A Funeral Message for the Unsaved

What do you say at the funeral of one who had never made a profession of faith in Christ Jesus? What should be said about a soul where there is no evidence that they ever believed in Jesus Christ, and in faith repented and trusted in His finished work on the cross?

When the family asks a man of God to conduct or be a part of the service, this man has a responsibility first and foremost to declare the uncompromising truth. Will you me a man of God or a boy? Be merciful, be kind, be loving - but love the people enough not to lie to them in their darkest of hours. Love them enough not to deceive them now, for a few pats on the back and a good honorarium. Love them enough to kindly, gently, but boldly declare the glory of God in salvation.

The more common funeral message is to preach the person into Heaven. I am sure we have all been to funerals where the person that had died and was a notorious sinner, by anyone’s standard, especially God’s (Romans 3:10). Yet this preacher, a man that should be a man of God, stands and speaks of this person’s goodness and of their peace with God. I have a real problem with that. Many people who attend funerals may be hearing preaching for the first time, or the first time in years. And here is a man, supposedly speaking for God with a Bible in hand, declaring a wicked man good. What happens to the lost soul who is living a more moral life than the deceased ever did? They must think “If they are good enough to get to Heaven, no problem me getting in.” How could they not? How shameful for a man whose life is supposed to be centered in the gospel message lie to people at such a moment? Why stand up and lie? Would it be better for a lost soul to hear the true gospel or for a man to tell them what they want to hear?

A man can be sensitive to the families hurt for their lost loved one and declare a true message at the same time.

What should be said about a soul who did not make a profession, and is most likely in Hell as you speak? Tell them that you have a message that the deceased would like you to hear.

If your loved one could tell you one thing right now, this is it; salvation is of the Lord.

There is a holy and just God who hates sins so much that He has prepared a place to punish sinners for their crimes. Sin is the reason for all that is bad in the world; pain suffering and death. Yet this same God is loving and merciful, and sent His Son, Jesus Christ into the world to be a substitute for sinners. Though all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, God showed His love toward His people that while we were yet sinners, Christ died, shed His blood and rose again for the justification of all who repent of their sins and believe in Him. This is the message that they would want you to hear, right now.

That would be the message in a nutshell, and I believe it to be truthful way of approaching the funeral. A believer, who is now absent from the body and in the glories and bliss of heaven would most certainly want their Saviour to be praised and the gospel proclaimed. The darkest and vilest of sinners would not want their family to go and be with them in Hell. The soul in Hell would want the gospel to be preached, not for the glory of God, but to spare their family the pain and suffering of eternal torment. Luke 16:19-31

My Dad once preached a funeral message to a family of mostly believers. There was one man who hadn’t been to church in over 50 years. He hated the thought of religion, church and Christianity. He was adamant about how little use he had for the Word of God. My Dad preached a faithful, true gospel message and spoke very little, perhaps one sentence about the deceased, and about 15 minutes about Christ Jesus. This man approached my Dad and sternly said, “I’ll see you at church Sunday.” Long story short, two years later, the Lord saved this man’s soul and also saved His wife.

Brethren, be faithful to God. You have a needed message. You have a powerful message. Be loving to your hearers. Love them enough to give them the gospel. Use the opportunity to tell people about Jesus. While death and eternity is on the mind of every soul in the building, use this opportunity to tell them the truth.

The Home of Hosea

The book of Hosea is difficult to outline, but not difficult to understand. I would, perhaps, be difficult to go verse by verse through the book in a outline form, but that is the style of the book. Where Amos is like an outlined sermon, Hosea is a grieved and broken husband and the style and flow comes out that way.
There are some differences of opinion about the interpretation of the first three chapters of the book. If you read the first three chapters of the book, removing all chapter divisions, I think the meaning is clear. Once you have the story of Hosea’s life and the parallel that illustrates God’s relationship with Israel, then chapters 4-14 are easily understood in that context.

