BlogRodent: Pentecostal Rumination & Review

In early 2005 I wrote a Bible study for the Spider-Man 1 & 2 movies, currently only available via ChristianityToday.com. Last week I stopped by the offices of Christianity Today International and “volunteered” to freelance the Bible study for Spider-Man 3, as well, opening May 4 in a theater near you. (Here’s the official site. Here’s the IMDB site.)

So, this coming Tuesday, thanks to CT Movies editor, Mark Moring, I will attend a screening of Spider-Man 3 at 10 AM in downtown Chicago. Wahoo! After that, I will put on my thinking cap, review my extensive notes, think hard and start writing about the many redemptive themes from the film to weave into a Bible study useful for small group discussions and after-movie coffee binges. The Bible study I write will be truly Bible-based, pulling in not only quotes and themes from the movie, but tieing them into Biblical themes, sometimes expanding on the film’s premises, sometimes redirecting, sometimes contradicting or refuting.

Spider-Man I and II Bible Study

“With great power comes great responsibility.”

Spider-Man currently holds the Guinness Book of World Records award for the largest single-day box-office earnings ($43.6 million for its first Saturday opening) and is currently the fifth highest-grossing film in U.S. history ($403.7 million), which paved the way for an even more critically acclaimed sequel, Spider-Man 2.

This study will look at both Spider-Man movies, explore what it means to be a hero, note how choices shape our character, and examine the responsibilities that come with the gift of power.

What’s nice is the Spider-Man movie franchise has consistently provided a wealth of material to reflect on. In fact, Spidey 2 was so packed with religious themes and imagery some suspected that the director, Sam Raimi, might have been intentionally making Spidey look Messiah-like. But, no, Raimi hasn’t gone all “Jesusy” on us — it’s just hard to pull of heroism without being at least a little like Jesus, our ultimate real-life hero. Even the Wachowski brothers couldn’t avoid it with Neo in The Matrix (incidentally, I also wrote a Bible study for the three Matrix films, available at CTI as well).

More good news, according to my editor at CTI, I may be able to republish my original, unedited studies here on my blog for your delectation. I’ll keep you updated for details.

Rich

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