Robert K. Johnston: Theology and the Cinema

Robert is Senior Professor of Theology and Culture at Fuller Theological Seminary where he has taught students how to engage both biblically and theologically with movies, popular culture, and contemporary fiction. He is a recipient of the Weyerhaeuser Award as “teacher of the year” at Fuller, as well as a former provost both at Fuller and at North Park University. Robert has been a member of the ecumenical juries at the Locarno, Cannes, and Venice Film Festivals. He is an ordained minister in the Evangelical Covenant Church. A co-director of Fuller’s Reel Spirituality Institute and a past president of the American Theological Society, Robert has written or edited fifteen books including: Deep Focus, which he co-authored with Kutter Callaway and Craig Detweiler, God in the Movies, which he co-edited with Catherine Barsotti, God’s Wider Presence, Don’t Stop Believin’, Useless Beauty: Ecclesiastes through the Lens of Contemporary Film, Finding God in the Movies, also co-authored with Catherine Barsotti, Reel Spirituality, and The Christian at Play. In this episode, Robert and I discussed how cinema can feed our spiritual growth. One of the foremost figures on the subject of theology and film, Robert shared his thoughts on an array of issues, from how the movies have influenced the public’s perception of Christianity to the ways film can inspire theological reflection. We also talked about the challenges posed by new technologies that have influenced the way we watch films in our current digital age.