American Gospel – Christ Alone: Challenging, Empowering, Overwhelming

This movie was selected by my patron supporters over at the Cinematic Doctrine Patreon. Support as little as $3 a month and have your voice heard!

American Gospel: Christ Alone has been a word-of-mouth juggernaut in Christian circles both online and offline. I remember the impact it had on social media Reformed groups back in 2018, and I even remember when my pastor was recommending it at the pulpit during morning announcements. It was crazy. Now, in 2020, it’s landed on Netflix and you would think it was American Gospel: Christ Alone’s second coming, as groups online and offline have been praising its successes.

Through-out the episode we talk about balancing an appropriate appreciation of the documentary alongside healthy critique, how American Gospel: Christ Alone has both an excitement and frustration within its response to the prosperity gospel, and in our closing section, which runs quite long this time around, Daniel shares at length his first-hand experience with the prosperity gospel, and reveals how deep its damaging roots have entered the American culture.

Featuring talking heads with Matt Chandler, Paul Washer, and Benny Hinn’s nephew Costi Hinn, American Gospel: Christ Alone explores the core question of Christianity – “What is the Gospel?” – and juxtaposes the gospel proposed in Scripture against the gospel proposed by popular western televangelists. In doing so, it shines a light on real-life accounts from several prosperity gospel survivors and the dangers that lurk around every corner when misunderstanding and twisting the word of God for monetary gain.

American Gospel: Christ Alone is Rated TV-PG. IMDB doesn’t have a detailed certificate, so I’m going to run off what Netflix describes in their certificate: suicide, substances, and language. It features Costi Hinn, Paul Washer, Matt Chandler, Mark Dever, Justin Peters, Kenneth Copeland, Benny Hinn, Bill Johnson, and Todd White. Directed by Brandon Kimber. American Gospel: Christ Alone is currently available on Netflix.

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Melvin Benson is the Founder, Editor-In-Chief, and Lead Host of Cinematic Doctrine. Whether it’s a movie, show, game, comic, or novel, it doesn’t matter. As long as it’s rich, he’s ready and willing to give it a try! His hope is to see King Jesus glorified as far as the east is from the west!

Cinematic Doctrine is available on iTunes, Spotify, YouTube, and other major podcast apps.

Tomie – Toxic Femininity Explored – Cinematic Doctrine: A Movie Review Podcast Hosted by Christians

Send us a Question!MOVIE DISCUSSION: Kathryn joins Melvin to discuss Tomie, another early Junji Ito live-action adaptation! The two talk about the film's varying quality, constantly curious ideas, and toxic-femininity; something they've rarely seen explored in film. Topics:(PATREON EXCLUSIVE) 24-minutes discussing about Zach Cregger's Resident Evil movie teaser trailer as well as responding to the surprisingly divisive online reaction. (PATREON EXCLUSIVE)Kathryn & Melvin have both read the Tomie manga, but only Kathryn has finished reading it, and the two share their thoughts.Kathryn, "[Tomie] is a good highlight reel of Tomie the manga."Tomie is playing with a lot of ideas, but very few feel fully realized.Perhaps the main idea explored in Tomie, which is inherent to the character, is toxic femininity, and a woman's ability to use their feminine power for their own desires.Toxic gender ideologies deny the truth of image-bearing; that both man AND woman bear God's image when in healthy relationship (platonic and/or romantic).Talking about Tomie as a character.Talking about flowers, and the choice to reveal Tomie's face later in the film.Trying to understand the ending, which introduces some complex ideas to an already layered film.Cross-examining Tomie and Tsukiko; what they share, how they differ, and forgiveness (or, the lack thereof). Recommendations:Black Paradox (2007-2008) (Manga)Hauntress (Zashiki Onna) (1993) (Manga) Support the showSupport on Patreon for Unique Perks! Early access to uncut episodes Vote on a movie/show we review One-time reward of two Cinematic Doctrine Stickers & PinsSocial Links: ThreadsWebsiteInstagramLetterboxdFacebook Group 

1. Tomie – Toxic Femininity Explored 01:16:36
2. My Neighbor Totoro – w/ Paryss Bryanne on Childhood Whimsy as Adults 01:08:27
3. Rear Window – The Voyeurism Episode 59:12
4. Exit 8 – Notice Your Neighbor 01:00:53
5. IT: Welcome to Derry – w/ Dreadful Digest on Not-Your-Dad's-Stranger-Things 01:14:23