Veggie Tales: Saint Nicholas

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Jack K

Jack K

Puritan Board Doctor
My church is planning a family movie night, showing the latest Veggie Tales Christmas offering, "Saint Nicholas." Has anyone seen it? I'd like to take my kids for the fellowship, but I distrust Veggie Tales even though they've stopped making butchered versions of Bible stories.

Reviews say "Saint Nicholas" is a sweet story. But is it moralizing or grace-centered? Is it overtly Christian or just vaguely religious? No one else seems to care, but I hope some PBer might have noticed.
 
Well we saw it and, in case anyone's wondering, it was better than I expected.

There's much I might complain about. I detected a tendency to elevate personal acts of service ahead of the work of the organized church. It was vague on what exactly it is that Jesus has done for us. And I thought it annoying that the movie sort of assumed we're all Santa-obsessed and need to be cured of that.

But... the movie is about Christian giving. And its main point is that Christians don't give in the hope that giving will make them happy, but rather they give in response to the fact that Jesus has already made them happy. We love because God loves us. We give because of what God gave.

Well, its been a long time since I saw any movie that had such a theme; that came right out and proclaimed the gospel to be that kind of motivating force. So I can forgive a lot of the stuff I didn't care for.
 
Im glad to hear this. I worked in the Childrens Ministry of a large arminian church for two years, before God snatched me out of there. Ive watched lots and lots and lots of Veggietales movies. As soon as I was awakened, so to speak, I saw the damaging doctrine of most VT movies- religious, man-centered, works-based, Gospel-less righteousness. I grew to hate them.

If this has changed, I am very thankful to God. Vegetables who teach the actual truths of the Gospel would seem much funner to watch than Vegetables who live and preach like Mormons!
 
TKarrer said:
Im glad to hear this. I worked in the Childrens Ministry of a large arminian church for two years, before God snatched me out of there. Ive watched lots and lots and lots of Veggietales movies. As soon as I was awakened, so to speak, I saw the damaging doctrine of most VT movies- religious, man-centered, works-based, Gospel-less righteousness. I grew to hate them.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I'm a children's worker myself. And I have absolutely despised Veggie Tales in the past, for the same reasons you brought up and also for the way the early ones profaned the Scriptures in their re-telling. This one seemed to aspire to something better, in an admittedly Veggie Tales sort of way.

So I might have to come halfway down off my high horse. Hope I don't hurt myself.
 
We haven't seen this one, but someone gave us the Star of Christmas movie last year, and it was okay. I wouldn't have chosen it myself, but the message was basically that nothing *we* can do can teach people how to love, it has to be God (though I don't think they specifically said Jesus).

I've avoided Veggie Tales ever since we studied Jonah in our small group and everyone was constantly making references to the movie. :p
 
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