As a class we watched three scenes. The “Chicago Way” scene from The Untouchables, The Lex Talionus verses from Exod 21, and the redemption scene from “The Mission.” I then asked them in their groups to discuss which of these scenes best represented God in the story of the Exodus.
The exercise worked very well. The students universally located the character of God in the first example, and occasionally the second. I was able to show that there existed a quality of mercy in God’s response to the Egyptians that is often overlooked. It seemed as though the exercise went a long way to combating the Marcion tendencies in the students.
