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Random Acts of Kindness: A YouTube Phenomenon

by Editor

I try to not spend too much time on YouTube. I find that I easily slip into the habit of endless scrolling down the rabbit hole of human strangeness displayed for all to see. But, with my penchant in check, I do every so often dip my toes in the water –  so to speak – and if I’m lucky I come across something that surprises or encourages me. Some months ago I stumbled onto a few YouTube channels that really made me smile. I know what you’re thinking – but no, it wasn’t a video montage of cats in knitted Santa suits…as delightfully moving as that may be.

It turns out that I’d come across something that’s become somewhat of a trend in certain reaches of the YouTuber world: giving! That is, random acts of kindness in the form of extravagant giving to the unsuspecting. What fascinated me even further on taking a closer look, however, was the number of subscribers these channels have, as well as the number of views that these giving videos rack up. As a disclaimer I must naturally add that this is in no way a wholesale endorsement of everything on these kinds of channels – they have other content too – generally some pranks. But it got me thinking. What is it about giving that resonates with us so – especially when we see people receiving gifts that they don’t expect, gifts that they haven’t earned, and gifts that are extravagant?

If, unlike me, you’ve been able to assuage your scrolling penchant with something more productive – like arm knitting, croquet, or competitive mobile phone throwing (an official sport in Finland) – then perhaps you’ve not come across these types of videos. In general the videos include things like giving students in public libraries new laptops, tipping excessive amounts to servers and delivery drivers, going into areas where people are struggling and paying their rent, giving people at the bus stop a new car, paying for cataract surgery, and the list goes on. Some of these channels have more than 200 million subscribers and their giving videos getting upward of 150 million views. This isn’t exactly a new trend though. I remember in the past there have been many TV shows that do the same kind of thing. One in particular would select a family who couldn’t afford it, and build them a whole new home. There is something about seeing this that draws us in and pulls on our heart.

One example in particular that does this kind of thing is a YouTube channel that has more than 10 million subscribers has a series of videos in a section called ‘Giving Back’ with a collection of 70 videos where he gives away expensive tech to random students at university campuses, or huge cash tips to servers at restaurants. Some of these videos have up to 18 million views, so I’m definitely not the only one who found something interesting to see here. In general the response of those on the receiving end is something like “are you serious?”. They’re in complete disbelief. A few of the videos were filmed in the thick of COVID lockdown and he 1 in particular stood out to me. A young lady arrived at the YouTuber’s house to deliver an order and he tipped her $1000. Immediately she began to cry with gratitude and through tears began to share how she had recently lost her baby and had hospital debt to pay, and that this would help her family more than he knew. He ended up finding her details and setting up a GoFundMe page to get her family more support, raising nearly $70 000. That video has almost 4 million views, and a quick reading of the comments section has one resounding sentiment: this is good! Watching this I was deeply moved in seeing someone who’d been through such trauma receiving a gift that made such a difference in their life.

It goes without saying that these YouTubers use the platform as a form of income generation, which is directly linked to the number of views and subscribers that they have – and there’s much that could probably be said about this. But what I want to focus on is the sheer number of views that these giving videos attract, and what it is that makes us resonate with them seeing kind acts.

There’s a story that Jesus told which is recounted for us in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 10, which has come to be known as the Parable of the Good Samaritan. Jesus tells the story of a man on a journey who was attacked by robbers and left for dead. A priest passed by and didn’t help. A Levite, a member of the Hebrew tribe of Levi – meant to be holy people, passed him by. Then a Samaritan came along – Samaritans were considered the enemy – but he saw the need, and he helped. There are many, many complex contextual points Jesus was making through the parable, but the point I want to highlight is that intuitively we all look at the last man that came along and we say that what he did was good – we see the compassion he had and our heart resonates with it, saying this is good. We see it as something noble, worthy of praise. And we look at the former 2 passers by and say that their indifference was wrong – they should had compassion.

When I consider the story Jesus told, and what we see in these videos that are so popular, I begin to wonder. I wonder why there is the seemingly universal experience that we call this good, and have the reflex to condemn opposite actions as bad. We see justice delivered and we applaud. We experience the mountain-top vista and exclaim beautiful. We see a gift given to the undeserving, or someone in need restored, and our hearts sing in compassion as we feel the glow of hope that it brings. In a world that is so full of hate and despair we want to draw near and be part of the experience.

Have you ever wondered if maybe, just maybe, the deep longings and intuitions we have are an indicator of something more going on – a homing beacon of sorts. The Bible teaches that we are made in the image of God. If this is true, then this shared experience of seeing these acts of giving as something noble is what I think we should expect. We resonate with them because there is more to us than meets the eye – we have the love of God written on our hearts, and that love pulses as we see the good done in the world around us. Perhaps God has put this there in our hearts as an indicator of His presence and reality – to point us to Him.

