Is Horror Bad for Christians?

[enoob57]

I think to ignore God 'is'

Philippians 4:8 (KJV)

[8] Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

Can't imagine anyone saying- Oh! that horror movie was so lovely  

[farouk]

5 minutes ago, enoob57 said:

I think to ignore God 'is'

Philippians 4:8 (KJV)

[8] Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

Can't imagine anyone saying- Oh! that horror movie was so lovely  

 

@enoob57 Great, relevant verse there..............

[Ray12614]

I avoid the 'dark side' of almost all horror movies. When I can quote those movies more than I can quote the Bible, then something is wrong with were I set my affections on.

I do, however, enjoy the C class movies that have Godzilla with Japanese actors whose lines are interpreted by some English speaking translators. Their mouths are moving and does not line up with the translations. I like these movies because they are very funny and I watch them as I would watch some clean comedy films.

But these movies really cannot be thought of as horror, because they are so poorly produced.

AHHHH!!! Wun for wiur wife . . . . Godzilla approaches!!!!  AHHHH ! ! ! !

LOL LOL

Ray . . . 

[Mr. M]

2 hours ago, Solus Christus said:

I was wondering if horror like in Stoker’s Dracula (1897) book and movies like Alien (1979) is unsuitable for a Christian? 
 

I wrestle with enjoying horror, and triumph over terrors in stories and the possible influences that can be in said stories. 
 

I would be thankful for any input. 

Verse 3 of this Psalm came to mind. I am posting the entire Psalm because it

exhibits a strict attitude towards the world that many may find a bit draconian.

Psalm 101:

1 I will sing of mercy and justice;
To You, O Lord, I will sing praises.

2 I will behave wisely in a perfect way.
Oh, when will You come to me?
I will walk within my house with a perfect heart.

3 I will set nothing wicked before my eyes;
I hate the work of those who fall away;
It shall not cling to me.
4 A perverse heart shall depart from me;
I will not know wickedness.

5 Whoever secretly slanders his neighbor,
Him I will destroy;
The one who has a haughty look and a proud heart,
Him I will not endure.

6 My eyes shall be on the faithful of the land,
That they may dwell with me;
He who walks in a perfect way,
He shall serve me.
7 He who works deceit shall not dwell within my house;
He who tells lies shall not continue in my presence.
8 Early I will destroy all the wicked of the land,
That I may cut off all the evildoers from the city of the Lord.

Even if you consider something fiction, it still should be questionable as entertainment. Ironically, the first form of entertainment I felt convicted over was comedy. I found myself laughing at things quite offensive. After praying over the matter, the Holy Spirit said; "Laughter is agreement". Think about it.

[The_Patriot21]

Do you enjoy reading? And horror? Perhaps give Frank Peretti  a try for a more wholesome experience.

[com7fy8]

3 hours ago, FJK said:

The story of the vampire is a personified story of evil and demons showing how they work, along with how you avoid them and avoid their entering your life and consuming you, an actual lesson you can apply in your life.

Well, what is the message you are talking about here? How do you avoid them, how do you avoid their entering your life and consuming you? 

And how did you get this from a horror movie about a vampire?

One thing I think I picked up, is how a character might overcome a terror by refusing to be afraid of it. Do not let it have power over you, even do not allow it to decide where your attention goes. 

And, of course, the Biblical application would be to keep our mind on Jesus > 

"'You will keep him in perfect peace,

   Whose mind is stayed on you,

   Because he trusts in you.'"

                                     (Isaiah 26:3)

But a horror movie might trick you into depending on yourself to get your own self to refuse to be afraid, and to do what you can get yourself to do to make an evil being or thing go away. And this could have us struggling . . . instead of snuggling with Jesus.

I see a basic of what can happen if we watch any movie. We can be submitting to the movie, drawn in our attention wheresoever the makers of the movie take us. And our emotions can be played here and there. And there can be things we get taught to assume, in how we see things, and how we might be so ready to want bad actors to get killed and hurt . . . instead of praying for evil people with hope of their getting saved and changed into people no longer cruel and evil. There can be unforgiveness getting fed to us, and even feeding us to want to see revenge.

Yet, I think I have seen some movies which bring out how getting that revenge is not what really helps the character who gets it.

