Postmodern Realities Podcast

No Time to Die is the final outing for actor Danial Craig’s run as 007. Looking back on Daniel Craig’s tenure, it’s hard to imagine a time in which he did not don the tuxedo. Though he has not appeared in the most films (that distinction goes to the late Roger Moore, who appeared in seven), he is nevertheless the actor who has held the role the longest, with fifteen years having passed since his debut in 2006 and his fifth (and final) film in 2021. So thorough has been his reinvention of the character that Craig’s time as Bond is and will continue to be looked upon as an asterisk in the history of the sixty-year-old film series, a unique thing emerging from a cultural milieu that has witnessed twin towers fall, whistles blow, and women become ascendant.

Director Cary Joji Fukunaga’s No Time to Die (2021) marks the definitive end of Craig’s time as Bond—and what an ending it is. The circle closes, every dangling plot thread is tied off. By the time a weary, heart-broken Bond stands bloodied and dying in the cold light of day, staring death full in the face and embracing it, all of the villains who sought to harm him, his friends, his country, and the world are gone. “There’s no one left to hurt us anymore,” says Madeleine Swann (Léa Seydoux)—and she’s right. In the end, Bond emerges victorious but at a great cost.

The key to understanding the way No Time to Die chooses to tell its story lies in these mythological underpinnings. In the Greek myth, Heracles’s story ends when he is tricked into wearing the poisonous tunic of Nessus, and he chooses to incinerate himself rather than live alone and only in pain.

No Time to Die, at long last, recaptures to some degree this unique vision of writer Ian Fleming. Bond’s hedonism in the novels is frequently treated as his defense against this uniquely Christian notion of “acedia,” which medieval theologian Thomas Aquinas defined as trisitia de bono spirituali, “sadness in the face of spiritual good.” Ian Fleming’s work can be described as Christ-haunted. Bond, like Fleming, was a man haunted by goodness. In his final moments in No Time to Die, Bond finally surrenders himself to it.

This Postmodern Realities episode is a conversation with Journal author Cole Burgett about his online-exclusive article, “All the Time in the World: No Time to Die and the End of an Era” **Editor’s Note: This article contains spoilers for the 2021 James Bond film No Time to Die.** https://www.equip.org/article/all-the-time-in-the-world-no-time-to-die-and-the-end-of-an-era/

Please note this article will be fully accessible by the public in the future, to get early access to read it now, please see our FAQ section on Early Access to Online-Exclusive Articles by clicking here. https://www.equip.org/early-access-to-online-exclusive-articles-faqs/

We’d also like to invite you to subscribe to the Journal. To subscribe to the Journal, please click here. https://www.equip.org/product/crj-subscription/

When you to subscribe to the Journal, you join the team of print subscribers whose paid subscriptions help provide the resources at equip.org that minister to people worldwide. These resources include our ever growing database of over 1,500 articles, as well as our free Postmodern Realities podcast.

Another way you can support our online articles is by leaving us a tip. A tip is just a small amount, like $3, $5, or $10 which is the cost for some of a latte, lunch out, or coffee drink. To leave a tip, click here https://www.equip.org/product/pmr-jnl-tip/

Other articles and Postmodern Realities podcasts featuring this author

Episode 251 Growing Up and Letting Go in CODA

Growing Up and Letting Go in CODA

Episode 242: Friendship and Fatherhood in Pixar’s Luca

Friendship and Fatherhood in Pixar’s Luca

Episode 239: No Us Without Him: The Life, Death, and Resurrection of Zack Snyder’s Justice League

No Us Without Him: The Life, Death, and Resurrection of Zack Snyder’s Justice League

Episode 234: Star Wars Happy and Glorious in The High Republic

Happy and Glorious in The High Republic: A Review of The High Republic Era beginning with Star Wars: Light of the Jedi by Charles Soule

Episode 227 Catharsis and the Power of Release in WandaVison

Catharsis and the Power of Release in Wandavison

Episode 222 Deconstructionism and the Gospel of Hope in Logan

Deconstructionism and the Gospel of Hope in Logan

Episode 218: Wonder Woman 1984: The Truth Is Enough.

Wonder Woman 1984: The Truth Is Enough.

Episode 214 Star Trek’s Christopher Pike: An Old Fashioned Hero For Our Cynical Times

Star Trek’s Christopher Pike: An Old- Fashioned Hero for Our Cynical Time


Don’t miss an episode; please subscribe to the Postmodern Realities podcast wherever you get your favorite podcasts. Please help spread the word about Postmodern Realities by giving us a rating and review when you subscribe to the podcast. The more ratings and reviews we have, the more new listeners can discover our content.

African Traditional Religion (ATR) encompasses all indigenous African philosophies, worldviews, and religious practices south of the Sahara Desert. Though by no means a fixed religious system, sub-Saharan African cultures by and large share many similar views of God, the ancestors and spirits, honor and shame, magic and witchcraft, and rites of passage. While God is not considered to be near, or “close by,” he is nevertheless part of a hierarchical yet holistic spiritual world, mediated to humanity by ancestors and spirits. Moreover, spiritual power is bound to the material and physical realm. The separation between the visible and invisible is very thin, in some cases non-existent. The unseen world of ancestors, spirits, and magic orders the day-to-day experience of the African Traditionalist.

