Book of Eli Illustration(s) of Different Types of Bible Readers

http://www.leoslo.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/The-Book-of-Eli.jpg


The movie "The Book of Eli" came on TV not too long ago. I was surprised by some of the ending plot and if you have not seen the movie you probably want quite reading this. SPOILER ALERT In the movie there are three types of people who respond to the Bible. One represents those who use the Bible for personal power and gain. There is a town leader; part mayor and all mob boss. He wants a copy of the Bible to be able to use the words there in to coerce those who are small in intellect to do as he says. There is second type of person who uses the Bible as a part of their personal quest and voyage in life. Eli is a wander; part super hero and part high plains drifter. He reads the Bible every day. He knows his own faults but also knows he is to live by the Bible. This is the type of Bible reader I want to be; minus gun fights, karate moves, and swordsmanship. Lastly there is the fellow in Alcatraz Island who is storing up the knowledge of mankind. He is attempting to build their worlds knowledge by amassing a library that is protected. He studiously copies the Bible by hand, prints it up, and then places it on the shelf among many other religions. For this man, the Bible is just another part of human religious experience, not a defining religious experience.

As I read my Bible I want to be wary of the two errors of seeing the Bible as a tool for my own ends or seeing it as a part human religious experience. I want to be on mission and give my life to the one who gave himself to me. The fellow Eli was a Christ figure in that he was misunderstood and also because he seemed to die and rise again. However, his resurrection is temporary, he eventually die due to his wounds permanently but fulfills his mission. Though he is a Christ figure in a literary sense, there is no mention of the Savior our Lord Jesus Christ. There is no Son of God mentioned in the film that I can remember. Perhaps that is the view point of the film maker, I'm not sure. But as I say I want to be one who reads the Bible like Eli, I also want to be distinct from Eli too. I want to always understand the Bible from the point of view that Jesus is the main idea of all the Bible, even the Old Testament. I want to always be Christ centric in my reading of Scripture.

Lastly it merits saying, Eli is black. Though it saddens me to say, I think African-Americans get the Bible better that white Americans do at times. There is a sense that the African-American church knows that God is good. I'm not sure if it is intentional in the movie, but in a sense, the man reading the Bible correctly is a black man and the other white interpretations are misguided. Again, I'm not sure that is what the film makers meant, but it something I got out of the film. As I read the Bible it is true and straight forward. It is a book about deliverance and grace. It is a book about freedom. I think that is how I hear the African-American sisters and brothers reading it. God is good all the time.

"For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery." (Gal 5:1 ESV)

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4q16z9mqebAGH3oO6H1ZssUZU8PlytNtTQnf4D2XpVI7pwBsmWIE2N5r3ys2VKGruDD8ypU6YbN4N73tSUegGZ0OXPKrY0JD_OABZYoJBKclh7QSLCX90UR4LkXVRsso8Icj9jg/s1600/the-book-of-eli-20100106111131442.jpg

Comments

The Frugal Exerciser - Sheila Simmons said…
I'm agnostic but I like your thoughts on the movie. I will put this on the Christian board on a site I belong to and maybe a few AA women will respond to your post.
12:34 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A lion, a rooster, a billy-goat and Tommy Franks go to a bar...

Image
Three things are stately in their tread; four are stately in their stride: the lion, which is mightiest among beasts and does not turn back before any; the strutting rooster, the he-goat, and a king whose army is with him. ---Proverbs 30:29-31 (ESV) Different creatures in nature have different glories. A rooster is a glorious thing to see. He is proud of his feathers and his position. A lion knows he is a beast to be feared. A rooster would be no challenge for a lion though. A he-goat is no challenge for a lion, though he also is proud of his position and strength. When we think of a lion we think of an animal dangerous and to be feared. But in a sense, a general (king) with his troops who are equipped for battle find no match in a lion. This is especially true if we are talking about a modern general with attack helicopters, snipers, artillery, tanks and well trained troops. We all have our own gifting and glory. The glory may be small or large. One may be a
Read more

Celtic Words In English

I once heard a lecturer say that English was made up at its heart three languages; Anglo-Saxon (A Germanic tongue), French (influence from William the Conquerer A.D. 1066), and Latin (from the church and scholars). She also mentioned that Celtic had been the language of England before the influence of the Anglo-Saxons and some “tie together words” had been brought into English. I assumed she meant words which tie sentences together, or nouns. But I was not sure which words she meant in particular. So I did a little research to find out what those relics in our language are. It seems that Celtic has few words surviving in English. I'm not counting the Celtic words which came in through other languages such as French. I'm not sure that there is a definitive list of Celtic words in English but here are a few I found in various places on the Internet and a book I have. ass (borrowed earlier by the Celts from the Latin asinus) bannock bard blarney bucket car cart clock coll
Read more

Was the New Testament Letters Only Written to Male Brothers?

  Question:   Was the Bible written to men only and not to women?   Some teach that the New Testament letters address brothers exclusively.      Executive Summary Answer:   Women and men share in the blessings of the gospel, Scripture was written for both women and men. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. (Gen. 1:27 ESV) Answer:   The Bible recognizes differences between genders but also recognizes the commonality between male and female genders.   The book of Proverbs is written to sons to gain wisdom.   “Hear, my son, your father's instruction, and forsake not your mother's teaching, for they are a graceful garland for your head and pendants for your neck.”   (Prov. 1:8-9 ESV) The book of Proverbs was written in order to teach young men wisdom.   Even so, often it is the female gender that teaches wisdom.   Early in the book, the male gender, a son, is to embrace the teaching from a member of the
Read more