@@aidanmills6136 *SPOILER ALERT* Eh, it _is_ weird that they all are dead without knowing it (and that this brings them to Narnia forever) but as a child I completely missed the Christian subtext. An apocalyptical change of the world doesn't seem exclusive to Christianity.
@@mrcheese1328 It just made me sad. He literally damns Susan and I'm still not sure why. Some people say he didn't like intelligent women, others say he just really liked the number 7. Either way, sending a message that educated people don't make it to heaven is really strange, especially for a Cambridge professor.
@@Jacob-lb2ww I was actually thinking of the Forbidden Doors series. Kids of former missionaries, dad vanished and presumed dead, move to a town where there is like an occult book.shops and...all kinds of things happen , you think it's ghost...vampires...reincarnation etc....BUT ITS JUST.ALWAYS.DEMONS. Also they get weird messages from random chat room dude... Edit: After a quick Google...turns out the same.guy wrote them...the wally ones seem.more.middle grade while forbidden doors was like...preteen/teen
As a Christian, the biggest irony of these books and movies sometimes, that instead of making more faithul christians, they create atheists. Yeah, and I think these people who make them don' t really know how to write or make a movie.
Former pastor here, now a committed and confirmed atheist. Sure, blame it on the people who wrote the books, yeah that's it. If they only made the books and movies the way you want them to make them, that everybody would be Christians, LOL
@@carsonallen4719 I think the original commenter was trying more to imply that these films/books turn more people away from Christianity. Not that that’s the only reason people turn to Atheism. I’m an Atheist, and that’s mostly due to factors like being raised in a Non-religious household, and that I prefer to learn more about art, history or science with facts I can confirm, than an unprovable religion (what I can’t prove kind of scares me) and at that point I’m so disconnect from Christianity that it may as well be the Ancient Greek or Roman myths, to the point when one of my favourite books/TV series is Good Omens, which uses the Christian religion in the same way Percy Jackson uses Greek Myth. What was my point again? Oh yeah, these movies/books don’t do religion any favours but they aren’t the only reason that people become Atheists, and I think that was what the commenter was going for. Also, this isn’t trying to through shade on religion, you can have any religious beliefs, just don’t be a jerk about it.
My religion wasn't Christianity, but damn...I could smell the rot from 50 mile radius. Most of the reason why I was a devoted religious person in my childhood up to late teenage hood was because of fear of hell. After I deleved deeper into my religion, i was out of it in a matter of seconds. Nobody gets to berate my gender, not even God. Now I'm in a way...misotheist? I guess.
The problem is never a lack of subtlety, but a lack of empathy. These books are not out to change minds but reinforce what they already believe in their audience, so there's never a chance to tell a good story with messaging that would excite anyone not in their demographic.
What bugs me about these is that as a Christian I always feel that the main point of the faith should be compassion...and these books don't feel compassionate to me.
Still laugh at my ex being obsessed with the Left Behind series and constantly point out I was going to be one of the people left behind. If those are the people who are going to heaven with constanly judging everyone and being complete dicks, I'm totally fine with being left behind
See the thing is if your boyfriend was judging you that way there's a chance he would also be left behind. Judging is something Jesus told us not to do. Why would w judge someone for something we all do?? Christians cannot put themselves above others.
@@OverlyPositiveFanboy i mean that kinda of happens with the ones who believe in a post tribulation rapture That we will all stay How ever I would love a book about Moralist ( ie people like the pharisees so self righteous hypocrites ) do stay behind in a pre tribulation rapture series
The Timebenders series sorely misses a part about the 30 Years War, in which the Catholics and Protestants all killed each other and massacred civilians at times (Sack of Magdeburg). But Lucifer as a Silver Dragon sounds pretty badass, NGL.
I vaguely remember reading the books. They were pretty unremarkable overall, but the silver dragon provided an awesome mental image. Of course it’s very hard to make a dragon on a story not at least sound cool
My grandma used to volunteer at the annual local library book sale and after it ended, she would be allowed to take some the books that hadn't sold. Since she wanted to encourage my reading habits, but didn't actually know what kind of books I liked, she would take the biggest fantasy looking ones she could find and give them to me. And now I have the first 7 Left Behind books. On the plus side, I like to think that having read a lot of the terrible books she got me gave me a lot of early lessons on how not to write stories. Also, you can't drop that tidbit at the end and not elaborate. Give us the deets.
The real issue with Christian media, whether it's books, movies, or music, is there is NO competition for their demographic. In other words, they know Christians will buy it because it's about Christianity and basically the only thing that is made for them. They also know the stuff they make won't be ragged on within their community because doing so might be seen as disagreeing with Christian messages or even the Bible. This breeds laziness in the creators and a confidence in the sellers as they know whatever trash that's made WILL be bought simply because there are no other options. It's pretty frustrating, There are few gems within the Christian sphere of media to be sure, but most are buried underneath subpar garbage. It also doesn't help that Christian media limits themselves on stories they can tell for fear of looking too secular. That's why if you're a Christian it's better to ignore the media made for you and look for entertainment in other areas. Also, anyone who thinks Christian Music is passable... please venture out of your bubble for a second and realize being used to something doesn't make it good. I just means you're immune to the bad.
I, as a Christian, completely agree. “Christian pop” and “Christian books” are beyond awful. Religion in general and pop-culture do not mix at all, and should be kept separate.
As a Christian I am tired of Christian media because it's not what I need to grow. It feels like the same old stuff I consume at church. I've distanced myself from it not because don't like that message but because it's so generic the way it's portrayed.
I am not a Christian, but perhaps you could try to read some medieval books/ chivalric romances. Basically, there's a lot of Christianity in there and the authors often don't try to convince you of something (basically with nearly everyone being Christian it wasn't needed). They often don't really explore the topic (or anything for that matter), but they can surely be entertaining. The Holy Grail related stories may he something of interest (narratives focused on Percival as well). Also, the notes from the scribes are often hilarious as well, like this one roasting the 1st author of the book because he didn't finish it, and reccomending (?) both of the authors to heaven. Even with low expectations you can still be disappointed by the books of the times, but there are some absolute pearls in there as well. I dunno, maybe it's of one's interest, and maybe it isn't. (It's not really anything that helps one to grow, they're just fun)
The last part is kind of a white perspective, ain't it? Gospel music is also Christian and it can be and often IS very good musically. I wish White folks wouldn't lump Christian music into one category of "Bad" because of Christian contemporary music being the only Christian music they've heard of and are familiar with.
Yeah, this clown about the Trump prophecy was all over RUclips in 2018 saying Barack Obama and Bill Clinton would be hung in the capital by their next to their death. Can't believe RUclips lets people spout s*** like that When the prophecy fails, these morons just doubled down and end up making more money and getting more followers, even though the prophecy failed. These people are dangerous. Which goes to show you even when the prophecy fails, they still clean to their mental delusions. Thank God this generation is 80% against fundamentalist Christianity. It's only going to go down he'll even father for them
this shitshow just reminds me about how good the Shin Megami Tensei series is about Christianity. insead of making it "oooh god evil" or "oooh satan evil" instead it's moreso about how the different flaws in religious systems (e.g. siding with god will cause the christian zealot paradise of mindless people worshipping god, while those who side with satan will bring about a chaotic hellscape where Demons and strong humans rule) and the series also treats Christianity as just another mythology, and shows how other mythological creatures will side and interact with both factions.
The last few minutes where he mentions, “there are some people who literally can’t comprehend that other people have different beliefs than them,” really explains a lot.
The Book of Eli was good because you don't even realize the religious bent it has until partway through the movie. The message wasn't delivered through a sledgehammer, and the action was bad ass
And it had something genuine to say about the concept of faith, criticising those who use faith as a brainwashing tool to shut down discourse and control people.
But it was also incredibly silly. A blind man beats the hell out of hundreds of people with magic vision to protect a Bible, possibly the most widely spread and available book in America, is now apparently the rarest and most sought after.
My dad is a self published Christian fiction author and these criticisms are spot on. These kinds of books are so often just power fantasies about Christian zionism and young earth creationism and it shows
Oh dear.....I remember we had to watch the Nicholas Cage Left Behind movie for christian values class in my private christian school.....my classmates and teachers all loved it. Suffice to say, I thought it was shit
@@El-Silver I never really watched the other version fully, only a few clips And tbh the only reason I didnt like Nick Cage's Left Behind movie was cause of the really yucky "moral" behind it which super annoyed me. However I do understand how someone could enjoy it in the "so bad it's good" way lol
@@heyitsfae3538 What moral i mean that movie concentrated more in the cheating than religion it's bad tho If you want a good end time fiction i recommend the chirst clone trilogy
@@El-Silver The moral where the whole world falls apart without Christians in it. (Is it s moral? I prolly used the wrong word, my bad whoops). Like, the idea that Christians are the only reason the world isnt in literal chaos is. Idk that just really annoyed me lmak Tho my memory of the movie is foggy, so take what I say with a grain of salt Might check it out if the christ clone if I have the time tho
@@heyitsfae3538 Oh ok I get you The premise does work but not the right reason I mean panic after the rapture combined with the antichrist Left behind does the mistake that very shortly after the rapture thing to morally corrupt ( not so much the 2014 movie but the 2000s one ) If I were writing the story i would make it so that the antichrist slowly in his 7 year rule makes moral standard drop And those who doubt are convinced by the miracles or are afraid of him It makes sense as it's manipulation and the antichrist, Satan and the false prophet decieve, but the christians are gone therefore all moral standard are gone is bs
Catholic here and that's my exact belief with bolth religion and politics I don't care what you believe in just don't try and force it down people's throats
Totally agree as a Christian. It’s always about appealing to people who are already Christians and looking down on everyone else. The reason actual good Christian content (like veggietales, narnia, lotr) works is because they’re good fun stories that can appeal to anyone regardless of whether they agree with the underlying message.
@@toxicsugarart2103 Yeah, there are several good pieces of literature that promote Christian values*. The examples described** on this video are about the opposite.
