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Reel Spirituality: Theology and Film in Dialogue (Engaging Culture)

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This volume by Fuller Seminary professor Robert K. Johnston is a readable introduction to film criticism from a thoroughly Christian perspective. Johnston is evangelical in outlook, and yet does not sacrifice his love for cinema to a fearful, fundamentalistic disdain for human culture. Rather, from the outset, he affirms the Christian truth that God's grace is to be found everywhere (what theologians have called 'common grace') and that cinema can be an occasion for a 'revelatory event'. Just as all life is 'sacramental' (that is, every aspect of the world has the potential to show us God), so the movies can help us to transcend to a deeper understanding of God and humanity.

Johnston rightly affirms that a film must first be approached on its own terms (as opposed to viewing it through the lens of a preconceived agenda). Once the audience has participated in the world of the film, then is the appropriate moment to begin the dialogue with theology. For this reason, Johnston's approach is to walk us through the basics of film criticism before applying that to the Christian study of film. On a few occasions, I worried that the author was taking us too far away from the book's stated intention (ie. a book about theology and film in dialogue), but Johnston always seems to be able to bring the material back round to assessing its relevance to the task of theological application.

His examples are far-ranging: theologically, his sources draw from every stream of Christian tradition; his choice of films to be analyzed is eclectic. He frequently homes in on a specific film (eg. Shane, Smoke Signals, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest) or set of films (eg. the films of Peter Weir) in order to illuminate and illustrate the points he makes. Overall, Johnston exhibits a healthy attitude towards film, and is a breath of fresh air in an evangelicalism that too often regards films with suspicion and a superficiality that is likely to oversimplify issues of content and theme (such as sexuality and violence).

This book helped me to clarify my own method in approaching film. I have long been a lover of the cinema, and have sometimes found it hard to escape the incongruity of some aspects of this with voices from my fundamentalist past. Johnston is a man after my own heart, and seems able to encapsulate my feelings about film and how the movie experience is essential to the formation of my theology. In one chapter, Johnston addresses this role of cinema in theological method, and provides useful comparisons with various models of theological method (such as the Wesleyan quadrilateral).

I can also credit this book with changing some of my views. For example, I have long had a suspicion of mainstream cinema, almost amounting to a disdain at times. Johnston showed me the fallacy of associating commercialism with artlessness, however. After all, he reasons, didn't Michelangelo paint the Sistine Chapel on commission? In a sense, my aversion to mainstream cinema (or, perhaps more accurately, the mainstream of the mainstream) was a kind of misconceived snobbery. Johnston's appreciation of film from every corner of the film industry helped me to see my own short-sightedness in this regard.

This is a book I would recommend not just for film-lovers, but for theologians whose knowledge of film may not be particularly wide, but are willing to let the pursuit of the knowledge of God lead them into dialogue with other possible sources of inspiration, namely, the cinema. Johnston presents an accessible overview of film criticism and, in doing so, demonstrates how films can be, in a broad, but real way, means of grace for a Christian wanting to let the knowledge of Christ invade his experience of his culture.

Johnston, professor of theology and culture at Fuller Theological Seminary, has put together a fine introduction to cinema through the lense of Christian faith. He notes that for the most part the cinema has displaced the church as the location where we come to wrestle with the deeper questions of meaning, God, and what it means to be human. After chronicling the sometimes testy relationship between the church and the movie industry, Johnston offers a typology of Christian approaches to cinema (basically a relabeled Niebuhr typology). The typology is both a strength and a weakness of the book. Like Niebuhr, it may well be that Johnston is allowing the typology to become little more than a way of stereotyping different approaches that he finds unsatisfactory. That said, I myself found the typology helpful.

Perhaps the greatest strength of the book is the quality of the reflection that Johnston brings to the various movies he addresses. The book itself models the sort of theological reflection that should be going on in churches and seminaries. There is no knee-jerk reaction to violence or language in this book. Rather, Johnston encourages the audience to watch movies on their own terms before passing judgment on their orthodoxy. This book is a welcome and accessible introduction to the growing interaction between theology and cinema in America. I strongly recommend it as a primer for Christians interested in starting a cinema studies group in a church or seminary.

Despite the rather "punnish" title of the book, this is a thoroughly academic work, and as such it is not what one would call easy reading. Yet, it is enlightening for all who would take time to grasp the concepts presented here. The author advocates first attempting to understand what a movie is trying to convey on its own terms and then reflect upon it theologically. Basic concepts of film criticism are covered, as well as different theological approaches one may take to evaluting films. A good book for those who want to look at movies at a deeper, less superficial level.

