“As parents consider their little boys who appear to have a surplus of this initiative, a surplus of masculinity, they may err by leaving it entirely undisciplined, or they may seek to discipline the troublesome masculinity out” (Her Hand in Marriage, p. 38).
Sex, Violence, and a Grand Identity
“Paganism can take a variety of forms, but when all is said and done, the system boils down to three simple postulates—sex, violence, and a grand identity . . . For four centuries the Protestants tried to hold them back, but the dam was breached. The gods are back in town” (Arthur Hunt, The Vanishing …
The Power of Imitation
“He should also be taught what the atmosphere of married life was intended by God to be. The best thing godly parents can do here is provide the children with several decades of viewing consistent Christian living within marriage — in the home in which they were born. The value of this is inestimable. The …
Paganism at the Movies
“The cult of celebrity fills a religious hole dug by modernism . . . The machines of show business brought the gods back to life . . . Images are pervasive, emotionally captivating, and . . . dare I say it? Sacred . . . This is what it means to be a pagan. Our …
A Distinction to File Away
“The Bible says true marriages can be entered disobediently, while other forms of disobedience do not result in a marriage at all, but rather in perversions. There is a difference between a disobedient marriage, and a disobedience which pretends to be a marriage” (Her Hand in Marriage, p. 35).
Plot Dragging a Little? Add Explosions!
“However, we find in drama today, and for my purpose specifically in film, two significant changes that were somewhat rare in our culture fifty years ago. First, the ethics of the hero’s action is now morally relativistic. And second, spectacle, or what Aristotle called ‘scenic effects,’ has upstaged all other dramatic elements” (Arthur Hunt, The …
The Great Eye Machines
“The visual element of romanticism is highly significant because it would later find its way into the great eye machines of the twentieth century—cinema and television. It would also lay the foundation for existentialism, the forerunner of postmodernism” (Arthur Hunt, The Vanishing Word, p. 120).
Echoed Disrespect
“The disrespect that children have for their fathers in this area [courtship] is really just an echo of the disrespect that fathers have of their own office” (Her Hand in Marriage, pp. 31-32).
The Word vs. Special Effects
“While the Renaissance careened after the image, the Reformation became a predominately word-based movement . . . the real religious fervor and intellectual power pulled to the north, so that England, Scandinavia, and Germany became the realm of the word, and the south returned to spectacle” (Arthur Hunt, The Vanishing Word, p. 78).
What Is Marriage?
“A common error among Christians holds that if the sexual act is completed, then the couple are married ‘in God’s sight.’ Many destructive complications occur in contemporary culture because we have adopted the idea that people can be married in God’s sight without being married. It is hard to say where this idea originated, but …