*at least as far as there's some consensus of what even are "Christian values" today, since there sure are certain rather differing interpretations. **before the last 2 minutes
So I'm a Norse pagan who was raised Roman catholic, and Prince of Egypt remains one of my favorite movies. It's incredibly well done, well cast, and sends strong messages, even with all the Judeo-Christianity happening. I love it
I will say it’s more Jewish movie than Christian (kinda funny thing about the name judeo-Christian is that Judaism is closer in a lot of aspects to Islam than Christianity )
Timebenders sounds like it could have been a fun, if cheesy, series that people would look back on fondly from nostalgia. Shame that it had to be written in a painfully blunt way.
What about the novelization of The Prince of Egypt? TBH I'm pretty into Christian fiction, not like left behind, but like the romance novels set in the 1800's with a women and an old house on the cover, most of them have a few lines about the believes of the characters so I'm not sure if they count
The TimeBender books seem like wasted potential. For "Doorway to Doom", the story would have made more sense if it was set during the early 600s (just as Anglo-Saxon England was beginning to be Christianized) or after 865 (when pagan Norsemen invaded England and established the Danelaw). Either era would justify King Weaver's paganism; in the former he'd be a holdout defending the "old ways" from a strange new faith, in the latter he'd be a collaborator who betrayed his people to enhance his own wealth. Maybe make King Weaver a vassal under Guthrum, and have the heroes defeat him by helping Alfred the Great. Then you can have them witness Guthrum's baptism before returning to their own time.
I feel that those books wouldn’t have a character that “defend the old ways from a strange faith” as an antagonist regardless of faith. And I suppose the second scenario would do, but Norse Gods and Viking aesthetics are a huge attractive whenever portrayed by pop-culture. Doesn’t matter how many pillaging it’s portrayed, it’s the same mechanism behind “pirates” (as in 17th century one eyed black flag sailing type) and the “old west outlaw” I suppose. Then they went with dollar bin “satanism”. Because when did fundies not take the dollar bin “satanism” road? Specially a full on monarch, where it released today there would be so many references to “adrenochrome”, “cabal”, “bohemian grove” and “deep state”. The reboot would have the douchey character being captured and ritualistically terrified for the “harvest” of his adrenochromed blood, but rescued in the nick of time. It would kick his arc, noticing how he’s not invulnerable to fear as he thought and how bullying isn’t “nice” when he’s at the receiving end. Mid-series book feature an encounter with a alternate timeline version of him that concluded that taking over the shadowmaster overlords was actually the best way to overcome that flaw, in the best “Becoming worst than the monster you fear so that you fear no more” fashion. Oh, the possibilities.
@@darkservantofheaven There is a town in Japan that worshipped Jesus prior to the arrival of Europeans www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-little-known-legend-of-jesus-in-japan-165354242/ I first read about it 38 years ago. They believe that Christ went there in his missing years, and that someone else died on the cross for him, while he returned to Japan.
Even as a Christian, I despised most of these media pieces with all my being. Why? It's pretty obvious they're just trying to cash in on the faith, instead of actually TRYING to teach it. As a Christian, I may believe in the same supreme being as these authors/directors/writers do... But they clearly lack the decency of a quality story. They barely have the foundations of one. All the villains are the "same ol' song being played through different channels." These pieces of media are one to talk about Christianity being oppressed all the time, but they don't seem to notice that they're doing the same kind of oppression against non-believers and other religions too. I, as a Christian, am yet to see a GOOD, QUALITY religious movie aside from "Silence."
For me a story can be religous inspired but it can't be about religion unless it is absolutely important for the narrative. If you can pray to god to fix your problem than that is not a story. When i talk about my work as an artist or writer sometimes my mom and others (mostly my mom) are like "do a wholesome Christian story." Sometimes its like my mom doesn't understand me and I am always worried that she doesn't have a personality.
As an atheist I'm so happy to hear you say that. I don't have a problem with religions as a concept, I have a problem with people forcing their beliefs onto others and acting like they are the only ones who could be right. You are a good christian and I like it, keep it up!
Passion of the christ was enjoyable to me as a non religious person. It was the best "bible movie" I've seen since the 10 commandments. I also like veggitales and got my kids a lot of the DVDs and the silly songs DVD.
That silver dragon bit reminds me of a discussion I had with a friend about how Christian authors often will start with a metaphorical or allegorical Christ/God or Satan figure, but it eventually becomes literal. Like how The Last Battle assures us that Aslan is the same as the literal real-world Jesus. He said Ted Dekker does something similar in his Circle books.
Then I was a kid forced to endure the world of Christian kids books, the ones I liked were: Chronicles of Narnia... cause it written by an actual author. Frank Peretti's Cooper Kids series (kinda like Indiana Jones) Lois Walfred Johnson's Adventures in the Northwest Woods (sorta like Little House on the Prairie only a series) John White's The Archives of Anthropos (I blatant Narnia rip off) Sigmund Brouwer's The Accidental Detective series (which is exactly what you think it is)
The Archives of Anthropos starts as a blatant Narnia ripoff and then becomes very very very strange. I like a lot of the metaphorical bits, though, like the guilt cage.
I don't have much issue with this video, I think you are right on the money with the point of most Christian media being propaganda. I would however add that it is probably not a good choice to add Silence to that list at the end. It is heavily criticized as it portrays the church who went to Japan as persecuted by an isolationist Japan without ever acknowledging the real world context which is that they were in that situation because they slaughtered the people of Japan who didn't want to follow their faith, and that the man who they are looking for is so hated, for good reason, that the Japanese people, to this day, have mythologized him as an actual, literal demon.
There are a series of children's books written by 'Bear Grills' (I'm almost certain they're ghost written) that might apply. They're pretty standard nature/survival books but in every book without fail the main character is about to die and then they prey to God and a miracle happens. It's not really bad, just bizarre.
Also that the false prophet was a Mike Huckabee type. Sometimes I think I learned the wrong lessons or that their best writing took place when they made concessions to the world being more complex.
Innocence of Father Brown: It's one of the earliest detective books, influencing Agatha Christie. The book hero: Father Brown, is a surrogate for G K Chesterton's beliefs. Generally the cases (it's devided into short stories) revolves on the shortcomings of modern ideolgies (oddly enough the socialists of these stories are portrayed as well meaning people, but christless to get the whole point.) Narnia: I think enough was already said, I disagree with people's interpration of Susan's problem, but I understand why they would feel this way. My biggest problem is the lack of danger and consequences, the Aslam is always there to bail them out. Angus: Doesn't matter, apparently this book didn't get popular enough to leave Brazil's stores. It's a retelling of King's Alfred sucessfull campaign against the Vikings. Told in the perspective of a converted scottish-norseman called Angus.
If you liked how terrible Left Behind is, you might love Left Beyond. It's a weird work (it's split into two different versions of the same story, the one I read is told as an RPG campaign run over 4chan), but it is a pretty great reversal of the series. TOL are incompetent idiots, so its up to the protagonist "villains" to save humanity from the Eternal Tyrant in his throne, before he wisks away what remains of people in Earth during the Millenial Kingdom into eternal slavery or suffering, in a world where being a 100 and not worshiping God causes him to send you to Hell.
If you want to count it, Dresdin Files: Grave Peril is kind of a Christian book because Micheal, a Christian warrior of god, is an absolute badass and makes Christianity seem cool as hell.
That _Lost in Cydonia_ book sounds straight up hilarious, especially since I can't help but picture the Martians as the Mars People from the _Metal Slug_ games. I would blame the Flying Spaghetti Monster in the background, but that would be blasphemy. Otherwise, I agree. Most of these types of "stories" are about masturbatory Christian (read: usually Evangelical) propaganda first, making money second so they can make more propaganda, and then _maybe_ telling a story third, nevermind a good story. It's all the more annoying since there's nothing inherently stopping a story where a real world religion is the main focus and important to the plot from also being a *good* story. This is evidenced by the fact that the relatively few exceptions, such as _The Prince of Egypt_ and such, tend to be well-liked even by atheists such as myself despite God's--well, Yahweh's technically--supremacy being absolutely central to the story. It's merely that it's told well without making the antagonists into vile caricatures. In thinking about it now, I am unsure what the most ironic thing about _The Prince of Egypt_ being so well-liked is: that it actually still technically craps all over a real-world religion, in this case the Ancient Egyptian pantheon, or that it is far less than original than the Christian propaganda that it is still so much better than, what with being essentially a more humanized retelling of what still is just a story straight from the Christian bible.
I actually love the part about the king that just forced a new religion on his people and how that would go terribly. Like you know Echnaton as pharao wanted the people of Egypt to pray to the sun for some reason and how he was dragged through the streets after his death. And his son was forced to install the old religion.
It's an especially terrible idea right in the middle of a bunch of christian kingdoms. You know, the ones who would gladly gang up on your tiny kingdom if their pagan senses were tingling.
Damn, The Shack. I went to a Catholic school and have been coming back to my faith lately, but I will never forget just how straight up terrible that book was. Part of why I became an edgy internet atheist for a few years.
A book with a pretty christian message but a story like narnia. Its heavyhanded but its having actual characters, i think. Dogma is good, and yes at least the times h made it kevin smith was a devout catholic, why its his most scincere move personally. An it checks the boxes, tackling belief, finding it, a journey, doubt yada yada. And that one is humorous, but the arthur paasalini boo about religions, is really good, if also satirikal, but very good and scincre.
Actually pretty good Christian authors and my personal fav Works from them: -CS Lewis (The Chronicles of Narnia) -JRR Tolkien (Lord of the Rings) -Flannery O'Connor (Wise Blood) -Marilynne Robinson (Gilead) -Gene Wolfe (Book of the New Sun) -Donna Tartt (The Goldfinch) -Shusaku Endo (SIlence) -Helen Sorenson (The Door on Half Bald Hill) -Madeleine L'Engle (A Wrinkle in Time) -GK Chesterton (Father Brown Mysteries) -William Peter Blatty (The Exorcist) -Harriet Beecher Stowe (Uncle Tom's Cabin) -Julia Spencer Fleming (Rev Clare Fergusson Mysteries) -Fyodor Dostoevsky (The Brothers Karamazov) -Eugene Vodolazkin (Laurus) -Paula Gooder (Phoebe: A Novel)
I would like to give a recommendation for a decent Christian Book series, and that's "The Circle" by Ted Dekker. Especially the original printing. Now I'm gonna watch the video, brb
The left behind series gave me serious anxiety when I was a pagan living with my Christian parents. I’m an atheist now, so I don’t fear the afterlife or deities now. But it still negatively impacted me. It also had rampant misogyny. I distinctly remember one part where the main protagonist told his daughter that her purpose as a woman was to give birth. It was so disgusting, that it permanently scarred my brain.
