The flight on a moviie yesterday was Bridge to Terebithia. It is the story of two fifth graders who invent an imaginary kingdom. The movie was dark. It tried to answer life's most important questions from a secular perspective. A couple of notes:

[SPOLIERS]

[1] It is explicitly anti-Christian. One of the lead characters, a boy named Jesse, is a Christian. His best friend, a girl named Leslie, invites herself to church. Jesse is embarrassed about church and expresses confusion over doctrine. Leslie says she even thinks that Jesse hates the belief that Christ dies to atone for our sins (and yes, they are that explicit of the doctrine of atonement) but that she, a non-Christian, thinks it is "beautiful" - although obviously only in a relativistic, unorthodox sense. Jesse's church is supposed to be a very conservative. The ladies are not allowed to wear pants to church and the scene has an old, classic hymn playing.

On the way back from church, the kids talk about whether and why people are damned. Leslie winsomely says that she likes Christianity but does not believe that God damns people b/c he is too busy running the world. She seems to be the only one certain of anything.

Later Leslie dies. Jesse asks his father if Leslie went to hell. The father answers something along the lines, "I don't know everything about God but I do know that he would not send a girl like that to hell."

Anyway, the movie advocates universalism.

[2] The main theme of the movie is redemption through escapism and imagination. If things are bad, just imagine them away.

__________________
Scott Roberts
Ruling Elder, Lakeside Presbyterian Church (PCA)
Southlake, Texas