I think there is another level on which we resonate with this though, perhaps in a way that is less apparent at first. When we see those in need or the undeserving getting a great gift we resonate with it because ultimately we too are in need – deep spiritual need – and are undeserving – not living the perfect life God would have us live, we don’t deserve God’s love. The message of the cross of Jesus Christ – the foundation of Christianity – speaks directly to this experience. God, in seeing our need, and in His great mercy, has given us the most lavish and unexpected gift of all – He has given us Himself. And God’s supreme act of kindness wasn’t random, like our YouTuber; but deliberate, targeted, planned and costly.

This is the core of Christmas that is celebrated in so many places around the world. For many Christmas is about the giving of gifts and being with those we love – which is something I love – but sadly I think the core message has often been overlooked or misunderstood. Christmas is about a baby in a manger – but no ordinary baby. Christmas is the celebration of the most extravagant gift of all time. The gift of God entering in to our human experience, taking on the human nature and experiencing life alongside us. God saw our spiritual need and brokenness and entered in, not remaining far off and removed from our human experience came into the world to bring forgiveness and life through Jesus Christ.

The more extravagant the gift, the more unbelievable that it is ours. But the gift of God’s grace is ours – all we need to do is receive it. As you give gifts this Christmas and spend time with those you love – which I hope you will have the opportunity to do – remember the gift of Jesus Christ.

May the Lord bless you abundantly this Christmas.

Can Happiness Last? – Outreach with Glasgow Grace

by Editor

Steve Osmond reports from a good night with Glasgow Grace Church. His topic was ‘Can Happiness Last?” and was part of “Bridges”, the regular outreach events held by Glasgow Grace Church. In the video, Steve talks about the event, and why he spoke on that topic – as well as how encouraging he found Glasgow Grace, and their consistent commitment to sharing the gospel.

Why Does God Seem So Far Away?

by Solas

Why does God seem so far away? Often times it can feel as though God just isn’t there. Even when we search and call out for Him, it can feel like He is just silent and distant. How do we know he is there, and that He does care? In this short answer video Steve Osmond considers how the events of the first Christmas, when Jesus was born, speaks powerfully to this question.

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Undercurrents: Dr Who and the Human Longing for a Messiah

by Editor

“Do you wanna come with me? Because if you do, I have to warn you… it won’t be quiet, it won’t be calm, it won’t be safe. But I’ll tell you what it will be – the trip of a lifetime!”

I thrilled with these words as a teenager. Christopher Eccleston’s Doctor Who invited the audience to join him on his adventures through time and space, in the trailers for the long running science fiction show’s 2005 return.

We all long for purpose, for an adventure to be part of. And the adventures of the Doctor and Rose, Billie Piper’s everyday shop assistant from London who joined in his travels in the TARDIS, spoke to my longings for something more.

A better way of living

In Christopher Eccleston’s final episode, The Parting of the Ways, the Doctor sends Rose home to protect her from the Daleks. Rose is distraught. She tells her mum, “It was a better life. And I don’t mean all the travelling and seeing aliens and spaceships and things. That don’t matter. The Doctor showed me a better way of living your life. You know he showed you too. That you don’t just give up. You don’t just let things happen. You make a stand. You say no. You have the guts to do what’s right when everyone else just runs away.”

We hunger for justice, to be able to stand up for what’s right. If you’re a Doctor Who fan, I suspect that you find a similar resonance – it’s not just the exciting adventures with Daleks and Cybermen that appeal, but the character of the Doctor, the values that the show stands for.

The lonely god

The Doctor is a brilliant hero – a lonely god, a madman in a box. He is paradoxically both a scientist and a messiah-figure. He (or sometimes she) appeals both to our desire for something rationally believable. The show is science fiction, not out-and-out fantasy – it at least gestures towards grounding its flights of imagination in scientific possibility.

But the Doctor also appeals to our longing for a rescuer, a messiah. The Doctor uses his brain rather than brawn. The Doctor makes a stand, but gives enemies a chance to turn back from their schemes. He is willing to forgive his enemies and lay down his life for his friends. Sound familiar at all?

As much as I love the Doctor as a character, he is only a fictional hero. But what if everything we find appealing in the Doctor is a signpost to a real hero, a true messiah?

A better Time Lord?

Two thousand years ago, someone else asked, “do you wanna come with me?” Jesus of Nazareth called ordinary fishermen to leave their nets and “Come, follow me”.  Like the Doctor, he didn’t promise a life that would be calm or safe. But he did promise life – spiritual life, a life of meaning and purpose, in harmony with God.

If you’re not familiar with the Gospels, you might be surprised at the Jesus you discover there. Like the Doctor, he seems to take command of whatever situation he finds himself in, always finding a way to escape the traps of the religious leaders and turn the tables on them. No mild-mannered hippy urging people to simply be nice, the Biblical Jesus is quick-witted, funny and caustic.

Like the Doctor, Jesus invites us to a life of not giving up, of standing up for what’s right, even if it meant being killed by the unjust and the powerful – just as he was himself when he died on the Cross.

