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Saw a film once called "Knowing" with Nicolas Cage...and it was very interesting seeing how many were estatic over the film/its implications for Christianity and the Bible. To be clear, I enjoyed many aspects of the film...especially as it concerns their depictions of things such as the Wheel from Ezekiel's vision ( Ezekiel 1, Ezekiel 3:12-14 , Ezekiel 10:1-3, Ezekiel 10, Ezekiel 11:21-23 , Daniel 7:8-10 , etc ). Truly amazing. The film, of course, was another "UFO Theology" film that indicated that the Bible was written by beings of higher intelligence rather than a real God...
For more info, one can go online and review the following:
As said by some reviews (for a brief excerpt):
Other good reviews---from a theistic perspective--can be found if choosing to go online/investigate an article under the name of "The Knowing: A Christian Film Analysis and the “Alien Gospel" Deception ( ).
On the issue, I thought it was interesting to see how many in the world of Atheism seem to find it more reasonable to believe in E.T rather than in a Supernatural God who would come down to save them. However, as it concerns the reality of how often many have noted that much of the scriptures are not necessarily exhaustive on all points of reality, I can agree with others who say its wrong for Christians to assume that atheists are wrong for believing in intelligent life outside of Earth.
And I at times struggle with seeing how dogmatic many believers can be when it comes to claiming life outside of our world could not have been apart of the Creation itself.
As often as people discuss evangelism among those who are unsaved, I've often noticed how little concern has been given to those within the atheistic world who may be more open to believing in E.T than Yeshua....and IMHO, I think there needs to be more engagement of that.
If anyone else has seen the film and has thoughts, would love to hear..specially on how it seems that Christians and Atheists differ on the supernatural/defining such---and what the best stance should be in regards to the subject of E.T dynamics..
Saw a film once called "Knowing" with Nicolas Cage...and it was very interesting seeing how many were estatic over the film/its implications for Christianity and the Bible. To be clear, I enjoyed many aspects of the film...especially as it concerns their depictions of things such as the Wheel from Ezekiel's vision ( Ezekiel 1, Ezekiel 3:12-14 , Ezekiel 10:1-3, Ezekiel 10, Ezekiel 11:21-23 , Daniel 7:8-10 , etc ). Truly amazing. The film, of course, was another "UFO Theology" film that indicated that the Bible was written by beings of higher intelligence rather than a real God...
For more info, one can go online and review the following:
- UFOs, Aliens, and Faith: A Review of the Movie “Knowing”
- "Knowing: A Christian Film Analysis and the 'Alien Gospel '" << Sapientia Mundi, Wisdom of the World...
As said by some reviews (for a brief excerpt):
The movie production "Knowing" directed by Australian Alex Proyas does to Christian theology what many audio enthusiasts often do to copyrighted material. Just as music CD's are often ripped from their original formats and stored in various other file formats, Proyas has ripped from the Old Testament and the New Testament, the Christian doctrines of Predestination, the Inspiration of Scripture, Biblical Prophecy, the doctrine of God's providential care through Angels, the Rapture, and the Apocalyptic doctrines of the Judgment on the earth and the doctrine of a New Earth, and Proyas cast them into a natural scientific mold, to make some money at the horendous cost of distorting the Christian message.
For Ezekiel's vision of the throne of God in heaven with archangels surrounding the throne, Proyas recasts the original majestic Biblical vision into his script of a prophecy of the sun throwing a solar flare of catastrophic proportions. In place of the angels who do God's bidding and care for human beings, he substitutes benevolent alien creatures of light who appear in human form whose mission is to select a new Adam and a new Eve from among human generations. In place of Biblical Prophecy and the Doctrine of Inspiration, Proyas has his alien beings dictating number sequences to gifted humans in order to predict dates, disasters, and their locations which occur over several decades on the earth, culminating in the cryptic "EE" which stand for "everyone else"'s destruction.
Proyas borrows from the Christian doctrine of Predestination to have his Aliens only allow "those who are chosen" to be saved from the destruction of the earth. For the rapture of the Church, Proyas uses a levitation scene sequence that lifts the "chosen ones" into an alien craft to escape the earth's destruction. For the New Testament prophecy of the judgment of the earth, Proyas calls for a solar flare that destroys everything by intense heat (2 Peter 3:11-13), and for the Doctrine of a new Adam, and of a new Earth, Proyas has his aliens depositing the chosen human couple in a new planet with the Tree of Life (Revelation 22:1-3) in the middle of it.