Although one should not presumptuously generalize about the rites and customs of each place and people, it is useful to draw out the contours of the beliefs commonly shared by African societies. This is so for at least two reasons. The first is the proliferation of America’s chief export to Africa — the prosperity gospel. The individualistic message of personal wealth accumulation from the hands of God by means of a false definition of faith has taken much of the world, but particularly Africa by storm. The second is the adoption of atomized, “a la cart” rites and beliefs from ATR by younger Americans. For example, the adoption of the Nigerian Ifá religion by Patrisse Cullors of Black Lives Matter (BLM) has a uniquely American flavor. It is useful for Christians encountering certain Ifá or other ATR rites and invocations at, say, a BLM rally, or in reading about them on social media, to investigate their origins as part of understanding how they are exploited in an American context. In this way, Christians might respectfully preach the gospel of Jesus Christ to their neighbors and friends.

This Postmodern Realities episode is a conversation with Journal author Anne Kennedy about her article in the current (Oct 2021) issue of the Journal entitled, “African Traditional Religion, Black Lives Matter, and Prosperity Gospel.”https://www.equip.org/article/african-traditional-religion-black-lives-matter-and-prosperity-gospel/

Please note this article will be fully accessible by the public in the future, to get early access to read it now, please see our FAQ section on Early Access to Online-Exclusive Articles by clicking here. https://www.equip.org/early-access-to-online-exclusive-articles-faqs/

We’d also like to invite you to subscribe to the Journal. To subscribe to the Journal, please click here. https://www.equip.org/product/crj-subscription/

When you to subscribe to the Journal, you join the team of print subscribers whose paid subscriptions help provide the resources at equip.org that minister to people worldwide. These resources include our ever growing database of over 1,500 articles, as well as our free Postmodern Realities podcast.

Another way you can support our online articles is by leaving us a tip. A tip is just a small amount, like $3, $5, or $10 which is the cost for some of a latte, lunch out, or coffee drink. To leave a tip, click here https://www.equip.org/product/pmr-jnl-tip/

Other articles and Postmodern Realities podcasts featuring this author

Episode 255 For Our Lamps Are Going Out: Gaslighting in the Age of Social Media

For Our Lamps are Going Out: Gaslighting in the Age of Social Media

Episode 252 Meditation Upon the Death of a Pet

Meditation Upon the Death of a Pet

Episode 245: Glimpsing the Grave: A Critical Review of The Book of Longings

Glimpsing the Grave: A Critical Review of The Book of Longings: A Novel by Sue Monk Kidd

Episode 240: Be Free! The Making of Biblical Womanhood A Summary Critique review of The Making of Biblical Womanhood: How the Subjugation of Women became Gospel Truth by Beth Allison Barr

Be Free! The Making of Biblical Womanhood A summary critique review of The Making of Biblical Womanhood: How the Subjugation of Women became Gospel Truth by Beth Allison Barr

Episode 224 You Only Die Once: Why It’s Okay Not to Live in the Present

You Only Die Once: Why It’s Okay Not to Live in the Present

Episode 216 Why Do I Call Myself Good? A Look at Virtue Signaling

Why Do I Call Myself Good? A Look at Virtue Signaling

Episode 211: There Is No Health in Us: Wellness and Self-Care in the Age of COVID-19

There Is No Health in Us: Wellness and Self-Care in the Age of COVID-19

Episode 209 She Who Has Eyes, Let Her See: A look at Didn’t See That Coming by Rachel Hollis

She Who Has Eyes, Let Her See: A look at Didn’t See That Coming by Rachel Hollis

Episode 204: The Road Back to Where? A Look at Self Discovery Using the Enneagram

The Road Back to Where? A Look at Self Discovery Using the Enneagram

Episode 198 Cancel Culture and the Gospel: Where Can You Go When The Whole World Is Against You?

Cancel Culture and the Gospel: Where Can You Go When The Whole World Is Against You?

Episode 193 Catching UP with Rachel Hollis, Glennon Doyle & Jen Hatmaker

Episode 191 Gods, Gold, and Cheetahs: The Theological Vision of Untamed

Gods, Gold, and Cheetahs: The Theological Vision of Untamed

Episode 181 But What If It Is Me? The Work and Worldview of Brené Brown

But What If It Is Me? The Work and Worldview of Brené Brown

Episode 178 Worshipping Together

Episode 160-Naming Names: Why It’s OK (and Necessary) to Call Out False Teachers and Fugitives from Church Justice by Name

Naming Names: Why It’s OK (and Necessary) to Call Out False Teachers and Fugitives from Church Justice by Name

Episode 151 Am I a Bad Christian for Watching Hallmark Christmas Movies?

Am I a Bad Christian for Watching Hallmark Christmas Movies?