And we know what Jesus has to say about unforgiveness > Mark 11:25, among other scriptures. But forgiveness works best in prayer which has us getting with God, instead, in personal and sensitive sharing and enjoyment, and then discovering how we can love people.

And we rarely see hope of wrong people being changed, during a lot of movies. This can feed us badly.

Oh . . . and there is beauty discrimination. There is a tendency to have only really beautiful women and handsome men as the main characters. And I offer how beauty discrimination can feed people to love those who are cute and handsome and lovely more than we love the ones who are not so nice looking. In American culture, anyway, there is a tendency to favor entertainers and workers who are more beautiful and handsome. And in schools the prettier girls and nicer guys can get more attention and favor. 

This can result in a lot of children feeling they are less than others. They can deeply suffer and be damaged because how nicer looking students can be more popular. Of course, they can be brought up to be wise to this, and discover how to love in spite of evil culture. But, also, the ones practicing discrimination can be getting tricked into not knowing how to love, and this can damage their relating and how well they choose whom they date and marry and how they evaluate who to trust in making life and business choices. 

And movies are one way to keep feeding people to degrade themselves from real loving, by feeding them to evaluate who they love and value, by seeing how beautiful or handsome someone is.

And I suspect we can be trained to connect intimate enjoyment of marriage with physical beauty and handsomeness, instead of being deeper in how the intimacy and pleasure is in God's love. My experience is that there is a big difference in the quality of pleasure and personal intimacy. Outward attraction by itself does not result in the personal intimacy and even the best pleasure that is possible.

But movies can have a way of concentrating on outward beauty and this as a source of pleasure, subtly training people this way.

[FJK]

6 minutes ago, com7fy8 said:

There is a tendency to have only really beautiful women and handsome men as the main characters.

Just FWIW, there have been studies that show average people are far more likely to believe the news on television without questioning it when it is delivered by particularly nice looking men and women, women standing out in this, regardless of whether it is true or fictional.

Meditate on it for a while and the things we see happening around us become clearer.

[farouk]

3 hours ago, Mr. M said:

Verse 3 of this Psalm came to mind. I am posting the entire Psalm because it

exhibits a strict attitude towards the world that many may find a bit draconian.

Psalm 101:

1 I will sing of mercy and justice;
To You, O Lord, I will sing praises.

2 I will behave wisely in a perfect way.
Oh, when will You come to me?
I will walk within my house with a perfect heart.

3 I will set nothing wicked before my eyes;
I hate the work of those who fall away;
It shall not cling to me.
4 A perverse heart shall depart from me;
I will not know wickedness.

5 Whoever secretly slanders his neighbor,
Him I will destroy;
The one who has a haughty look and a proud heart,
Him I will not endure.

6 My eyes shall be on the faithful of the land,
That they may dwell with me;
He who walks in a perfect way,
He shall serve me.
7 He who works deceit shall not dwell within my house;
He who tells lies shall not continue in my presence.
8 Early I will destroy all the wicked of the land,
That I may cut off all the evildoers from the city of the Lord.

Even if you consider something fiction, it still should be questionable as entertainment. Ironically, the first form of entertainment I felt convicted over was comedy. I found myself laughing at things quite offensive. After praying over the matter, the Holy Spirit said; "Laughter is agreement". Think about it.

Relevant Psalm there also.

 

[Solus Christus]

4 hours ago, The_Patriot21 said:

Do you enjoy reading? And horror? Perhaps give Frank Peretti  a try for a more wholesome experience.

Ah yes This Present Darkness, The Visitation, and etc.  I am not as into Exorcist like stories, I like monsters and alien horror like Dracula, Predator, Alien, Godzilla, and etc.  

[The_Patriot21]

45 minutes ago, Solus Christus said:

Ah yes This Present Darkness, The Visitation, and etc.  I am not as into Exorcist like stories, I like monsters and alien horror like Dracula, Predator, Alien, Godzilla, and etc.  

Oh he doesn't do just excorcist, though his best (the visitation does follow that line of thought) 

If your into monsters, he has two you may like-The Oath, and Monster.

And since when is Godzilla considered horror? Of course I barely consider alien to be considered horror, but Godzilla, at least the classic Japanese films are more in line with what I would classify as a B monster movie.

And I haven't seen a good dracula movie since Van Helsing.