Regeneration and resurrection

In The Parting of the Ways, Rose found a way to get back to the Doctor. She looks into the heart of the TARDIS, directly into the time-space vortex. And for a brief moment, she gained the power of a goddess. Glowing with energy, Rose scattered the Daleks to dust and restored her friend Captain Jack from death to life.

But this power was too much for any human to bear. Only by the Doctor absorbing the energies of the time vortex, giving up his own life, could she be saved.

The Doctor died – and yet was reborn, regenerating into a new body (that of David Tennant, no less!), as is his ability as a Time Lord, though the Doctor’s ultimate origins have been revealed in recent stories to be even more mysterious.

Jesus’ story doesn’t end with the Cross.  The astonishing claim of the Gospels, of the New Testament writings, is that Jesus rose from the dead. This is the extraordinary proof for Jesus’ extraordinary claim to be the Son of God, the promised Messiah.

‘Of God’s party without knowing it’?

What’s more, the amazingly appealing values of the Doctor – caring for the weak and oppressed, the use of violence as a last resort, self-sacrifice, forgiveness – are remarkably Christian values. As Tom Holland brilliantly describes in his work of history Dominion, we take these values so much for granted because our Western culture stands so much in the shadow of Christianity, but there isn’t anything inevitable or obvious about them.

The scientific rationalism that is the default worldview of Doctor Who is unable to ground these values, to give a foundation that can nourish them and make sense of them. If the universe is only the product of impersonal scientific laws plus chance plus time, then there’s no ultimate meaning, no reason to see the Doctor’s values as any more true or valid than the racial purity of the Daleks or egotistic power-seeking of the Master.

Of course, atheists can share these values derived from Christianity. Atheist writers like Russell T Davies and Steven Moffat put their own humanistic spin on the Christ-like imagery that tends to accumulate around the Doctor. Note for example how it’s Rose, the ‘ordinary’ shop worker from London, who becomes the Bad Wolf with god-like powers, not the Doctor. When the Doctor encounters a being that may just be the devil himself in The Satan Pit, he says of Rose that ‘if there’s one thing I believe in, it’s her’. And after building up the mythos of the Doctor as someone who had ‘put a lot of work into the universe’, Steven Moffat tried shifting the emphasis of the Doctor from being a ‘lonely god’ to a ‘madman in a box’.

But if Christian poet John Milton’s sympathetic Satan in Paradise Lost made Milton ‘of the devil’s party without knowing it’, then perhaps the Christ-like heroism of the Doctor makes writers like Davies and Moffat ‘of God’s party without knowing it’. For all the Doctor’s rationalism, with David Tennant’s Doctor cheekily saying of the Easter story in Planet of the Dead “what really happened was…” before being cut off, he lives in a way that isn’t perfect, but is remarkably and wonderfully Christ-like.

Making your story a good one

We all need a story to live by. But is the story of Jesus any more real, any more substantial than the story of Doctor Who?

A story invented by BBC scriptwriters might not have the pedigree of a world religion, but it doesn’t have the body count of Christianity’s complex history, either. Why not write our own script, whether as a humanist or Buddhist or Jedi or Harry Potter fan, or whatever other story we might choose to follow? As Matt Smith’s Doctor said in The Big Bang, “we’re all stories in the end, just make it a good one, eh?”

But I think we know deep down that truth does matter. It’s not enough for Doctor Who to be a good story; it’s not good enough for Christianity either. For a story to give us a meaning big enough to live by, it needs to be true.

Mad, bad or (Time) Lord?

The historical evidence for the story of Jesus is remarkably robust: the Gospels aren’t myths set ‘a long time ago, far far away’, but in specific time and place, based on the testimony of eyewitnesses to the events. Something happened to give the early church extraordinary confidence that Jesus was God, risen from the dead.

Having studied the Gospels carefully and considered their historical context, I’m convinced that the only explanation is that these things really happened, just as the Gospel accounts say.

Why Doctor Who fans should follow Jesus

So the way I see it, if you’re a Doctor Who fan, then you should become a Christian for three main reasons:

One, because Jesus is the reality that your love of the Doctor points towards.

If you love the Doctor, if you want a hero to inspire you, to forgive you, to help you become better and make the world better, don’t just settle for a fictional character. Discover the reality of Jesus, who is in so many ways the template for the Doctor’s heroism.

Two, because Christianity best gives a foundation and grounding to the moral intuitions that the Doctor embodies.

If you know in your bones that the justice and love and forgiveness that we see in the Doctor aren’t just a subjective perspective or evolved human consensus, then you need a better explanation for your moral intuitions than atheism or materialism can offer. If you aspire to live like the Doctor, then there’s no better foundation than knowing that the ultimate ground of reality being a God of love: Father, Son and Holy Spirit in eternal loving unity.

Three, you should become a Christian because Christianity is objectively true.

