Conrad Johnson's Blog, page 14

Movie Review: HBO's Fahrenheit 451 (2018)

The critics may not be crazy about this 2018 version of Ray Bradbury's epic, dystopian story, but that shouldn't stop you from enjoying this high tech, darker version of the film version directed by Ramin Bahrani and starring Michael B. Jordan as Montag, the conflicted fireman who starts fires (instead of putting them out) in an official capacity.
The film is set in a futuristic society where deep reading and critical thinking skills are criminal. All books are banned except for emoji versions of the Bible, Moby Dick, and To The Lighthouse.  The job of the Cleveland Fire Department (that's right-Cleveland as in Ohio), is to search and destroy any paper or electronic manifestation of any other book, work of art or sheet music. And the hunt is always broadcast around the world, live on social media and the official news via the global Internet platform called the "9" as in, perhaps, the Temptations classic song, Cloud Nine ? It's not such a far stretch since the theme of the song is escapism through drugs and that's exactly what the 9 offers in this film-constant diversion and the easy ability to offer eyedrops that serve as a vehicle for mood altering drugs. Think YouTube and Amazon on steroids combined and you get the picture.
Montag is a media sensation and the protegee of Captain John Beatty, played by Michael Shannon, who befriended him when he was the son of an "eel" (outlaw book readers and hoarders) caught up himself in one of these book burning raids. Montag, because of the drugs and conditioning, has a vague, dream-like memory of his early life and Beatty makes him his favorite, targeting him as his replacement for leader of the Fire Department when he retires.  
All is going well in Montag's mindless career of violence sanctioned by the State in the name of democracy. At one point, Beatty heartily proclaims, "We are not born equal so we must be made equal by the fire!" Fireman Montag lives to burn and he drives the kerosene truck to crime scenes with hearty bravado, leading his team on with raucous choruses of the official fight-the-eels song, "Salamander burn, salamander burn, hoorah!"
However, when on a routine raid, Montag watches an old woman eel choose to go down in flames with her books rather than surrender and to have her identity wiped with a device that erases fingerprints, the fireman begins a long, torturing journey with his conscience. Enter Clarisse, played by Sofia Boutella, as the hapless eel informant who is constantly pressured, sexually manipulated and watched by Captain Beatty. 


Sofia Boutella
Montag follows her one day into the outskirts of the city, known as a black hole--a place where the 9 can't reach. No cell phone service. No Internet. No electronic media of any type. The black holes are hiding places for the eels and the Fire Department rarely goes into them because of the technology block and distance away from civilization. But Montag starts to visit Clarisse regularly there and they soon become emotionally involved. Tender scenes showing them close and reading books together with Clarisse acting as teacher offer a moving contrast to the violence of Montag's life up until this point. 
Montag eventually joins the resistance fully and helps the eels with their plans to disseminate the Omni DNA virus that contains all the literature, film, art and media ever created into a world dead of independent thinking. But in order to be fully trusted by the eels, he has to prove himself by killing a fellow captured fireman. As one of them says to him, "Revolution is not a dinner party."
Purists will claim that too much of Bradbury's original story line has been altered, especially the ending, but the central theme rings just as true, and more ominous than ever, in this modern rendition of a future that we are already living in. One aged journalist eel who is captured in the film explains, "People didn't bother to read and to think about the thousands and thousands of words in an article anymore-they just read the headlines." Are we not already at that point with the world of identity politics in which we have immersed ourselves in? Haven't we shut out opposing viewpoints on our Twitter or Facebook feeds and refuse to acknowledge a world of alternative possibilities to our media fed opinion? Indeed, as Beatty rightfully explains at one point, "We demanded a world like this." Perhaps the Information Age  has become too much for us to bear. Yet there's still enough enjoyable action and violence in this excellent screenplay for those of us who are too tired to think.
But you, Daniel, roll up and seal the words of the scroll until the time of the end. Many will go here and there to increase knowledge--Daniel 12:4

Happy 509th Birthday, John Calvin!

July 10, 2018 marks the 509th birthday of John Calvin.  But the streamers and balloons are nowhere to be found.  Simply put, we live in a day that is so wrapped up in technology and new inventions that we tend to forget the lessons of the past, especially the lessons of dead guy. Continue to article.

A "Liberated From Islam" History Lesson

Statue of Pelayo in Covadonga, Spain

One holdout, King Pelagius of Asturia, drew supporters and won the  Battle of Covadonga, 1,300 years ago. The Iberian Peninsula was never the same.Editor’s note: The following account is excerpted and adapted from the author’s new book, Sword and Scimitar: Fourteen Centuries of War between Islam and the West. Exactly 1,300 years ago, in the year 718, a little-remembered kingdom was born in Spain. It soon led to the liberation of the Iberian Peninsula from Islamic occupation. To appreciate the significance of that development, we must travel back seven years earlier, to 711, when Arabs and Africans, both under the banner of Islam, “godlessly invaded Spain to destroy it,” to quote from the Chronicle of 754. Once on European soil, they “ruined beautiful cities, burning them with fire; condemned lords and powerful men to the cross; and butchered youths and infants with the sword.”Go to article

Jackie Hill Perry and Spiritual Warfare

Jackie-Hill Perry and Defining the Relationship

Review: Martyn Lloyd-Jones:His Life and Relevance for the 21st Century

Who exactly was Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones? The answer will most likely be very different depending upon which source you consult or who you ask.

