Useless Beauty: Ecclesiastes through the Lens of Contemporary Film

How should Christians relate to the difficult and contradictory messages of modern movies? In Useless Beauty, Robert K. Johnston presents the bold position that films can be our "eyeglasses and hearing aids" in understanding the Book of Ecclesiastes. Taking up movies such as American Beauty, Magnolia, and About Schmidt, he addresses such biblical issues as life and death, chance and choice, loneliness and connection, and God's presence and absence to deepen our understanding of life's beauty amid its confusion and pain. Christian filmgoers, pastors, and youth leaders will find Johnston's book a valuable source of insight into the relationship between Christianity and popular culture.

• God in the Movies: A Guide for Exploring Four Decades of Film
• Film Studies: The Basics
• Reel Spirituality: Theology and Film in Dialogue (Engaging Culture)
• Making Movies Work: Thinking Like a Filmmaker
• Reframing Theology and Film: New Focus for an Emerging Discipline (Cultural Exegesis)
• God's Wider Presence: Reconsidering General Revelation
• An Introduction to Christian Theology (Introduction to Religion)
• Crimes and Misdemeanors
• Living into Community: Cultivating Practices That Sustain Us
• Called: The Crisis and Promise of Following Jesus Today