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Viewing Film Through a Biblical Lens: Welcome to My Blog!
At Screen Devotions, we bridge the gap between cinematic passion and spiritual depth. Rooted in a biblical worldview, we examine modern film through a lens of faith—discovering God’s grace, truth, and eternal hope in the stories we watch.
Wrestling with Faith and Media
During my college years, I didn’t just study the technical and artistic aspects of film; I dove deeply into understanding media through a “Christian worldview.” I spent a lot of time wrestling with big questions: How should Christians interpret culture? How should we watch movies? And how can we live out a biblically grounded life in a media-saturated world?
The Apple Experiment: Why Perspective Matters
Let’s try a quick experiment. If I tell you to “think of an apple right now,” what comes to mind?
Someone might picture a shiny red apple, while someone else imagines a crisp green one. Others might envision a single apple with a leaf on its stem, or perhaps an entire apple tree. Culture works exactly the same way. Even when we watch the exact same movie, we all interpret it differently because we view the world through the lens of our unique backgrounds, experiences, and personal values.
Putting On Our “Biblical Glasses”
It’s just like wearing tinted glasses. If you put on red glasses, the whole world looks red. Switch them out for blue ones, and the world suddenly turns blue.
That is exactly why I want us to intentionally put on our “biblical glasses” when we look at movies and pop culture. In an era where AI feeds us standardized answers and homogeneous perspectives, we often risk losing our ability to think deeply for ourselves. Instead of relying on passive consensus, I invite you to cultivate your own discerning eye—rooted in scripture, your personal journey, and a biblically grounded worldview.
Using the Bible as our ultimate standard, my goal is to explore cinema from a fresh perspective, reflect on the deeper questions its stories raise, and consider how biblical truth speaks into our everyday lives.
The Foundation Behind the Lens
My approach to film and culture did not begin with Screen Devotions. During my theological studies, I became deeply interested in how Christians should engage with culture and how stories can shape the way we understand ourselves, our neighbors, and the world around us.
H. Richard Niebuhr’s exploration of Christ and culture helped shape the way I think about Christian engagement with the world around us. Rather than simply rejecting culture or accepting it uncritically, I believe we are called to engage it thoughtfully and discern what its stories reveal about human nature, our deepest longings, and the beliefs that shape our lives.
C. S. Lewis also profoundly influences the way I think about story and imagination. Stories can awaken questions that abstract arguments sometimes cannot. They can help us wrestle with love, sacrifice, suffering, temptation, hope, death, redemption, and the longing for something beyond ourselves. This is why I believe cinema can become a meaningful place for reflection—not because every film contains a hidden Christian message, but because stories often reveal the questions human beings have always been asking.
A Reformation-Shaped Biblical Lens
At the theological foundation of Screen Devotions are the convictions expressed in the Five Solas of the Reformation. They do not function as a checklist that I force onto every movie. Rather, they help establish the biblical foundation from which I engage the stories on screen.
Sola Scriptura — Scripture Alone: Scripture is the ultimate standard by which I discern the ideas, values, and visions of human life presented through film. A movie may raise profound questions or express something true and beautiful, but the screen is never my final authority.
Solus Christus — Christ Alone: Rather than treating every heroic or sacrificial character as a symbol of Jesus, I ask how a film’s portrayals of salvation, sacrifice, brokenness, and human longing compare with the redemption ultimately revealed in Christ.
Sola Gratia — Grace Alone: Stories frequently confront us with failure, forgiveness, undeserved love, second chances, and restoration. These themes can open deeper reflection on humanity’s need for the grace that we cannot earn for ourselves.
Sola Fide — Faith Alone: Films often reveal what people trust when life becomes uncertain—power, success, relationships, themselves, or something greater. These stories invite us to examine where we place our own trust and what it means to respond to God in faith.
Soli Deo Gloria — To the Glory of God Alone: The ultimate purpose of Screen Devotions is not simply to understand movies better. It is to allow the questions raised beyond the screen to lead us toward deeper reflection on how our lives might glorify God.
Coram Deo: Beyond the Screen
This is where reflection must become life. Coram Deo—“before the face of God”—reminds us that faith is not confined to church, theology books, or devotional moments. We live every part of life in the presence of God, including the way we engage with the culture and stories around us.
That is why Screen Devotions does not simply ask, “What does this movie mean?” We also ask: What does this story reveal about us? Where does its vision of life resonate with Scripture, and where does it challenge or contradict it? What might we learn about loving God and loving our neighbors? And how should we live differently after the screen goes dark?
My hope is that Screen Devotions becomes a place where cinema leads to deeper questions, deeper questions lead us back to Scripture, and Scripture shapes the way we live—Coram Deo, and ultimately Soli Deo Gloria.
Don’t look away from the screen! Look deeper!
Grab some popcorn, and welcome to the conversation!
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