Jesus really lived, died and rose from the dead. Why not investigate this for yourself? Read the Gospels, look into the historical data. If you’re willing to allow the possibility, I believe you’ll discover that Jesus is the real Time Lord who stepped onto planet Earth in real space-time history. And like Timothy Latimer said of the Doctor in The Family of Blood, Jesus is the one who ‘sits at the heart of the sun and sees the turn of the universe – and he’s wonderful’.

Do you wanna come with Jesus?

So how about it? Jesus: do you wanna follow him? Being his disciple won’t be quiet, won’t be calm, won’t be safe. Jesus regenerates us, transforming us not externally like the Doctor, but on the inside, making us new people who can live new forgiven lives of love and courage. Being Jesus’ companion means working to heal the world of danger and injustice and burnt toast.

Following Jesus is better than the trip of a lifetime – it’s the start of eternal life adventuring with him forever.

Andy At The Filling Station Arbroath

by Editor

In this short video, Andy Bannister talks about the work of “The Filling Station” trust, and why he enjoys travelling and speaking at their local gatherings around the country. He recorded this after his first visit to one of the newest Filling Stations, in Arbroath on Scotland’s east coast. He did some trianing for them on conversational evangelism, and sought to empower and encourage the Christians there to be more confident and competent in sharing their faith.

Have You Ever Wondered If God Is A Hypocrite?

by Solas

Is God being unfair or hypocritical when He seems to do the things that we are told not to do? Why does God make rules for humanity that we are expected to keep, when it looks like He doesn’t abide by them himself? In this short answer video we explore this tricky question from the perspective of God’s justice as a perfect God with a perfect moral standard.

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The Challenge of Evangelism – Andy at Moorlands College

by Editor

It really enjoyed the recent opportunity I had to go and preach and speak at Moorlands College, down on the south coast of England. I was invited to preach at the college’s chapel service, which was a real honour – and hugely enjoyable too. Moorlands College is a practical theology training institution and a really great place for Christians to dig deeper into their faith go and study for one-year short courses, or for many years of deeper study. The aim is to help them all become more equipped and trained, not just to understand their faith better- but to put the theology they learn into action.

At Solas we have had a great relationship with Moorlands over the years. Chris Sinkinson, who is on the faculty there, is an old friend of mine who has spoken at a Solas conference, and appeared on our PEPTALK podcast too.  The new principal at Moorlands College, Andy du Fey, I have also known for some years, and I love the passion everyone at Moorlands shares to equip the next generation to take their faith and put it into action, on the mission field, in the secular workplace and in the church.

I spoke about conversational evangelism: How to Talk About Jesus Without Looking Like An Idiot! I have recently released a book with that title, so it seems to be the subject that everyone wants to me to address wherever I go! Discussing this with the staff at Moorlands was interesting, because Bible Colleges can be very sheltered environments. It could be very easy to go to somewhere like Moorlands and hide away from the world for two or three years while studying. So I tried to stir things up a bit by saying to the students, “You may be here during term time, but you will have family members, friends and neighbours who you see at weekends or during holidays. You will meet people who do not share your Christian faith when you are out and about in the town. So how do you take this faith that you are studying and learning so much about at Moorlands, and share that with the people that The Lord bring across our path?”

We ended the session with a time of prayer. I encouraged the students to call to mind the name or face of a non-Christian friend or neighbour who they might expect to meet soon -and to pray that The Lord will create opportunities for conversation with them about Him, next time they meet. I was so encouraged to hear from some admin staff and the guy on the sound desk about how they had really resonated with the topic and were planning and praying about how they could be more intentional about sharing their faith in Jesus.

Solas remains a partnership ministry, we supply speakers and training to churches, other ministries like SU, and CU’s and also Colleges like Moorlands. We don’t run our own events, but only serve the church, running events at the invitation of the churches to build up what is already on the ground around the country, never replicating or competing with the existing expressions of the body of Christ! So, please do get in touch if we can serve you in evangelism or evangelism-training and equipping.
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Editor’s footnote. Andy du Feu, the Principal of Moorlands College was obviosuly encouraged by Andy Bannister’s visit. He wrote:

“One of the possible dangers of training at a bible college is your brain expands but the passion you started with dwindles. That’s one reason why Moorlands is committed to putting faith into action, whether it is leading and teaching in a church, serving in a homeless shelter, youth club, CAP centre, or hosting a warm space.

But even then, I’m reminded of Tim Chester’s challenge, that “without explanation these are like signposts pointing nowhere, or worse – pointing to our good works. The gospel is good news: a message to be proclaimed, a truth to be taught, a word to be spoken and a story to be told.” In very simple but powerful words, Andy instilled confidence in our students to share the good news, dismantling many of the barriers that can cripple our good intentions.

Theology can get so complicated. R.C. Sproul defined evangelism as one beggar telling another where to find bread, but we can make it the job of professionals, and abdicate our responsibility by leaving it “to them”. But it’s our job. And our time. Andy brought a timely challenge with pastoral concern to address the fears that can exist, of looking like an idiot, feeling like a fool, and ending up embarrassed about Jesus.”