His Wikipedia page summarizes him as "a Welsh Protestant minister and medical doctor who was influential in the Reformed wing of the British evangelical movement of the 20th century." That is perhaps the safest (and most ecumenical) description of the man that exists. But to his grandson who wrote this splendid portrait of Lloyd-Jones, he seems to transcend any possible pigeonholed definition that so many preachers and theologians like to use as crutches today.

First of all, it should be noted that the Doctor (as he is affectionately referred to by his admirers) never attended any formal scholastic training to become a preacher. Yet his biblical insights, doctrinal clarifications and powerful sermons and books would never betray that amazing fact. All his formal training was in the medical field and he tossed a very promising and lucrative career in medicine aside to heed God's call to return to his home country of Wales to preach to an impoverished and alcohol ravaged, rural population. His simple explanation for this motivation (as recorded in the excellent documentary of his life, "Logic on Fire: the Life and Legacy of Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones") was that he felt he had "something to say". And say it he did.

Just the sheer volume of the number of his sermons (and to some extent, his writings)and the far reaching, global impact it had during his lifetime amazes. He was no simple twenty minute homily giver on Sunday mornings but a consumed, passionate expositor of the Epistles who would sometimes take years to carefully parse through and explain lovingly and patiently gospel truth to his thousands of faithful listeners who attended London's Westminster Chapel most notably during and after WWII when the planet was in complete chaos and turmoil. He stood for Christ and Christ spoke through him to reach and to teach countless millions, never compromising his principles and understandings of Scripture. No gimmicks. No "seeker-sensitive" prosperity message. Just a good old fashioned call to repentance for all broken sinners to come to the cross and to find a message of hope, glory and redemption through the saving grace and power of the Holy Spirit.

In this portrait of his grandfather, Christopher Catherwood illuminates so much of the man and his legacy that escapes those who just listen to his wonderful sermons which can be all downloaded for free at MLJTRUST.ORG. Many of Dr. Lloyd-Jones' statements and positions have been misunderstood by theologians and some of his contemporaries which is not unusual. Academic preachers, more often than not, seem to have an axe to grind or a point to make rather than a gospel saving message to deliver like the Doctor so clearly did. And this is quite obvious to any Spirit led Christian who listens to him or who reads his books. His commentary and exposition on the the pivotal book of Romans is much sought after and resonates with timelessness and truth like very few others do in this post-Christian day and age.

Martyn Lloyd-Jones:His Life and Relevance for the 21st Century is not so much a biography as it is an appeal for the modern man to see Mr. Catherwood's grandfather as he truly was and as the Doctor humbly saw himself-nothing more than a forgiven sinner. It also squarely places him within the context of his contemporaries regarding his practices, his visions and hopes for the true church and his frustrations as a messenger of God who constantly gave all the glory to Christ who clearly anointed him to rekindle the torch of the Reformation and to pass it on to the next generation of the elect. You will certainly come away with a unique and candid view of the Doctor's ministry after reading this book and will hopefully be encouraged to enlarge the dimensions of your Christian discipleship through Lloyd-Jones' teachings, references and unapologetic stance and defense of sola scripture as the only valid means to a glorious end.
During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act--George Orwell

Sign the Nashville Statement on Biblical Sexuality

“Know that the LORD Himself is God;It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves...” -Psalm 100:3 

Preamble Evangelical Christians at the dawn of the twenty-first century find themselves living in a period of historic transition. As Western culture has become increasingly post-Christian, it has embarked upon a massive revision of what it means to be a human being. By and large the spirit of our age no longer discerns or delights in the beauty of God’s design for human life. Many deny that God created human beings for his glory, and that his good purposes for us include our personal and physical design as male and female. It is common to think that human identity as male and female is not part of God’s beautiful plan, but is, rather, an expression of an individual’s autonomous preferences. The pathway to full and lasting joy through God’s good design for his creatures is thus replaced by the path of shortsighted alternatives that, sooner or later, ruin human life and dishonor God. Read the full statement online here.

The end times, the antichrist and the rapture

Martin Luther's Hidden Yet Lingering Effect in Spain

HEROES OF THE SPANISH REFORMATIONIn the first part of the sixteenth century, Luther’s publication of the Ninety-Five Theses started a new movement across Europe which we know as the Reformation. By 1525, not only were Luther’s works translated into Spanish but Illuminist teaching was taking hold and subject to scrutiny and opposition. Read the full article here.

Amazing New Technology Lets Computer "Read Minds"

Arnav Kapur-developer of AlterEgo
Image credit: Lorrie Lejeune/MITMIT researchers have developed a computer interface that can transcribe words that the user verbalizes internally but does not actually speak aloud.The system consists of a wearable device and an associated computing system. Electrodes in the device pick up neuromuscular signals in the jaw and face that are triggered by internal verbalizations — saying words “in your head” — but are undetectable to the human eye. The signals are fed to a machine-learning system that has been trained to correlate particular signals with particular words. Read the full article and see how it works.