Seeds of the Word: Finding God in the Culture

by Robert Barron, Timothy Dolan (Foreword by)

Overview

Since the first century, Christians have detected “seeds of the Word" in the surrounding culture. No matter how charred or distorted the fragments, we can always uncover inklings of the Gospel, which can then lead people to God. Through this evocative collection of essays, Bishop Robert Barron finds those “seeds" in today's most popular films, books, and current events.

How do Superman, Gran Torino, and The Hobbit illuminate the figure of Jesus? How does Bob Dylan convey the prophetic overtones of Jeremiah and Isaiah? Where can we detect the ripple of original sin in politics, sports, and the Internet culture?

Finding the “seeds of the Word" requires a new vision. This book will train you to see. 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780988524590
Publisher:	Word on Fire
Publication date:	03/16/2015
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Bishop Robert Barron is the founder of Word on Fire Catholic Ministries and the host of CATHOLICISM, a groundbreaking, award-winning documentary about the Catholic faith. On July 21, 2015, Pope Francis announced his appointment as Auxiliary Bishop in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, and on June 2, 2022, he appointed Bishop Barron the ninth bishop of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester (Minnesota). Ordained in 1986 in the Archdiocese of Chicago, Bishop Barron received a master’s degree in philosophy from The Catholic University of America in 1982 and a doctorate in sacred theology from the Institut Catholique de Paris in 1992. 

Table of Contents

Foreword vii

Preface ix

Imago Dei: God in Film 1

Kierkegaard, Woody Allen, and the Secret to Lasting Joy 2

Angels, Demons, and Modern Fantasies about Catholicism 5

The Stoning of Soraya M. and the Figure of Christ 8

District 9 and the Biblical Attitude Toward the Other 11

The Coen Brothers and the Voice from the Whirlwind 14

The Dangerous Silliness of Agora 17

Eat, Pray, Love 20

True Grit and the Everlasting Arms 23

Why Exorcism Films Still Fascinate 26

The Remarkably Bad Theology of The Adjustment Bureau 29

Of Gods and Men 32

Rise of the Planet of the Apes and the Dangers of Consequentialism 35

Moneyball and Spiritual Leadership 38

The Ides of March and the Danger of Idolatry 42

The Hunger Games: A Prophecy? 45

Viva El Cristo Rey! 48

Spider-Man, Iron Man, Superman, and the God-Man 52

Still Another Cinematic Christ 56

Woody Allen, Moralist 59

Victor Hugo's Retelling of the Gospel 62

The Preachings of F. Scott Fitzgerald 65

Superman, General Zod, and God 68

World War Z and the Council of Trent 71

Noah: A Postmodern Midrash 74

The Fault in Our Stars and the Sacred Heart of Jesus 77

Hercules, N.T. Wright, and the Modern Meta-Narrative 81

The Giver and the Fading Memory of Christianity 84

Take and Read: God in Books 89

The Pathos of Liberal Catholicism 90

What Should Catholics Make of Eckhart Tolle? 93

Ends and Means and The Audacity to Hope 96

The Apocalypse of Robert Hugh Benson 99

A Catholic Reads The Shack 102

A Tale of Two Hitchenses 105

The Last Acceptable Prejudice Rides Again 108

One More Swing at the Catholic Straw-Man 112

The Gospel According to The Hobbit 116

The City Upon a Hill and an Almost Chosen People 120

Why Faith is Indeed a Light 124

Debunking the Debunker 127

Why Jesus is God: A Response to Bart Ehrman 131

City on a Hill: God in Politics 135

Tolerance, Choice, Argument, and Religion 136

Seeing Political Corruption with Biblical Eyes 139

The Fetishism of Dialogue 142

In Whom Do We Place Our Trust? 145

Why It Matters That Our Democracy Trusts in God 148

A Nation Under God, a Nation That Keeps the Sabbath 151

"Reduction to a Singleton" and the Sovereignty of Choice 154

Why It's Okay to Be Against Heresy and for Imposing One's Will on Others 158

The Great Both/And of Catholic Social Teaching 162

Gay Marriage and the Breakdown of Moral Argument 165

Why Anti-Catholic Prejudice Ought to Bother Everyone 168

Rays of Truth: God in the Culture 171

We Have Here No Lasting City 172

The Task of the Next Generation of the Catholic Commentariat 175

A-Rod and Augustine 178

Allowing the Mask to Slip 181

Where are the "Nones" Coming From? 184

Covering Up the Name of Jesus 187

A Secular Europe and the Mission of the Church 190

Why Is Everyone Crazy About Vampires? 193

Judge Judy, Simon Cowell, and the Lord God 196

Reading the Scandal with Biblical Eyes 199

Biblical Wisdom for Troubled Times 203

Creative Nonviolence 207

The Spiritual Value of the BP Oil Leak 209

Muslims, Christians, and Secularists 211

Kenneth Clark and the Danger of Heroic Materialism 214

Bob Dylan in China 217

Celebrating the Death of bin Laden? 220

Why Are So Many Atheists on the CNN Belief Blog? 223

The Acts We Perform, the People We Become 226

If You Want to Be a Good Person, It Does Matter What You Believe 229

Why I Loved to Listen to Christopher Hitchens 232

Andrew Sullivan's Nonthreatening Jesus 236

How to Solve the Bully Problem 240

Savvy Headhunters and the Hookup Culture 243

Sex, Love, and God: The Catholic Answer to Puritanism and Nietzcheanism 246

The Adventures of Classical Morality 249

Sympathy for the Devil 253

Your Life Is Not About You 256

Hannah Arendt's Moral Lesson 259

Cosmos and One More Telling of the Tired Myth 262

Bill Maher and Not Understanding Either Faith or the Bible 265

Attack on Christians in the Middle East 269

The Modern Areopagus 272

Editorial Reviews

Bishop Barron is an exceptional evangelizer and one of the best at finding connections between twenty-first-century culture and the timeless teachings of Catholicism.

Cardinal Timothy Dolan