With Derek Lamont

by Solas

In this episode we chat with a church planter and football chaplain working in the heart of Edinburgh. Be inspired by his approach to multiplying churches by sharing life and faith with individuals in a busy and cosmopolitan city. 

With Derek Lamont – PEP Talk

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Our Guest

Derek Lamont has been a pastor for 33 years, 22 of them in the centre of Edinburgh, with the Free Church of Scotland. His current church, St Columba’s, has planted four new churches in different communities of the city. He will be leaving St C’s in January to re-plant a Gospel church at the foot of Leith Walk.  Derek is married to Catriona with four grown-up kids – two of whom live in America, the other two are married and work for churches in Edinburgh.

About PEP Talk

The Persuasive Evangelism Podcast aims to equip listeners to share their faith more effectively in a sceptical world. Each episode, Andy Bannister (Solas) and Kristi Mair (Oak Hill College) chat to a guest who has a great story, a useful resource, or some other expertise that helps equip you to talk persuasively, winsomely, and engagingly with your friends, colleagues and neighbours about Jesus.

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Andy at SU Equip! in Edinburgh

by Editor

It was great to be back in Edinburgh recently where I had been invited to speak at a Scripture Union event. SU RUN “Equip!” evenings in various parts of Scotland, designed for young people aged from around thirteen to eighteen. We had about twenty-five to thirty young people on the evening I visited them in Edinburgh.

At Solas we have a great relationship with Scripture Union Scotland, and have done all kinds of work with them over the years. Some of the things we have done for them have been aimed at encouraging and equipping their staff – at other times we have been engaged in direct youth work alongside them. So, knowing their work well – it was a joy to be invited to talk to their young people on one of my favourite subjects; “How to Talk About Jesus Without Looking Like An Idiot”. That’s also the title of my new book. The idea behind that book is to write an accessible, funny, down-to-earth and practical guide to evangelism today. One of the intended audiences from the start was students, in fact a lot of the material in the book has been taught and tested in front of audiences of students and young people over the years.

The young people at SU Equip in Edinburgh were very engaged and receptive to the talk and they even laughed at my jokes which is very gratifying (‘unusual?’ – ed). I shared some stuff from the Bible on the way that Jesus went about having conversations, and then taught some tools that we can use today in everyday conversations with friends at school. Then we split into discussion groups, and what was really exciting was to hear the noise level grow as really great discussions took off all around the room. That led into a really good time of Q&A with some terrific questions. I was so encouraged that the young people were really thinking about how to share their faith with their friends. Many of them said they were finding it hard but they were wrestling with it. Some of them had been in conversations and had brought back questions their friends had raised. So it was a really lovely opportunity to help those Christian kids feel that little bit more confident in talking to their friends at school about their faith.

It was also really good to get some copies of the book into the hands of the young people. We had managed to get them a ‘student discount’ price on it, and lots of them came to buy it. Overall it was great to be part of what SU are doing. We love working with them and have a huge amount of respect for their ministry.

Jenny Thomson from Scripture Union wrote: “It was great to have Andy with us at Equip in Edinburgh. This was the first Equip of the academic year, so we had some young people in S3 there for the first time, who laughed at Andy’s jokes and entered into lively, on topic, discussion at group time. Andy only brought four of his books with him and there was an appetite for more. It was a great topic to start the new school year with as young people try to stand tall for Jesus in difficult places.”

 

Why Do Christians Feel They Have To Share Their Faith?

by Solas

What is it that compels a Christian to tell others about Jesus? Why do we bother speaking to those who can’t be bothered by spiritual things? But whether it’s the performance of your favourite football team, a hidden gem of a beach found on your holidays or the mind-blowing experience you had at the Taylor Swift concert, we all have a deep desire to share these with others. When it comes to the truth about Jesus, it’s just too good (and too important) to hold in!

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Short Answers is a viewer-supported video series: if you enjoy them, please help us continue to make them by donating to Solas. Visit our Donate page and choose a free book as a thank-you gift!

Undercurrents: The Exorcist, Fifty Years On

by Editor

After 50 years, William Friedkin’s The Exorcist is still surprising us. Since its release in 1973, the film has garnered a reputation for being one of the most notorious shockers to assault the silver screen. But in the wake of the numerous films that put torture front and center, cinematic thrillseekers may be disappointed. For all its vomit-spewing, head-spinning antics, The Exorcist is a subtle, if uncompromising, exploration of the mystery of faith—one that ingeniously dresses its most skeptical character in the vestments of a priest.