Episode 147 Book Review of Modern Kinship: A Queer Guide to Christian Marriage and An Evaluation of 2019 Evolving Faith Conference

A Helper Like Me: A Review of Modern Kinship: A Queer Guide to Christian Marriage by David and Constantino Khalaf

Losing Faith: A Look at the 2019 Evolving Faith Conference

Episode 140 The Theological “Mess” in the “Moxie” of Jen Hatmaker

The Unhindered Leadership of Jen Hatmaker

The Theological “Mess” in the “Moxie” of Jen Hatmaker

Episode 136 Have You Considered Trying Harder: The Theology of Rachel Hollis

Have You Considered Trying Harder: The Theology of Rachel Hollis

Don’t miss an episode; please subscribe to the Postmodern Realities podcast wherever you get your favorite podcasts. Please help spread the word about Postmodern Realities by giving us a rating and review when you subscribe to the podcast. The more ratings and reviews we have, the more new listeners can discover our content.

There are few things more heartbreaking than watching a beloved son or daughter raised in the Christian community wander or walk away from the faith their parents faithfully demonstrated in the home as that child grew up. Wayward literally means “turned away from,” and this outward-facing posture can wreak havoc on family relationships. Parents of wayward children often struggle with feelings of helplessness, guilt, fear, worry, anger, and depression. Wayward children often feel misunderstood and isolated as they battle for independence and autonomy. The unique and tender nature of these parent/child dynamics creates challenges that are distinct from other evangelistic endeavors. So how might Christian parents (and grandparents) best witness to a wayward child?
This Postmodern Realities episode is a conversation with Journal author Nicole Howe about her article from the 44:2 issue of the Journal entitled, “Witnessing to a Wayward Child.“https://www.equip.org/article/witnessing-to-a-wayward-child/

Please note this article will be fully accessible by the public in the future, to get early access to read it now, please see our FAQ section on Early Access to Online-Exclusive Articles by clicking here. https://www.equip.org/early-access-to-online-exclusive-articles-faqs/

We’d also like to invite you to subscribe to the Journal. To subscribe to the Journal, please click here. https://www.equip.org/product/crj-subscription/

When you to subscribe to the Journal, you join the team of print subscribers whose paid subscriptions help provide the resources at equip.org that minister to people worldwide. These resources include our ever growing database of over 1,500 articles, as well as our free Postmodern Realities podcast.

Another way you can support our online articles is by leaving us a tip. A tip is just a small amount, like $3, $5, or $10 which is the cost for some of a latte, lunch out, or coffee drink. To leave a tip, click here https://www.equip.org/product/pmr-jnl-tip/

Other articles and Postmodern Realities podcasts featuring this author

Episode 208: The Medieval Christians and Evangelism

“Medieval Christians and Evangelism”

Episode 182 Lament. Grief. Hope.

Episode 161 What Do You Mean by God? Pullman’s “Straw-Man God” in His Dark Materials

What Do You Mean by God? Pullman’s “Straw-Man God” in His Dark Materials

Don’t miss an episode; please subscribe to the Postmodern Realities podcast wherever you get your favorite podcasts. Please help spread the word about Postmodern Realities by giving us a rating and review when you subscribe to the podcast. The more ratings and reviews we have, the more new listeners can discover our content.

Unanswered prayer does not always lead to bitterness and cynicism, but once in a while it does. How will we respond when we pray for protection, and our mom dies instead? How will we respond when we cry out for years for the seemingly good gifts we believe the Father would give us — return of a wayward child, freedom from deeply rooted sin patterns, relief from chronic pain — and yet, with the Psalmist, we seemingly hear no answer (Ps. 22:2)?

Some, after weeks or months or years of such disappointment, sadly or angrily turn their backs on God. Others resign themselves to a safe and stagnant faith. They mumble a blessing over meals and slap an “All things work together for good…” (Rom. 8:28)1 on the unendurable pain of prayers left unanswered.

And yet, many persist in prayer, in faith, in hope, in love, despite the unceasing suffering of unanswered prayer. Not only do they endure thorns in the flesh that will last a lifetime and grief that will end only when Jesus returns, they mature spiritually. They are transformed into people of strengthened faith, confident hope, and extravagant love. If unanswered prayer can lead to greater spiritual maturity, how might such transformation take place? It begins with a sound understanding of the richness of prayer.

This Postmodern Realities episode is a conversation with Journal author Elizabeth Reynolds Turnage about her article in the current 44:3 issue of the Journal entitled, “How Unanswered Prayer Grows Faith, Hope, and Love.” https://www.equip.org/article/how-unanswered-prayer-grows-faith-hope-and-love/

Please note this article will be fully accessible by the public in the future, to get early access to read it now, please see our FAQ section on Early Access to Online-Exclusive Articles by clicking here. https://www.equip.org/early-access-to-online-exclusive-articles-faqs/

We’d also like to invite you to subscribe to the Journal. To subscribe to the Journal, please click here. https://www.equip.org/product/crj-subscription/

When you to subscribe to the Journal, you join the team of print subscribers whose paid subscriptions help provide the resources at equip.org that minister to people worldwide. These resources include our ever growing database of over 1,500 articles, as well as our free Postmodern Realities podcast.

