My Favorite Book, Movie, Song?

Bill Brown ... Xiamen University

"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." Psalm 119:105

After a 30 minute interview with a Beijing radio station yesterday, the host said, "Now we'll record the second episode." "What second episode?" I exclaimed.

They had forgotten to tell me to be prepared to spend another half hour telling the audience what are my favorite book, movie and song. I asked how this could take half an hour! And they said they want me to tell the audience why these are my favorites. So this is what I''ll them...

Favorite book: The King James Bible, for 3 reasons:
1. Beautiful English (called "the noblest monument of English prose").
2. Real life--tales of real people (not white-washed, not embellished).
3. Purposeful and directive; not a "religious book" but a guidebook for living a meaningful and useful life--my owner's manual.
[Note: I love KJV because I learned to read from it, but I'm not in the KJV-only camp. I read many English versions, as well as a couple of Chinese versions (and a bit of Greek still, though I've pretty much forgotten the Hebrew!].

1. Beautiful English. In our province of Fujian, many Buddhist temples have sutras written in blood. One might also say that the first printed English Bible was written in blood. Handwritten Old English bibles dated back as far as the 7th century, but Tyndale put out the first printed English bible--and was burnt at the stake in 1536 for heresy. His crime was translating the Bible into the words of the common people, and breaking the monopoly upon scripture that gave the church a stranglehold upon its parishioners. When John Bell criticized him, Tyndale replied, "If God spare my life, ere many years I will cause a boy that driveth the plough shall know more of the Scripture than thou doest."

When he was martyred, Tyndale's last words were, "Lord, Open the King of England's eyes." The king's eyes were opened, but it was another king, 75 years later. In 1611, the King James Bible was printed. The work of 54 independent scholars, 85% of the words were from Tyndale's work. Three committees undertook the task--one at Westminster in London, one at Cambridge University, and one at Oxford University. They spent 7 years on the revision, and then committees from each of the three groups met together. There has probably never been another work in English, or any other language, in which so much care was taken to produce not only an accurate but beautiful translation. Read aloud, or silently, it resonated in the hearts and minds of plow boys and priests alike. Even though some words are obsolete today, when read aloud by someone like Morgan Freeman, the King James Bible is as compelling today as when it came out almost 400 years ago. We owe a great debt to Tyndale.

Ironically, the King James Bible was opposed by many, and it succeeded eventually because of political and economic reasons: the king forbade printing or importing the highly popular Geneva Bible. Today, the KJV is still a treasure of the English language, unsurpassed in prose and verse, and it continues to wield great influence upon English, even upon those who never read it. (The British Crown, by the way, still holds copyright on versions printed in England).

Esteemed literary critic Prof. Northrop Frye, University of Toronto, wrote in "Words of Power" (1990, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich), "few would deny that some of the greatest poetry the world has ever seen is included in it [the Bible]." Frye also wrote in The Great Code (1982), "I soon realized that a student of English literature who does not know the Bible does not understand a good deal of what is going on in what he reads; the most conscientious student will be continually misconstruing the implications, even the meaning."

Over 130 English Phrases from the Bible still used today include:
The apple of my eye Deut. 32:10
A housed divided cannot stand Luke 11:17
The eleventh hour Matthew 20:1
Fly in the ointment (Eccl. 10:1
Cast the first stone John 8:7
At my wit's end Psalm 107:27
Etc. Etc., or as Chinese say, "Deng deng!" Click Here for over 120 more contemporary English sayings from the Bible.

2. The Bible is Real Life. The Bible is about the triumph and failures of ordinary people, heroes and villains alike--and quite often the hero was also the villain because, in real life, that is what happens. Joseph was a dreamer, and probably proud and arrogant, and he ended up ruler of Egypt but only after the pit and the prison had toughened his mind and softened his heart. David was a shepherd boy and became Israel's greatest king--and an adulterer and murderer. He returned to God, who forgave him, but he still paid the price. Abraham, man of faith, was a coward, and henpecked as well, and to please his wife he sent Hagar and Ishmael, his firstborn son and, legally, his heir, into the desert. They survived, birthed the Arab nation, and the Jews (and the rest of us) are still paying the price. Peter was a hot-tempered but cowardly fisherman, but became the rock upon which Christ built his church. Paul was a narrow-minded zealot, but became the most open-minded and open-hearted apostle, spearheading the mission to the despised Gentiles.

The Bible does not whitewash its heroes, but exposes them for what they really are--and then shows that our Father loves them anyway, and forgives them--though they must still bear the consequences of their actions.

3. Direction and Purpose --Owner's Manual by my Maker. Most people look at the Bible as a religious book, but through most of it God makes it clear that what He wants is not religion, rites and rhetoric, but a right lifestyle. In Luke 10:27, Jesus summed up the entire Bible in one sentence: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind. And love your neighbor as yourself." He drove the nail home in Matthew 22:40: "On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."

Favorite Movie: "Lord of the Rings." When I was a child, long before Tolkien became a household word in America, I read, several times, the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. I loved the sheer scope of the tale, the rich language, the epic battle between good and evil, and the fact that the heroes were insignificant little hobbits--common people. It reminded me much of the biblical tales in which the youngest son of an insignificant tribe becomes the hero.

It is not possible to capture Lord of the Rings on film, but the Peter Jackson trilogy was an admirable attempt.

My favorite quotes from Tolkien include:
"The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began,
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say.
[mine led to China, even though I was originally headed for Australia!]

The last line, "And whither then?" is one we all ask. Frodo, when faced with a quest from which he would probably not return, said:

"I will take the Ring, though I do not know the way."
Elrond raised his eyes and looked at him. "This is the hour of the Shire-folk, when they arise from their quiet fields, to shake the towers and counsels of the Great. Who of all the Wise could have foreseen it?"

And of course this dialogue from the film"
Frodo: I wish the ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened.
Gandalf: So do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us. There are other forces at work in this world Frodo, besides the will of evil. Bilbo was meant to find the Ring. In which case, you were also meant to have it. And that is an encouraging thought.

Finally, I like:
All that is god does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by frost.

Favorite Song: Theme to Chariots of Fire, by Vangelis. When I exercise or jog, I like soul-stirring music, and this song always lifts my spirit and quickens my pace. Even if I knew nothing about the movie, I'd love it--but knowing the story behind Chariots of Fire allows it to fire my imagination and spirit, even as it lifts my pace on the track or treadmill.'

Eric Liddell, the Scottish gold-medal winning Olympic athlete, had principles, and stood on them, even if it jeopardized his Olympic golds. He also stuck by his goal to reach China, where he served wholeheartedly, and died in a Japanese prison camp. I admire Liddell for his convictions, and for his love of China, and for giving all that he had.

The theme to Chariots of Fire stirs me to give my all when exercising. And the story behind it, of a Scottish Olympian who loved China, reminds me to give my all to the people with whom I live and work.

In closing, I am reminded of a story that happened over 80 years ago...

In 1926, Xiamen University leaders were praising Tan Kah Kee, the "Henry Ford of Asia", for donating so much to found the university. The famous writer Lu Xun tossed a penny on the table and said, (I paraphrase), "He's given just some of his great wealth. but I've given all I have--my life." His comment reminded me of the widow who gave a tiny coin, and Jesus said it was more than the rich people gave because she had given her all (though unlike Lu Xun, she did not boast about it!).
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