Gibson's Primetime Interview

Considering Mel's theological deficiencies and the tremendous pressure he's been under from Hollywood peers and Jewish pressure groups--Mel did a great job!

Tim

P.S. This whole thing about who killed Christ has become an issue of political correctness! Peter (a good Jew) blamed the bad Jews (Acts 5:30)--no antisemetism there. Without PC, we could simply believe the scripture.

 

Considering Mel's theological deficiencies and the tremendous pressure he's been under from Hollywood peers and Jewish pressure groups--Mel did a great job!

Tim

P.S. This whole thing about who killed Christ has become an issue of political correctness! Peter (a good Jew) blamed the bad Jews (Acts 5:30)--no antisemetism there. Without PC, we could simply believe the scripture.

 

Considering Mel's theological deficiencies and the tremendous pressure he's been under from Hollywood peers and Jewish pressure groups--Mel did a great job!

Tim

P.S. This whole thing about who killed Christ has become an issue of political correctness! Peter (a good Jew) blamed the bad Jews (Acts 5:30)--no antisemetism there. Without PC, we could simply believe the scripture.

 

at least the Jewish lobby barks when their "truth" is betrayed or attacked. it's a shame on the evangelical community when Gibson's admixture of biblical scenes w Romanist falsehood is embraced n touted as "accurate."

but not everybody has sold out. i enjoyed listening to James White's Sunday school lesson:

http://www.prbc.org/Sermons/021504SS.RAM

 

Let's look at it from this angle: would a satanist love to dwell excessively on the brutality, cruelty, sadism, pain inflicted on Jesus? Or how about this: would you do a play or skit in your church in the same vein as The Passion film, lots of (fake) blood splashing against the pulpit, whips, etc.? To me the blood of Jesus is sacred, precious, not to be trampled underfoot or used in a film to shock and get free publicity for your final Hollywood product before entering retirement. And Mel, pray for him, evaded the question about his father being anti-semitic, "don't drive a wedge between us." That to me was a copout. Great to honor your father, but not great to avoid discussion of false, possibly hate-crime oriented beliefs. If my dad had a crazy, evil belief, I'd say I love him, but I hate that belief. Pray that this film does not incite riots against our Jewish friends. The more I think about this film, the more I am upset at the potentially irreverent nature of it. Do we really need a Jesus Slasher film to evangelize the world. My wife and I decided last night: we're not supporting this, we're not going.

 

Alex, there are no "christian churches," only Christian people. Baptist churches probably have close to the same ratio of Christians to non-Christians as Catholics do. Also, I think it would have been worse to add the resurrection because it would have turned people away that will watch it for a historical perspective, but not for a religious perspective. Once they see that Jesus gave up his life, which I hope is an obvious fact in the movie, instead of having it taken, I think they will want to know more and become interested. Also, it would be bad to have a lot of small children believe in the resurrection because they saw it in a movie and not because it's what they have come to believe. It should be left up to the people that see the movie to decide whether or not they want to know more about Jesus or not.

 

drp737 do you really mean what you say: "it would be worse (!!!) to add the Resurrection...it would turn people away..." Wow. So the Gospel is a turn off, and we must water it down and take away the only thing that saves us: the Resurrection. That's why this weird movie The Passion is so bad. If Jesus died, and did not rise, we are all lost. He rose, praise God, He triumphed over the grave. The gospel does not end at His death. To downplay or merely "hint" at resurrection is an outrage. Nope. The Passion is purely a violence lover's film, not fit for true Christians.

 

Not everyone believes in the resurrection. For many of these people it would be easier to believe that Jesus died for them, than that he resurrected from the dead. Depending on how well Mel portrays the reason Jesus died and the fact that He gave His and it wasn't taken away from Him, this could be more potent without the resurrection. Had He not died He couldn't have been resurrected. So, we should get them to believe that He died for them, and then the rest will come with time. Having the resurrection at the end could be too much for them to start to believe at one time. This could cause them to not believe the rest of the historical validity of the movie, hurting the saving power for those that won't allow themselves to believe that a man was resurrected from the dead. We'll see. I would like to see the movie before I comment on whether I endorse it or not, but from what I have heard it certainly has potential. If God can use worldly events and circumstances to bring people to Himself then He can certainly use a movie made by a popular Christian to bring people to Himself. As for you, if you don't want to see the violence Jesus endured then I suggest you not go watch the movie, nobody is forcing you to. I also strongly suggest that you not come to my church on Maundy Thursday either. Mel's movie can't be much worse than my church's passion play which touches many lives on a yearly basis. This movie, on dvd, can touch lives throughout the year and for many years to come, if it is indeed as good as I have heard.

 

I hope those who hear the first half of the gospel live long enough to hear the second half. I think Paul and Peter and John were correct to preach both death and resurrection of Christ in one sermon, as we have recorded in New Testament. I Corinthians 14:12-20 is very important to keep in mind. Verse 17 says if Christ is not raised from the dead, your faith is useless. Romans 10:9 says raised from dead. Acts 2:23,24 death and raised. Half the gospel is not good enough in my opinion. Hard for people to believe resurrection? Tell that to God. He's the one who came up with the story!

 

And the statement that Jesus suffered for all sins of the world builds up the gospel ?

If the answer is "yes", then mel is right. we are all God's children. If the answer is no, then it follows Jesus did not suffer for all sins of world. If not, then for whose sins ?

 

The film is NOT a Hollywood product. Hollywood turned Mel down, that's why he produced it.

 

Thank you for letting the rest of us know what is fit for "true" Christians and what is not.

A piece of advice for you: don't like the idea - don't go see it. In the meantime, we will simply overlook our weaker brother's preferences.