The Book of Eli (film)

  

Just watched the movie "The Book of Eli." It was a good movie, full of suspense and action. Beneath it all, ever present, always guiding and protecting, was the power of the Holy Bible.

In a very convincing performance, Denzel Washington portrays a man on a mission from God. His mission is to deliver a Bible, possibly the last remaining Bible on earth, to a place where civilization is being restored after an apocalyptic war. He is protected by God and is tested many times along the way. But he is not perfect, and he constantly reminds himself to “stay on the path,” and not get caught up in the plight and/or concerns of other survivors.

When he comes across a place with a leader hellbent on finding a bible to give him the words needed to rule over the world, he battles to escape. He is back on his path when the evil leader and his henchmen catch up to him and a showdown over the Bible ensues.

What follows is the power of “The Word” and a revelation of what “The Word” made flesh can accomplish in the righteous. Faith is what gives “The Word” its power. Faith is what gives a human soul awareness of its power and purpose. It is Faith that is featured in this movie. And it is Faith that overcomes the darkness of a world torn down by man’s evil and ignorance.

Throughout the movie I couldn’t help but catch a few enlightening dialogues on what it means to be a faithful being in the garden of God. One conversation had Denzel’s character explaining to a young woman what the world was like before the war, and how people were wasteful and didn’t appreciate some of the simple things that are now (post-apocalyptic) so important to their survival. Things like food, water, security, companionship.

The movie being an apocalyptic film, has a dreadful and despairing feel to it. But it's the traveling Bible in the form of a faithful servant which lights the way through a valley of death, projecting hope, strength, and fearlessness with God at one's side.

 

{Spoiler Alert!}

The evil leader, played by one of my favorite actors Gary Oldman, could’ve been more convincing. Perhaps it was his illiterate, barbarian henchmen and desolate surroundings which dulled his blade. The place he ruled over and the scene of him succumbing to not getting what he wanted did resemble a sort of Hell. When the inmates take over the prison all hell is unleashed. Without a Bible to tame beastly appetites of a barbarian brood, their leader becomes nothing more than a beast himself. Doomed to live in a Hell of his own making.

 

Notable apologist and writer C. S. Lewis once wrote that "the doors of hell are locked on the inside". This indicates that people place themselves in hell, not that God places them there. 

7 Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. 8 For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.
[Galatians 6:7-8 ESV]

 

I wonder what would have happened had the evil leader obtained a bible to soothe the beasts. Would he then have chosen to rule them in a righteous way. Would "The Word" have a transforming effect on him and his followers, a rebirth to righteousness and good. Or would he, as did many past leaders, have perverted the bible to fit his power-hungry needs.

Yes, I liked the movie. It shows not only where civilization has been, but where it’s possibly heading in our future if “The Word” is abandoned. You can burn books, but you can’t burn Faith in God.

 

Solara: Well, how do you know that you're walking in the right direction?
Eli: I walk by faith, not by sight.
Solara: [sighs] What does that mean?

Eli: It means that you know something even if you don't know something.
Solara: That doesn't make any sense.
Eli: It doesn't have to make sense. It's faith, it's faith. It's the flower of light in the field of darkness that's giving me the strength to carry on. You understand?
Solara: Is that from your book?
Eli: No, it's, uh, Johnny Cash, Live at Folsom Prison.”

― Book of Eli Movie

 

"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." - 2 Timothy