DVD Review - History of Christianity (07/23/05 - 0 Comments)
It takes a brave man to attempt to encapsulate 2000 years of church history in six 30-minute segments. Three hours is barely enough time to adequately explain the background information necessary to understand the rise of Christianity, to say nothing of its long and storied history. Anyone attempting to create a survey of Christian history must be able to choose and concentrate on only the most critical events and only the most important historical figures. History of Christianity, written and hosted by Dr. Timothy George, attempts to do just this. The results are mixed at times, but generally quite positive.
DVD Review - Drive Thru History (07/21/05 - 0 Comments)
The cover of this DVD proclaims, "This isn't your typical tour of ruins and dusty artifacts. It's history as exciting today as it was 2,000 years ago." This is history for the modern American: fast-paced, funny and quietly educational. Did I mention that it's also a lot of fun?
The DVD contains three episodes of what promises to be a great series:
DVD Review - Incredible Creatures That Defy Evolution II (07/19/05 - 0 Comments)
Three weeks ago I reviewed the first DVD in a series produced by Reel Productions. I very much enjoyed Incredible Creatures That Defy Evolution I and was eager to see the sequel. I was glad to see that volume II is every bit the quality production of its predecessor. In fact, it is probably just a little bit better.
My only complaint about the first volume is that there was perhaps a little too much still photography and not enough video. This was resolved in volume 2.
DVD Review - Icons of Evolution (07/17/05 - 0 Comments)
In 2002, Jonathan Wells published a book entitled Icons of Evolution. This book was subtitled, Science or Myth? Why Much of What We Teach About Evolution is Wrong. Wells, formerly a firm believer in evolution, had come to realize that much of what is taught about evolution is just plain wrong. Many "icons of evolution," such as Darwin's "Tree of Life," Haeckel's drawings of embryoes that look remarkably similar to each other, and the ever-famous Galapagos Finch had long since been proven to be mere myth. That these are myths is widely accepted in the scientific community, even by advocates of evolution. And yet these icons live on, taught as fact in science texts used in grade schools and in colleges.
DVD Review - City of the Bees (07/17/05 - 0 Comments)
They don't make 'em like this anymore! City of the Bees is a Moody Science Classic that was first released in 1962, quite a long while before my time. A half-hour presentation on - you guessed it - bees, it includes everything we'd expect to find in a Moody video produced in the 60's - cutting-edge video work (that is still impressive even by today's standards), a significant explanation of how the video applies to the life of the viewer, and a cheap-shot at the Commies.
DVD Review - Incredible Creatures that Defy Evolution 1 (06/26/05 - 0 Comments)
"[W]hat can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse." So says the apostle Paul in the first chapter of his letter to the Romans. For the Christian, we see God's eternality and divinity displayed in all that He has made. We look at the world around us and know that design presupposes a Designer. But this is not clear to those who, by their worldview and their hatred of God, deny Him.
DVD Review - The Search for the Real Mt. Sinai (06/26/05 - 0 Comments)
Many years ago Ron Wyatt, an intrepid explorer, claimed to have found the real Mount Sinai, becoming one of many men to have made this claim. But this was only one of his many claims. He also claimed to have found Noah's Ark, chariot wheels from the Red Sea, The Ark of the Covenant, the ruins of Sodom and Gomorrah, and even the hole into which Jesus' cross was placed. While Wyatt has largely been exposed as a fraud, some people continue to believe that he did find clues leading to the location of the mountain on which God gave His Law to Moses.
DVD Review - The Forbidden Book (06/18/05 - 0 Comments)
The Forbidden Book is a DVD presentation examining the history of the Word of God in English. It is hosted by Dr. Craig Lampe, a Bible historian and International Director of the World Bible Society. Dr. Lampe owns the Rare Bible Showroom in Arizona and holds a virtual monopoly over rare and antique Bibles. His collection even includes a 1410 Wycliffe Manuscript valued at just under $3 million. It is one of the rarest Bibles in the world. He has a Coverdale Bible, Great Bibles, sells leaves of the Geneva Bible, and, amazingly enough, leaves from the Gutenberg Bible - the first book ever published. If you happen to have one of these complete Bibles sitting in your attic, you should have it insured for about $100 million.
DVD Review - Hells Bells 2: The Power And Spirit of Popular Music (02/28/05 - 0 Comments)
Many years ago, when I was in my mid-teen years, I made the decision to stop listening to mainstream rock music and to turn instead to Christian music. Until that time I had been listening to whatever was on the radio. I had quite a few tapes and had once had a whole collection of those old vinyl 45's. While I was usually not interested in music that was blatantly anti-God, I did listen to some that would surely have made my parents cringe had they heard it. But when I was fourteen or fifteen, my conscience began to accuse me about this music and I remember what was a near-religious experience for me, where I biked down to a local waterfall and, with no one else present, tossed some tapes over the edge in what was really a ceremony whereby I repented of that music. In the subsequent years, I bought Christian music and have since had little interest in mainstream music. Every now and then a song or a band catches my attention, but since I have so little willful exposure to it, this is quite rare. At the same time, I have kept abreast of what is happening in the music industry. Music saturates our culture, and it is difficult not to know what songs and artists are popular, for they are played on television, in commercials and are piped through malls, airports and any other public location. Needless to say, where the music of the 80's and 90's was bad, the music of our day is even worse. There has been a continual slide whereby the mainstream songs of our day are far worse than what was acceptable even ten or twenty years ago.
DVD Review - Amazing Grace, The History And Theology of Calvinism (02/05/05 - 0 Comments)
Who could have thought that a presentation of Calvinism lasting nearly four and a half hours could keep me at rapt attention? Actually, I suppose most people who know me wouldn't be too terribly surprised. Amazing Grace - The History And Theology of Calvinism is an examination of the doctrines of grace, produced by The Apologetics Group. It is hosted by Eric Holmberg and is a collage of interviews, historical readings, Scripture and drama. It examines "life's greatest mystery, that man's question for meaning and redemption is in the end the story of the Lord 'seeking and saving that which was lost.'"
Movie Review: Luther (10/28/04 - 1 Comments)
I entered the theatre fearing the worst. I saw little reason to expect that a movie being distributed in the mainstream markets would be able to do justice to a character so reviled as Martin Luther. While he is a hero to many, to far more he is a villain – sectarian, racist, arrogant and divisive; a man who tore the Christian world apart and whose legacy remains to this day. I am happy to...
