Genesis 3:17-19, King James Bible
I'm not a real movie reviewer sort of guy. I don't mind writing about books and trying to be objective but movies... they are just this whole other level of thing that I prefer to simply enjoy. I had the good fortune the other night to see The Book of Eli and was moved. So here, int he paragraphs that follow are my thoughts and why I say see it if you haven't.
Imagine a world where mankind unwittingly turns down its own volume and produces, in the process, a barley livable wasteland from the world of remarkable luxury we enjoy today. What would happen?
While things spin out of control and the world balances the population with the sustainable resources that are left, men who are evil and strong will rise and men who can may very well hear the voice of God and do its bidding. The Book of Eli explores this idea and the results are remarkable.
Most everyone knows the words to the 23rd Psalm. For the first time, those words rang off the screen in stark contrast to the world and surroundings in which they were presented. The beauty of the idea and verse became obvious and offset starkly the burned out and decaying world in which they were spoken.
It's in that moment that you may begin to realize, as I did, that the Bible is not written to be relevant to modern living. Seeking the truth of the non-fat late lifestyle in its pages may be a perversion of a powerful thing. When life becomes as bad as you can imagine it, when you are holding on to nothing with everything you have and the reward is your beating heart, the words of the bible are there. It is a staggering moment when you realize we are all prosperous, not because God has made it so, but because we revel in the distance is places between us and our creator. The Book of Eli is an excellent movie and I would recommend it to all. There is more than enough blood and violence to keep it interesting and, as I think I have expressed here, the spiritual points it raises, possibly unintentionally, are pretty solid as well. You should see it.
-JP
