Review of 2014

Here are a few things that many of us took in in 2014. These items are things that I thought were significant, impacting, or just fun.

Serial

Early this year many people were predicting that podcasts were on the decline. Then at the beginning of October Serial appeared, and changed the world. Serial was a weekly podcast examining a 15 year old murder case in Maryland. The storytelling enthralled people all over America and likely affected podcasting, radio, and maybe even television for the foreseeable future.

 _

Snowpiercer

Snowpiercer was not released in most theaters because it is too weird. The film is set in a distopian future where the earth is a frozen wasteland and all of humanity is aboard a train that perpetually circles the globe. It is a strange, action-filled, allegory about society and class.

_

Race Controversy

The killing of Michael Brown and Eric Garner by police and the subsequent events led to protests, violence, and discussion about race all across America. Even though the violence of these events has been horrible, they have opened up important discussions about race which will hopefully continue and lead to changes in this country.

_

The Bible Tells Me So

This year has seen a fair amount of discussion about the way we understand the Bible. This is a very important discussion for Christians, and no book has explained the Bible better than The Bible Tells Me So by Peter Enns. We need to understand the Bible better, and Dr. Enns is well equipped to help us do so.

_

Guardians of the Galaxy

What movie was more fun in 2014 than Guardians of the Galaxy? It was proved to us that our superheroes don’t have to wear capes and costumes, and Marvel can make a hit out of even the most obscure characters.

_

Our Great Big American God

This was my favorite book of 2014. It is an entertaining, but thorough, look at the development of Christianity in America. This book allows us to see the way we went from seventeenth century Puritanism to today’s uniquely American Evangelicalism.

_

Sony Hack

The hack of Sony’s computer system may be the largest theft of digital information in history. Even though this was quite damaging to Sony, it should be leading to a transformation of industries that have refused to embrace new ways of doing business. Hopefully we will soon be seeing more stringent cyber security, more transparency from large companies, and a willingness of old-fashioned media companies to embrace new paradigms.

_

House of Cards season 2

Many of us spent far too many hours in a row in front of the television because of Francis Underwood and the disturbing political scheming that we hope is not too close to reality.