The list of the top 100 Spiritually Significant Films has been posted at the Arts and Faith Message Board.

I did a quick count and I have seen over 40 of the films listed. I agree with most of the list (not necessarily the ranking, but that they belong on the list), though there are always some that are absent and others that you wonder if they should be included in the top 100. I was somewhat surprised that I had not even heard of the top film: Rosetta (Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne, 1999). It looks interesting. I will have to put that on my “to view” list.

I was happy to see one of my favourite films, Magnolia (P.T. Anderson, 1999) on the list at #27. I just presented a lecture on “Redemption in Magnolia” in my Religion and Popular Culture class last week — Going through the film again made me realize why I like that film so much. Brilliant!

OK, this advertisement for St. Paul Property and Liability Insurance is absolutely hilarious.

Thanks to Talmida for the heads up!

OK, time for a Friday night rant. I personally find a lot of Christian advertising and marketing to be somewhat vacuous and mildly offensive — OK “offensive” may be too strong, perhaps “irritating” is more accurate. I think much of it cheapens the gospel.

In particular, this ad has bugged me for a while (I was using it as a coaster for my big gulp).

What bugs me about this ad is the (neopagan) association of ecstatic feelings with prayer and (perhaps more disturbing) the use of sex appeal to sell books about prayer. I’m not saying that prayer is never emotional (of course it is). In my mind this just one-to-one association between prayer and ecstatic emotions feeds the superficial nature of a lot of Christian spirituality where people go from one prayer/worship “fix” to another like junkies. This doesn’t engender serious discipleship, IMHO.

Oh, yeah, BTW, I “photoshopped” the picture to remove the name of the bookseller (I also changed the books in the picture; I was surprised to find “Idiot’s Guide” and “Dummies” books on prayer!).

A colleague sent this to me — I’m not sure about any other educators out there, but I could relate!

Jesus took his disciples up on the mountain and gathered them around him. And he taught them, saying “Blessed are the poor in spirit. Blessed are the meek. Blessed are those who are persecuted. Blessed are those who suffer. When these things happen, rejoice, for your reward will be great in heaven.”

And Simon Peter said, “Do we have to write this down?”
And Phillip said “Is this going to be on the test?”
And John said, “Would you repeat that, slower?”
And Andrew said, “John the Baptist’s disciples don’t have to learn this stuff.”
And Matthew said, “Huh?”
And Judas said, “What’s this got to do with real life?”

And then one of the religious leaders, an expert in law, said, “I don’t see any of this in your syllabus. Do you have a lesson plan? Where’s the student guide? Will there be a follow-up assignment?”

And Thomas, who had missed the sermon, came to Jesus privately and said, “Did we do anything important today?”

And Jesus wept.

The latest SBL Forum has an essay on teaching biblical Hebrew by Charles David Isbell that is quite thought-provoking: “The Hebrew Teacher: Guru, Drill Instructor, or Role Model?”

Isbell argues that “there are three indispensable components for teaching and learning biblical Hebrew.” These are

1. The first concerns the relationship between teacher and student. Here it is the attitude of the teacher that is important. We need to honour our students and seek their best interest at all times, even those who are difficult to reach. In this regard he also highlights that teaching introductory Hebrew should not be pushed off to inexperienced teachers, but should be taught by the best teacher on staff.
2. The second key to teaching biblical Hebrew is motivation. Good teachers must find ways to motivate their students, to fan the flames of their interest. A great way NOT to do this is the following:
   

   I believe the best way to quench the fire of desire is by continuing to teach Hebrew the way most of us learned it. The routine is well known. Memorize these words. Learn these rules. Identify these forms. Translate these meaningless English sentences into “biblical Hebrew,” which you don’t understand yet and which modern scholarship assures us Moses himself did not write so clearly. Spend at least one full semester on these numbing exercises before you ever get to open the text of the Bible to an exciting narrative.

3. The final point that Isbell makes pertains to method. Here he gives us his “Ten Commandments for Hebrew Students” as well as seven tips for teachers. I thought it was quite funny to read how Isbell remembered the Hebrew word for tent! In every Hebrew class I have taught, virtually all my students have used the same association: “O hell, the tent is ripped,” or the like.

I would highly recommend any Hebrew teachers read Isbell’s forum. While much of it may not be new, it is always good to think about such things!

Filed in: Hebrew Language Pedagogy