God commanded Hosea to get a wife, a wife of whoredoms from children of whoredoms. Whether Gomer is promiscuous or she is of a land of idols is unclear. I do not believe either interpretation will change the point of the story. He was to go and marry someone that was not exactly a trophy wife for a prophet of Israel. Hosea goes and marries Gomer and starts his family. Gomer bears three children, two boys and a girl. The first child, the Bible says, was born unto Hosea. The next two, I believe, were the result of adulterous affairs.

The second and third children the product of adultery. Romans 9:25 gives us some insight into the other children. As he saith also in Osee, I will call them my people, which were not my people; and her beloved, which was not beloved. These children were called not loved and not my people. This makes it pretty clear they were from her adulterous affairs. Hosea 1:9 Then said God, Call his name Loammi: for ye are not my people, and I will not be your God. Gomer was not finished with her life of ill repute. Hosea 2:2-5 tells us that she was shameful in conception and that she went after her lovers and was no longer his wife. The poor relationship of these two children to Hosea was the result of their mother’s sin, not Hosea’s. The change of the names of the children (as we will notice later)also gives us understanding that they were not his.

The children were to plead with her mother, because she was not longer the wife of Hosea. They had separated because of the adulteries. She went after her lover’s whole-heartedly. But after they had used her, they wanted nothing of her, so she wanted to go back to her 1st husband because he had always taken care of her. When she had her fill of sin and the consequences of her sin had left her to a point of destitution, then she decides to come home. Hosea did not let her come back. She would now reap what she had sown.

Notice the prayer of adulterous Israel and the response of God

Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight. Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the LORD: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth. O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee? O Judah, what shall I do unto thee? for your goodness is as a morning cloud, and as the early dew it goeth away. Therefore have I hewed them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of my mouth: and thy judgments are as the light that goeth forth. For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings. But they like men have transgressed the covenant: there have they dealt treacherously against me. (Hosea 6:1-7)

I think that Hosea had left Gomer to her sins. She was no longer being supported by her offended husband, and her lovers no longer care for her. I believe that she was forced either into prostitution or slavery. Israel did that over and over. God would deliver them from their enemies and they would follow Him for a while, then go right back to other gods. Then after they got in trouble and needed deliverance, they would cry out to God. Gomer had done this too. She would go off to her lovers, give them credit for Hosea’s goodness, then when trouble came and she was in need, she would go back to her husband because she knew he would help her. The time had come where Hosea said enough is enough and left Gomer in her sins and deal with the consequences of her adulterous life. God did the same with Israel. Their repentance was not true repentance, but like the morning dew. So Gomer was force, in my opinion, either into slavery.

But, here comes the happy ending. Though Gomer left him, and cheated on Him and sold herself into harlotry, Hosea purchased her out of His love for her.

Then said the LORD unto me, Go yet, love a woman beloved of her friend, yet an adulteress, according to the love of the LORD toward the children of Israel, who look to other gods, and love flagons of wine. So I bought her to me for fifteen pieces of silver, and for an homer of barley, and an half homer of barley: And I said unto her, Thou shalt abide for me many days; thou shalt not play the harlot, and thou shalt not be for another man: so will I also be for thee. For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim: Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; and shall fear the LORD and his goodness in the latter days.
(Hosea 3:1-5)

I believe this still to be Gomer. God did not tell Hosea to go and marry another, but Go yet, or go again, and love a woman. I think that Hosea is the friend who loved her, according to the love of the LORD toward the children of Israel. What a statement. What a picture of the grace of God. Hosea was to go and purchase this woman who was sold into slavery, who was living the just recompense of her sins. No one was to blame but Gomer, and there was nothing Gomer had done to show that she had changed, or there was nothing in Gomer to love; yet Hosea, out of unconditional love to his wife, bought her from her bondage. She didn’t deserve it, but love compelled Hosea to purchase his wife. Hosea and Gomer’s relationship was not the same, they had no relations, but this pictured that Israel would not have the same relationship until God fully restores his chosen people in the millennial kingdom.