Another way you can support our online articles is by leaving us a tip. A tip is just a small amount, like $3, $5, or $10 which is the cost for some of a latte, lunch out, or coffee drink. To leave a tip, click here https://www.equip.org/product/pmr-jnl-tip/

Don’t miss an episode; please subscribe to the Postmodern Realities podcast wherever you get your favorite podcasts. Please help spread the word about Postmodern Realities by giving us a rating and review when you subscribe to the podcast. The more ratings and reviews we have, the more new listeners can discover our content.

Of the legion of ways that we, since the dawn of time, have devised to deceive ourselves and others, the insidious cruelty at the heart of the phenomenon called gaslighting is one of the most fascinating and destructive. Derived from the play Gas Light (1938), the expression is visceral, referring to the deliberate attempt by the villain to drive the heroine insane. Gaslighting is a useful umbrella trope for understanding many different kinds of damaging online behavior. Gatekeeping, tone policing, outright lying, and the demand to “do better” all constrain members of online communities through fear rather than love. Whether in private groups or in public threads, hapless and naïve Christians fall prey to intentional and unintentional gaslighting and often turn to gaslighting themselves when they fail to make themselves understood. The whining, crazed rage of the heroine in the 1940 film Gaslight, adapted from the play, well reflects the tenor and feelings of many people when they encounter the toxicity of social media.

They know something is wrong, they feel themselves going mad, but they are powerless to tell the truth, or even to trust their own perceptions.

Only by a renewed embrace of the objectivity of Scripture married to a biblical definition of love can Christians return to the sober reasoning of honest discourse. Where ideology clouds the perception of truth, Christians can measure everything by the light of Christ in the Scriptures. They need have no changeable orthodoxy, nor grasping appeals to gatekeeping, tone policing, or gaslighting. Rather, they might recapture the lost virtues of debate and a life-giving search for truth.

This Postmodern Realities episode is a conversation with Journal author Anne Kennedy about her article in the 43:2 issue of the Christian Research Journal, “For Our Lamps Are Going Out: Gaslighting in the Age of Social Media ”. https://www.equip.org/article/for-our-lamps-are-going-out-gaslighting-in-the-age-of-social-media/
Please note this article will be fully accessible by the public in the future, to get early access to read it now, please see our FAQ section on Early Access to Online-Exclusive Articles by clicking here. https://www.equip.org/early-access-to-online-exclusive-articles-faqs/

We’d also like to invite you to subscribe to the Journal. To subscribe to the Journal, please click here. https://www.equip.org/product/crj-subscription/

When you to subscribe to the Journal, you join the team of print subscribers whose paid subscriptions help provide the resources at equip.org that minister to people worldwide. These resources include our ever growing database of over 1,500 articles, as well as our free Postmodern Realities podcast.

Another way you can support our online articles is by leaving us a tip. A tip is just a small amount, like $3, $5, or $10 which is the cost for some of a latte, lunch out, or coffee drink. To leave a tip, click herehttps://www.equip.org/product/pmr-jnl-tip/

Other articles and Postmodern Realities podcasts featuring this author

Episode 252 Meditation Upon the Death of a Pet

Meditation Upon the Death of a Pet

Episode 245: Glimpsing the Grave: A Critical Review of The Book of Longings

Glimpsing the Grave: A Critical Review of The Book of Longings: A Novel by Sue Monk Kidd

Episode 240: Be Free! The Making of Biblical Womanhood A Summary Critique review of The Making of Biblical Womanhood: How the Subjugation of Women became Gospel Truth by Beth Allison Barr

Be Free! The Making of Biblical Womanhood A summary critique review of The Making of Biblical Womanhood: How the Subjugation of Women became Gospel Truth by Beth Allison Barr

Episode 224 You Only Die Once: Why It’s Okay Not to Live in the Present

You Only Die Once: Why It’s Okay Not to Live in the Present

Episode 216 Why Do I Call Myself Good? A Look at Virtue Signaling

Why Do I Call Myself Good? A Look at Virtue Signaling

Episode 211: There Is No Health in Us: Wellness and Self-Care in the Age of COVID-19

There Is No Health in Us: Wellness and Self-Care in the Age of COVID-19

Episode 209 She Who Has Eyes, Let Her See: A look at Didn’t See That Coming by Rachel Hollis

She Who Has Eyes, Let Her See: A look at Didn’t See That Coming by Rachel Hollis

Episode 204: The Road Back to Where? A Look at Self Discovery Using the Enneagram

The Road Back to Where? A Look at Self Discovery Using the Enneagram

Episode 198 Cancel Culture and the Gospel: Where Can You Go When The Whole World Is Against You?

Cancel Culture and the Gospel: Where Can You Go When The Whole World Is Against You?