Having ripped what he needs from Christian Doctrine, Proyas leaves God out of the movie. He cannot include Creation, or Sin or Judgment of Wickedness. There is no Cross, no Atonement for sin as the basis of salvation. These are alien to the natural scientific world view. As atheists do, Proyas, speaking through his movie character John Koestler the college professor, played by Nicholas Cage, would rather believe in mythological alien beings and determinism instead of the existence of an all-wise Creator-God who cares for His creation but judges wickedness. In the movie, John Koestler's pastor-father knows what his scientist son does about the earth's impending catastrophe, but he knows it only in the language of traditional Christianity, and is impotent to do anything about it. A van bearing the name of Jesus is shown lost among the chaos of destruction engulfing the earth. Proyas wants to portray that the Aliens are the savior of mankind, not Jesus.
To be consistent with his naturalistic mindset, John Koestler should have declared, "All is lost! We are not chosen. We will all perish!" Instead, he declares that those who have died "are in a much better place." Much better place where? Atheism and scientific naturalism have no such place.
For Ezekiel's vision of the throne of God in heaven with archangels surrounding the throne, Proyas recasts the original majestic Biblical vision into his script of a prophecy of the sun throwing a solar flare of catastrophic proportions. In place of the angels who do God's bidding and care for human beings, he substitutes benevolent alien creatures of light who appear in human form whose mission is to select a new Adam and a new Eve from among human generations. In place of Biblical Prophecy and the Doctrine of Inspiration, Proyas has his alien beings dictating number sequences to gifted humans in order to predict dates, disasters, and their locations which occur over several decades on the earth, culminating in the cryptic "EE" which stand for "everyone else"'s destruction.
Proyas borrows from the Christian doctrine of Predestination to have his Aliens only allow "those who are chosen" to be saved from the destruction of the earth. For the rapture of the Church, Proyas uses a levitation scene sequence that lifts the "chosen ones" into an alien craft to escape the earth's destruction. For the New Testament prophecy of the judgment of the earth, Proyas calls for a solar flare that destroys everything by intense heat (2 Peter 3:11-13), and for the Doctrine of a new Adam, and of a new Earth, Proyas has his aliens depositing the chosen human couple in a new planet with the Tree of Life (Revelation 22:1-3) in the middle of it.
Having ripped what he needs from Christian Doctrine, Proyas leaves God out of the movie. He cannot include Creation, or Sin or Judgment of Wickedness. There is no Cross, no Atonement for sin as the basis of salvation. These are alien to the natural scientific world view. As atheists do, Proyas, speaking through his movie character John Koestler the college professor, played by Nicholas Cage, would rather believe in mythological alien beings and determinism instead of the existence of an all-wise Creator-God who cares for His creation but judges wickedness. In the movie, John Koestler's pastor-father knows what his scientist son does about the earth's impending catastrophe, but he knows it only in the language of traditional Christianity, and is impotent to do anything about it. A van bearing the name of Jesus is shown lost among the chaos of destruction engulfing the earth. Proyas wants to portray that the Aliens are the savior of mankind, not Jesus.
To be consistent with his naturalistic mindset, John Koestler should have declared, "All is lost! We are not chosen. We will all perish!" Instead, he declares that those who have died "are in a much better place." Much better place where? Atheism and scientific naturalism have no such place.
When Caleb is given the number list, the page appears, to the uninitiated, to be a meaningless series of hand-written digits. But under the methodical, scientifically-trained eyes of John Koestler, a pattern begins to emerge. By analyzing the numbers and their sequence, John is able to reconstruct the message, and, in doing so, creates context for the remaining numbers. “Prophecy” is the word that John uses to describe his findings. John has in his hands an instrument that unerringly tells the future.
At first, John’s colleagues write him off as a numerologist, arguing that throughout history people have been able to discern "codes" in just about any document. But when the next event comes to pass precisely when and where it was predicted, and with the predetermined number of victims, even the most hardened skeptic softens. If only our own skeptical culture could have the same response to the prophetic accuracy of the Scriptures.