At this point, even those who sedulously avoid the film likely have a passing familiarity with its story. Having exhausted all medical avenues, Chris MacNeil, not religious herself, comes to believe her daughter, Regan, is possessed by an evil spirit and seeks the help of a Catholic priest, named Damien Karras. The Exorcist wouldn’t be nearly as frightening without Ellen Burstyn’s utterly convincing performance as a mother shattered by her daughter’s transformation into a malevolent caricature of her former self: “I’m telling you that that thing upstairs isn’t my daughter!” It’s also worth mentioning here that the film’s most harrowing scenes involve not any Satanic depredations, but rather a series of invasive medical tests culminating in a carotid angiogram. Director William Friedkin cut his teeth working on documentaries and he brings a stark realism to these scenes that will challenge even the most jaded of viewers.

The opposite of the painstaking auteurs who see their actors as glorified puppets, William Friedkin was after spontaneity in his films. Not that he was always easy on actors. Burstyn sustained a back injury during filming and Friedkin was perfectly willing to fire a gun into the air or slap someone across the face to capture a genuine look of shock. Part of what gives The Exorcist such staying power is its electrifying atmosphere of unbridled intensity. The film doesn’t have the polished sheen of a carefully staged production, but rather the chaotic energy of a disaster scene. There were no multiple takes, actors delivered their lines in their own words, and Friedkin kept the cameras rolling well after the performances ended. The result is a film with an uncanny sense of verisimilitude. Every time I see it, I can’t help thinking, ‘is this really happening?’

William Peter Blatty’s novel on which the film is based, confronts readers with a straightforward argument: If the devil is real, then so are God and his angels. William Friedkin then made a film that provokes fear that outpaces skepticism. Put simply, it’s hard to deny what ‘scares the hell’ out of you. In her classic exploration of the genre, Men, Women, and Chainsaws, Carol Clover argues that horror films play a game of cat-and-mouse with their audiences. The films we celebrate “win.” By this standard, most horror flicks come up short, delivering a series of poorly executed, thoroughly predictable scares that audiences handle as easily as a cheap crossword puzzle. Plenty of horror films cheat by aiming at shock value, but shock always has an expiration date. For better or for worse, The Exorcist pounces on its viewers by marrying a highly confrontational style with great spiritual depth, reserving its most powerful scares for after the credits have rolled.

“I think I’ve lost my faith, Tom.” So confesses Fr. Damien Karras to his superior at the beginning of the film. And Karras remains a skeptic until his final moments. When Chris approaches him about a possible exorcism for her daughter, he stares at her dumbfounded before replying that he’d first have to get Regan into a time machine and take her back to the sixteenth century. In the advent of modern medicine and psychology, he maintains, such archaic measures are now obsolete. With his deep-set eyes and haunted face, Jason Miller’s Fr. Damien Karras is the archetypal faithless priest. Like Miguel de Unamuno’s San Manuel Bueno and Graham Greene’s “whisky priest,” Fr. Karras prioritizes his priestly role over his unbelief. “There’s not a day in my life where I don’t feel like a fraud,” he intones to a man he’s counseling, and this spiritual anguish is evident throughout the film.

But Fr. Karra’s unbelief meets its match when he enters the house at 3600 Prospect Street. By this point, Regan’s body has become a malign canvas for the evil spirit inhabiting her. From the furtive scampering sounds in the attic to the phlegmy wheezes of Regan’s breathing, the film’s sound design is also a nerve-shredding tour de force. The most inspired sound decision, however, concerns the voice of the demon itself. With the help of actress Mercedes McCambridge, whose commitment to the role was spelled out in copious amounts of alcohol and cigarettes, Regan’s voice sounds like a lecherous old man speaking from the trenches of a lifetime of dissipation. It’s a ravaged human voice—not some robotic studio creation and witnessing it coming from a little girl is equal parts unnerving and obscene.

When he finally seeks church approval for an exorcism, Karras is not yet convinced the case is the genuine article. But he must concede that it meets the necessary criteria. An old stalwart is called in to lead the rite. Portrayed with grave dignity by Max von Sydow (aged with makeup), Fr. Lancaster Merrin displays none of Karras’s skeptical misgivings. “I think it might be helpful if I gave you some background on the different personalities Regan has manifested,” says Karras. “So far I’d say there seem to be three.” When he tries to go on, Merrin swiftly interjects: “There is only one.”

The film’s ending mirrors the story’s ambition. Merrin will die of heart failure in the midst of the exorcism, driving Karras to invite the demon into himself, at which point he jumps from the window. He receives last rites from his friend, Fr. Dyer, before succumbing to his injuries. A direct encounter with supernatural evil has saved his faith.

The first clue that The Exorcist is after more than cheap thrills arrives in its opening. After a series of shrieking violin strings, the title appears on-screen in blood red letters, accompanied by the Adhan (the Muslim call to prayer). We are then plunged into an archeological dig taking place in the ruins of Nineveh. Though it may initially seem disconnected from the rest of the story—indeed this Iraq prologue almost didn’t make it into the film—it deftly showcases the film’s central tensions surrounding ancient evil invading the modern world.