But I can’t help but to see God’s saving grace to the individual as well. When we read the Bible, we like to put ourselves in the situations that make us the hero. We put ourselves in David’s shoes as he hurls the stone towards Goliath’s head, or we put ourselves in Elijah’s shoes as he battles the prophets of Baal. We are NOT Hosea in this story, we are Gomer. We are the adulterous, undeserving wretch.
Hosea’s name means “salvation”(Same as Joshua, same as Jesus in NT). Hosea shows us the love of Christ. This is love. Love is not a “cupid’s arrow” type love, and is more than physical attraction. Love doesn’t look for what you get, this was unconditional love. We see Christ in the forgiveness of Hosea. We see Christ in the salvation of Gomer by Hosea. Hosea redeemed Gomer, he bought her. Hosea went and paid a redeeming price for her which hints to the price of buying a slave. Hosea bought what was his, his love. Redemption in Christ is illustrated here. Christ paid for HIS people, that which belonged to Him. Though we did not deserve it, we did not do anything that warranted Christ purchasing us, Christ paid a great price, not corruptible things, like silver and gold, but by the precious blood of the Lamb. It was not out of righteous works that we have done, but according to His Grace, He saved us.

Now there was restoration. Hosea’s love knocked the “not” off of his children.
“lo” (which means 'not') was removed from the names of the children. Ammi means my people, and Ruhamah means loved. We have a restoration of the family with full, free forgiveness (cf. 13:14-15; 14:4). I think that Hosea had adopted those children that Gomer had outside of marriage. The children that were not his by nature but are now his by adoption, and to show that, he changed their name. By changing their name, he change their relationship. This is the point God showed to Israel, that in the millennial kingdom, they will be restored, brought back to the Lord God. And though I was a child of wrath like other, I am a child of God by adoption in Christ Jesus.

I am not deserving of God’s amazing Grace, yet He loved me, redeemed me, justified me, gave me life, adopted me, preserves me and keeps me by His power.



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Douglas Newell IV

Quiz: Who said it?

“Success has many fathers, but failure is an orphan; no one wants to claim it.”
a. George Bush
b. George Washington
c. John F. Kennedy

“Courage is being scared to death—and saddling up anyway.”
a. John Wayne
b. Theodore Roosevelt
c. Robert E. Lee

“Brevity is the soul of wit.”
a. Robert Louis Stevenson
b. Jerry Seinfeld
c. William Shakespeare

“To suppose that the eye could have been formed by natural selection , seems I freely confess, absurd in the highest degree.”

a. Billy Graham
b. Charles Darwin
c. Jerry Fallwell

“Success is the sole earthly judge of right and wrong.”
a. Adolf Hitler
b. George Washington
a. The Apostle Paul

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Keep scrolling for the answers below.











ANSWERS

“Success has many fathers, but failure is an orphan; no one wants to claim it.”
c. John F. Kennedy

“Courage is being scared to death—and saddling up anyway.”
a. John Wayne

“Brevity is the soul of wit.”
c. William Shakespeare

“To suppose that the eye could have been formed by natural selection , seems I freely confess, absurd in the highest degree.”
b. Charles Darwin

“Success is the sole earthly judge of right and wrong.”
a. Adolf Hitler


Surprised at any? How about Charles Darwin saying, “To suppose that the eye could have been formed by natural selection seems I freely confess, absurd in the highest degree.” I admit, that was not too shocking to me. God has shown man clearly that He exists. It is evident in creation. Isn’t it odd that one of the few, if not only times that humanist say not to believe or trust in your instincts and what feels to be right and true in your own heart is when they want people to deny what is evident from nature and their own hearts, that there is a God? Darwin was correct in stating that it was absurd in the highest degree to look at the design of the human body and say that it evolved. That is why the Bible says that “the fool has said in his heart there is no God." The Bible does not say the fool BELIEVES in his heart, but the fool (atheist) SAYS in his heart. The atheist lies to himself and tells himself that he doesn't believe what he knows to be true.

What about “Success is the sole earthly judge of right and wrong?” Again, that should not be shocking. In fact, that is the fruit of Darwinism. Only the strong survive, there is no judge but what we do and what we accomplish. “You can’t tell me what to do!”

