tailieunhanh - COSMIC MAPS, PROPHECY CHARTS, AND THE HOLLYWOOD MOVIE, A BIBLICAL REALIST LOOKS AT THE ECLIPSE OF OLD TESTAMENT NARRATIVE*

For some time now, movie marketing has expanded its boundaries beyond discrete paratexts such as posters, TV ads, trailers, or featurettes, and into such publicity-driven entities such as “Entertainment News” shows, actual news segments covering movie premieres or milestones, and other nebulous promotional venues. The digital environment accelerates such embedments and boundary-crossings. Marketing becomes an increasingly elusive and crucial subject for film historians interested in ecologies of cinematic knowledge. The current phenomenon of digital media about film history owes much to the Oscar show’s use of montage, and particularly its. | Criswell Theological Review 1994 65-81. Copyright 1994 by Criswell College cited with permission digitally prepared for use at Gordon and Criswell Colleges and elsewhere COSMIC MAPS PROPHECY CHARTS AND THE HOLLYWOOD MOVIE A BIBLICAL REALIST LOOKS AT THE ECLIPSE OF OLD TESTAMENT NARRATIVE JOHN SAILHAMER Scholar in Residence Northwestern College St. Paul MN 1. Introduction There is a general recognition today that our society has lost its identity. It has lost its sense of a common story. Recently in a television interview Ken Burns the writer and producer of the PBS series Baseball was asked why he chose to devote such time and attention to the game of baseball. His answer was surprising but insightful. Baseball he said is the only common story that Americans still share. A generation ago Americans had a much more comprehensive story. That story was rooted in a shared experience. It was moreover founded upon a common religious heritage. That heritage was in fact a continuation of the Biblical story. With the collapse of that story however the only remaining thread in the common bond of American society is now baseball. Thus Ken Burns the PBS producer set out to tell the story of baseball. It was an effort he said to bring our country together. Without a story to define us as a nation we cease to act as a nation and really cease to be a nation. I think we would all agree that the loss of our nation s story is a serious problem today and affects every part of life. There is however an even more serious loss of story. The Christian Church also has a story. That story is told in the Bible. To the This article represents the two lectures read for the annual Criswell Theological Lecture February 1995. 66 CRISWELL THEOLOGICAL REVIEW extent that our individual stories are linked to the biblical story our lives have meaning and purpose. If we should ever lose that story or if that story should be changed in any way we will quickly forget who we are. One of the central .