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Into the Dark: Seeing the Sacred in the Top Films of the 21st Century (Cultural Exegesis) | 
 enlarge | Author: Craig, Detweiler
Publisher: Baker Academic
Category: Book
List Price: $18.99
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Avg. Customer Rating:  2 reviews
Sales Rank: 42062
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 320
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.3
ISBN: 0801035929
Dewey Decimal Number: 791.43682
EAN: 9780801035920
ASIN: 0801035929
Publication Date: August 1, 2008
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Product Description
In this book, Craig Detweiler examines forty-five films from the twenty-first century that resonate theologically--from The Lord of the Rings trilogy to Little Miss Sunshine--offering groundbreaking insight into their scriptural connections and theological applications. Detweiler writes with the eye of a filmmaker, leads Hollywood and religion initiatives at Fuller Seminary, and even came to faith through cinema. In this book, he unpacks the "theology of everyday life," exploring the Spirit of God in creation, redemption, and "general revelation" through sometimes unlikely filmmakers. It's the first authoritative book that dissects up-to-date movies selected by the popular Internet Movie Database. This book is recommended for teachers, students, pastors, film fans, and those interested in the intersection of Christianity and culture.
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 Walking humbly with Him into the dark... November 6, 2008
I wish I could summon the spirit of the late Don LaFontaine here - it would come across much more powerful, of course - but I cannot. In a world where required reading often means required time and nothing less, it's a rarity that we're able to dig through the junk to find the jewels. Into the Dark gives you nugget after nugget of the finest film gold. From Memento to Donnie Darko -- 45 of IMDb's top 250 - and page by page, movie by movie, it's a perfectly paced walk through the best aspects of cinema. Detweiler stays the course to provide a trustworthy guide and an altogether insightful interpretation, all the while providing theological insight along the way. It's like watching the movies all over again, with a different set of eyes. A little deeper, a little smarter, a little slower wins the race.
Into the Dark is the journey of films through some of the darkest hours in order to show the brightest of grace. The chapters poignantly scribe the picture of a holistic faith seen in contrast with a dynamic culture. To speak personally, the book acted as an awakening towards the movies I could not reconcile. It was my own journey through the theater in hopes of finding others - Evangelicals even - sitting next to me, ready to commence The Great Discussion with two ears, one mouth and an eternal sense of grace in sight.
 Helpful Considerations for Christian Engagement with Film August 6, 2008
4 out of 7 found this review helpful
Craig Detweiler is involved with the Reel Spiritualy Institute and the Brehm Center, both affiliated with Fuller Theological Seminary in southern California. In these efforts Craig has established a solid track record in interacting with contemporary cinema from an evangelical Christian perspective. In his previous book, A Matrix of Meanings (Baker Academic, 2003), which he co-authored with Barry Taylor, Craig helped lay a theological foundation for a Christian engagement with popular culture. With Into the Dark Craig builds upon this foundation to consider contemporary cinema.
Evangelicals will likely find Craig's interaction with various genres of film most interesting as he seeks to see and hear God speak through what many evangelicals might consider the most unlikely sources for hearing God's voice. While Craig's insights on the theological aspects of film are indeed interesting, for me the most helpful aspect of this volume is his discussion of a methodology and foundation for Christian engagement with film.
As Craig develops his methodology he moves beyond the all too frequent evangelical tendencies toward wholesale dismissal or unqualified embrace. This book represents an accessible yet well thought out engagement with film that is faithful to both cinema in its own right, as well as evangelical theological considerations, thus providing a balanced consideration of one of the more popular forms of pop culture in the 21st century.
Three additional facets of Craig's methodology are worthy of reflection. First, Craig is not only interested in a rational consideration of cinema, but begins with a theological aesthetic that is aimed at reuniting beauty, goodness and truth, and he seeks to do so in this order. While Craig appreciates the rational emphasis of evangelicalism as it connects with modernity, he also recognizes that this has at times been unbalanced to the neglect of aesthetic considerations that are especially important in late modernity/post-modernity. Second, Craig emphasizes a neglected aspect of Protestant theology, that of general revelation, God's revelation in culture in all of its facets. Without due consideration of general revelation, Craig wonders whether many have missed "the transcendent, revelatory possibilities of film" as a result. Third, Craig brings theology into dialogue with culture, two spheres often kept in unfortunate isolation from one another, and this facet of his methodology results in "an audience-driven, receptor-oriented methodology." One of the ways in which this methodology manifests itself is Craig's choice of interacting with the top films chosen by the Internet Movie Database, rather than those selected by the American Film Institute. In Craig's thinking the IMDB likely represents a "new canon" of the most popular films that more accurately reflects a democratized and global source of critical film opinion of rank and file viewers, something not found in the opinions of professional film critics represented by institutions like AFI and its membership.
Evangelicals are often behind the times in responding to cultural trends, but with this volume Craig Detweiler has demonstrated that evangelicals are actively involved in the theological engagement with film as one of the more popular expression of pop culture. Evangelicals will benefit from this book in a variety of uses, whether individual reflection, a source of pastoral preaching, or small group study.
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