The consequences of that are whatever stands in my way whatever I need for my success must be removed at all costs. The Bible tells us success is not the judge of right and wrong, but God is. There is a God, and He is the judge. God has given man His laws and they are the only standard of right and wrong. Man will be judged by His laws, not our feelings, our sincerity or how relatively good we were compared to others.

Man knows that God is true, but how can man know God? More importantly, how can God know us in love? Hebrews 1:1-3. God is revealed to us in Christ Jesus the Lord,God spoke to us in Jesus and in Jesus we see God, the Word, the Power of God, the Majesty of God, the mercy and love of God as Jesus died for undeserving sinners. God sent Jesus to Earth to be a substitute, to die in sacrificial love to meet the demands of God’s justice for sins, believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ and have faith that His blood was shed for your sins and be saved.



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Douglas Newell IV

Valuable Books

I was asked a question to list influential religious books that I have read. There were several categories of different types of books. Since making the list I have read several books that I wish that I had put on the list.

Here is the first category; multiple book/volume commentary sets.

Here are the ten that I find most useful, in no particular order.

1. Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible
2. John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible
3. Matthew Henry’s Commentary
4. Matthew Poole’s Commentary of the Holy Bible
5. An Interpretation of the English Bible by BH Carroll
6. New Testament Commentaries by John MacArthur
7. Maclaren’s Exposition of the Holy Scriptures
8. Commentary on the Whole Bible by Jamieson Faussset and Brown
9. Expository Thoughts on the Gospels by JC Ryle
10. Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament

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Douglas Newell IV

God's Beauty and Our Beauty

God’s Word teaches us that God's holiness is the beauty of His attributes.

2 Chronicles 20:21 And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the LORD, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the LORD; for his mercy endureth for ever.

Psalms 29:2 Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.

Psalms 96:9 O worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness: fear before him, all the earth.

“Holiness is the sum of all excellence and the combination of all the attributes which constitute perfection of character” says JP Boyce, author of Abstract of Systematic Theology.

God’s holiness is the beauty and excellence of His nature. His Holiness seasons each of His attributes. He has holy strength, holy mercy, holy justice and holy wisdom. Purity, perfection, God in all His ways is pure and untainted in all His actions and affections.

God’s holiness is beautiful, and all His attributes are beautiful. They are pure, perfect and right in every way. His beauty, since holy and pure, is also eternal. God's holiness is absent of all impurity, there is nothing in God that can decay or deteriorate; perfect holy purity.

Beauty is, in this sinful world, fleeting at best. A person with outward beauty is one with few flaws, blemishes and symmetry. The fewer the blemishes, the more beautiful. The young girl who stops traffic with her beauty, will in the process of time, loose her beautiful appearance. The young man, whose beauty is his strength and athleticism, will in the process of time, become slow and weak because of sin. Beauty in mankind is always fading because of the corruption of sin.

But God, who is eternally Holy, never fades, His Holiness never lacks luster or beauty. This is why there will never be satisfaction in pursuing a quest for outward beauty; you will never make it there. Only when we rejoice in the holiness of God can we see true beauty and be satisfied. Instead of hungering and thirsting after vain beauty, we would be better served to hunger and thirst after Jesus Christ and His righteousness.


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Douglas Newell IV

Yes, yes...

This has nothing to do with a person desiring to look nice for their spouse, or a young man or young woman staying in shape and dressing in a beautiful, modest fashion. The point is that our beauty will never equal that of God's holiness because our beauty is flawed by sin.

Back Home

I returned yesterday from the meeting I preached for the Beauty Ridge Missionary Baptist Church in South Shore, Kentucky. We had a great meeting with great fellowship with the church there. It has been several months since I had been in Kentucky and it was good to go back home for a while.

I had the privilege of preaching seven times during the five day meeting and I believe that the Lord blessed the preaching of His Word. The weather was really nice and cool and God blessed us with a cool mountain breeze for the majority of the trip. I rejoiced in getting to spend some time back up on the mountain farm that I was raised and to see how the farm has changed since I left.