Episode 193 Catching UP with Rachel Hollis, Glennon Doyle & Jen Hatmaker

Episode 191 Gods, Gold, and Cheetahs: The Theological Vision of Untamed

Gods, Gold, and Cheetahs: The Theological Vision of Untamed

Episode 181 But What If It Is Me? The Work and Worldview of Brené Brown

But What If It Is Me? The Work and Worldview of Brené Brown

Episode 178 Worshipping Together

Episode 160-Naming Names: Why It’s OK (and Necessary) to Call Out False Teachers and Fugitives from Church Justice by Name

Naming Names: Why It’s OK (and Necessary) to Call Out False Teachers and Fugitives from Church Justice by Name

Episode 151 Am I a Bad Christian for Watching Hallmark Christmas Movies?

Am I a Bad Christian for Watching Hallmark Christmas Movies?

Episode 147 Book Review of Modern Kinship: A Queer Guide to Christian Marriage and An Evaluation of 2019 Evolving Faith Conference

A Helper Like Me: A Review of Modern Kinship: A Queer Guide to Christian Marriage by David and Constantino Khalaf

Losing Faith: A Look at the 2019 Evolving Faith Conference

Episode 140 The Theological “Mess” in the “Moxie” of Jen Hatmaker

The Unhindered Leadership of Jen Hatmaker

The Theological “Mess” in the “Moxie” of Jen Hatmaker

Episode 136 Have You Considered Trying Harder: The Theology of Rachel Hollis

Have You Considered Trying Harder: The Theology of Rachel Hollis

Don’t miss an episode; please subscribe to the Postmodern Realities podcast wherever you get your favorite podcasts. Please help spread the word about Postmodern Realities by giving us a rating and review when you subscribe to the podcast. The more ratings and reviews we have, the more new listeners can discover our content.

Perhaps life’s greatest challenge is coping with suffering — or how to suffer well. All religions address this, but not in the same way. Christianity uniquely gives meaning to suffering because of the redemptive suffering of its founder, Jesus Christ. Grace and Grit is a film by Sebastian Siegel (who wrote the script) about the suffering of a real-life young couple, writer Ken Wilber (played by Stuart Townsend), and his wife, Treya Wilber (Mena Suvari), who is diagnosed with cancer shortly after their wedding. The film is, among other things, a study of how one’s deepest convictions influence one’s approach to suffering. Since his first book, The Spectrum of Consciousness (Quest Books, 1977), Wilber has defended the worldview that all is one (nondualism or monism) and all is divine (pantheism). He has developed an account of consciousness in which the highest state of consciousness is the realization of oneness with an impersonal god. While Wilber wants to integrate truths from all religions and philosophies and puts his theories into an evolutionary scenario, he is essentially a Zen Buddhist. Does Wilbur’s worldview ultimately provide both truth and hope in the midst of suffering and death? Longtime Journal author and Christian philosopher Douglas Groothuis, author of Walking Through Twilight: A Wife’s Illness—A Philosopher’s Lament, talks about Wilbur’s personal story and worldview. https://www.equip.org/product/walking-through-twilight-a-wifes-illness-a-philosophers-lament/

This Postmodern Realities episode is a conversation with Journal author Doug Groothuis about his online-exclusive article, “Grit Without Grace: Love and Tragedy According to Nondualism: A Review of the film Grace and Grit.“ https://www.equip.org/article/grit-without-grace-love-and-tragedy-according-to-nondualism-a-review-of-the-film-grace-and-grit/

Please note this article will be fully accessible by the public in the future, to get early access to read it now, please see our FAQ section on Early Access to Online-Exclusive Articles by clicking here. https://www.equip.org/early-access-to-online-exclusive-articles-faqs/

We’d also like to invite you to subscribe to the Journal. To subscribe to the Journal, please click here. https://www.equip.org/product/crj-subscription/

When you to subscribe to the Journal, you join the team of print subscribers whose paid subscriptions help provide the resources at equip.org that minister to people worldwide. These resources include our ever growing database of over 1,500 articles, as well as our free Postmodern Realities podcast.

Another way you can support our online articles is by leaving us a tip. A tip is just a small amount, like $3, $5, or $10 which is the cost for some of a latte, lunch out, or coffee drink. To leave a tip, click here https://www.equip.org/product/pmr-jnl-tip/

Other articles and Postmodern Realities podcasts featuring this author

Christian Apologetics in a Nutshell

Episode 226: A Heretic’s Christ, a False Salvation: A Review of The Universal Christ: How a Forgotten Reality Can Change Everything We See, Hope for, and Believe Richard Rohr

A Heretic’s Christ, a False Salvation: A Review of The Universal Christ: How a Forgotten Reality Can Change Everything We See, Hope for, and Believe Richard Rohr

Episode 220 God and Our Ignorance

God and Our Ignorance

Episode 194 Autobiography as Apologetic

Autobiography as Apologetic

Episode 157: The Reincarnation of Reincarnation

The Reincarnation of Reincarnation

Episode 122 Shamelessly Wrong

Shamelessly Wrong: Book Review of Shameless: A Sexual Reformation Nadia Bolz-Weber

Episode 004: Agile Apologetics

Developing an Agile Apologetic

And many more, Dr. Groothuis has written articles for us for over 30 years.

Don’t miss an episode; please subscribe to the Postmodern Realities podcast wherever you get your favorite podcasts. Please help spread the word about Postmodern Realities by giving us a rating and review when you subscribe to the podcast. The more ratings and reviews we have, the more new listeners can discover our content.

