Talesin, do you mean Gibson wanted to impress the weak and misguided Christians the full impact of Jesus sacrifice? What message do you think Mel was sending?
Guest 77
The Passion of the Christ (Movie)
by Golf 34 Replies latest jw friends
-
-
talesin
Golf, a good point,
do you mean Gibson wanted to impress the weak and misguided Christians the full impact of Jesus sacrifice?
Well, yes, that could be true. If so, he's being incredibly 'self-righteous', doncha think?
I don't know what's up with him - maybe he just wanted his name to go down in 'movie' history as making an important film.
I do think that (not having seen the film) the film is a reaction to anti-American and anti-Christian sentiment which has been growing for decades - a statement that 'our way of belief is right', and a violent and graphic depiction that 'Christianity is right' because of 'look at how much he suffered'.
Oh, please ... it's not nearly that simple. Mel, get a grip ... you were believable in Braveheart, but this is just too much ...
IMHO, i might add.
tal
-
Golf
Talesin, I tend to lean in the direction of your comment, "...the film is a reaction to anit-American and anti-Christian sentiment which has been growing for decades..."
I have a non-Christian acquaintance that will be seeing the movie in a couple of days and I'm interested in getting his reaction. Thus far, I have remained neutral. I think there's more to this film than meets the eye. I've listened to his interviews and I get the feeling that something is missing.
Guest 77
-
czarofmischief
I think this movie was made for Christians of all sects. It's not so much that he endured a more horrific fate than anyone else, it was the idea that he could have walked away from it at any point by calling on the angels to help him. When the crowd was taunting him to come down off the cross, he could have, but he had to overcome his own suffering and choose to stay up there.
Whether you believe all the supernatural powers of Christ to be literally true or not, it is comforting that the moral ideal of our culture is a man who accepted something he didn't have to do in order to help others.
It's one thing to undergo horrific torment - like the wire meshcoat trick abaddon was telling us about. It's another to CHOOSE to do so when you could leave at any moment. And to choose to do so so that it leads to the eternal (we believe) salvation of billions of ignorant, dirty slobs like us is a heart-warming idea.
And finally, to undergo the torment so that it actually saves the very people that are putting you through it - well, that is superhuman, and a wonderful ideal for our culture to embrace.
I think that if you view the movie from a non-Christian perspective, yes, the idea of anti-semitism might rear its head among a culture so panicked over the holocaust. But when viewed from a Christian perspective, we don't see the people that are putting this man through his agonies. We see a man choosing to undergo a process to save us. He said, "I lay my life down of my own accord." and "Forgive them, they know not what they do."
So, any attempt to justify racist or "revenge" killing based on the suffering of Christ is a sin, and probably has political or economic motivations just as much as anything else. However, this movie does not urge Christians to kill in revenge - it urges Christians to offer up thanks and to stand firm against each of their own trials, to remember always the great love with which christ grasped his cross.
CZAR
-
LittleToe
Flower:
one big difference though... schindlers list was based on real events that actually happened.
Would you say you were dogmatic on that? Abaddon:
I'm not aware of any scripture that states that he [had to/ did] undergo the most torturous death know to man of any generation / civilisation. The Assyrians had a pretty nasty skinning ritual, but that wasn't required. LeeElder / Czar: Agreed.