If you are taking suggestions for bad Christian books, I've got a few to give: * "This Present Darkness" by Frank Peretti: Angels secretly fight demons over a small town, but the Angels constantly need their batteries charged by Christians praying in order to do anything. There is a subplot about demons and witches using mind-control powers to make women falsely-accuse wealthy and powerful Christian men of raping them. This book helped popularize the idea of "Spiritual Warfare" and Satanic Panic in the eighties. * "The Oath" By Frank Peretti: An invisible dragon haunts a modern-day small town to specifically kill and eat people who contract sin-allegory-herpes from extramarital sex because the town outlawed Christianity back in the cowboy-days. Apparently this one won an award. * "Quantum Spacewalker: Jarl's Journey" by Grace S. Grose: It's the End of Days and Jesus wants Jarl (hard "jay"-sound) Henderson to be the Silver-Surfer to his Galactus. After he witnesses most of his family and church-community being killed by devil-worshipping aliens, Jarl is given powers and trained by angels to be a Rick&Morty-style portal-hopping delivery boy for the Lord. His final mission: Deliver a giant magical-sword to Jesus so he can put it in his mouth and use it to kill people who don't worship him. Mass death and suffering with little-to-no time spent devoted to show characters grieving (the narrative focuses instead on how cool Jarl's new powers are or the appearances of alien life forms). This book is the most unintentionally hilarious and disturbing thing I have ever read. Highlights include: Space aliens being welcomed as allies after literally blowing-up every single religious-building on earth. A concentration-camp planet where Christ's angels keep the mixed-race offspring of humans and heavenly-beings (which are all inherently evil btw). A friendly group of Satanists offer the hero raw goat-meat and invite politely invite him to their orgy (this book is for kids-teens btw). "Persecuted" Christians living in comfort and luxury while everyone else on earth is suffering from starvation and disease. The Antichrist leading an army of UFOs into battle against Jesus while riding a pegasus. An angry Scotsman giving Jesus a piece of his mind before being smited. And a memorable scene where Jarl quoties a bible-verse which allows him to BRIEFLY BECOME GOD and USE THE MULTI-FORM TECHNIQUE FROM NARUTO to FIGHT AN ARMY OF DEMON-MONKEYS led by a TOPLESS MERMAID, all who he then kills SIMPLY BY TELLING THEM TO DIE "in Jesus name." * "The Aykotah Daughter" by Ria Zen: A fantasy-setting Christian romance where a strong-willed princess of a monotheistic tribe tries to escape from an arranged marriage to a foreign prince with the help of a childhood friend of hers that had romantic feelings for her from when he was a boy. The foreign prince finds out about it and, with the help of her father, foil their escape. The princess is then made to watch as her childhood friend is executed in front of her before she is officially engaged to the foreign prince. (Sounds like sad tale, yes. Well, I'm not done yet). After multiple kidnappings and sexual-assaults by leaders of evil enemy tribes the princess learns that she was wrong to be "willful" and falls in love with her new husband because he "knows what is best" for her, is hot, and is an allegory for Jesus Christ. The depiction of sexual violence in this book makes me appreciate the tastefulness of the Berserk manga. Also there is a big emphasis on how the princess and other women of the Aykotah (who call themselves "the fertility tribe") need to have more babies in order to "protect their culture" from being overrun by the "evil tribes" (even though the "evil tribes" are constantly killing their own babies all the time as sacrifices to their gods). Highlights: After a major battle, the Christ-allegory Prince gives the captured harem of an enemy king (full of women the evil king would regularly rape) to his men "as brides" and it is depicted as a happy outcome because marriage. Magical pregnancy-test seeds that only sprout when a pregnant woman urinates on them. Christ-allegory Prince's first response to an enemy King kidnapping and threatening to RAPE his own wife by threatening ECONOMIC SANCTIONS on the king's tribe. * "Ride Sally Ride" by Pastor Doug Wilson: A sci-fi persecution-fantasy courtroom-thriller novel about a Christian who is charged with murder for destroying his neighbor's sex-robot after seeing it once made his penis tingle. The first half of the book is about how ridiculous it is that an inanimate object is being treated like a person, then in the second half of the book the hero gets out of murder-charges by making the case that THE SEX ROBOTS ARE ACTUALLY SENTIENT AND HAVE FREE WILL (WTF?) by showing proof of the original owner destroying previous sex-robots when they "rebelled" against him (?) and arguing that it was only a matter of time before this latest sex-robot rebelled so "it was going to be destroyed anyway" (WTF?). Apparently this book has a youtube channel and a trailer (just copy/paste the title and author name into the youtube search-bar and see). The author of this book is also famous for co-authoring a nonfiction book defending antebellum slavery ("Southern Slavery: As It Was").
I read a book once called the Time Keeper that I thought was really quite good. It is undoubtedly a Christian book, but It avoids many of the common issues you brought up with other Christian books in that the religiousness/areligiousness of the main characters isn't the central focus of the story. I read it in high school though, and lost my copy so I don't know how well it holds up.
That was made into a movie. It's still fantastic. Basically, the whole message is that you can't expect stuffy do-good Christianity to make any real changes in people's lives if it takes out the real reason for that change to happen: God. It's not Hell that people should be focusing on, it's God. And it's not Church culture that they should be focusing on, either. Really the opposite of what a lot of Christian media does.
You left out quite a few names from your video: Tolkien, Sanderson, Jordan, Rowling, Donaldson... That's not mentioning many more novelists who aren't professed Christians, but whose fiction still has a dominant Christian themes, such as Martin's Song of Ice and Fire.
My mom made me listen to Left Behind on a road trip from Chicago to Jacksonville. Then my dad tried to get me to read the Shack but I never did it. I don’t even remember what that about. But Left Behind haunts me lol.
A hilariously bad Christian "horror" book I read was called the Oath by Frank- I forgot his last name but it starts with P. The ending is so ridiculous- he defeats this dragon that literally came out of no where, hardly explained beyond some priest saying its the embodiment of sin ?? Right Before the priest is eaten by it. So the main character converts and literally says "I have Jesus in my heart, you can't kill me" and that defeats it XD
Oh, I remember that book! I read it when I was in high school because there was a dragon in it! It… actually wasn’t that long before I became an atheist that I read it, now that I think about it. Hm. Probably no causation. There were a couple parts I liked, but yeah, it wasn’t a good book.
Perretti. Frank Perretti. I know because my Dad has it on his shelf downstairs, and even he doesn't like it that much. Perretti was always a little too fire and brimstone for me.
I’m an Atheist (Non-Religious household, plus only truly comfortable in facts I know are true and mostly just the media I consume), so I just view Christianity (and remember this is just my perspective) as a Mythology, much like Greek Myth. One of my favourite books/TV Series is Good Omens. Check it out, it is incredibly funny and possibly more British than Britain itself. In my own works, when crafting a mythology for my own world, I took inspiration from many different religions and mythologies, for instance, I created the “God” being, who created reality as a mythological Writer (I’m clever like that) but then the Writer, as we’ll this being, also creates a pantheon of Gods who go on to create the universe. That’s one of my favourite things about writing. Creating worlds and backstories. I’m really not trying to throw shade on religion at all. You can have any beliefs, just don’t be a jerk about it, and don’t assume that you’re belief is the natural one and that the burden of proof is on others. You’re not going to change any minds making these films/books. And, if you’re a major world religion... You are most likely not persecuted to the extreme you believe you are.
Good Omens is awesome. It isn't a Christian piece of media. It's a riff on Christianity as mythology, and the type of Christians who like these books would hate it. Good Omens is to Christianity the same way the Marvel movies are to Norse religion or the Disney Hercules is to Greek religion.
@@FuriouslySleepingIde I think it’s really a satire of this kind of media. And as an Atheist, it’s really the only piece even approximating these types of novels that I’ve read.
I feel a lot of Christian media (especially Evangelical media) tends to get so caught in its own bubble, that it forgets how to communicate with people outside its niche sphere of vocabulary and understanding. I'm not sure it's a problem that I want solved however, due to my personal disagreements with a lot of Evangelical teachings and my status as an agnostic atheist.
Not a story in itself, but The Expanse Season 3 has a great Methodist Pastor character, and she's really well written. Her religion and faith is a large part of her identity, but she's so much more as well. Much of her character journey is her moral code born from her faith being tested, and at times she fails and people are hurt. She's flawed as any other character in the show is, but she gives a great case that runs counter to the usual narrative of, "in the future religion won't exist because science." Her faith is more about how one treats others rather than an attempt to explain the universe, but even when faced with the terrifying unknown that appears in season three, she manages to balance her faith in God with the act of pure, egotistical curiosity that makes her want to be one of the first to step across the boundary into a whole new world. Then, when she's there, she provides a moral center for characters around her to anchor to, in the face of mounting threat of unimaginable scale. Even as an atheist, I love good movies about faith, but genre-Christian movies certainly do not deliver on this.
Re. the smugness of the rapture is why I really like the bit in "Good Omens" where Aziraphale pauses in his very important quest to find a body to inhabit so he can go help Crowley stop the Antichrist to tell a televangelist that no one is getting picked up so they can laugh at everyone else dying of radiation poisoning "if that's your idea of a morally acceptable good time, I might add."
How do you feel about the Chronicles of Narnia? I always wanted a booktuber to do a proper in depth look at them. Also what do you think about the Christian themes and symbolism in Lotr.