In 2019, Hulu announced that it would be adapting Trenton Lee Stewart’s 2007 novel The Mysterious Benedict Society as a streaming series. In some ways, this makes perfect sense. The book has been extremely popular, spawning three sequels, a prequel, and a puzzle book. For many children, tweens, and teens, it strikes a chord with its portrayal of gifted children who become heroes after emerging from backgrounds where their gifts had earned them only rejection, scorn, or exploitation. But as with other similar adaptations, the question naturally arises: would the filmed version be faithful, in plot and theme, to the source material?

What exactly is it that makes The Mysterious Benedict Society so distinctive? It’s not necessarily the plot, though that is diverting enough, to be sure. The true distinctiveness of the books comes in the details. As the plot of each volume progresses, the characters (child and adult alike) become more than the sums of their eccentricities, growing and learning from one another.

Any fan of the books is thus faced with conundrum when approaching their streaming incarnation: is it even possible faithfully to adapt novels in which the danger of screen technology is such a key theme? Interestingly, this is where the show is at its strongest. But the final product for the small screen oozes into a sentimentality that is literally tedious.

DisneyPlus’s Mysterious Benedict Society does recognize the ways in which our contemporary marriage to technology can compromise our pursuit of truth and goodness. But unlike its source material, it cannot seem to find the discipline to resist those root desires. Too often, its characters (especially its adult heroes) are shaped by their emotions, rather than ordering their desires around right pursuits. Engaging as the show is in its best moments, it lacks the countercultural force of its predecessor.

This Postmodern Realities episode is a conversation with Journal author Geoffrey Reiter about about his online-exclusive, “Does The Mysterious Benedict Society have the Right Stuff? ”. https://www.equip.org/article/does-the-mysterious-benedict-society-have-the-right-stuff/ ***Note: The article and podcast discuss plot points which may be considered spoilers.****

Please note this article will be fully accessible by the public in the future, to get early access to read it now, please see our FAQ section on Early Access to Online-Exclusive Articles by clicking here. https://www.equip.org/early-access-to-online-exclusive-articles-faqs/

We’d also like to invite you to subscribe to the Journal. To subscribe to the Journal, please click here. https://www.equip.org/product/crj-subscription/

When you to subscribe to the Journal, you join the team of print subscribers whose paid subscriptions help provide the resources at equip.org that minister to people worldwide. These resources include our ever growing database of over 1,500 articles, as well as our free Postmodern Realities podcast.

Another way you can support our online articles is by leaving us a tip. A tip is just a small amount, like $3, $5, or $10 which is the cost for some of a latte, lunch out, or coffee drink. To leave a tip, click here. https://www.equip.org/product/pmr-jnl-tip/

Don’t miss an episode; please subscribe to the Postmodern Realities podcast wherever you get your favorite podcasts. Please help spread the word about Postmodern Realities by giving us a rating and review when you subscribe to the podcast. The more ratings and reviews we have, the more new listeners can discover our content.

Almost all the exotic pets of my childhood in Africa were rescues, caught out of the bags of hunters and the clutches of small children who just wanted a more interesting dinner than maize porridge. I was the only one who mourned them. And, in the case of Ash, though all my family loved him, I am the one who still can’t look at his grave in our back garden. And I am not alone. Join any peculiar dog breed group on Facebook and you will find countless prayer requests—long shot, hopeless pleas for God, to whom the poster has probably never prayed before, to spare a dog. Members of these groups pray, to whomever they imagine, because they understand the peculiar agony of the loss of a helpless and innocent creature who they were sure couldn’t die—and yet did.

This Postmodern Realities episode is a conversation with Journal author Anne Kennedy about about his online-exclusive, “Meditation Upon the Death of a Pet”. https://www.equip.org/article/meditation-upon-the-death-of-a-pet/

Please note this article will be fully accessible by the public in the future, to get early access to read it now, please see our FAQ section on Early Access to Online-Exclusive Articles by clicking here. https://www.equip.org/early-access-to-online-exclusive-articles-faqs/

We’d also like to invite you to subscribe to the Journal. To subscribe to the Journal, please click here. https://www.equip.org/product/crj-subscription/

When you to subscribe to the Journal, you join the team of print subscribers whose paid subscriptions help provide the resources at equip.org that minister to people worldwide. These resources include our ever growing database of over 1,500 articles, as well as our free Postmodern Realities podcast.

