When did "going to the theater" become wrong?

[bgwilkinson]

How many of you watch Hollywood movies on the giant screen in your living room, with the blinds wide open, or do you close them to preserve your testimony?

Do the neighbors really care?

We only close the blinds when we're watching Gilligan's Island reruns.  We don't want anyone to know we have such bad taste.

lol 

 

[bgwilkinson]

we saw the revenant today......... the latest movie based on the true story of hugh glass....... this was supposed to be most authentic retelling of how glass survived after being attacked by a grizzly then abandoned and left to die alone by members of his expedition who were fearful of being discovered by an indian war party.....

i won;t give it away in case anyone wants to go see it..... but i will say it takes a few liberties here and there... and doesn;t follow the true story of hugh glass precisely........ but it is still a good movie........ we really enjoyed it...... and might even go back to see it in the theater a second time..... which we sometimes do when we really like a movie...... 3 times if we like it a lot..... ... 8)

it;s beautifully filmed..... but it is also very graphic.... grizzly attacks and wilderness warfare between mountain men and native americans was not pretty..... and many scenes in this movie are not for those with a weak stomach..... ... [size=12pt]but then i have seen videos of a few ifbx sermons that weren;t either.... ........... [/size]

ain't it the truth 

 

[Matthew1323]

Yup, "Unbroken" comes to mind.

I must say that this book was outstanding in many ways.  I also saw the movie. The movie was good, but there was not enough time to cover all that Louis Zamperini endured, overcame, and learned in life.

Oh, by the way, the Lord allowed him to live long enough to become a Christian later in life too. To me, that was the best part.

 

[HeDied4U]

Yeah. Stories of courage, patience and overcoming adversity have nothing positive to give anyone....

I imagine you'd rather read your fiction than see it?

Imagine what you will,  however I haven't read fiction (other than the FFF) in many years.

LOL!!!

 

[praise_yeshua]

Yeah. Stories of courage, patience and overcoming adversity have nothing positive to give anyone....

I imagine you'd rather read your fiction than see it?

Imagine what you will,  however I haven't read fiction (other than the FFF) in many years.

Fact still stands. You include plenty of fiction in your life. Even the Scriptures contain "fictional" stories for illustration purposes.

There is nothing wrong with watching movies. Granted, everyone should stay away from some particular movies. If "movies" are affecting you..... then life sure must be hard on you....

 

[Bruh]

If someone believes it's a sin to go to the movies, fine by me, I have no issue with this.

We go to the movies, I really don't see the harm in it?  When the movie comes out on VHS what really is the difference? If ur gonna watch it in ur house.

I never understood this?

 

[Tim]

A desire to be "holy" and "called out" results in rules and standards.

The theater has long been associated with questionable content.

But. So is Facebook and the internet.

Not many Christians shun the internet.

 

[FSSL]

A desire to be "holy" and "called out" results in rules and standards.

Can you connect the dots for us on this? I think this statement would actually make for a great discussion. Start a thread on that!

 

[Tim]

A desire to be "holy" and "called out" results in rules and standards.

Can you connect the dots for us on this? I think this statement would actually make for a great discussion. Start a thread on that!

You're actually suggesting I start a thread? LOL

The best I can connect the dots would be bringing up the "Holiness Movement" and the teachings of John Wesley... something many Churches I belonged to as a Child embraced since they believed in some form of  "second work of grace" or a form of "sanctification" needed to gain access to the Holy Spirit; plus those Churches also believed you could fall from God's grace. The fear of going to hell because you visited the movie house.

A form of this teaching has evolved into other denominations. Basically, as I see it, the misunderstanding of our position as redeemed individuals.

 

[Smellin Coffee]

So is watching The Burning Hell sinful?

 

[Walt]

As a child, we went to movies. Drive in theaters, especially.

Then, all of a sudden, in 1977, we stopped. Petes Dragon was the last movie I watched because our pastor said that movie attendance was wrong.

When did your church start prohibiting movies?

I think in general the practice started when people turned to man instead of God to define what is "modest" and what is "worldly". That led to a more-or-less standard list of what was "modest" or "worldly", instead of telling people to seek what God would have them do.

 

[Ransom]

So is watching The Burning Hell sinful?

It certainly is a sin against good taste and artistic merit.

 

[prophet]

A desire to be "holy" and "called out" results in rules and standards.

The theater has long been associated with questionable content.

But. So is Facebook and the internet.

Not many Christians shun the internet.

Alot of "Christians" shun the internet.

Earnestly Contend

 

[bgwilkinson]

There was a day when viewing a movie produced by the movie industry required one to go to a building designed especially for the viewing of that material.