From what I remember, the Fetuses, along with everybody else, would be resurrected in an/their ideal body. Same applies to everybody else. Edit: I confused it with judgement day, but I do believe it isn't too different
So you'd have adult bodies with the minds of fetuses just... lying around in heaven? Incapable of comprehending anything, probably going insane from the weird situation they're suddenly in? That's even more horrifying, the more you think about it
@@derenglander7995 I guess they would advance past the need for growing up to understand. It feels like it would be in the same vein as the story in which Jesus is asked about a widow who always married her husband's next oldest brother and whom she would be married to in heaven, to which he answers that that wouldn't be a problem in heaven. Also, while writing this comment I realized that I, as a catholic, don't believe in the rapture and confused it with generally going to heaven/Judgement Day.
@@derenglander7995 A material(ist) understanding of body and mind would resolve this issue: the mind is a function of the body and a body with a dysfunctional mind could hardly be called ideal. Christians believe in a soul separate from the body but I could imagine they extend that separation to developmental stages: the soul is eternal; while the body containing it may develop, the soul stays the same. Insofar character and comprehension are intrinsic to the soul fetuses would be normal people.
Also Rapture as part of some of the denominations are a recent addition, and most of the mainline christians don't belive in the Rapture, if I remember correctly. I am a reformist/calvinist, and I was taught that this is not something that will happen.
prince of egypt is jewish, not christian. while the story obviously exists in both religions, the culture implemented, language and music used, as well as voice actors were all jewish and for a reason. it was for us. christianity is not just “the continuation of judaism” we (jewish people) are a living culture with a living religion and we make things for ourselves
12:51 If the barrier to entry to Heaven is so high that even Catholics aren't taken, and probably many Protestants would also stand for some "sin" they've committed, it wouldn't be that many people.
You mentioned the Great Wall of China bit, without pointing out that that line is written by a prize winning journalist within the book. There was the theoretical idea behind Left Behind, where it could be used as a evangelical tool, convincing non believers of the truth of God, and painting the events within as plausible. It then proceeded to present every non believer in the book as impossibly stupid, which is necessary for the events of the book to unfold. *slow clap*
I’ve been reading a very long series called Cape High that has been getting steadily more pushy Christian as it has gone on. Originally it just had a couple church going characters but as it progressed every new (good) character either starts as Christian or converts, including a lot of the earlier characters who weren’t originally portrayed that way. The most frustrating bit is at the start it seemed to be setting up to have a very broad range of character diversity until it became apparent that no character was ever going to be lgbt, or be part of anything but a Christian faith.
atheist characters written by christian authors come in two flavors: heartless monster who has no god to teach them what is moral; and person who actually believes in god but is upset with him for allowing bad things to happen. neither atheist character is capable of finding joy or meaning in their life unless they accept god. i just finished reading the brothers karamazov.
@@hl-xt3iw @R. Bridger is not saying that these people dont exist at all but that it is the only way christian authors are capable of parsing atheists: its an incredibly narrow and frankly wrong world view. Most atheists dont believe in god cuz they simply dont get anything from the faith or it just doesnt make sense to them.
There is one Christian novel that I, an atheist, honestly enjoyed: _Christy_ by Catherine Marshall. It was a story first and foremost, with the main character confronting her middle class privilege and growing past her initial judgemental interactions with the impoverished families whose children she teaches. The only character who converts to Christianity does so for a reason that is, at least in my opinion, much more unique and endearing than the genre standard. It's also just interesting for the historical and cultural tidbits, if you enjoy learning weird stuff like how to use onions to treat respiratory issues or the headache of laying telephone wire in a remote Appalachian village.
Bookmarking this. It sounds like a great story, Christian or not. I personally love Lord of the Rings. It is more application of Catholic theology that easily identifiable (and honestly cliche) allegory. It's a great adventure-fantasy story. Another favorite is Death Comes for the Archbishop. I appreciate that it is critical of Catholicism, espcially how the early Church in New Mexico treated indigenous people and their spiritualism, while not bashing it out of spite. It acknowledges a beauty in believing in a higher power and the diversity that comes from people with differnt cultures converting to Catholicism. It strongly condemns believing one is superior for worshiping the 'right' god. I also love how complexly human the characters feel and that there isn't really a villian. It's just a series of selected memories being played out over the course of a lifetime. Last rec is The Spear. It's about the Roman soldier who impaled Jesus on the cross and converted to Catholicism. I got really invested in the characters and their character arcs.
@@sarahtaylor4264 Good recommendations, thanks! I don't consider LotR to be Christian fiction only because Tolkien himself said he wasn't writing allegory and didn't want his readers to look for connections that he never even put into the story. It's sufficient to read it as a story about fighting to preserve goodness in the world, though we can easily find more lessons in it. If you're interested in Tolkien, you might enjoy A Hobbit, A Wardrobe, And A Great War which delves into Tolkien, Lewis, their friendship, and how their experiences in World War I shaped their most famous books. Aside from the final pages getting a bit preachy, the rest of the book sticks to facts and presents a lot of information that isn't widely known.
I came here because I remember Timebender for two things; Sudden Christian plot lines that felt a little out of place as a kid, and a Barney the Dinosaur cameo.
![[4K] Watch SpaceX Catch A Starship Rocket From Space!!! #IFT5](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/pIKI7y3DTXk/mqdefault.jpg)
I'm beginning to realise that the reason why Narnia is so beloved is because it's a story first and a Christian allegory second.
Based and correct. Thank you for getting it.
At least until you get to the final book..........
@@aidanmills6136 *SPOILER ALERT*
Eh, it _is_ weird that they all are dead without knowing it (and that this brings them to Narnia forever) but as a child I completely missed the Christian subtext.
An apocalyptical change of the world doesn't seem exclusive to Christianity.
@@aidanmills6136 The ending of that book scared the hell out of me as a child to be honest.
@@mrcheese1328 It just made me sad. He literally damns Susan and I'm still not sure why. Some people say he didn't like intelligent women, others say he just really liked the number 7. Either way, sending a message that educated people don't make it to heaven is really strange, especially for a Cambridge professor.
“Jesus only speaks in Bible quotes like an action figure.” I’m deeeeeeeeeeead 🤣
Hope you repented for your sins first.
See you in 3 days
The brand new Holy Ghost with karate-chop action
"There is a snake on my mother's heel" wait, that is Catholic interpretation.
@Vladimir Putin I misread your name as Chadimir Putin
A Christian Children horror series written by a sixth grade English teacher sounds like a terrible fever dream... can’t wait for the video about it!!!
Same
I.wonder if this is the same Christian horror series i read as a kid...
Agree
@@ajoverholt7343 is it wally mcdoogle?
@@Jacob-lb2ww I was actually thinking of the Forbidden Doors series.
Kids of former missionaries, dad vanished and presumed dead, move to a town where there is like an occult book.shops and...all kinds of things happen , you think it's ghost...vampires...reincarnation etc....BUT ITS JUST.ALWAYS.DEMONS.
Also they get weird messages from random chat room dude...
Edit: After a quick Google...turns out the same.guy wrote them...the wally ones seem.more.middle grade while forbidden doors was like...preteen/teen
As a Christian, the biggest irony of these books and movies sometimes, that instead of making more faithul christians, they create atheists.
Yeah, and I think these people who make them don' t really know how to write or make a movie.
Former pastor here, now a committed and confirmed atheist. Sure, blame it on the people who wrote the books, yeah that's it. If they only made the books and movies the way you want them to make them, that everybody would be Christians, LOL
@@carsonallen4719 I think the original commenter was trying more to imply that these films/books turn more people away from Christianity. Not that that’s the only reason people turn to Atheism. I’m an Atheist, and that’s mostly due to factors like being raised in a Non-religious household, and that I prefer to learn more about art, history or science with facts I can confirm, than an unprovable religion (what I can’t prove kind of scares me) and at that point I’m so disconnect from Christianity that it may as well be the Ancient Greek or Roman myths, to the point when one of my favourite books/TV series is Good Omens, which uses the Christian religion in the same way Percy Jackson uses Greek Myth. What was my point again? Oh yeah, these movies/books don’t do religion any favours but they aren’t the only reason that people become Atheists, and I think that was what the commenter was going for.
Also, this isn’t trying to through shade on religion, you can have any religious beliefs, just don’t be a jerk about it.
@@samuelbarber6177 Ohh. Gotcha.
My religion wasn't Christianity, but damn...I could smell the rot from 50 mile radius. Most of the reason why I was a devoted religious person in my childhood up to late teenage hood was because of fear of hell. After I deleved deeper into my religion, i was out of it in a matter of seconds. Nobody gets to berate my gender, not even God. Now I'm in a way...misotheist? I guess.
@@user-leavemealone misotheis whats that
The problem is never a lack of subtlety, but a lack of empathy. These books are not out to change minds but reinforce what they already believe in their audience, so there's never a chance to tell a good story with messaging that would excite anyone not in their demographic.
I read some Christian thrillers that are good . Steve James wrote a great mystery series.
YES exactly!!!
Why would they want to make you like them? You are not that important and they have their own public.
@@josephang9927 To not try and create an insular culture hostile to anyone outside of it?
What bugs me about these is that as a Christian I always feel that the main point of the faith should be compassion...and these books don't feel compassionate to me.
Exactly! If these books are supposed to be evangelism, they're missing the point.
See, you get it, the authors missed the point of ol' JC entirely
“Do fetuses stay fetuses in Heaven?”
Well according to Warrior Cats lore, apparently
_what?_
what does that series tell about the afterlife?
Warrior Cats should not be as dark as it is.
@Jade Johnston interesting, but aren't kittens infants?
I too base all my theological study through the lens of Warrior Cats
So if you're gonna abort them wait until they're old enough to enjoy heaven
“Don’t think about things, that’s the path to evil.” Every dictatorship in a nutshell.
"Don't think. Just obey in silence and be on your knees." Christianity or dictatorship?
@@sholmes4593 *y e s*
Still laugh at my ex being obsessed with the Left Behind series and constantly point out I was going to be one of the people left behind. If those are the people who are going to heaven with constanly judging everyone and being complete dicks, I'm totally fine with being left behind
Reminds me of what Hatüey once said.