As John ferrets out the secret knowledge contained in the list, Caleb and young Lucinda Embry (a new acquaintance) are apparently being stalked by “the whispering people,” mysterious beings that appear, as if from nowhere, imparting messages to the children. In one dramatic scene, Caleb is given a desperate vision of a coming apocalypse. As the remaining date on the list draws near, John discovers more clues, the children’s connection to the whispering people tightens, and the need for everyone to know the truth becomes insistent.
______________________
As the final date approaches, John uncovers a message in the list that tells him where people must go to be saved. But when he arrives, he gets the Hollywood version of Matthew 22:14: “many are called, but few are chosen.” John arrives at the predetermined location to find Caleb and Lucinda already there.
Accompanying them are the four whispering people, who have shed their outer human appearance to be revealed as luminous beings. Behind them, a giant wheel-within-wheel vehicle straight out of Ezekiel awaits. Though John received the call, apparently only Caleb and Lucinda are chosen to leave. Somehow John gains understanding – how, we are not sure – and sends the children off, now knowing that this life is not all there is, and that they will be together in the future. The children enter this chariot of fire and lift off into the sky.
The climax of Knowing delivers an apocalyptic vision that looks, startlingly, like something right out of the Bible. John drives back into town to be with his father. As they hug, a solar event drives superheated gases straight toward the earth, which ignites like a match head. We view the destruction from many vantage points. The message is driven home: nothing is spared. 2 Peter 3:10 describes it this way, “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.” Just as God used clouds and rain to destroy the Earth in a flood, who is to say whether He will use the sun as the source of destruction at the end of days? Regardless of the answer, Knowing delivers a frightening glimpse of one artist’s view.
__________________________
It is ironic that a film titled Knowing is so adept at revealing significant questions, but not in answering them. This is the mark of good cinema. Movies work their magic best when they evoke from us ideas and feelings that might otherwise remain buried. They begin conversations, and leave it to the viewers to debate the implications and come to conclusions. Over the past few decades, film has asked a host of questions that rightly should be coming from the Church.
William Rockett notes that “When a culture’s religion begins to deny the irrational and the demonic and to exalt the rational and intellectual abstraction, people will turn to alternative sources to restore the sense of the magical that is vital to their attaining a sense of the possibility of transcendence.” He argues that since Western pulpits have largely abandoned preaching about transcendent issues, people have flocked instead to the cinema. Films such as Knowing feed their desire to confront ultimate issues.
People intuitively know that our world is meaningful. And even if we cannot know when this world will end, we all recognize that, relatively soon, it will end for each of us. Death is the ultimate philosophical and theological problem. How can we make it out alive? Are we, each of us, really ready when the good Lord calls?
Knowing represents an opportunity to talk about the existence of God, the nature of prophecy, the source of human meaning, the end of the world, and the means of salvation. Biblical theology can provide answers to questions that cinema can only raise. For example, films such as Knowing would not resonate with audiences if there were not an innate interest in knowing the future. But the answers are not to be found in Gnostic secrets or occult fortune telling. Instead, Christians can point to inerrant prophets who spoke from God. The fictional sop that somehow angels or aliens will rescue a handful of children who will try again on other planets is cold comfort to those who remain to bear the incinerating heat of a dying world. The Bible offers no such minimal hope. Its promise is infinitely greater. Instead of sending angels down to fetch a chosen few, the Son of God descended to purchase, with His own precious blood, the salvation of anyone who would believe. And instead of the terrifying image of a dissolving planet as our end as offered by Knowing, the Scriptures describe a new heaven and a new earth that will go on forever (Rev. 21:1).
At first, John’s colleagues write him off as a numerologist, arguing that throughout history people have been able to discern "codes" in just about any document. But when the next event comes to pass precisely when and where it was predicted, and with the predetermined number of victims, even the most hardened skeptic softens. If only our own skeptical culture could have the same response to the prophetic accuracy of the Scriptures.
As John ferrets out the secret knowledge contained in the list, Caleb and young Lucinda Embry (a new acquaintance) are apparently being stalked by “the whispering people,” mysterious beings that appear, as if from nowhere, imparting messages to the children. In one dramatic scene, Caleb is given a desperate vision of a coming apocalypse. As the remaining date on the list draws near, John discovers more clues, the children’s connection to the whispering people tightens, and the need for everyone to know the truth becomes insistent.
