Phil Gons

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Watch The Gospel of John Movie for Free

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The Gospel of John (2003) is my all-time favorite Bible movie. It’s a 3-hour dramatic presentation of the text of John’s Gospel almost verbatim1 from the Good News Bible (also known as the Good New Translation and Today’s English Version). It’s unusually high quality for Christian cinematic productions, and you can’t get much more faithful than the words of Scripture. It also helps that John’s Gospel is my favorite portrayal of the life of Jesus.

We used to watch it over the Good Friday / Resurrection Sunday weekend back when DVDs where still a thing. I just learned this week that it’s available for free as The Life of Jesus on YouTube. It’s also available with Amazon Prime both as The Gospel of John and as The Life of Jesus.

The Gospel of John as The Life of Jesus on YouTube

We watched portions of it earlier this week, and we’re planning to watch the whole thing this afternoon as a family and make it part of our annual Holy Week celebration again.

I highly recommend it to you. When you watch it, keep a Bible close by. I can guarantee you’re going to ask on multiple occasions, “Is that in the Bible?” There’s something about seeing Scripture acted out that makes details stand out you might otherwise gloss over and miss.

He is risen!

  1. They occasionally substitute a word for a synonym and drop the “and ______ said” before someone speaks. I don’t think they add anything that’s not in the text of John’s Gospel. [↩]

Rob Bell on Hell

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Justin Taylor and Denny Burk point out a new video from Rob Bell about his forthcoming book, Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived.

Here’s the publisher’s description:

Bell addresses one of the most controversial issues of faith—the afterlife—arguing that a loving God would never sentence human souls to eternal suffering. With searing insight, Bell puts hell on trial, and his message is decidedly optimistic—eternal life doesn’t start when we die; it starts right now. And ultimately, Love Wins.

Hear it in Bell’s own words:

Scary stuff.

[Read more…] about Rob Bell on Hell

Bonhoeffer Buzz

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Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, SpyDietrich Bonhoeffer has been the subject of some interesting discussion recently. If you missed it, here’s a quick overview.

  1. It started with the publication of Eric Metaxas’s “groundbreaking biography” Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy (Amazon | WTS Books).
  2. Its publication has been largely met with rave reviews, awards, and lots of secular press.
  3. Bonhoeffer scholars Richard Weikart and Clifford Green called Metaxas’s reading of Bonhoeffer into question.
  4. Blogger Tim Challies highlighted these critiques in a recent post.
  5. Church historian Carl Trueman weighed in with some wise insight.

[Read more…] about Bonhoeffer Buzz

Michael Horton’s New Systematic Theology

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Michael Horton’s long-awaited systematic theology, The Christian Faith: A Systematic Theology for Pilgrims on the Way (Amazon | WTS Books), is due out very soon. Zondervan’s website says it’s “coming January 2011.” Amazon says “January 25, 2011.” WTS Books says “February 2011.”

Systematic theologies are one of my favorite categories of books, so I’m really looking forward to picking this one up and adding it to my library.

The Christian Faith

Details

The Christian Faith runs 1,052 pages (which is the last numbered page according to Zondervan’s “Browse Inside” feature).1 It has a list price of $49.99, but the Westminster Bookstore has will be selling it for $30.99, and Amazon has it available for pre-order for $31.17 (or $30.99 for Kindle).

[Read more…] about Michael Horton’s New Systematic Theology

  1. WTS Books incorrectly lists 960 pages, and Zondervan and Amazon say 1056, perhaps including ads or blank pages at the end. [↩]

Free Episode of Planet Earth in HD

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Planet EarthIf you’ve never gotten around to watching BBC’s Planet Earth yet, now’s your chance to check it out for free—and in HD—and find out what you’ve been missing. Amazon Video On Demand currently has Planet Earth: Season 1, Episode 1: “From Pole to Pole” (49:16) available as a free download—both the standard and HD versions. And it’s the good one, the one narrated by David Attenborough (not the one narrated by Sigourney Weaver).

I’d encourage you to watch it. It contains some amazing footage that will often lead you to worship our great and glorious Creator God, whose “eternal power and divine nature” are clearly seen “in the things that have been made” (Ro 1:20; cf. Ps 19:1–6).

For more on Planet Earth, see Andy Naselli’s two posts: “Planet Earth: A Theological Documentary” and “Piper on Planet Earth.”

Also, be on the lookout for Life, a forthcoming BBC production, also narrated by David Attenborough.