we had seen. It turned out to be a very interesting evening, as we started by sharing each our thoughts and reactions to the film's message.
We found that what people have said to be true really was so, that the film works better for those who've read the book. Those of us with a hang for thrillers, suspense and adventure enjoyed it more.
As a preacher, I have an imagined congregation in my head. I think this congregation usually can be divided into two groups, those with much and those with less church experience. I think I have a fairly precise notion of how both those who are outside the church think, and of the background of those belonging to the mainstream evangelical conservative Norwegian tradition.
When in conversations, however, I sometimes find this image in need of correction. The latest decades there has developed in the church a more open-minded, independent attitude to traditional beliefs, which, though it certainly defines itself within the church's creeds and dogmas, still does not keep from asking questions and experimenting and being in dialogue with other views.
For instance, we started out discussing the implications of the film: What if Jesus actually was married to Mary Magdalene? Most people agreed that this wouldn't change their image of him as the son of God. Also, some of us found that the Da Vinci code was something to be taken seriously, and that its views of church history at least had to be considered and tested.
What we find when we do so, is of course that the story is what we in Norwegian would call a soup cooked on a pin - an expression stemming from a fairy tale where someone makes a soup with just water and a nail as ingredients, using his verbal skills to convince his co-diners that this is an amazing soup. Behind the Da Vinci code, there is a startling mixture of hoaxes and poor historical judgement, but still, though this is a challenge it is very easy to deal with, it deserves to be taken seriously as long as it lasts.
And I always find myself enjoying conversations about such things just as much as I enjoy preaching, because hearing what different people think is often superior to stating what I think myself. My image of what is going on in my congregation's heads & hearts is continually in need of adjustment.
After the film, a couple in our church invited us home to talk about what we had seen. It turned out to be a very interesting evening, as we started by sharing each our thoughts and reactions to the film's message.
We found that what people have said to be true really was so, that the film works better for those who've read the book. Those of us with a hang for thrillers, suspense and adventure enjoyed it more.
As a preacher, I have an imagined congregation in my head. I think this congregation usually can be divided into two groups, those with much and those with less church experience. I think I have a fairly precise notion of how both those who are outside the church think, and of the background of those belonging to the mainstream evangelical conservative Norwegian tradition.
When in conversations, however, I sometimes find this image in need of correction. The latest decades there has developed in the church a more open-minded, independent attitude to traditional beliefs, which, though it certainly defines itself within the church's creeds and dogmas, still does not keep from asking questions and experimenting and being in dialogue with other views.
For instance, we started out discussing the implications of the film: What if Jesus actually was married to Mary Magdalene? Most people agreed that this wouldn't change their image of him as the son of God. Also, some of us found that the Da Vinci code was something to be taken seriously, and that its views of church history at least had to be considered and tested.
What we find when we do so, is of course that the story is what we in Norwegian would call a soup cooked on a pin - an expression stemming from a fairy tale where someone makes a soup with just water and a nail as ingredients, using his verbal skills to convince his co-diners that this is an amazing soup. Behind the Da Vinci code, there is a startling mixture of hoaxes and poor historical judgement, but still, though this is a challenge it is very easy to deal with, it deserves to be taken seriously as long as it lasts.
And I always find myself enjoying conversations about such things just as much as I enjoy preaching, because hearing what different people think is often superior to stating what I think myself. My image of what is going on in my congregation's heads & hearts is continually in need of adjustment.
posted by Geir Skårland at 09:33
1 Comments:
Great posting. I went to see the movie a couple of weeks ago and I actually enjoyed it. It's not a great movie, but it's OK for what it is - a fictional story with historical connotations. On the positive side it can be said the movie makes people think about spirituality and truth. On the other side neither the book nor the movie conveyed anything new - those stories and anecdotes have been around for years and is much, much better conveyed in "The Last Temptation of Christ" (the book and the movie) where being married and having children is portrayed as a temptation for Christ. When it all comes down I guess we are left with the option to believe and have faith, but I also believe that we are to question and doubt and constantly struggle to get to know the depths of Gods love and mercy.
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