Thank you so much for such a well-in-condition book! I had doubts as to if there were underlining, highlighting, etc. I highly recommend this seller (:

Reel Spirituality begins in chapter 1 with a description of the tremendous influence that films have come to exert on myriad spheres of life today, whether religious, social, cultural, or economic. Chapter 2 traces the lively history of the church's response to Hollywood since the genesis of cinema, from mutual cooperation (early 20th century) to escalating hostility (1920's to 1960's), then back to more occasions of moderation and openness (since the 1980's). Akin to the five typologies of Richard Niebuhr's Christ and Culture, chapter 3 gives a run-down of the different theological postures that various Christian persuasions have adopted, and are prone to adopting, in film criticism. Addressing the suspicious avoidance that conservatives often have towards "pagan" movie culture, and drawing from resources like sacramentalism, common grace, and narrative theology, chapter 4 offers an astute apologia for sympathetic, active dialogue between theology and film.

In chapter 5, Johnston argues that movies ought to be recognized as a fully legitimate and complex art form; irrespective of their commercial or entertainment purposes, the artistic richness of the film medium is capable of conveying spiritual truth. From a broadly literary framework, Chapter 6 makes a case for the importance of the storytelling aspect of film, examining both certain general structures of a film story as well as the circle of interaction (between film, filmmaker, view, and larger worldview) that comes into play in criticism. And while chapter 7 introduces a few key elements of film (e.g. editing and framing) essential for basic visual literacy and competence, chapter 8 suggests four different but intimately-related approaches towards film criticism: understanding a film according to its genre, its auteur, its themes, and its social context.

Against the simplism of the current rating system, chapter 9 advocates a more dynamic and sophisticated paradigm for the ethical evaluation of films, a paradigm that for instance takes into account differences or ambiguities amongst a film's vision and that of its characters. In chapter 10, Johnston identifies transcendental encounter and analytical reflection as two aspects of theological film criticism, and in particular further delineates the former into experiences of the "Human" and the "Holy." The book then ends in chapter 11 with a case study of the existentially-charged and deeply (albeit implicitly) spiritual films of Peter Weir, applying the methods and insights hitherto discussed for constructive theological dialogue.

I much enjoyed reading Reel Spirituality, finding it an intelligent treatise about theological engagement with film. It strengths are many. Firstly, while written in an easy and readable style, it is also informed and substantial, and thus accessible to academic and non-academic readers alike. Secondly, I commend the balance that Johnston takes while critiquing opposing positions (such as the fundamentalist avoidance of film or the Reformed over-emphasis on the written word), presenting them fairly and recognizing the contexts in which these positions have been formed. Thirdly, the book demonstrates a good measure of intellectual self-awareness, complementing conviction with humility by affirming how the paradigms it offers, though accurate and useful, are nevertheless often fluid and partial. Perhaps what I appreciate most is Johnston's constant emphasis on the need to engage a film on its own terms before anything else; "however ultimate one's theology is, it is the penultimate - the movie itself - that demands our initial attention" (239). In light of the theologically-imperialistic hermeneutical sins that Christians are known to commit in their "zeal of the Lord," such words exemplify the precious wisdom of being "quick to listen, and to slow to speak" (James 1:19).

No work is perfect, of course, and there are a few aspects of Reel Spirituality that I think could do with a little improvement. For example, its register is rather uneven at certain parts, alternating between academic propriety and chatty informality. What if the reader neither has children to ask ("Just ask your kids") - nor needs to ask any - to know that film has become the world's lingua franca (267)? The occasional contractions ("...what they do and what they don't") can be jarring to academic readers as well (267). Moreover, sometimes Johnston seems to makes too many assumptions about the effect a film has on its viewer; it is well and good that he found the closing sequences of The Godfather powerful, but it seems difficult to state without qualification that it "leaves viewers speechless as they exit the theater," especially in view of those who are already acquainted with Christian hypocrisy (166). Finally, I find this statement in chapter 10 confusing to understanding the progression of the book's argument: "It is for this reason that I have postponed until now a discussion of theological criticism" (239). Though approached from a more historical or apologetic standpoint in chapters 3 and 4, are there not already fairly substantial discussions of theological criticism there?

I enjoyed this book. I was glad it wasn't too academic or too technical since I am not an expert on film making or movie criticism. There was good historical information and many examples from a variety of films to help illustrate the author's point of view. I agree Christians need to become more critical consumers of film. Since 95% of people see at least one film per year, it shows that there is tremendous potential for spiritual dialog with friends and family by talking about film. I plan to think through some of the concepts in the "Theological Approaches to Film Criticism" and "Becoming a Film Critic" chapters as I continue to grow in my understanding of film making.

Rob has a wonderful grasp of the topic of putting Theology and Film into dialogue with each other. I encourage you to read this book if you have any faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. God is in the world and we are missing out of Him if our eyes are not fully open. Please open your eyes to a God that is bigger than everything the eye can see.