Anyone wanna make a series where the Rapture happens, but fundamentalists are the ones who get left behind.
See the thing is if your boyfriend was judging you that way there's a chance he would also be left behind. Judging is something Jesus told us not to do. Why would w judge someone for something we all do?? Christians cannot put themselves above others.
@@OverlyPositiveFanboy i mean that kinda of happens with the ones who believe in a post tribulation rapture
That we will all stay
How ever I would love a book about
Moralist ( ie people like the pharisees so self righteous hypocrites ) do stay behind in a pre tribulation rapture series
Well, I'm glad he was Left Behind by you.
The Timebenders series sorely misses a part about the 30 Years War, in which the Catholics and Protestants all killed each other and massacred civilians at times (Sack of Magdeburg).
But Lucifer as a Silver Dragon sounds pretty badass, NGL.
I'd love to join the Silver Dragon Cult.
I vaguely remember reading the books. They were pretty unremarkable overall, but the silver dragon provided an awesome mental image. Of course it’s very hard to make a dragon on a story not at least sound cool
better than a grumpy old guy or the monster from the bog
My grandma used to volunteer at the annual local library book sale and after it ended, she would be allowed to take some the books that hadn't sold. Since she wanted to encourage my reading habits, but didn't actually know what kind of books I liked, she would take the biggest fantasy looking ones she could find and give them to me. And now I have the first 7 Left Behind books. On the plus side, I like to think that having read a lot of the terrible books she got me gave me a lot of early lessons on how not to write stories.
Also, you can't drop that tidbit at the end and not elaborate. Give us the deets.
You'll see... one day.
I liked Hacksaw Ridge. It's a war movie but it also centered on the main character's faith and unwillingness to use a gun.
Because it's not entirely propaganda
That is one of my favourite movies.
I am an atheist and that is one of the few "religious" movies I like
Fuckin phenomenal movie, I watched half of it through tears
As someone who grew up adventist. It did good because they only focused on that and didn't mention everything else he believed in, otherwise 😬😬
The real issue with Christian media, whether it's books, movies, or music, is there is NO competition for their demographic. In other words, they know Christians will buy it because it's about Christianity and basically the only thing that is made for them. They also know the stuff they make won't be ragged on within their community because doing so might be seen as disagreeing with Christian messages or even the Bible. This breeds laziness in the creators and a confidence in the sellers as they know whatever trash that's made WILL be bought simply because there are no other options.
It's pretty frustrating, There are few gems within the Christian sphere of media to be sure, but most are buried underneath subpar garbage. It also doesn't help that Christian media limits themselves on stories they can tell for fear of looking too secular. That's why if you're a Christian it's better to ignore the media made for you and look for entertainment in other areas.
Also, anyone who thinks Christian Music is passable... please venture out of your bubble for a second and realize being used to something doesn't make it good. I just means you're immune to the bad.
I, as a Christian, completely agree. “Christian pop” and “Christian books” are beyond awful. Religion in general and pop-culture do not mix at all, and should be kept separate.
Response to your ending statement, listen to Noah by the jubalaires or the song John the Revelator.
As a Christian I am tired of Christian media because it's not what I need to grow. It feels like the same old stuff I consume at church. I've distanced myself from it not because don't like that message but because it's so generic the way it's portrayed.
I am not a Christian, but perhaps you could try to read some medieval books/ chivalric romances. Basically, there's a lot of Christianity in there and the authors often don't try to convince you of something (basically with nearly everyone being Christian it wasn't needed).
They often don't really explore the topic (or anything for that matter), but they can surely be entertaining. The Holy Grail related stories may he something of interest (narratives focused on Percival as well).
Also, the notes from the scribes are often hilarious as well, like this one roasting the 1st author of the book because he didn't finish it, and reccomending (?) both of the authors to heaven.
Even with low expectations you can still be disappointed by the books of the times, but there are some absolute pearls in there as well.
I dunno, maybe it's of one's interest, and maybe it isn't.
(It's not really anything that helps one to grow, they're just fun)
The last part is kind of a white perspective, ain't it? Gospel music is also Christian and it can be and often IS very good musically. I wish White folks wouldn't lump Christian music into one category of "Bad" because of Christian contemporary music being the only Christian music they've heard of and are familiar with.
The Trump Prophecy? That was a new one for me. Glad I didn't know about that.
Yeah, this clown about the Trump prophecy was all over RUclips in 2018 saying Barack Obama and Bill Clinton would be hung in the capital by their next to their death. Can't believe RUclips lets people spout s*** like that
When the prophecy fails, these morons just doubled down and end up making more money and getting more followers, even though the prophecy failed. These people are dangerous. Which goes to show you even when the prophecy fails, they still clean to their mental delusions. Thank God this generation is 80% against fundamentalist Christianity. It's only going to go down he'll even father for them
Yeah that made me do a double take
Sadly, that's not just a christian thing. The Faluun Gong also latched on to the idea of Trump being a savior.
I only know about it from the God Awful Movies episode. Which might be the only good thing that came from that crappy movie.
Check out the cinema snob's review on it.
The Danny DeVito shrine cracked me up, great start to a video!
i was scared that he was dead for a second
DeVito is the real divinity. The DeVino. I will leave now
@@catominor7306 Good play on words there, I appreciate it
Magnum dong
@@ewptyewpewp Deus Bigus Dickus
this shitshow just reminds me about how good the Shin Megami Tensei series is about Christianity. insead of making it "oooh god evil" or "oooh satan evil" instead it's moreso about how the different flaws in religious systems (e.g. siding with god will cause the christian zealot paradise of mindless people worshipping god, while those who side with satan will bring about a chaotic hellscape where Demons and strong humans rule) and the series also treats Christianity as just another mythology, and shows how other mythological creatures will side and interact with both factions.
I'm with you brother. SMT IV remains my favorite in the series
Shin Megoomi Tensai? Isn't that just Persona 5?
I'm also thinking High School DxD, at least the non-fanservice scenes.
@@enumaelish9193 No they are different series Persona is a spin off of SMT
@@corycianangel6321 you have a point there.
"The fourth book is about the kids going to Mars and converting aliens to christianity"
I knew it! The zambian space program was never in vain!
Wow!
They got there before the us yippy!
The “Left Behind” books are so bad that they ended my phase of religious zealotry.
You have a cool username.
@@SF-zm2py Thank you. Yours is pretty cool, too. Open to interpretation.
@@thevoidlookspretty7079 lol it's just my initials
Hey you have a beautiful pfp
@@eagletgriff Thank you, animated one.
Was it Tolkien or C.S. Lewis who said something along the lines of Christians shouldn't write Christian books, they should write good books.
The last few minutes where he mentions, “there are some people who literally can’t comprehend that other people have different beliefs than them,” really explains a lot.
The Book of Eli was good because you don't even realize the religious bent it has until partway through the movie. The message wasn't delivered through a sledgehammer, and the action was bad ass
And it had something genuine to say about the concept of faith, criticising those who use faith as a brainwashing tool to shut down discourse and control people.
But it was also incredibly silly. A blind man beats the hell out of hundreds of people with magic vision to protect a Bible, possibly the most widely spread and available book in America, is now apparently the rarest and most sought after.
My dad is a self published Christian fiction author and these criticisms are spot on. These kinds of books are so often just power fantasies about Christian zionism and young earth creationism and it shows
RIP miura... :(
@@Colddirector Kentaro miura?
@@yourdad5799 lol I have no idea why I posted that on this comment. Must’ve either accidentally replied to the wrong one or was drunk or something
“it’s just bible fanfiction with the excitement level of a coffee shop au” that is the single greatest description of anything i have ever heard
Oh dear.....I remember we had to watch the Nicholas Cage Left Behind movie for christian values class in my private christian school.....my classmates and teachers all loved it.
Suffice to say, I thought it was shit
I liked it in a super ironic way also the left behind 2014 Version is really not that religious compared to the other movie Version
@@El-Silver I never really watched the other version fully, only a few clips
And tbh the only reason I didnt like Nick Cage's Left Behind movie was cause of the really yucky "moral" behind it which super annoyed me. However I do understand how someone could enjoy it in the "so bad it's good" way lol
@@heyitsfae3538 What moral i mean that movie concentrated more in the cheating than religion it's bad tho
If you want a good end time fiction i recommend the chirst clone trilogy
@@El-Silver The moral where the whole world falls apart without Christians in it. (Is it s moral? I prolly used the wrong word, my bad whoops). Like, the idea that Christians are the only reason the world isnt in literal chaos is. Idk that just really annoyed me lmak
Tho my memory of the movie is foggy, so take what I say with a grain of salt
Might check it out if the christ clone if I have the time tho
@@heyitsfae3538 Oh ok I get you
The premise does work but not the right reason I mean panic after the rapture combined with the antichrist
Left behind does the mistake that very shortly after the rapture thing to morally corrupt ( not so much the 2014 movie but the 2000s one )
If I were writing the story i would make it so that the antichrist slowly in his 7 year rule makes moral standard drop
And those who doubt are convinced by the miracles or are afraid of him
It makes sense as it's manipulation and the antichrist, Satan and the false prophet decieve, but the christians are gone therefore all moral standard are gone is bs
I read The Shack because the title led me to believe it was a horror story.
It was.
That is both funny and sad, I am sorry for you
Well, I wasn't expecting to hear the words God, Jesus, time machine and dinosaurs in a sentence.
"I don't care about your religon as long as you don't force it onto others"
My religon entire doctrine is entirely about not forcing it onto others
May I ask what the religion is?
Funny...the religion I was raised in was completely based on the idea that I had to convince as many people as possible that it was true.
@@srpdara Psastafarianism
@@eave01 jehova witness
Catholic here and that's my exact belief with bolth religion and politics
I don't care what you believe in just don't try and force it down people's throats
Overtly christian stories are always so petty and mean spirited and smug. That's always my problem with them.
Totally agree as a Christian. It’s always about appealing to people who are already Christians and looking down on everyone else. The reason actual good Christian content (like veggietales, narnia, lotr) works is because they’re good fun stories that can appeal to anyone regardless of whether they agree with the underlying message.
