Son of God: Their Empire, His Kingdom (20th Century Fox). Actors: Darwin Shaw, Sebastian Knapp, Paul Knops, and Darcie Lincoln. Directors: Christopher Spencer. Music by Hans Zimmer.

From producers, Roma Downy and Mark Burnett comes the movie Son of God. Directed by Christopher Spencer (with additional scenes directed by Tony Mitchell and Crispin Reece), Son of God depicts the life of Jesus based on the Gospel of John. This is made apparent to the watcher as John as an old man narrates the beginning and end of the movie. If you are familiar with the mini-­‐series The Bible by the same producers, then one will realize that there is not much new material in Son of God. It is clear and encouraging, however, that the release and editing of this film was a strategic move to gain national and international cinema exposure to the Gospel story.

The film does well in covering the essential and compelling aspects of the Gospel narratives. Beginning with Jesus’ birth and visitation by the magi, our first image of Jesus the man, is as a solitary figure walking the mountaintops of Judea as he gazes down on the Sea of Galilee. This leads to Jesus’ encounter with Peter as Peter laments the lack of fish he able to catch. Peter’s initial skepticism towards Jesus is placated by Jesus asking, “Just give me an hour and I will give you a whole new life.” Peter’s response is, “Who says I want one?” While this exchange is not found in any of the Gospel narratives it unquestionably addresses a modern day dilemma many of us face. After Peter pulls in a miraculous catch of fish, he becomes aware that there is something different about Jesus, something worth following.

Familiar scenes to many such as Jesus preaching to the crowds, the healing of the paralytic who comes through the roof, the feeding of the five thousand and the resurrection of Lazarus, are skillfully and artistically conveyed. Two scenes in particular though, stand out as especially powerful and moving. These are the calling of Matthew the tax collector as he realizes his sinful nature and sees the hope that following Jesus offers, and Peter walking out on the water to meet Jesus. Both scenes help to depict the power of humility in acknowledging our sinfulness but also our faith in reaching out and walking towards Jesus.

Also well conveyed and communicated is the tension between Roman rule and the Jewish population. Roman brutality is displayed in several scenes and the scheming and politics that was so rife between the Romans and the Sanhedrin in a bid to retain power, underlies much of the film. This is an important subtly that is not to be underestimated throughout the film. While the resurrection of Lazarus, the cleansing of the Temple and Jesus’ reading of Isaiah 61 are portrayed as the acts that seal Jesus’ execution, ultimately it is both Pilate and Caiaphas’ paranoia of losing power, that leads to Jesus’ death.

Michael L. Brown, Authentic Fire: A Response to John MacArthur’s Strange Fire (Excel Publishers, Dec 12, 2013), 418 pages.

Authentic Fire is Dr. Michael Brown’s response to John MacArthur’s book Strange Fire. MacArthur’s Strange Fire launches a scathing attack on the Christian Charismatic Movement and so it comes as no surprise that champions of the charismatic community should launch a defense to MacArthur’s assertions. Dr. Brown leads the charge with a book just shy of 420 pages that seeks to address MacArthur’s main contentions.

Brown’s tone is always respectful towards MacArthur and even conciliatory at times. It is clear that Brown has ample respect for MacArthur, both as a Bible scholar and brother in Christ. His approach is refreshing when contrasted with MacArthur’s blanket criticisms. Beginning by acknowledging that the charismatic church has made mistakes and has its share of controversy, Brown never shies away from the reality that the charismatic movement is far from perfect. Nonetheless, within the first few pages, Brown make his position clear when he writes, “Pastor MacArthur’s criticisms of the Charismatic Movement are inaccurate, unhelpful, often harshly judgmental, sometimes without scriptural support, and frequently divisive in the negative sense of the word … a strong corrective is needed, along with a positive statement of the truth of the matter.” (p2). And thus the agenda is set and Brown’s mission is clear.

Brown begins by addressing a number of sweeping statements that can be found in Strange Fire. To counteract MacArthur’s claim that the Charismatic Movement ”has made no contribution to biblical clarity … interpretation … sound doctrine”, Brown cites many well-known and respected authors and scholars in the Christian world that blatantly contradict MacArthur’s bold claim. Among these are, A.W Tozer, Oswald Chambers, Craig S. Keener, Ben Witherington, N.T. Wright, Wayne Grudem and many others. Brown addresses MacArthur’s claim to guilt by association (the idea that if one is part of a movement that has involved scandal then one is guilty by association), and rightly points out that the pendulum can swing both ways, observing Luther’s anti-Semitism and Calvin’s draconian rules that led to men and women being burnt at the stake. Both Luther and Calvin are darlings of the theological world that John MacArthur walks in, and so Brown fairly asks if we should also associate MacArthur with such doctrinal errors.

Perhaps one of the real gems of Authentic Fire is chapter 6 in which Dr Brown addresses the theological debate regarding cessationism versus continuationism. Documenting his own journey into cessationism and back out into continuationism, Brown observes, “The more I read the Word wanting to prove cessationism true, the more I became convinced that it was exegetically impossible. The scriptures did not teach cessationism” (p165). Brown proceeds to do a convincing job of highlighting the major flaws of cessationism, insightfully noting that often this theological viewpoint is arrived at via subjective experience rather than biblical objectivity. The true value of this chapter, though, is the exegetical work Brown does in examining the miracles of Jesus and New Testament evidence to support the biblical argument for continuationism. No matter one’s position on this theological issue, Dr Brown’s treatment of the subject is worthy of attention to anyone serious about an honest biblical treatment.