Boys' Bible Study

This infamous sci-fi film is perhaps the church of Scientology’s biggest attempt to ingratiate itself with mainstream culture. BATTLEFIELD EARTH is based on a novel by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, whose end goal was to adapt this book into a Hollywood film. Hubbard made an attempt in the mid-1980s to produce the adaptation himself, but it failed, and Hubbard died in 1986. Hubbard had hinted to John Travolta, a prominent Scientologist, that Hubbard would have liked Travolta to star in the film. Travolta took it upon himself to bring BATTLEFIELD EARTH to life in the mid-90s, eventually co-producing and starring as Terl, the dreadlocked 9-foot-tall antagonist of the film. Travolta’s character Terl is a “Psychlo”, a colonial race of humanoid aliens on a universe-wide mission to strip less powerful planets of their resources. 3000 years in the future, earth is one of these planets. Johnny Goodboy is a human “man-animal” living like a post apocalyptic caveman and being hunted by the Psychlos. When Terl meets Johnny, Terl enslaves the human, thinking him inferior, but Johnny quickly adapts to Psychlo civilization and reads the historical Declaration of Independence which inspires him to thwart his captors with a daring escape. Although BATTLEFIELD EARTH doesn’t demonstrate much about the Scientologist doctrine, perhaps it proves that Hubbard’s main spiritual goal was aimed at the lowest heights possible — achieve fame and attention in the Hollywood system.  View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: http://boysbiblestudy.com [http://boysbiblestudy.com/] Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: http://patreon.com/boysbiblestudy [http://patreon.com/boysbiblestudy] Subscribe to our Twitch for livestreams: http://twitch.tv/boysbiblestudy [http://twitch.tv/boysbiblestudy] Follow us on Instagram: http://instagram.com/boysbiblestudy [http://instagram.com/boysbiblestudy] Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/boysbiblestudy [http://twitter.com/boysbiblestudy]

Subscribe today for access to our full catalog of bonus episodes, including 2+ new episodes every month! www.patreon.com/boysbiblestudy [https://www.patreon.com/boysbiblestudy] We’re back with coverage of TOUCHED BY AN ANGEL, the television series that may hold the key to understanding the American psyche once and for all. The popular 90s and 2000s era show uses an “angel of the week” format as each story is about different angels inflicting themselves upon the lives of hapless humans. This week we focus on SIGN OF THE DOVE, a dueling angel experience which interweaves stories of Andrew (angel of death, portrayed by John Dye) and Monica (the show’s protagonist, played by Roma Downey) helping two humans whose life paths have woven for generations. Andrew tells us the story of a human family he’s been taking to heaven since the 1200s, including delightful time travel skits in period costumes (such as Revolutionary War-era powdered wigs.) Ben Mason is the last of this family; unfortunately he doesn’t know he’s about to perish in a bombing by his neighbor Nick Freeman, who doesn’t mean harm to Ben but wants to collect insurance money and will kill Ben by accident. The history of a freed African American slave could be the key that unlocks Nick’s humanity and prevents him from setting the fateful bomb. While we’re waiting at the edge of our seats, we ponder the angel logic of TBAA. Why don’t angels drink alcohol? Why do they make themselves visible to some humans but not all? What is it they can really do? TOUCHED BY AN ANGEL reviews have become our favorite fodder for podcast episodes because they are so dense with insane moments and inconsistent world building. Hopefully our review of “The Sign of the Dove” will be one you write about in your family Bible to remember forever. View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: http://boysbiblestudy.com [http://boysbiblestudy.com/] Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: http://patreon.com/boysbiblestudy [http://patreon.com/boysbiblestudy] Subscribe to our Twitch for livestreams: http://twitch.tv/boysbiblestudy [http://twitch.tv/boysbiblestudy] Follow us on Instagram: http://instagram.com/boysbiblestudy [http://instagram.com/boysbiblestudy] Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/boysbiblestudy [http://twitter.com/boysbiblestudy]

This stylized post-apocalyptic thriller is a unique example of a mainstream Hollywood blockbuster with overtly Christian themes, even if it stops just short of a true Christian message. Directed by the Hughes Brothers (MENACE II SOCIETY, DEAD PRESIDENTS, FROM HELL) and starring beloved leading man Denzel Washington, THE BOOK OF ELI depicts the Bible as a source of tremendous power in a fallen world. Eli (Denzel Washington) is a survivor of a nuclear holocaust, wandering westward on a mysterious mission with few possessions except for a large book that he treasures. When Eli crosses paths with local warlord Carnegie (Gary Oldman), Carnegie suspects that Eli’s book may be the Bible, which Carnegie himself has been seeking because he believes reading it will give him the power to control large groups of people. Carnegie is perhaps a metaphor for hypocritical conmen religious leaders who use Christianity as a way to acquire power and money, whereas Eli could represent Christ or even just a true honest believer who has made it his mission to spread faith into the world. This metaphor becomes even more clear when Eli’s quest is revealed to be delivery of the Bible to an enclave of secret archivists who will reprint and preserve it forever. The authenticity of Eli’s faith becomes even more clear when Carnegie does steal the Bible, only to be upset to find it is written in Braille, revealing Eli to have been blind the whole time. Despite being mortally wounded by Carnegie, Eli makes it to the archivists in time to speak the entire Bible to them as an oral tradition, ensuring its preservation. In the final scene of the movie, we see the archivists putting the newly reprinted Bible on a shelf alongside the Torah and the Quran. This ending, which is obviously inspired by the novel FAHRENHEIT 451 by Ray Bradbury, shows that THE BOOK OF ELI is not a truly Christian genre film — few faith-based films would equate the Bible and the Quran. To view THE BOOK OF ELI through the lens of faith-based film criticism is to see it as a religious cop out; hinting that the Bible is the source of spiritual truth but ultimately dismissing it as “just another book on a shelf.” View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: http://boysbiblestudy.com [http://boysbiblestudy.com/] Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: http://patreon.com/boysbiblestudy [http://patreon.com/boysbiblestudy] Subscribe to our Twitch for livestreams: http://twitch.tv/boysbiblestudy [http://twitch.tv/boysbiblestudy] Follow us on Instagram: http://instagram.com/boysbiblestudy [http://instagram.com/boysbiblestudy] Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/boysbiblestudy [http://twitter.com/boysbiblestudy]