@@toxicsugarart2103 Yeah, there are several good pieces of literature that promote Christian values*.
The examples described** on this video are about the opposite.
*at least as far as there's some consensus of what even are "Christian values" today, since there sure are certain rather differing interpretations.
**before the last 2 minutes
Nicolai Carpathia? That's like an American villain being called Jimmy Rocky Mountains
The idea of the United Nations as a global government is a pretty common trope. The Expanse, Halo, etc.
Although the UNSC was a bit of an authoritarian shadow government, but not in the blatant atheist 1984 trope we see in Evangelist shit
It always seemed unrealistic to me. The UN is so laughably ineffective that I can’t imagine how it can become a world government.
@@willywonka3050 globalisation will eventually change that, given a century or 3
For a second there I thought The Immortal Nicholas would be about Nicolas Flamel. Then I remembered the premise of this video.
So I'm a Norse pagan who was raised Roman catholic, and Prince of Egypt remains one of my favorite movies. It's incredibly well done, well cast, and sends strong messages, even with all the Judeo-Christianity happening. I love it
Norse pagan squad! I loved Prince of Egypt as an older single digits kid, even not being raised Christian.
I will say it’s more Jewish movie than Christian (kinda funny thing about the name judeo-Christian is that Judaism is closer in a lot of aspects to Islam than Christianity )
@@chimera9818 that's definitely a valid point and I hadn’t really considered that, Catholic upbringing and all
We watched that in 6th grade world history class. It was really good.
Hey
You're kinda like me
Timebenders sounds like it could have been a fun, if cheesy, series that people would look back on fondly from nostalgia. Shame that it had to be written in a painfully blunt way.
What about the novelization of The Prince of Egypt?
TBH I'm pretty into Christian fiction, not like left behind, but like the romance novels set in the 1800's with a women and an old house on the cover, most of them have a few lines about the believes of the characters so I'm not sure if they count
The TimeBender books seem like wasted potential.
For "Doorway to Doom", the story would have made more sense if it was set during the early 600s (just as Anglo-Saxon England was beginning to be Christianized) or after 865 (when pagan Norsemen invaded England and established the Danelaw). Either era would justify King Weaver's paganism; in the former he'd be a holdout defending the "old ways" from a strange new faith, in the latter he'd be a collaborator who betrayed his people to enhance his own wealth. Maybe make King Weaver a vassal under Guthrum, and have the heroes defeat him by helping Alfred the Great. Then you can have them witness Guthrum's baptism before returning to their own time.
I feel that those books wouldn’t have a character that “defend the old ways from a strange faith” as an antagonist regardless of faith.
And I suppose the second scenario would do, but Norse Gods and Viking aesthetics are a huge attractive whenever portrayed by pop-culture. Doesn’t matter how many pillaging it’s portrayed, it’s the same mechanism behind “pirates” (as in 17th century one eyed black flag sailing type) and the “old west outlaw” I suppose.
Then they went with dollar bin “satanism”. Because when did fundies not take the dollar bin “satanism” road? Specially a full on monarch, where it released today there would be so many references to “adrenochrome”, “cabal”, “bohemian grove” and “deep state”.
The reboot would have the douchey character being captured and ritualistically terrified for the “harvest” of his adrenochromed blood, but rescued in the nick of time. It would kick his arc, noticing how he’s not invulnerable to fear as he thought and how bullying isn’t “nice” when he’s at the receiving end.
Mid-series book feature an encounter with a alternate timeline version of him that concluded that taking over the shadowmaster overlords was actually the best way to overcome that flaw, in the best “Becoming worst than the monster you fear so that you fear no more” fashion. Oh, the possibilities.
If I had any courage, I would write a Christian Leftist novel.
I would like to read a Christian Leftist novel.
I would like to read it.
My dad is a Christian leftist. He would probably love to read that.
I once started a story concept of a Christian samurai story set around the sengioku and Edo period....but I figured no one would read it
@@darkservantofheaven There is a town in Japan that worshipped Jesus prior to the arrival of Europeans www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-little-known-legend-of-jesus-in-japan-165354242/ I first read about it 38 years ago. They believe that Christ went there in his missing years, and that someone else died on the cross for him, while he returned to Japan.
I mean Narnia is theoretically a Christian book and it's good.
Aslan is literally Jesus
@@noraarcadia635and the rapture begins in the last book (aka ww3 cause of the time in the book)
Even as a Christian, I despised most of these media pieces with all my being. Why? It's pretty obvious they're just trying to cash in on the faith, instead of actually TRYING to teach it. As a Christian, I may believe in the same supreme being as these authors/directors/writers do...
But they clearly lack the decency of a quality story. They barely have the foundations of one. All the villains are the "same ol' song being played through different channels." These pieces of media are one to talk about Christianity being oppressed all the time, but they don't seem to notice that they're doing the same kind of oppression against non-believers and other religions too.
I, as a Christian, am yet to see a GOOD, QUALITY religious movie aside from "Silence."
For me a story can be religous inspired but it can't be about religion unless it is absolutely important for the narrative. If you can pray to god to fix your problem than that is not a story. When i talk about my work as an artist or writer sometimes my mom and others (mostly my mom) are like "do a wholesome Christian story." Sometimes its like my mom doesn't understand me and I am always worried that she doesn't have a personality.
As an atheist I'm so happy to hear you say that. I don't have a problem with religions as a concept, I have a problem with people forcing their beliefs onto others and acting like they are the only ones who could be right. You are a good christian and I like it, keep it up!
Passion of the christ was enjoyable to me as a non religious person. It was the best "bible movie" I've seen since the 10 commandments. I also like veggitales and got my kids a lot of the DVDs and the silly songs DVD.
@@MattGarZero Those were the good ol' days when one can watch religious media and not feel like you're being smacked in the face. LOL.
@@MattGarZero Also, don't forget Superbook, Superbook: Animated, and The Flying House. Those were good.
That silver dragon bit reminds me of a discussion I had with a friend about how Christian authors often will start with a metaphorical or allegorical Christ/God or Satan figure, but it eventually becomes literal. Like how The Last Battle assures us that Aslan is the same as the literal real-world Jesus. He said Ted Dekker does something similar in his Circle books.
The bit about the pornstar killed me but I came back through the satanic power of consenting premarital sex
"Imagine a better version of this." I immediately imagine the Chronicles of Narnia.
Then I was a kid forced to endure the world of Christian kids books, the ones I liked were:
Chronicles of Narnia... cause it written by an actual author.
Frank Peretti's Cooper Kids series (kinda like Indiana Jones)
Lois Walfred Johnson's Adventures in the Northwest Woods (sorta like Little House on the Prairie only a series)
John White's The Archives of Anthropos (I blatant Narnia rip off)
Sigmund Brouwer's The Accidental Detective series (which is exactly what you think it is)
The Archives of Anthropos starts as a blatant Narnia ripoff and then becomes very very very strange. I like a lot of the metaphorical bits, though, like the guilt cage.
@@biffertyboffertyboo You're like literally the only person I've talked to (other than my sister) who's read those books, lol.
Little House on the Prairie *was* actually a series! Iirc, the next after LHotP is Little House in the (Big?) Woods
@@GrimmDelightsDice Little House in the Big Woods, if I'm not mistaken, came before Little House on the Prairie since Laura is younger in that book.
@@mageofmagic870 I stand corrected!
King Weaver: *Changes Team*
Every Anglo-Saxon, Celt, Welsh, and Irishman: Avengers Assemble!
I don't have much issue with this video, I think you are right on the money with the point of most Christian media being propaganda. I would however add that it is probably not a good choice to add Silence to that list at the end. It is heavily criticized as it portrays the church who went to Japan as persecuted by an isolationist Japan without ever acknowledging the real world context which is that they were in that situation because they slaughtered the people of Japan who didn't want to follow their faith, and that the man who they are looking for is so hated, for good reason, that the Japanese people, to this day, have mythologized him as an actual, literal demon.
Who did you say is the man they are looking for? The only historical figure I know that's related to the Shimabara Rebellion is Amakusa Shirou.
Hey, "J-man", remember how The Holy Ghost is part of protestant religion as well?
There are a series of children's books written by 'Bear Grills' (I'm almost certain they're ghost written) that might apply. They're pretty standard nature/survival books but in every book without fail the main character is about to die and then they prey to God and a miracle happens.
It's not really bad, just bizarre.
He wrote a series of spy novels
He prays to God and God tells him to drink his own piss?
My favorite part of the Left Behind world building is that there were Islamic resistance to the anti-christ and some were even portrayed heroically.
Also that the false prophet was a Mike Huckabee type. Sometimes I think I learned the wrong lessons or that their best writing took place when they made concessions to the world being more complex.
Innocence of Father Brown: It's one of the earliest detective books, influencing Agatha Christie. The book hero: Father Brown, is a surrogate for G K Chesterton's beliefs. Generally the cases (it's devided into short stories) revolves on the shortcomings of modern ideolgies (oddly enough the socialists of these stories are portrayed as well meaning people, but christless to get the whole point.)
Narnia: I think enough was already said, I disagree with people's interpration of Susan's problem, but I understand why they would feel this way. My biggest problem is the lack of danger and consequences, the Aslam is always there to bail them out.
Angus: Doesn't matter, apparently this book didn't get popular enough to leave Brazil's stores. It's a retelling of King's Alfred sucessfull campaign against the Vikings. Told in the perspective of a converted scottish-norseman called Angus.
That thumbnail is a work of art
If you liked how terrible Left Behind is, you might love Left Beyond. It's a weird work (it's split into two different versions of the same story, the one I read is told as an RPG campaign run over 4chan), but it is a pretty great reversal of the series. TOL are incompetent idiots, so its up to the protagonist "villains" to save humanity from the Eternal Tyrant in his throne, before he wisks away what remains of people in Earth during the Millenial Kingdom into eternal slavery or suffering, in a world where being a 100 and not worshiping God causes him to send you to Hell.
“But it made my old priest uncomfortable when I asked”
Literally every single time I talked to my pastor 💀
Angelic figure fighting a silver Dragon... oh by the gods, is this the 40k prequel we've all been waiting for?