God answered many prayers during the meeting and I am thankful for the undeserved blessings of the trip. The church was beyond hospitable and I rejoiced in their Christian love towards me and my family.

This is for my 'Old Kentucky Home".


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Douglas Newell IV

Apples of Gold

Back from a short hiatus, quotes of the week. Two quotes today, one from Spurgeon, the second from Hugh Martin in his work on Jonah.

“It does us good to remember what we used to be. There was no reason in us, by nature, why we should be made the children of God. There were in us no distinguishing traits of character by which we were separated from our fellow-sinners. We ran in the same course; we were possessed by the same spirit; we wroth the same works; we had the same nature; we were under the same condemnation: “children of wrath, even as others.” -- C.H. Spurgeon

“There are few more conclusive and continually operating proofs of the depravity and ungodliness of the carnal mind, than its strange, cool, unaccountable, and settled forgetfulness of the very existence and nature of God as an infinite and omnipresent Spirit.” -- Hugh Martin



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Douglas Newell IV

Jump in where you can and hang on!

Happy Monday!
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Douglas Newell IV

Ronald Reagan on Abortion

In 1983, President Ronald Reagan wrote this article on abortion for Human Events, Abortion and the Conscience of the Nation..

This was AFTER President Reagan was elected. I stress this because modern Republicans are pro-life BEFORE the election, and it is a very important issue until the election is over.

Every legislator, every doctor, and every citizen needs to recognize that the real issue is whether to affirm and protect the sanctity of all human life, or to embrace a social ethic where some human lives are valued and others are not. As a nation, we must choose between the sanctity of life ethic and the "quality of life" ethic.

I have no trouble identifying the answer our nation has always given to this basic question, and the answer that I hope and pray it will give in the future. American was founded by men and women who shared a vision of the value of each and every individual. They stated this vision clearly from the very start in the Declaration of Independence, using words that every schoolboy and schoolgirl can recite:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

I also appreciated Reagan's ability to see through the politics and bring the abortion issue down to the true issue, life and murder.

What, then, is the real issue? I have often said that when we talk about abortion, we are talking about two lives — the life of the mother and the life of the unborn child. Why else do we call a pregnant woman a mother? I have also said that anyone who doesn't feel sure whether we are talking about a second human life should clearly give life the benefit of the doubt. If you don't know whether a body is alive or dead, you would never bury it. I think this consideration itself should be enough for all of us to insist on protecting the unborn.

I'm sure the republicans will elect another prime example of prim and proper post-modernity, who says the right things at the right time, who is polite, smiles a lot and eats apple pie. I would rather have an honest man, who speaks the truth, trusts in Christ and unapologetically stands for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, rather than political life, party lines and the pursuit of reelection.


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Douglas Newell IV

Amos: The Man

Amos is one of my favorite prophets. Years ago, I preached at a Bible conference in which each speaker spoke for 30 minutes on one of the minor prophets. Mine was Amos. I was always thankful that I preached that message, for my own edification. I had never preached a single sermon on a whole book before, and it was a blessing to study the book as a whole and preach on the theme, instead of a verse by verse study or a topical study with a single text.
Even if you are not familiar with the so-called minor prophets, when you do a cursory reading of Amos, you know that you are at least familiar with some of his message in verses like:

Amos 3:3 Can two walk together, except they be agreed?

Amos 4:12 Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel: and because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel.

I enjoyed what I learned from Amos, the man. Amos made no apologies for who he was and where he was from. He was a farmer and a shepherd from the wilderness of Tekoa. Reading the book, you get the sense that he loved what he did and would have been happy spending the rest of his days honoring God in the fields tending sheep. What I love about Amos is that he didn’t stay; he got up and went when God called him as you see in the parenthesis of chapter seven, when the false prophet tried to shut Amos up, his response shows that he was on a mission from God. I suppose I can identify with Amos. I grew up on a 2,600 acre farm, and would have been happy working there all my life, but I was called to a different field.

