Rácsok, Gabriella (2013) A film mint missziói eszköz korunk változó vallásosságának kontextusában [Film as a Means in Mission in the Context of Today’s Changing Religiosity]. Doctoral thesis, Debrecen Reformed University of Divinity.
Full text not available from this repository.Abstract
Thinking about film as a possible medium assisting the preaching ministry of the church is almost as old as thinking about the motion picture and cinema itself. From the church’s being called and being sent it follows that in order to be able to bear witness about the Gospel she must continuously seek ways to the changing world. This may also involve changes in the way the Gospel is preached. In ages of different levels of technical development this process is basically determined by the differences in information media generally available. History provides us with several lessons about that. It is sufficient here to think of reading the Bible having been a privilege of a minority for long when the masses were able to gather information based only on oral communication, or images, and other works of visual arts. The spreading of printed products and the widening possibility of mastering reading fundamentally changed the way people acquired information. Modern technical means and modes of expressions, including film as well, have brought similar revolutionary changes. If we regard film as a dominant art form of our time, we are faced with the following questions. Can film become a suitable means of communicating the Gospel? Can film influence the ways people relate to religion? To answer this we must examine first the role of religion in people’s lives today, and the impact of the changed social processes on the individual’s religiosity. (Chapter 1) Looking at the religiousness of today’s European individual we come to a phenomenon that can be better described by a subjective turn than by postmodern characteristics. This subjective turn can be described by the following tendencies: the monopoly of religious traditions is replaced by a pluralistic cultural context in which religious traditions become commodities; the individual’s religious quest retracts to the personal sphere, there is no need for institutional mediation; the meaning making of the individual turns from intellectual to emotional; his/her need for referring to something in order to experience fullness turns from the transcendent to the immanent; his/her religiosity turns from dogmatic to experiential. The religiosity of the subjective turn is characterized by believing without belonging that seeks sources of religious contexts and experiences without permanent commitment to institutionalized forms of religion; internal motivations of religiousness become stronger over against external ones; prescribed religion is replaced by acquired religion which brings along a reflective character in opposition to the former naïve one. We keep these characteristics valid of the religiosity of a gradually growing part of Hungarian society. Along with this the need for experiences seems to increase the role of mass media in today’s people’s lives. Film seems to be the right place to inquire about the religiousness, faith, religious beliefs and experiences of today’s people. Cinematography is a special medium for expressing things that (post)modern persons are concerned about. Film as a social (communal) medium expresses the experiences and insights of a whole staff, and thus may serve as a barometer for the human condition. Film tells us what is happening in the world, not in the external (political or social), but in the internal world of human beings. This approach makes film the source of theology, from which theology can get information and turn its own reflections in the direction of urgent questions, thereby helping the church participating in God’s mission get to know the context of the audience receiving the Gospel better: how people of our time think about religion, faith, God, sin, grace, redemption, heaven and hell? What terms do they use at all for these biblical and theological concepts, or what content do they fill these with? By means of the functional definition of religion the religious functions of film can be described as well. (Chapter 2) The cultural-anthropological, sociological, psychological and theological approaches to religion make it possible to describe religion partly as a human need to find and make meaning. Due to the subjective turn, this process takes place mostly outside the traditional institutional religion; and media as a communicative channel, language and environment play a critical role in it. Modern electronic media have confirmed the need for experience and being drawn into – and the audiovisual medium of movies seems to have played a key role in this. Consequently, the mode of communication has become dominant in what content the audience is open to perceive and to receive. Setting out from the existential (or hermeneutic) function of religion the religious function of film can be explored: both represent and interpret reality, both tell such authoritative (orientating) symbolic stories that communicate worldview and ethos, form moods and motivations in the listener / viewer, and both have ritual dimensions. All these, of course, do not answer the question what makes a film religious. To answer this it seems useful to distinguish between understanding the plot of a film (ars intelligendi) and assigning abstract (e.g. religious, ideological, psychological) meaning to a film (ars explicandi), since meaning is revealed by the two combining. In this multi-level process of understanding and interpreting, the