I just looked up “The Trump Prophecy” and it’s insane.
When I was a teen I read ALL of Left Behind. It scared the crap out of me and honestly just left me feeling even less connected to God 😅
This dude is one of the very few RUclipsrs to make me laugh at advertisements lol
If you want to count it, Dresdin Files: Grave Peril is kind of a Christian book because Micheal, a Christian warrior of god, is an absolute badass and makes Christianity seem cool as hell.
yeah but unlike this trash fire Dresden is actually well written
That _Lost in Cydonia_ book sounds straight up hilarious, especially since I can't help but picture the Martians as the Mars People from the _Metal Slug_ games. I would blame the Flying Spaghetti Monster in the background, but that would be blasphemy.
Otherwise, I agree. Most of these types of "stories" are about masturbatory Christian (read: usually Evangelical) propaganda first, making money second so they can make more propaganda, and then _maybe_ telling a story third, nevermind a good story. It's all the more annoying since there's nothing inherently stopping a story where a real world religion is the main focus and important to the plot from also being a *good* story. This is evidenced by the fact that the relatively few exceptions, such as _The Prince of Egypt_ and such, tend to be well-liked even by atheists such as myself despite God's--well, Yahweh's technically--supremacy being absolutely central to the story. It's merely that it's told well without making the antagonists into vile caricatures.
In thinking about it now, I am unsure what the most ironic thing about _The Prince of Egypt_ being so well-liked is: that it actually still technically craps all over a real-world religion, in this case the Ancient Egyptian pantheon, or that it is far less than original than the Christian propaganda that it is still so much better than, what with being essentially a more humanized retelling of what still is just a story straight from the Christian bible.
“I’ll admit that the parts where Delirious psychologically tortures Max into making weapons for him is pretty good,” -James Tullos, 2021
The antiwar government ni......nja???🤔
Oooh that makes sense
I actually love the part about the king that just forced a new religion on his people and how that would go terribly. Like you know Echnaton as pharao wanted the people of Egypt to pray to the sun for some reason and how he was dragged through the streets after his death. And his son was forced to install the old religion.
It's an especially terrible idea right in the middle of a bunch of christian kingdoms. You know, the ones who would gladly gang up on your tiny kingdom if their pagan senses were tingling.
Damn, The Shack. I went to a Catholic school and have been coming back to my faith lately, but I will never forget just how straight up terrible that book was. Part of why I became an edgy internet atheist for a few years.
A book with a pretty christian message but a story like narnia. Its heavyhanded but its having actual characters, i think.
Dogma is good, and yes at least the times h made it kevin smith was a devout catholic, why its his most scincere move personally. An it checks the boxes, tackling belief, finding it, a journey, doubt yada yada.
And that one is humorous, but the arthur paasalini boo about religions, is really good, if also satirikal, but very good and scincre.
Actually pretty good Christian authors and my personal fav Works from them:
-CS Lewis (The Chronicles of Narnia)
-JRR Tolkien (Lord of the Rings)
-Flannery O'Connor (Wise Blood)
-Marilynne Robinson (Gilead)
-Gene Wolfe (Book of the New Sun)
-Donna Tartt (The Goldfinch)
-Shusaku Endo (SIlence)
-Helen Sorenson (The Door on Half Bald Hill)
-Madeleine L'Engle (A Wrinkle in Time)
-GK Chesterton (Father Brown Mysteries)
-William Peter Blatty (The Exorcist)
-Harriet Beecher Stowe (Uncle Tom's Cabin)
-Julia Spencer Fleming (Rev Clare Fergusson Mysteries)
-Fyodor Dostoevsky (The Brothers Karamazov)
-Eugene Vodolazkin (Laurus)
-Paula Gooder (Phoebe: A Novel)
The silver dragon sounds like something a kid would think is badass.
Why would you use that as your metaphor for bad demon man?
Dragons as satanic or a metaphor for paganism has historical basis.
That intro and sponsor segway was golden
I would like to give a recommendation for a decent Christian Book series, and that's "The Circle" by Ted Dekker. Especially the original printing.
Now I'm gonna watch the video, brb
I remember really liking those growing up and I keep thinking about seeing if I still like them now that I'm not a Christian 😅
It was good until he added the fourth book
The left behind series gave me serious anxiety when I was a pagan living with my Christian parents. I’m an atheist now, so I don’t fear the afterlife or deities now. But it still negatively impacted me. It also had rampant misogyny. I distinctly remember one part where the main protagonist told his daughter that her purpose as a woman was to give birth. It was so disgusting, that it permanently scarred my brain.
If you are taking suggestions for bad Christian books, I've got a few to give:
* "This Present Darkness" by Frank Peretti: Angels secretly fight demons over a small town, but the Angels constantly need their batteries charged by Christians praying in order to do anything. There is a subplot about demons and witches using mind-control powers to make women falsely-accuse wealthy and powerful Christian men of raping them. This book helped popularize the idea of "Spiritual Warfare" and Satanic Panic in the eighties.
* "The Oath" By Frank Peretti: An invisible dragon haunts a modern-day small town to specifically kill and eat people who contract sin-allegory-herpes from extramarital sex because the town outlawed Christianity back in the cowboy-days. Apparently this one won an award.
* "Quantum Spacewalker: Jarl's Journey" by Grace S. Grose: It's the End of Days and Jesus wants Jarl (hard "jay"-sound) Henderson to be the Silver-Surfer to his Galactus. After he witnesses most of his family and church-community being killed by devil-worshipping aliens, Jarl is given powers and trained by angels to be a Rick&Morty-style portal-hopping delivery boy for the Lord. His final mission: Deliver a giant magical-sword to Jesus so he can put it in his mouth and use it to kill people who don't worship him. Mass death and suffering with little-to-no time spent devoted to show characters grieving (the narrative focuses instead on how cool Jarl's new powers are or the appearances of alien life forms). This book is the most unintentionally hilarious and disturbing thing I have ever read.
Highlights include: Space aliens being welcomed as allies after literally blowing-up every single religious-building on earth. A concentration-camp planet where Christ's angels keep the mixed-race offspring of humans and heavenly-beings (which are all inherently evil btw). A friendly group of Satanists offer the hero raw goat-meat and invite politely invite him to their orgy (this book is for kids-teens btw). "Persecuted" Christians living in comfort and luxury while everyone else on earth is suffering from starvation and disease. The Antichrist leading an army of UFOs into battle against Jesus while riding a pegasus. An angry Scotsman giving Jesus a piece of his mind before being smited. And a memorable scene where Jarl quoties a bible-verse which allows him to BRIEFLY BECOME GOD and USE THE MULTI-FORM TECHNIQUE FROM NARUTO to FIGHT AN ARMY OF DEMON-MONKEYS led by a TOPLESS MERMAID, all who he then kills SIMPLY BY TELLING THEM TO DIE "in Jesus name."
* "The Aykotah Daughter" by Ria Zen: A fantasy-setting Christian romance where a strong-willed princess of a monotheistic tribe tries to escape from an arranged marriage to a foreign prince with the help of a childhood friend of hers that had romantic feelings for her from when he was a boy. The foreign prince finds out about it and, with the help of her father, foil their escape. The princess is then made to watch as her childhood friend is executed in front of her before she is officially engaged to the foreign prince. (Sounds like sad tale, yes. Well, I'm not done yet). After multiple kidnappings and sexual-assaults by leaders of evil enemy tribes the princess learns that she was wrong to be "willful" and falls in love with her new husband because he "knows what is best" for her, is hot, and is an allegory for Jesus Christ.
The depiction of sexual violence in this book makes me appreciate the tastefulness of the Berserk manga. Also there is a big emphasis on how the princess and other women of the Aykotah (who call themselves "the fertility tribe") need to have more babies in order to "protect their culture" from being overrun by the "evil tribes" (even though the "evil tribes" are constantly killing their own babies all the time as sacrifices to their gods).
Highlights: After a major battle, the Christ-allegory Prince gives the captured harem of an enemy king (full of women the evil king would regularly rape) to his men "as brides" and it is depicted as a happy outcome because marriage. Magical pregnancy-test seeds that only sprout when a pregnant woman urinates on them. Christ-allegory Prince's first response to an enemy King kidnapping and threatening to RAPE his own wife by threatening ECONOMIC SANCTIONS on the king's tribe.
* "Ride Sally Ride" by Pastor Doug Wilson: A sci-fi persecution-fantasy courtroom-thriller novel about a Christian who is charged with murder for destroying his neighbor's sex-robot after seeing it once made his penis tingle. The first half of the book is about how ridiculous it is that an inanimate object is being treated like a person, then in the second half of the book the hero gets out of murder-charges by making the case that THE SEX ROBOTS ARE ACTUALLY SENTIENT AND HAVE FREE WILL (WTF?) by showing proof of the original owner destroying previous sex-robots when they "rebelled" against him (?) and arguing that it was only a matter of time before this latest sex-robot rebelled so "it was going to be destroyed anyway" (WTF?). Apparently this book has a youtube channel and a trailer (just copy/paste the title and author name into the youtube search-bar and see).
The author of this book is also famous for co-authoring a nonfiction book defending antebellum slavery ("Southern Slavery: As It Was").
A lot of people think being a good person and being a devout person are synonymous, it's a shame
Dude I just LITERALLY got a pureflix ad in the middle of this wtf xD
0:44 THAT WAS A FRICKING SPONSOR SEGWAY WHAT THE HELL
I read a book once called the Time Keeper that I thought was really quite good. It is undoubtedly a Christian book, but It avoids many of the common issues you brought up with other Christian books in that the religiousness/areligiousness of the main characters isn't the central focus of the story. I read it in high school though, and lost my copy so I don't know how well it holds up.
That was made into a movie. It's still fantastic. Basically, the whole message is that you can't expect stuffy do-good Christianity to make any real changes in people's lives if it takes out the real reason for that change to happen: God. It's not Hell that people should be focusing on, it's God. And it's not Church culture that they should be focusing on, either. Really the opposite of what a lot of Christian media does.