Now most if not all people in this county have one or more rooms in their own homes set up for viewing content that was in the past the exclusive purview of the theater.

So over the course of time when a pastor, evangelist or missionary begin viewing the same material in their own homes it increasingly seemed a bit disingenuous to preach white hot sermons against the material they consumed with approval within the confines of their own homes.

Eventually they had the good sense to withdraw from the position of the hypocrites.

Times change standards change.



Reminds me of a Saturday night meeting in the Adams Chapel, Bro. Hyles was discussing making a rule against HB students wearing Dockers. We all looked at each other and half of us were wearing those same wicked Dockers Bro. Hyles wanted to outlaw.

It was never brought up again.

To this day HB students can wear Dockers, and Deacons too, even ministry employees can.

 

[JrChurch]

If "movies" are affecting you..... then life sure must be hard on you....

Movies just don't interest me anymore, however I think they had a negative affect on me in my teen years.  Apparently,  they are extremely important to most people and must be attended regularly. 

 

[bgwilkinson]

There was a day when viewing a movie produced by the movie industry required one to go to a building designed especially for the viewing of that material.

Now most if not all people in this county have one or more rooms in their own homes set up for viewing content that was in the past the exclusive purview of the theater.

So over the course of time when a pastor, evangelist or missionary begin viewing the same material in their own homes it increasingly seemed a bit disingenuous to preach white hot sermons against the material they consumed with approval within the confines of their own homes.

Eventually they had the good sense to withdraw from the position of the hypocrites.

Times change standards change.



Reminds me of a Saturday night meeting in the Adams Chapel, Bro. Hyles was discussing making a rule against HB students wearing Dockers. We all looked at each other and half of us were wearing those same wicked Dockers Bro. Hyles wanted to outlaw.

It was never brought up again.

To this day HB students can wear Dockers, and Deacons too, even ministry employees can.

So maybe they should have removed the TVs from their living rooms, bedrooms, and wherever else they set up their idols.  8)

Yes, if you are going to preach against movies at least have the integrity to remove any device capable of displaying them from your control.

Make sure you don't view any professional sports broadcast that has cheerleaders performing, er, dancing wildly.

Do I get an amen?

 

[FSSL]

Yes, if you are going to preach against movies at least have the integrity to remove any device capable of displaying them from your control.

Make sure you don't view any professional sports broadcast that has cheerleaders performing, er, dancing wildly.

Do I get an amen?

My last post... smashing my computer because I saw a scantily dressed cartoon woman promoting a game on an ad on the FFF.

 

[Boomer]

There was a day when viewing a movie produced by the movie industry required one to go to a building designed especially for the viewing of that material.

Now most if not all people in this county have one or more rooms in their own homes set up for viewing content that was in the past the exclusive purview of the theater.

The old-time fundamentalist preachers were not against movie theaters. They were against movies. But, as you have correctly pointed out, there was not a means to watch movies anywhere other than at a theater, hence the preaching against the theater.

Then VCR/DVD/BlueRay/Netflix/YouTube, etc. showed up on the scene. Some preachers continued to preach against theaters while watching movies at home because they were hypocrites. Some continued to preach against theaters while also NOT watching them at home because it was a true conviction.

**The movie theater topic in IFB circles, to me, is one of the identifying marks of man-followers. You know someone is a man-follower rather than a person acting out of true conviction if they preach against going to see a movie while, at the same time, he himself is waiting for the same movie to come out on video so he can rent/buy the DVD.

 

[Ransom]

The old-time fundamentalist preachers were not against movie theaters. They were against movies. But, as you have correctly pointed out, there was not a means to watch movies anywhere other than at a theater, hence the preaching against the theater.

And moral opposition to the movie house is a direct descendant of moral opposition to the playhouse.

Plays as high art enjoyed primarily by intellectuals and the wealthy is an invention of the 20th century. Before radio, television and motion pictures, plays were entertainment for the common man. They were often as likely to be vulgar or lurid as thought-provoking.  Even in the days of Shakespeare, arguably the apex of drama, the playhouse was widely considered immoral (which was why the authorities frequently closed theatres down, often under the pretense of preventing the spread of disease).  Shakespeare is rightly regarded as a literary genius, but his reputation in his own time was considerably lower. Think of the scriptwriters for, say, Two and a Half Men, and you're probably closer to the mark.

And, of course, for a long time movie theatres were rather tawdry. It's only in the past few decades that they've become clean, comfortable auditoriums suitable for business meetings and run by major corporations.

 

[FSSL]

Shakespeare is rightly regarded as a literary genius, but his reputation in his own time was considerably lower. Think of the scriptwriters for, say, Two and a Half Men, and you're probably closer to the mark.

But... Bob Jones... <confused>