We dip into cinematic classics of the silent age (before people learned how to talk) with 1923 classic SALOMÉ, co-directed by married couple Charles Bryant and Alla Nazimova. The latter stars as the titular SALOMÉ, a Bible character who has achieved historical infamy despite not being officially referred to by her first name. The story is provocative: a teenage princess dances seductively for her stepfather King Herod who promises her anything in reward; she picks the head of prophet John the Baptist, who is summarily executed and presented to her on a platter. Bryant and Nazimova’s SALOMÉ takes cues from the Oscar Wilde play on the subject, adding extra-historical depth to the characters to portray Herod's throne in the throes of self destructive decadence. Male characters are simpering and devilishly gay (note that Alla Nazimova herself was openly bisexual, so this feels like intentional camp rather than homophobia.) Fashions are extravagant and imaginative, seeming both historical and futuristic. Physical acting is taken to extremes: SALOMÉ is a truly exciting watch, showcasing how much depth of character is possible from a silent film. To watch SALOMÉ is to not only experience an avant-garde take on Bible story, but also to see human ingenuity on full display with no boundaries to self expression despite limitations by emerging technology. Unrelated, in this episode the Bible Boys also discuss our new obsessions in ultra contemporary media: Harmony Korine’s BABY INVASION and teen orthodox Jewish influencer Flynn Goldstein. View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: http://boysbiblestudy.com [http://boysbiblestudy.com/] Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: http://patreon.com/boysbiblestudy [http://patreon.com/boysbiblestudy] Subscribe to our Twitch for livestreams: http://twitch.tv/boysbiblestudy [http://twitch.tv/boysbiblestudy] Follow us on Instagram: http://instagram.com/boysbiblestudy [http://instagram.com/boysbiblestudy] Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/boysbiblestudy [http://twitter.com/boysbiblestudy]

Subscribe today for access to our full catalog of bonus episodes, including 2+ new episodes every month! www.patreon.com/boysbiblestudy [https://www.patreon.com/boysbiblestudy] If we had to nominate one piece of broadcast media to be “the best episode of television of all time”, in the shortlist would be this compelling TOUCHED BY AN ANGEL episode about human cloning, with a cameo by (an actor portraying) the legendary Albert Einstein. TBAA (as our listeners are well aware by this point) is a famous y2k era TV drama where a Greek chorus of angels inflict themselves upon humans going through moral crises. In this episode, a genetic scientist named Dr. Conover (portrayed by Annabella Sciorra who notably plays Gloria Trillo in THE SOPRANOS) is desperate for a child to call her own, so she fuses her personal longings with work and decides to give birth to a baby cloned from Albert Einstein. This doesn’t sit right with our favorite angels, Monica, Tess, and Andrew, who see human cloning as sacrilegious means for humans to “play God.” Monica becomes a bioethicist to monitor the doctor closely; meanwhile Andrew and Tess go back in time to tend to the dying Albert Einstein in his final days of life, to show Dr. Conover that even a brilliant man like her idol Einstein would be conflicted by the harmful effects caused by his life’s work. Like most TBAA episodes, “The Face of God” takes a hard ideological stance using incredibly convoluted evidence written by humans and delivered by fictional angels as a means to completely eschew narrative continuity and moral consistency. But UNLIKE most TBAA episodes, this one is the origin of the character Gloria (Valerie Bertinelli) who is by far our favorite angel and is created by God out of thin air in this episode as a “flex” by humans for wanting to make cloned animals. Get good! View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: http://boysbiblestudy.com [http://boysbiblestudy.com/] Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: http://patreon.com/boysbiblestudy [http://patreon.com/boysbiblestudy] Subscribe to our Twitch for livestreams: http://twitch.tv/boysbiblestudy [http://twitch.tv/boysbiblestudy] Follow us on Instagram: http://instagram.com/boysbiblestudy [http://instagram.com/boysbiblestudy] Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/boysbiblestudy [http://twitter.com/boysbiblestudy]