Another way you can support our online articles is by leaving us a tip. A tip is just a small amount, like $3, $5, or $10 which is the cost for some of a latte, lunch out, or coffee drink. To leave a tip, click herehttps://www.equip.org/product/pmr-jnl-tip/

Other articles and Postmodern Realities podcasts featuring this author:

Episode 245: Glimpsing the Grave: A Critical Review of The Book of Longings

Glimpsing the Grave: A Critical Review of The Book of Longings: A Novel by Sue Monk Kidd

Episode 240: Be Free! The Making of Biblical Womanhood A Summary Critique review of The Making of Biblical Womanhood: How the Subjugation of Women became Gospel Truth by Beth Allison Barr

Be Free! The Making of Biblical Womanhood A summary critique review of The Making of Biblical Womanhood: How the Subjugation of Women became Gospel Truth by Beth Allison Barr

Episode 224 You Only Die Once: Why It’s Okay Not to Live in the Present

You Only Die Once: Why It’s Okay Not to Live in the Present

Episode 216 Why Do I Call Myself Good? A Look at Virtue Signaling

Why Do I Call Myself Good? A Look at Virtue Signaling

Episode 211: There Is No Health in Us: Wellness and Self-Care in the Age of COVID-19

There Is No Health in Us: Wellness and Self-Care in the Age of COVID-19

Episode 209 She Who Has Eyes, Let Her See: A look at Didn’t See That Coming by Rachel Hollis

She Who Has Eyes, Let Her See: A look at Didn’t See That Coming by Rachel Hollis

Episode 204: The Road Back to Where? A Look at Self Discovery Using the Enneagram

The Road Back to Where? A Look at Self Discovery Using the Enneagram

Episode 198 Cancel Culture and the Gospel: Where Can You Go When The Whole World Is Against You?

Cancel Culture and the Gospel: Where Can You Go When The Whole World Is Against You?

Episode 193 Catching UP with Rachel Hollis, Glennon Doyle & Jen Hatmaker

Episode 191 Gods, Gold, and Cheetahs: The Theological Vision of Untamed

Gods, Gold, and Cheetahs: The Theological Vision of Untamed

Episode 181 But What If It Is Me? The Work and Worldview of Brené Brown

But What If It Is Me? The Work and Worldview of Brené Brown

Episode 178 Worshipping Together

Episode 160-Naming Names: Why It’s OK (and Necessary) to Call Out False Teachers and Fugitives from Church Justice by Name

Naming Names: Why It’s OK (and Necessary) to Call Out False Teachers and Fugitives from Church Justice by Name

Episode 151 Am I a Bad Christian for Watching Hallmark Christmas Movies?

Am I a Bad Christian for Watching Hallmark Christmas Movies?

Episode 147 Book Review of Modern Kinship: A Queer Guide to Christian Marriage and An Evaluation of 2019 Evolving Faith Conference

A Helper Like Me: A Review of Modern Kinship: A Queer Guide to Christian Marriage by David and Constantino Khalaf

Losing Faith: A Look at the 2019 Evolving Faith Conference

Episode 140 The Theological “Mess” in the “Moxie” of Jen Hatmaker

The Unhindered Leadership of Jen Hatmaker

The Theological “Mess” in the “Moxie” of Jen Hatmaker

Episode 136 Have You Considered Trying Harder: The Theology of Rachel Hollis

Have You Considered Trying Harder: The Theology of Rachel Hollis

Don’t miss an episode; please subscribe to the Postmodern Realities podcast wherever you get your favorite podcasts. Please help spread the word about Postmodern Realities by giving us a rating and review when you subscribe to the podcast. The more ratings and reviews we have, the more new listeners can discover our content.

The film CODA (2021) is a coming-of-age story about a hearing girl and her deaf family. While the arc of the story has the stereotypical beats of a teenage coming-of-age drama, it also explores the dynamics of growing up and letting go. Many Christians might resonate with the main protagonist Ruby’s parents that she must do “her part,” as a loving daughter to forsake pursuing her college dreams and remain home to be the interpreter for deaf parents and brother who need to run their fishing business. At the end of the day, somebody in her family is going to have to sacrifice something. That’s the drama of the film CODA, and that’s the drama of the Christian life as well.

This Postmodern Realities episode is a conversation with Journal author Cole Burgett about about his online-exclusive, “Growing Up and Letting Go in CODA“. **Editor’s Note: This article contains spoilers for CODA.**https://www.equip.org/article/growing-up-and-letting-go-in-coda/

Please note this article will be fully accessible by the public in the future, to get early access to read it now, please see our FAQ section on Early Access to Online-Exclusive Articles by clicking here. https://www.equip.org/early-access-to-online-exclusive-articles-faqs/

We’d also like to invite you to subscribe to the Journal. To subscribe to the Journal, please click here. https://www.equip.org/product/crj-subscription/

When you to subscribe to the Journal, you join the team of print subscribers whose paid subscriptions help provide the resources at equip.org that minister to people worldwide. These resources include our ever growing database of over 1,500 articles, as well as our free Postmodern Realities podcast.

Another way you can support our online articles is by leaving us a tip. A tip is just a small amount, like $3, $5, or $10 which is the cost for some of a latte, lunch out, or coffee drink. To leave a tip, click here https://www.equip.org/product/pmr-jnl-tip/

Other articles and Postmodern Realities podcasts featuring this author:



Episode 242: Friendship and Fatherhood in Pixar’s Luca

Friendship and Fatherhood in Pixar’s Luca

Episode 239: No Us Without Him: The Life, Death, and Resurrection of Zack Snyder’s Justice League

No Us Without Him: The Life, Death, and Resurrection of Zack Snyder’s Justice League

Episode 234: Star Wars Happy and Glorious in The High Republic

Happy and Glorious in The High Republic: A Review of The High Republic Era beginning with Star Wars: Light of the Jedi by Charles Soule

Episode 227 Catharsis and the Power of Release in WandaVison

Catharsis and the Power of Release in Wandavison

Episode 222 Deconstructionism and the Gospel of Hope in Logan

Deconstructionism and the Gospel of Hope in Logan

Episode 218: Wonder Woman 1984: The Truth Is Enough.