Amos was a outdoorsman, a farmer and he talked like one. Amos 2:13; Amos 3:12; Amos 4:9 are some examples of how this plainspoken farmer delivered his message. In J.R. Grave’s book The Seven Dispensations, he has an excellent quote from H.H. Tucker on plenary verbal inspiration. Though every word Amos penned was inspired of God, it still incorporated the speech of Amos.

“A man does not cease to be himself when God uses him. His powers are not changed, they are merely controlled so as to effect the very purpose, and no other, which God would accomplish. It is as if a musician were to play first upon a flute and then upon a cornet; each instrument would give its own sound wholly different from the other, but the breath that makes the sound and the genius that inspires the music is the same. Moses, David, Isaiah, James, Paul, Peter, were some many different instruments, though not mechanical instruments, each with personal peculiarities of his own, but all were used by the same God as the media of communicating with men.”

The people of Israel to whom Amos was called to preach were rich and sophisticated. That is one of the sins for which God judged them. They were oppressive and covetousness. They were a materialistic society. Amos prophesied during the height of Israel’s economic success. This country man, this rustic farmer goes to the big city, to the well to do aristocracy and delivers a stern message of impending doom. Imagine a country preacher walking into a high rise in Manhattan and declaring the Word of God to the wealthy, influential men and women of New York. This was Amos’ calling.

One of my favorite passages is One of my favorite verses Amos 4:1 when he calls the ungodly calf worshiping women “Cows”. Could you imagine? Not very nice of God some would say, but true. These people did not need nice, they needed truth. This is why I like Amos, he was there to do his job, preach. The parenthesis I spoke of earlier is in chapter 7:10-17. The enemy prophet, Amaziah had the king’s ear. He was the well favored, well loved priest of the people, but hated and despise by God. The message of the false prophet was to Amos, not the people. “Go away ‘seer’ we are intellectuals here, we do not subscribe to your “old way” of preaching.” Amaziah was a lost man, had no spiritual understanding or knowledge of what it was to really be a prophet. He said “Go back to the country, Go back to your poverty, eat your meager bread with the sheep. Your over your head and no one wants to hear your message, go back home.”

We see the boldness of Amos, because he didn’t go home. “I didn’t ask for this, I would have happily served God in the field, I would have loved God with my family and friends back home. I didn’t ‘inherit’ this job, I didn’t ask for this job, but it is mine, and I’ll do it or die trying.” Amos stresses God’s call and God’s message. The Lord TOOK ME, He laid hold of me, He seized me to this work. “I didn’t send myself here, God sent me.” This isn’t what anyone would want to do, no one would like to preach such a message, but God sent him and woe to him if he did not preach. He sort of told Amaziah “You won’t tell me what to say, you won’t tell me when to leave, nor will you intimidate me as I am following God’s calling in my life.”

Amos wasn’t a seminary man. He didn’t go to the school of the prophets, proper. He went to the true school of the prophets, God’s seminary. We would be much better off with more men of God rather than more seminary students. More men who study God’s Word rather than more men who study other men. More men God calls and uses rather than homiletical machines. There is certainly nothing wrong with education, and I don’t want to seem that I am anit-education; however, if men took four years and studied the bible instead of four years studying at most seminaries they would be much better off.

Amos was a bold country preacher, and one of my favorites.


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Douglas Newell IV

Fantasic Mr. Fox

Fantastic Mr. Fox, the movie.

I know that I’m late to the party with this, but I just caught this movie on Netflix. The movie was based upon a childrens novel by Roald Dahl.

Good cartoons will have a simple story, loveable characters, a clear protagonist, and will have a captivating storyline that adults can enjoy the deeper struggles and themes of the movie that children might not yet fully grasp. UP! is an excellent example of such a film. Too often cartoon movies fall into either side of the ditch. They are either so childish and moronic that there is no story, but goofball antics and silliness, good for kids, bad for me and Momma on movie night. The other extreme is jokes that are over the child’s head, not because the child might not grasp the greater moral dilemma presented, but because the crude locker-room humor is lost on a young child, as well it should be. I think Dreamworks films are notorious for this.

