Avengers: Endgame has now passed James Cameron's Avatar and claimed second place on the list of highest-grossing films of all time in North America. In the previous episode of Three Chords and the Truth, Garrick Bailey and Timothy Paul Jones focused on the metanarrative and the ethical foundations of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In this episode, apologetics professor and superhero super-fan extraordinaire Sean McDowell joins Garrick and Timothy to talk about love, sacrifice, superheroes, and resurrection. In the process, Sean McDowell reveals why he didn't love Avengers: Endgame and why Garrick and Timothy might both be wrong about what would happen if Batman went to war against Iron Man. In the second half of the program, Garrick and Timothy go looking for transcendent truth in the Grammy Award-winning classic "Hotel California." Along the way, they talk about Sehnsucht, plagiarism, and that one time when Timothy was looking for the founder of the Church of Satan but couldn't find him.

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Sean McDowell, Ph.D., is associate professor in the Christian apologetics program at Biola University and the resident scholar for Summit California. He earned his doctorate in apologetics from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Dr. McDowell is the author, co-author, or editor of nearly twenty books including So The Next Generation Will Know (David C. Cook, 2019), Sharing the Good News with Mormons (Harvest House, 2018), and Evidence that Demands a Verdict (Harper Collins, 2017). Follow Dr. McDowell on Twitter at @Sean_McDowell.

1. Why does the theme of sacrifice and resurrection recur in so many superhero films?

2. What has been the most significant moment from the perspective of the themes of sacrifice and resurrection in the Marvel Cinematic Universe?

3. What was the most significant moment from the perspective of the themes of sacrifice and resurrection in the film Avengers: Endgame?

4. How will the rise of secularity shape the next phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe?

B and H Academic

Superheroes Can’t Save You: book by Todd Miles

So The Next Generation Will Know: book by Sean McDowell and J. Warner Wallace

The Weight of Glory: book by C. S. Lewis

Confessions: book by Augustine of Hippo

The Magus: novel by John Fowles

"Hotel California": song by the Eagles

"We Used to Know": song by Jethro Tull

"Desperado": song by the Eagles

"Life's Been Good": song by Joe Walsh

"Running on Empty": song by Jackson Browne

"Tumbleweed": song by Joan Baez

"Comfortably Numb": song by Pink Floyd

"Spider-Man": song covered by the Ramones

ThreeChordsApologetics.com

If you are interested in earning a master’s degree online or on campus that will equip you with the most comprehensive apologetics training available anywhere, go to http://www.sbts.edu/bgs/degree-programs/mdiv/apologetics/

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Three Chords and the Truth: The Apologetics Podcast thanks B&H Academic for their sponsorship. Music for the podcast has been licensed through Artlist.io and performed by the band Vegan Friendly—even though neither Garrick nor Timothy has ever been vegan friendly. Brief excerpts of music played in the second half of each program are included solely for the purposes of comment and critique as allowed under the fair-use provision of U.S. copyright law. "The fair use of a copyrighted work ... for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, ... scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright" (U.S. Code § 107, Limitations on exclusive rights: Fair use).