______________________
As the final date approaches, John uncovers a message in the list that tells him where people must go to be saved. But when he arrives, he gets the Hollywood version of Matthew 22:14: “many are called, but few are chosen.” John arrives at the predetermined location to find Caleb and Lucinda already there.
Accompanying them are the four whispering people, who have shed their outer human appearance to be revealed as luminous beings. Behind them, a giant wheel-within-wheel vehicle straight out of Ezekiel awaits. Though John received the call, apparently only Caleb and Lucinda are chosen to leave. Somehow John gains understanding – how, we are not sure – and sends the children off, now knowing that this life is not all there is, and that they will be together in the future. The children enter this chariot of fire and lift off into the sky.
The climax of Knowing delivers an apocalyptic vision that looks, startlingly, like something right out of the Bible. John drives back into town to be with his father. As they hug, a solar event drives superheated gases straight toward the earth, which ignites like a match head. We view the destruction from many vantage points. The message is driven home: nothing is spared. 2 Peter 3:10 describes it this way, “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.” Just as God used clouds and rain to destroy the Earth in a flood, who is to say whether He will use the sun as the source of destruction at the end of days? Regardless of the answer, Knowing delivers a frightening glimpse of one artist’s view.
__________________________
It is ironic that a film titled Knowing is so adept at revealing significant questions, but not in answering them. This is the mark of good cinema. Movies work their magic best when they evoke from us ideas and feelings that might otherwise remain buried. They begin conversations, and leave it to the viewers to debate the implications and come to conclusions. Over the past few decades, film has asked a host of questions that rightly should be coming from the Church.
William Rockett notes that “When a culture’s religion begins to deny the irrational and the demonic and to exalt the rational and intellectual abstraction, people will turn to alternative sources to restore the sense of the magical that is vital to their attaining a sense of the possibility of transcendence.” He argues that since Western pulpits have largely abandoned preaching about transcendent issues, people have flocked instead to the cinema. Films such as Knowing feed their desire to confront ultimate issues.
People intuitively know that our world is meaningful. And even if we cannot know when this world will end, we all recognize that, relatively soon, it will end for each of us. Death is the ultimate philosophical and theological problem. How can we make it out alive? Are we, each of us, really ready when the good Lord calls?
Knowing represents an opportunity to talk about the existence of God, the nature of prophecy, the source of human meaning, the end of the world, and the means of salvation. Biblical theology can provide answers to questions that cinema can only raise. For example, films such as Knowing would not resonate with audiences if there were not an innate interest in knowing the future. But the answers are not to be found in Gnostic secrets or occult fortune telling. Instead, Christians can point to inerrant prophets who spoke from God. The fictional sop that somehow angels or aliens will rescue a handful of children who will try again on other planets is cold comfort to those who remain to bear the incinerating heat of a dying world. The Bible offers no such minimal hope. Its promise is infinitely greater. Instead of sending angels down to fetch a chosen few, the Son of God descended to purchase, with His own precious blood, the salvation of anyone who would believe. And instead of the terrifying image of a dissolving planet as our end as offered by Knowing, the Scriptures describe a new heaven and a new earth that will go on forever (Rev. 21:1).
On the issue, I thought it was interesting to see how many in the world of Atheism seem to find it more reasonable to believe in E.T rather than in a Supernatural God who would come down to save them. However, as it concerns the reality of how often many have noted that much of the scriptures are not necessarily exhaustive on all points of reality, I can agree with others who say its wrong for Christians to assume that atheists are wrong for believing in intelligent life outside of Earth.
And I at times struggle with seeing how dogmatic many believers can be when it comes to claiming life outside of our world could not have been apart of the Creation itself.
As often as people discuss evangelism among those who are unsaved, I've often noticed how little concern has been given to those within the atheistic world who may be more open to believing in E.T than Yeshua....and IMHO, I think there needs to be more engagement of that.
If anyone else has seen the film and has thoughts, would love to hear..specially on how it seems that Christians and Atheists differ on the supernatural/defining such---and what the best stance should be in regards to the subject of E.T dynamics..
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but as an adjective, in which case it means “the shiny one” (cf. Isa. 14:12 and Ezek. 28:14 where Satan is spoken of in similar terms). According to Heiser, therefore, the prophesy of Genesis 3:15 isn’t about the enmity that sometimes exists between snakes and people but between the seed of the shining one -- Satan -- and humans.