Wonder Woman 1984: The Truth Is Enough.

Episode 214 Star Trek’s Christopher Pike: An Old Fashioned Hero For Our Cynical Times

Star Trek’s Christopher Pike: An Old- Fashioned Hero for Our Cynical Time


Don’t miss an episode; please subscribe to the Postmodern Realities podcast wherever you get your favorite podcasts. Please help spread the word about Postmodern Realities by giving us a rating and review when you subscribe to the podcast. The more ratings and reviews we have, the more new listeners can discover our content.

Any amateur who has taken up a brush knows how hard it is to create a beautiful painting without training. Yet the natural world seems to produce beauty without any struggle at all. This common-sense observation provides a natural movement from wonder at the creation to awe of the creator. Making aesthetically good artwork requires skill and intention, so who should we credit with the ‘artistry’ of the natural world? The rosy wash of the setting sun on a cloud-filled sky with mountains beneath looks to our eyes like the masterpiece of an expert painter. Yet we know that the natural world possesses no mind toward its own design. Should we not then look to a designer? This podcast episode is a milestone celebration of 250 episodes in the past five years with our very first guest from episode one. It is a conversation about recovering the argument for the existence of God from beauty.

This Postmodern Realities episode is a conversation with Journal author Phil Tallon about his article in a forthcoming issue of the Christian Research Journal, “Recovering the Argument for God from Beauty”.

We’d also like to invite you to subscribe to the Journal. To subscribe to the Journal, please click here. https://www.equip.org/product/crj-subscription/

When you to subscribe to the Journal, you join the team of print subscribers whose paid subscriptions help provide the resources at equip.org that minister to people worldwide. These resources include our ever growing database of over 1,500 articles, as well as our free Postmodern Realities podcast.

Another way you can support our online articles is by leaving us a tip. A tip is just a small amount, like $3, $5, or $10 which is the cost for some of a latte, lunch out, or coffee drink. To leave a tip, click here https://www.equip.org/product/pmr-jnl-tip/



Other articles and Postmodern Realities podcasts featuring this author:

Sherlock Holmes

Episode 243: The Fall of Sherlock: Investigating the Victorian Detective in a Modern Age

The Fall of Sherlock: Investigating the Victorian Detective in a Modern Age

Revenge Movies:

Episode 225: Wild Justice: Why Do We Love Revenge Movies?

Wild Justice: Why Do We Love Revenge Movies?

The Mandalorian

Episode 217: Thinking About Religion in The Mandalorian

This is the Way…Or is It?: Thinking About Religion in The Mandalorian

Tenet

Episode 205: Time May Change Me, But I Can’t Change Time: Reversing Time to Understand Christopher Nolan’s Tenet

Time May Change Me, But I Can’t Change Time: Reversing Time to Understand Christopher Nolan’s Tenet

A Hidden Life

Episode 155 The Marathon of Martyrdom: A Review of A Hidden Life

The Marathon of Martyrdom: A Review of A Hidden Life

Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker

Episode 154: The Dead Won’t Stop Talking: A Review of The Rise of Skywalker

The Dead Won’t Stop Talking: A Review of The Rise of Skywalker

Fred Rogers and Mr. Rogers Neighborhood:

Episode 150: The Eternal Importance of Being Awkwardly Earnest: A Review of “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood”

The Eternal Importance of Being Awkwardly Earnest: A Review of “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood”

Steven Spielberg Movies:

Episode 139 Clear Skies, Hurt Hearts, Can’t Lose: Why Spielberg’s Aliens Help Make us More Human

Clear Skies, Hurt Hearts, Can’t Lose: Why Spielberg’s Aliens Help Make us More Human

Tolkien

Episode 123 Tolkien’s First Fellowship

Tolkien’s First Fellowship A film review of Tolkien

Alfred Hitchcock films:

Episode 100: A. Hitchcock Films

The Coen Brother’s Films:

Episode 050: O Father, Where Art Thou? The Coen Brothers and the Riddle of Existence

“O Father, Where Are Thou? The Coen Brothers and the Riddle of Existence

The Films of Quentin Tarantino:

Episode 001: The Films of Quentin Tarantino

“Reservoir Gods: Quentin Tarantino’s Premodern Theology

Related:

Episode 173 Jesus Wake Up!

Episode 200 Wisdom for College Zoomers

Wisdom for College Zoomers

Don’t miss an episode; please subscribe to the Postmodern Realities podcast wherever you get your favorite podcasts. Please help spread the word about Postmodern Realities by giving us a rating and review when you subscribe to the podcast. The more ratings and reviews we have, the more new listeners can discover our content.