The similar phrase 'Worldly Christianity' is one used by Bonhoeffer. It's J Gresham Machen that I want to line up most closely with. See his Christianity and culture here. Having done commentaries on Proverbs (Heavenly Wisdom) and Song of Songs (Heavenly Love), a matching title for Ecclesiastes would be Heavenly Worldliness. For my stance on worldliness, see 3 posts here.

About Time

We went to see About Time at the cinema last night, the new Richard Curtis film. I am aware of Curtis but have never properly seen Notting Hill or Love actually or any of the other films in this genre but Eleri was keen so I thought why not. As we were warned there was mild nudity and a few places where the foulest words were used, etc. The current mores of middle class Londoners is taken for granted, of course. Otherwise it was (for me) a pleasant, sometimes moving and funny film that middle class people like ourselves could identify with and even appreciate. (I understand that there is a lot of recycling and trips down memory lane and even I thought the male protagonist sounded like Hugh Grant). The film's premise (time travel) was not intrusive but served merely as a vehicle to get over the essentially optimistic humanist view it espouses. The message is that we must take one day at a time and do our best and savour it. This is a borrowing from Christianity but without any basis in reality. Absolutely hopeless. The film's final scene is a beautiful one but utterly devoid of any connection with reality outside of Christ. (My wife says I over analyse but really ...).

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