viewers / audience play a central role. The meaning of a particular film is ultimately born in the viewer, (s)he constructs meaning, and cannot receive it ready-made. Cinematic storytelling seems to be a suitable narrative mode for (post)modern persons: it corresponds most closely to their rhythm of life, makes entertainment (stepping out of everyday reality into the realty of imagination) easy, and allows for individual interpretation. Setting out from the transcendental function of religion, theological approaches to film become essential. (Chapter 3) In linking theology and film, our inquiry (How do films and their viewers become part of the talk of God?) cannot be confined exclusively to academic or church circles, but must include the wider public, social spheres as well, in entirely or less explicit ways, depending on what issues arise, whether they specifically relate to God (theology in a narrow sense), or to great issues of being human (questions of anthropology). Since the incarnation of the divine broke through the separation of the eternal and the finite, the divine and the human, it is possible not to set the two against each other. In establishing the relationship of theology and film, the first obvious option seems to be film retelling biblical stories and illustrating theological truths or ethical dilemmas. In this possessive approach illustrative and didactic functions are emphasized, and theology is viewed as rather static, when it seizes the task of interpreting the film narrative, and decides about its theological and religious content. A more dynamic view is reflected when theology looks at film as a “text” that can be placed beside other “texts”, allowing a dialogue between them. An essential condition to the dialogue is to respect the different languages of the texts. If we set out from the linking ability of the theological language, the context of the relationship between theology and film seems to be a proper place for doing theology. In cases of films retelling biblical stories and/or theological truths theology can connect the biblical times and/or the church traditions with their cinematic treatments, by creating a mutually enlightening interpretative arch or hermeneutical circle. This connection is done by placing the contexts of the author of the biblical text and that of the filmmaker side by side; comparing the two may shed more light on both the biblical text and the cinematic work. In this process of connecting, the context of the interpreter is determining, as it seems unlikely that without former biblical or religious paradigms (s)he may assign theological or religious meaning to the film. This meaning-making process in the viewer may be accompanied with experiences or expectations of being transformed. The interpreting task of theology in this case is not to tell the viewer what to find in the film, but to help place the constructed meaning, lived experience or formulated alternatives into a theological or religious framework. In the religious aesthetic approach to film, experiencing the divine as an aesthetic experience (inventio) must be distinguished from the knowledge of God (certa notitia). Consequently, regarding the sources of theology (from special revelation to experience) one must differentiate and prioritize. In the context of the subjective turn in religion, narrative theology seems to be the most suitable approach to the encounter of theology and film. Film has become the main storyteller by the beginning of the 21st century. Film tells stories by presenting such human conditions and events which by means of aesthetic experience (the viewer’s being drawn into the story) may become possible alternatives for the viewer: (s)he may bring his/her own story into the film or may set it side by side or opposite to it. The mission task of the church in this situation is to help today’s individual find the biblical creation-fall-redemption narrative as a framework for meaning making, that is, to help connect the subjective side of religion to the objective one. In other words, the mission task of the church is to point to the God-story in which human life can find meaning, that is, to point to the question what the real story is in which our life-stories are also included. This also means that although theology can rightly claim that in its formulations it understood this biblical narrative, it must give up its claim that it has fully understood or exposed this truth. All reality is interpreted reality. In view of this we must be able to accept that interpreting the biblical narrative solely in confessional dogmatic frameworks also has its limitations. The contemporary cultural and cinematic interpretations of the biblical narrative are not by all means empty relativisms, but may help better understanding and thus enrich the biblical text and our contexts with their fresh insights. To do this we need the ability to hear and listen to the stories of others, either that of the filmmaker or the viewer. Theology thus becomes a talk of God by its reflection to the Word of God (special revelation), while reflecting to the motives of the religious quest of humans (anthropology) and to those metaphors or analogies of redemption/salvation that seem to be the most useful in understanding the biblical narrative, and which are suitably presented and communicated by films. In the encounter of theology and film interaction takes place at various levels. On the one hand, we may seek to answer the question to what measure film contributes to theology being seen and heard in contemporary society. On the other hand, we may examine what films and