Somehow, someway, Fantastic Mr. Fox seems to have fallen on all three categories at the same time. The storyline is very simple and captivating from the start. I loved the stop action animation and it was a nice change of pace from CGI. Big stars with recognizable voices can take away from the movie, especially if they have a recognizable voice, but George Clooney did a great job as Mr. Fox. I couldn’t decide whether the movie was intended for children or hipster college kids who have finished a semester of philosophy; my guess, the latter. But, at the same time the absurdity of much of the movie is endearing to children. As far as the language, coarseness of the dialoged was unnecessary. Replacing expletives with the word “cuss” isn’t very clever, especially when the vulgarity is unambiguous.
The theme of the movie is my biggest problem. Mr. Fox sums up the theme for us. After suffering a midlife crisis, Mr. Fox is unhappy with his life. He has promised his wife that he would no longer steal chickens after a near death experience caught in a fox trap and learning that she was pregnant. Mr. Fox, feeling unfulfilled and unhappy says:

“Why a fox? Why not a horse, or a beetle, or a bald eagle? I'm saying this more as, like, existentialism, you know? Who am I? And how can a fox ever be happy without, you'll forgive the expression, a chicken in its teeth?”

The existentialism philosophy runs through the whole movie. Mr. Fox defined his life and his happiness by what he does and what he wants. By not being able to steal and lie and do all the things that are natural to him, he questions his purpose. When asked how he could lie to his wife he says “I’m a wild animal.” The philosophy of the movie teaches that we define what is right and wrong for us, we define truth and our existence and how we exist define who we are. When Mr. Fox had found a way to steal and be deceptive for the good of others, he was happy again, thus his life had meaning, for him. There was no redemption, only a shifting of the moral standard. Though the “evil corporations” to whom Mr. Fox was stealing their wares, were pouring out a ridiculous amount of wrath upon the animals to try and kill the fox, and had become obsessed with their vengeance; but they had every right to try and kill the fox. The enemy in the film is the enemy for protecting their property and the hero is the hero for saying that the end justifies the means. Class warfare at its most basic, yet so devilishly subtle, you almost miss it; because you need an antagonist. The only reason that farmers were hated was because they were rich. Rich = bad, poor = good; unless of course you are a filmmaker or actor, then it’s OK to be rich.

Without God and Jesus Christ, there is no meaning in life. Why a fox? Because God made him a fox. Why are you who you are? Because God made you who you are, and you were made to glorify God, not yourself. The emptiness Mr. Fox felt was because he was the center of his universe, and if you are the center of your universe, then you must do all that you can to make yourself happy. He could not be happy unless he was doing what he wanted to do, steal chickens. Doesn’t matter if that was right or wrong to steal, he wanted to, it was in his nature to, so in order to be happy, he had to fulfill all the desires of his heart, despite the consequences it had on anyone else. When confronted on this very issue, the answer was that he couldn’t help it, it was in his nature. Mr. Fox, in his atheistic, humanistic existentialism had ironically made himself a god who determines right and wrong for himself, while at the same time condemning others for being evil and unjust for living by the same rules.

Who am I, why am I here? The Bible tells us. We are here to glorify God, yet we have sinned and come short of God’s glory. Who am I? A sinner. God provided a way of Salvation and reconciliation in His Son, Jesus Christ, dying for our sins and giving us life. We have a reason to live, for His glory, we see the purpose of life, we see that life is not only about our existence and we are not the center of the universe, there is a right and a wrong, good and bad but we are not the judge of that, God is. The Bible shows us that in whatever state we are in, we can rejoice and be content because life is more that the possessions we have and the situation we are in because God is the center of all things.

I thought of the book of Ecclesiastes in light of this film. King Solomon and tried the existentialist lifestyle and provided himself with every possible pleasure and every possible way of happiness, but was left at the end depressed and unfulfilled. There is no true joy, happiness or fulfillment outside of God, in Christ Jesus. Ecclesiastes 12:13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.

Long story short; the movie has a dangerous anti-christian worldview. I do not recommend it.


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Douglas Newell IV