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HIEBERT’S BOOKMARKS
Hollywood Jesus

David Hiebert

Hollywood Jesus

On the main page, David Bruce, the creative force behind this Web site, says: “There is something going on in our culture: It is becoming more spiritual. It is more God-oriented. Television shows are now dealing with issues of God and angels. Movies are being made around biblical themes.” Relatively new on the Web, this site began February 1998, and has six main sections:

Hollywood Jesus: Main pages From this spot, you are hit with a barrage of flashing lights and small text, but there are links to specific pages in both the photos and the small text along the left side. Daily flap: Audio news For this link, use your multimedia audio player to hear the latest news from the entertainment world – fresh every day. Visual reviews This is the heart of this site, where you will find the most good information on movies (and if you’ve seen the movie and want to review it, you are invited to send in your comments). The site lists 25 movies in its “current” list. Some review samples: In his review of The Matrix, David Bruce says: “All reviewers that I read missed the very obvious biblical connections!” He lists seven, concluding with this: “The term AI means artificial intelligence. In the Bible, Ai was the scene of Joshua’s defeat, and afterwards of his victory – in the film as well.” Regarding The Thin Red Line (1998), one reader wrote on March 17: “This was a great anti-war film. All war films are anti-war (more or less), but this one would rank with All Quiet on the Western Front as particularly pointed and powerful. I wondered as I watched, ‘What is being said here about the root of such evil?’ ” American History X (1998), Bruce says, “is a profound and stirring drama about the consequences of urban racism as a family is torn apart by hate.” Regarding Superman, Bruce says: “Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, both Jewish, invented Superman in the late 1930s as a typically Jewish mythical hero. . .. The story begins on the planet Krypton which is now destined for destruction. There are also three criminals who are tried and found guilty by the ruling elders and are cast out from the planet. There is similarity here with the unholy trinity of Revelation: the dragon, the beast and the false prophet (Revelation 16:13). Also note the similarity in ‘the casting out of Satan from heaven’ (Luke 10:18).” About us This page opens with a photo of David and Mary Nella Bruce. Bruce is an incredibly active man who went from seminary to ministry in California and Chicago. Connections In this section, Bruce uses the following quote, which helps us understand his approach to this whole site: “Christ-figures, men and women (and perhaps even creatures of fiction like Hobbits) are ‘analogies’ of Jesus, images of Jesus. . .. Many storytellers (especially in cinema) are not believers or committed to Jesus. And yet, many of them use Christ-figures, consciously or unconsciously, in their work” (Peter Malone, Christology in Edward Scissorhands). Regarding The Prince of Egypt one person wrote, “I am totally obsessed with it. The animation is totally spectacular and the story is so true (even though a few minor details were left out or altered, but never mind that). The Red Sea is totally fantastic. The songs are wonderful. . .. And the characters are so true-to-life.” For the soul Some of the conclusions here are based on less than sound information, such as trying to connect the Druids (a caste of Celtic priests) and Stonehenge (which was built hundreds of years before the Druids arrived in the British Isles). The altar call comes on the New Birth page (http://www.hollywoodjesus.com/peace.htm). Here visitors are taken through the Steps to Peace with God by Billy Graham, and may send their commitments via e-mail.

This column is produced by David Hiebert of Scottdale, Pa. His home page is found at:
http://home.a1usa.net/~hiebert/. His e-mail address is: Hiebert@mph.org.

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Last modified January 11, 2000.

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