watching films do to people concerning theological themes. In the meantime we may also observe what theological themes are born as a result of this interaction. The exploration of the religious functions and theological significance of film takes place in the sphere between the religiosity (spirituality, implicit religion) of the subjective turn and specific religious and theological traditions. Exciting dialogues may develop about what beliefs, opinions or questions are surfacing about God, faith, humans, redemption, and hope in particular interactions. The theme of our work requires us to explore what church formulations are available on the possibility of using contemporary mass media, including films in particular, as a means in mission. (Chapter 4) Having surveyed these international church and mission documents (Roman Catholic encyclicals, council decrees, pastoral instructions; statements, reports and studies of the World Council of Churches and the Lausanne Movement) we can see that a theology of creation and incarnation provides the foundation for approaching the issues related to media. From the goodness of creation it follows that God can communicate through any cultural expressions or media; and Christ’s incarnation is the model for the church in all kinds of communication. A common feature in the documents is the missionary motivation for using the media; we can find both the horizontal (social ethics) and vertical (evangelization) dimensions of mission as communicating redemption (soteriological motive). However, the documents do not go beyond the simplistic view of instrumentalism concerning the media, including film, and ignore the fact that the meaning of the communicated message is born between the “text” and the listener / viewer. In relation to the vertical dimension of mission, we find differing answers to the question of the relationship between media and preaching. We agree with those formulations of the documents which recognize that mass media, including film in particular, may become integral part of the preaching ministry, but are not identical with preaching. Theological approaches to culture may provide us with a more general framework in which the different emphases may show not mutually exclusive, but rather complementary directions. (Chapter 5) Paul TILLICH’s theology, due to its apologetic character, may help the church hear contemporary quests for meaning (existential questions) and interpret them as quests for God for the audience of contemporary culture. Karl BARTH’s approach warns us that the self revealing God may provide such true words or worldly parables outside the Scriptures and the church which may become unconscious and involuntary witnesses of the One True Word, by the grace of God. Since film as an intermediary means enables trans-cultural (and cross-cultural) communication and contextualization, it is possible to consider the relationship of theology and film from a contextual theological view of culture. When theology looks at film merely as an instrument for illustrating, it may correspond to the translational contextual model. For mission it means translating the Gospel into the language of the cinematic medium or contemporary culture in order to transfer the message more effectively. (Mostly formal equivalence can be found in the so-called Jesus movies.) The trans-cultural contextual model takes into account the host culture, and seeks ways in which the Gospel can be relevant in that particular culture. This approach takes into consideration that the receiver has his/her own culture and context, and recognizes the importance of these needs, since the Gospel must address these relevantly. In the relationship of theology and film it is still theology that sets the direction for interpretation; its own interpretation paradigms suggest implicit religious or theological content and significance for the receiver / viewer. (The hidden Christ-figures in film may be an example.) The transformational contextual model recognizes that the receiver filters the message communicated to him/her in a way that the Gospel is set in different lighting for him/her. The Gospel as text enters interaction at several levels; it interacts with the contexts of the filmmaker and the viewer. Both text and context are transformed. New dimensions are revealed in the Gospel which have not been revealed in other contexts. This does not mean that the (cinematic) representation of the Gospel becomes unfaithful to its original context or meaning, but is transformed in such a way that the recipient finds it relevant to his/her situation. This model is about meaning-making, requires constant reflection, and may provide nuances of meaning for particular contexts. In the process of reflection (reflective involvement) the viewer is transformed, an alternate reality takes hold on him/her (inventio). At the same time, the transformational contextual model allows the Gospel to approach culture, including contemporary culture mediated by film, critically, and to say no to its dehumanizing forms and contents. This, however, belongs to issues of communication or media ethics.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Subjects: | B Mission theology/theory > Evangelism/Proclamation of Gospel B Mission theology/theory > Contextualization/Inculturation C Types of Christian Ministry > Media ministry |
| Divisions: | Central Europe > Hungary |
| Depositing User: | Users 3 not found. |
| Date Deposited: | 12 Oct 2018 12:32 |
| Last Modified: | 12 Oct 2018 12:36 |
| URI: | https://ceeamsprints.osims.org/id/eprint/1098 |
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