God knows the power of cinema and he is using it to turn people back to him, says the co-presenter of a new course on faith and film.
Fairfax journalist Justine Toh says a major theme of Western cinema is the "Christ figure' with whom the audience feels a deep empathy.
Ms Toh points to the Harry Potter series, the Chronicles of Narnia, Braveheart, Contact and Sin City as examples of recent films that portray "21st century parables of Jesus' through the character of a self-sacrificial hero.
"Parables" encourage the hearer to walk in the other's shoes " to be heroic, to empathise and to think "what would I do in that situation'," she says.
From next month Ms Toh will co-teach the "Christianity and Film' course at the Centre for Apologetic Scholarship and Education (CASE) with CASE Director Greg Clarke.
Beginning on February 16 and running every four weeks for eight months, the course will tackle Christian themes in films like The Shawshank Redemption and The Matrix.
It will also explore how Jesus is depicted in gospel movies such as Mel Gibson's blockbuster The Passion of the Christ.
Ms Toh says film permits audiences to explore spirituality in a context they know.
"[Film offers] ideas about who we are and why we are here,” she says.
“There is a huge need out there for these kinds of questions and there is a rich terrain to be mined in having a dialogue with people."
In 2006 CASE is offering a variety of courses on the Christian worldview including Christianity and literature and a course taught by John Dickson based on his awardwinning book, A Spectator's Guide to World Religions (Blue Bottle Books).
"We have found that students need weekly courses, but the general public needs monthly ones," Dr Clarke says. "This year, we hope to keep everyone happy by offering both."
"Christianity and Great Books' is running for the third time. Dr Clarke, who is convening the course, says people will read “a great book every month"”be it Dante or Tim Winton"”and then discuss it, sometimes with the help of world experts".
Last year's presenters included world authority on the Brontës, Professor Christine Alexander, and Dr Diane Speed on Homer's Odyssey, who are both Sydney Anglicans.
Dr Clarke says CASE courses are for both believers and enquirers.
"We never assume that people have a Christian faith themselves," he says.
"In fact, we hope that people with all sorts of spiritual questions will find that our courses give them a way to think about Jesus and the influence of Christianity in today's world."
CASE is New College's apologetics centre at the University of New South Wales.
Visit [url=http://www.case.edu.au]http://www.case.edu.au[/url] for course details. Enquiries: (02) 9381 1730 or case@newcollege.unsw.edu.au
