In this episode of The Image in Cinema, we take a dive into the world of James Cameron's Avatar: The Way of Water. We will seek to answer the question, "Can fatherhood and pantheism coexist?" If you're not sure about why this question even needs to be asked, take a listen to the episode and find out. Enjoy.

The fact that humanity is made in the image of the biblical God, Yahweh, simply means that we are made in accordance with His likeness. He is entirely good and made humanity to reflect His goodness. However, when humanity fell into active rebellion against Him, the image of God within them became marred. We now see both evil and good in the world. The evil we see is evidence of a marred image. The good we see is evidence of the fact that His image is still present within us. Even with this marring, His image still shines through in us all. Because we are made in His image, we crave community, we love to love, we love to feel love, we rejoice with justice, we mourn in the midst of evil, we care for nature, etc. This list could go on and on. 

These desires show up in the stories of our time, most influentially in the form of cinema. I wish to demonstrate that the deep themes presented to us in different films, both old and new, are in fact meaningful because we live in a meaningful world governed by a loving God who bestows meaning. 

The Image in Cinema's intro and outro music provided by DJ Gravitt.