A clue to the film’s inner workings arrives in its prologue. In one scene, we see Merrin turning over an amulet of Pazuzu, king of the wind demons in the ancient Mesopotamian religion. He was believed to offer protection from other evil spirits and these amulets were used to ward off spiritual attacks. For some mysterious reason, Merrin is shaken by the figure, seeing it as a portent. The museum curator remarks, “Evil against evil.”

The most famous shot in The Exorcist reveals the silhouetted figure of Merrin approaching the MacNeil house as a radiant shaft of light falls from Regan’s bedroom. Inspired by René Magritte’s Empire of Light, the shot offers a spiritual inflection of the painter’s inversion of light and darkness: The Exorcist, the ostensible source of light is here a figure of darkness, while Regan’s bedroom, the site of supernatural evil, is portrayed as an effulgence of light. In a word, this is the film’s strategy. If William Peter Blatty’s novel set out to prove God’s existence by confronting us with supernatural evil, William Friedkin’s The Exorcist gives such fulsome shape to supernatural evil that we are forced to take it seriously again. In this sense, he’s fighting fire with fire. Evil against evil indeed.

Granted, the film is a serious work of art, but what accounts for its lasting spiritual resonance? One of my childhood Sunday school teachers once characterized it as “the most evil film” she’d ever seen. The famed evangelist Billy Graham said much the same, going so far as to claim that there was evil in the very celluloid on which the film was captured. In response to such statements, I want to argue that a compelling portrayal of evil is not necessarily evil in itself. In some cases, it’s even necessary. Imagine a portrayal of the torture at Abu Ghraib that downplayed its horrors. This would amount to a moral compromise that honors neither the victims nor the audience.

Christianity is unique in its serious treatment of evil. It does not claim that evil is an illusion. It does not claim that it’s some importunate inconvenience that thwarts human flourishing. It does not claim that evil is merely ignorance in need of education. For Christians, evil is all too real and its final defeat comes through nothing less than the cross of Christ.

Most films trivialize evil by giving us a world devoid of any significant moral consequences. Lying, stealing, infidelity, murder—all are played for laughs in much of our entertainment. Conversely, The Exorcist confronts us with a serious vision of evil, one that cannot be explained away by psychology and modern science. Friedkin’s tactics may not always be noble, but the spiritual legacy of his film is.

Editor’s note.
The Solas Undercurrents series examines important themes in popular culture. In so doing, we are not endorsing or recommending the media in question! Evil is an important and significant topic in everything from film to novels to art to, of course the Bible, and a crucial one to discuss. We also want to encourage Christians whose friends or colleagues have watched this film to be equipped with good questions to ask them. For a deeper dive into engaging with culture, we recommend Dan Strange’s book, Plugged In.

 

Happiness at Hillbank!

by Editor

It was good to be at Hillbank Church in Dundee recently to help them put on an outreach evening where we looked at the topic: “A Better Story of Happiness”. That’s a topic I address regularly, because as you talk to people you realise that everyone wants to be happy in some way. People are always saying things like, “I wish I could just be happy.”

But the question of where we look for happiness is another matter altogether. The contemporary world encourages us to look for happiness in physical things such as food, or sex. Another place people look for happiness is through performance; and enjoying success. Sport is an obvious example of that, but so are performances at school or work, or in academia – these are all arenas in which succeeding is viewed as a route to happiness. Another place people look for happiness is in service, that is pouring our lives into others maybe into our kids, or into charity work.

Now, obviously there is nothing inherently wrong with any of those things. But there is so much evidence that of you make any of those things ‘the centre of everything’, and make that thing the basis of your happiness, you will ultimately be let down. That is because those things run out, you get ‘diminishing returns’. Take food for example, eating doughnuts is pleasurable, but if you keep eating them non-stop it leads not to happiness but to unhappiness! If you seek happiness through performing you can never feel secure because one day someone will join the sport who is better than you, or you lose that prestigious job, or your standard of living drops. Even helping others can run out, people who pour their lives into their kids can feel lost they leave home, or if the people they have helped through a charity no longer needs them. All of those things are insecure.

Also – on the evening at Hillbank I mentioned that the famous atheist Friedrich Nietzsche remarked that if you are only helping other people to feel happy about yourself, then you are not really helping them, but rather selfishly using them in your pursuit of happiness!

So, how can we find a true source of happiness? That is the important question that I delved into in the last part of the talk. The point is that we need to find an ultimate source of true joy and happiness outside of ourselves. True joy and happiness must come to us as a gift. That of course took us right into the gospel itself, which is all about God’s grace coming to us from outside of us. It comes not because we earn it, or achieve, but as a gift. The gospel connects us to God, who is the true source of an eternal happiness that we can taste here.