You left out quite a few names from your video: Tolkien, Sanderson, Jordan, Rowling, Donaldson...
That's not mentioning many more novelists who aren't professed Christians, but whose fiction still has a dominant Christian themes, such as Martin's Song of Ice and Fire.
My mom made me listen to Left Behind on a road trip from Chicago to Jacksonville. Then my dad tried to get me to read the Shack but I never did it. I don’t even remember what that about. But Left Behind haunts me lol.
Ok, the advert in the beginning was probably the best one I've seen so far. XD
A hilariously bad Christian "horror" book I read was called the Oath by Frank- I forgot his last name but it starts with P. The ending is so ridiculous- he defeats this dragon that literally came out of no where, hardly explained beyond some priest saying its the embodiment of sin ?? Right Before the priest is eaten by it. So the main character converts and literally says "I have Jesus in my heart, you can't kill me" and that defeats it XD
Oh, I remember that book! I read it when I was in high school because there was a dragon in it! It… actually wasn’t that long before I became an atheist that I read it, now that I think about it. Hm. Probably no causation. There were a couple parts I liked, but yeah, it wasn’t a good book.
Perretti. Frank Perretti. I know because my Dad has it on his shelf downstairs, and even he doesn't like it that much. Perretti was always a little too fire and brimstone for me.
I’m an Atheist (Non-Religious household, plus only truly comfortable in facts I know are true and mostly just the media I consume), so I just view Christianity (and remember this is just my perspective) as a Mythology, much like Greek Myth. One of my favourite books/TV Series is Good Omens. Check it out, it is incredibly funny and possibly more British than Britain itself. In my own works, when crafting a mythology for my own world, I took inspiration from many different religions and mythologies, for instance, I created the “God” being, who created reality as a mythological Writer (I’m clever like that) but then the Writer, as we’ll this being, also creates a pantheon of Gods who go on to create the universe. That’s one of my favourite things about writing. Creating worlds and backstories.
I’m really not trying to throw shade on religion at all. You can have any beliefs, just don’t be a jerk about it, and don’t assume that you’re belief is the natural one and that the burden of proof is on others. You’re not going to change any minds making these films/books. And, if you’re a major world religion... You are most likely not persecuted to the extreme you believe you are.
Good Omens is awesome. It isn't a Christian piece of media. It's a riff on Christianity as mythology, and the type of Christians who like these books would hate it. Good Omens is to Christianity the same way the Marvel movies are to Norse religion or the Disney Hercules is to Greek religion.
@@FuriouslySleepingIde I think it’s really a satire of this kind of media. And as an Atheist, it’s really the only piece even approximating these types of novels that I’ve read.
You have to prove me that Nyx exist boi! But cool that you are taking notes.
I feel a lot of Christian media (especially Evangelical media) tends to get so caught in its own bubble, that it forgets how to communicate with people outside its niche sphere of vocabulary and understanding.
I'm not sure it's a problem that I want solved however, due to my personal disagreements with a lot of Evangelical teachings and my status as an agnostic atheist.
Not a story in itself, but The Expanse Season 3 has a great Methodist Pastor character, and she's really well written. Her religion and faith is a large part of her identity, but she's so much more as well. Much of her character journey is her moral code born from her faith being tested, and at times she fails and people are hurt. She's flawed as any other character in the show is, but she gives a great case that runs counter to the usual narrative of, "in the future religion won't exist because science."
Her faith is more about how one treats others rather than an attempt to explain the universe, but even when faced with the terrifying unknown that appears in season three, she manages to balance her faith in God with the act of pure, egotistical curiosity that makes her want to be one of the first to step across the boundary into a whole new world. Then, when she's there, she provides a moral center for characters around her to anchor to, in the face of mounting threat of unimaginable scale.
Even as an atheist, I love good movies about faith, but genre-Christian movies certainly do not deliver on this.
Re. the smugness of the rapture is why I really like the bit in "Good Omens" where Aziraphale pauses in his very important quest to find a body to inhabit so he can go help Crowley stop the Antichrist to tell a televangelist that no one is getting picked up so they can laugh at everyone else dying of radiation poisoning "if that's your idea of a morally acceptable good time, I might add."
You blunt title is holy perfection.
How do you feel about the Chronicles of Narnia? I always wanted a booktuber to do a proper in depth look at them. Also what do you think about the Christian themes and symbolism in Lotr.
From what I remember, the Fetuses, along with everybody else, would be resurrected in an/their ideal body. Same applies to everybody else.
Edit: I confused it with judgement day, but I do believe it isn't too different
So you'd have adult bodies with the minds of fetuses just... lying around in heaven? Incapable of comprehending anything, probably going insane from the weird situation they're suddenly in? That's even more horrifying, the more you think about it
@@derenglander7995 I guess they would advance past the need for growing up to understand. It feels like it would be in the same vein as the story in which Jesus is asked about a widow who always married her husband's next oldest brother and whom she would be married to in heaven, to which he answers that that wouldn't be a problem in heaven.
Also, while writing this comment I realized that I, as a catholic, don't believe in the rapture and confused it with generally going to heaven/Judgement Day.
@@derenglander7995 A material(ist) understanding of body and mind would resolve this issue: the mind is a function of the body and a body with a dysfunctional mind could hardly be called ideal.
Christians believe in a soul separate from the body but I could imagine they extend that separation to developmental stages: the soul is eternal; while the body containing it may develop, the soul stays the same.
Insofar character and comprehension are intrinsic to the soul fetuses would be normal people.
Also Rapture as part of some of the denominations are a recent addition, and most of the mainline christians don't belive in the Rapture, if I remember correctly.
I am a reformist/calvinist, and I was taught that this is not something that will happen.
Half expected to hear that gregorian chant track somewhere in the video lol
Hearing an American calling someone a twat is such a delightful surprise
21:17 LOL imagine putting these two things in the same category. What the fuck.
Does anyone remember that one ad for the rapture webcomic series. It was the one with the ripped black dude in it.
prince of egypt is jewish, not christian. while the story obviously exists in both religions, the culture implemented, language and music used, as well as voice actors were all jewish and for a reason. it was for us. christianity is not just “the continuation of judaism” we (jewish people) are a living culture with a living religion and we make things for ourselves
12:51 If the barrier to entry to Heaven is so high that even Catholics aren't taken, and probably many Protestants would also stand for some "sin" they've committed, it wouldn't be that many people.
You mentioned the Great Wall of China bit, without pointing out that that line is written by a prize winning journalist within the book.
There was the theoretical idea behind Left Behind, where it could be used as a evangelical tool, convincing non believers of the truth of God, and painting the events within as plausible.
It then proceeded to present every non believer in the book as impossibly stupid, which is necessary for the events of the book to unfold.
*slow clap*
"The Trump Prophecy"
*retches for a minute*
Oooohhhh my God. Oooohhh my God. What the fuck. Why the fuck.
I’ve been reading a very long series called Cape High that has been getting steadily more pushy Christian as it has gone on. Originally it just had a couple church going characters but as it progressed every new (good) character either starts as Christian or converts, including a lot of the earlier characters who weren’t originally portrayed that way. The most frustrating bit is at the start it seemed to be setting up to have a very broad range of character diversity until it became apparent that no character was ever going to be lgbt, or be part of anything but a Christian faith.
The Trump Prophecy?!? Amazing how America has come back around on divine right of kings
atheist characters written by christian authors come in two flavors: heartless monster who has no god to teach them what is moral; and person who actually believes in god but is upset with him for allowing bad things to happen. neither atheist character is capable of finding joy or meaning in their life unless they accept god. i just finished reading the brothers karamazov.
Both of which exist and are actually much worse in real life
@@hl-xt3iw @R. Bridger is not saying that these people dont exist at all but that it is the only way christian authors are capable of parsing atheists: its an incredibly narrow and frankly wrong world view. Most atheists dont believe in god cuz they simply dont get anything from the faith or it just doesnt make sense to them.
There is one Christian novel that I, an atheist, honestly enjoyed: _Christy_ by Catherine Marshall. It was a story first and foremost, with the main character confronting her middle class privilege and growing past her initial judgemental interactions with the impoverished families whose children she teaches. The only character who converts to Christianity does so for a reason that is, at least in my opinion, much more unique and endearing than the genre standard. It's also just interesting for the historical and cultural tidbits, if you enjoy learning weird stuff like how to use onions to treat respiratory issues or the headache of laying telephone wire in a remote Appalachian village.
Bookmarking this. It sounds like a great story, Christian or not.
I personally love Lord of the Rings. It is more application of Catholic theology that easily identifiable (and honestly cliche) allegory. It's a great adventure-fantasy story.
Another favorite is Death Comes for the Archbishop. I appreciate that it is critical of Catholicism, espcially how the early Church in New Mexico treated indigenous people and their spiritualism, while not bashing it out of spite. It acknowledges a beauty in believing in a higher power and the diversity that comes from people with differnt cultures converting to Catholicism. It strongly condemns believing one is superior for worshiping the 'right' god. I also love how complexly human the characters feel and that there isn't really a villian. It's just a series of selected memories being played out over the course of a lifetime.
Last rec is The Spear. It's about the Roman soldier who impaled Jesus on the cross and converted to Catholicism. I got really invested in the characters and their character arcs.
@@sarahtaylor4264 Good recommendations, thanks!
I don't consider LotR to be Christian fiction only because Tolkien himself said he wasn't writing allegory and didn't want his readers to look for connections that he never even put into the story. It's sufficient to read it as a story about fighting to preserve goodness in the world, though we can easily find more lessons in it. If you're interested in Tolkien, you might enjoy A Hobbit, A Wardrobe, And A Great War which delves into Tolkien, Lewis, their friendship, and how their experiences in World War I shaped their most famous books. Aside from the final pages getting a bit preachy, the rest of the book sticks to facts and presents a lot of information that isn't widely known.
omg that Rick Santorum clip
I came here because I remember Timebender for two things; Sudden Christian plot lines that felt a little out of place as a kid, and a Barney the Dinosaur cameo.
Silence the book is also incredible. I read it after watching the movie and I still got so much out of it
I'm christian and i agree :(