As usual after the talk, we opened the floor to Q&A and had some great questions on things such as suffering and how we can know joy when life is truly terrible. There was one really interesting question when someone asked about the difference between happiness and joy. We tend to refer to happiness as being something that can be quite up and down depending on circumstances, whereas joy is a deeper thing which transcends circumstances. Another terrific question from a younger member of the audience was, “If I became a Christian would that automatically guarantee that I would always be happy?” And the church has sometimes given the impression that that is the case, I our communication. So I wanted to be very honest and say that it doesn’t. In fact, the first Christians in the New Testament found that being Christian initially brough them more unhappiness because it initially led to immense persecution and difficulty. However, what you have as a Christian is the guarantee that God is with you through those difficult circumstances, the guarantee that your suffering is not meaningless (as it is on atheism), and also the gift of knowing the deeper joy that comes from knowing Christ and being known by Him. That means that even when circumstances are rubbish, there is something deeper beneath them, whereas in atheism there just isn’t.

It was great to work with Hillbank Church in Dundee again and to support them in their great work in consistently sharing the gospel of Christ with the people of their part of the city. Hillbank have been friends of Solas for many years, and have worked with Solas on both evangelism and evangelism-training.

Matty Blakeman from Hillbank:

“First and foremost, we were extremely encouraged by the Solas evening.

In terms of turnout, we really didn’t have a clue what to expect. While we’ve done plenty of different outreach type events in the past, we usually do a meal with it and do gender-specific events because capacity is limited when tables are all put out. This time we opened it up to men and women and took the meal element away so we could have a better number in. Sadly, we learnt nearer the time of the event that quite a few that would usually come to our events were put off by the lack of meal. We also had a comment from one church member that she found hard to invite people or get them to come along without the offer of food beforehand. Getting people to come for JUST the talk wasn’t as big a sell which is food for thought for us (no pun intended!).

So going into the event, we really had no clue how many people to expect. This wasn’t helped by the fact that the rain was torrential on the evening which stopped at least a handful of people who had committed to come from making it (mainly from the other side of the Tay bridge).

As it turned out, 40 people were there which we were really pleased with. Of the 40 there was a mixture of people. We had regular church members, friends of church members including a handful non-Christians who would be completely unchurched, a group of young people/students who might be described as being ‘on the fence’ in terms of a Christian walk. But for us, what was most noticeable was that there was a contingent of people, maybe just a handful again, who are family/friends of those in the church and who used to come regularly but haven’t been for a long time to anything. They have really fallen away from the Christian life and don’t even attend Christmas or Easter services and are very difficult to get any contact with these days – yet to the surprise of many, they came along to this event. What is also notable is that I think each of these people has some kind of battle with mental health (anxiety, depression and suicidal thoughts). One of them who is going through a particularly hard time opened up a bit to Andy at the end who prayed for him.

We had refreshments before and after the event and we planned for the event itself to last about an hour with 25 mins or so at the end set aside for Q&A. Andy’s talk was excellent as we knew it would be. I was a bit nervous about the Q&A as folk send to be a bit shy with these things but I didn’t need to be as folk were very forthcoming. There were some really good conversations afterwards too.”

 

PEP Talk with Steve Osmond

by Solas

Andy and Kristi sit down with the newest member of the Solas team to discuss his passion for evangelism. Having arrived in Scotland recently from South Africa, Steve Osmond reflects on the opportunities, surprises and challenges we have here. Kristi is also interested in Steve’s background in zoology and how that has informed his conversations with atheists.

With Steve Osmond – PEP Talk

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Our Guest

Steve Osmond hails from South Africa, where he earned his MSc in Zoology from the University of Johannesburg, specialising in ecotoxicology and ecological risk assessment. Along with his passion for the natural world, he also has a love for theology: exploring the connections between faith and reason, and how Christianity makes sense of the world. He has been involved in pastoral ministry and creating training programmes for discipleship in theology and apologetics. Steve holds a MA in Apologetics & Theology from Southern Evangelical Seminary. He now lives in Perth, Scotland with his wife Robin and two young daughters.

About PEP Talk

The Persuasive Evangelism Podcast aims to equip listeners to share their faith more effectively in a sceptical world. Each episode, Andy Bannister (Solas) and Kristi Mair (Oak Hill College) chat to a guest who has a great story, a useful resource, or some other expertise that helps equip you to talk persuasively, winsomely, and engagingly with your friends, colleagues and neighbours about Jesus.

SUPPORT THE PODCAST

Panic Free Conversations about Jesus: Andy at the CSLI

by Editor

Join Solas’s Andy Bannister, with Joel Woodruff and the C.S. Lewis Institute for a lively webinar in which they discuss helpful ways for Christians to share their faith with others in everyday conversation. They look at good practice and biblical principles – as well as some pitfalls to avoid along the way. The whole programme is in the window above.

Andy’s Big Trip ‘Down Under’

by Editor

 

Solas supporters may have noticed that Andy Bannister was conspiciously absent for a few weeks. We’re pleased to report not only that he’s back safely; but that while he was away he wasn’t lying on a tropical beach or wiling his time away at Butlins – but was on an extensive preaching in Australia. Watch the video above to find out more about his exploits. It’s all about the challenges and opportunties of gospel ministry.