From: "David Miller" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: RE: [TruthTalk] Please hear me out before ousting me. Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2004 09:39:41 -0500
Perry wrote: > I must say that I am in the same camp as Kevin > with respect to not seeing Mel Gibson's movie. > My position is that it is not "the Passion"... > it is an RCC commentary about "the Passion".
That's like arguing that Kevin's posts on TruthTalk are a Baptist commentary about Jesus Christ and therefore not worthy of consideration. I reject that idea. I pray that one day we all will learn to shed the religious bigotry that permeates our thoughts and actions.
Kevin's posts may indeed be Baptist commentary, but If the Baptists agree with scripture then, by all means, lets "read" Kevin's commentary. In fact, I worry that someone may join TT and, not being as aware as most of us about the Bible, will be extremely confused and led astray by the many things that are posted here. DavidM, would you go to the BoM to learn about Jesus? No, you would go there to learn about the heresies of the Mormons. I would watch the Passion if I wanted to learn about the heresies of the Catholics, and mystical visions of a nun from the 17th century. But, to do so requires an excellent grounding in biblical truth. if one is a new Christian, or perhaps not yet a Christian, it could be disastrous.
Case in point: My Bible study group met last night. We are studying a 3 week presentation of "the Passion" put out by Rick Warren of Saddleback. They praise Mel Gibson and his commentary, and want to put out material that rides the current tidal wave created by the movie. I think their motive is pure, but their vehicle is flawed.)
One of the group members was explaining something about one of the thieves. She made a statement, as fact, that I knew to be non-biblical. I asked her, "did you get that from the movie, or from the scripture" AND SHE COULD NOT SAY! She had seen the movie twice and already was confusing the "artisitc license" and catholic heresy with biblical truth! This member was raised a Catholic, and at about 14 years old, by reading the Bible, was able to discern error in the Catholic church. Hoever, the former Catholic who is now a Christian is even more at risk, because of their Catholic upbringing the are more likely to overlook the error and accept it as truth!
That is what I object to about the movie. People see this and confuse the no-biblical parts with scripture. Does that not bother you at all? Now, for someone as well studied as yourself, you may be able to ignore the untruths and catholic mystical elements and glean the truth, but for most it is not that way, and most stand a great chance of being led astray of the truth.
She (the group member) also stated that she didn't realize that Jesus was beaten so much, and I asked her, "do you think in the movie he was beaten more or less than the scriptures report?". She said "more", which indicates an untruth in the movie, but she was about to believe that the scriptures inaccurately reported how badly he was beaten.
Give me a break, DavidM, there are problems with this movie. It includes gratuitous violence, beyond what the scripture states, with no reason for doing so other than serving to prolong the beating that Jesus took for theatrical effect (I am not one ounce diminishing the excrutiating and painful ordeal he suffered at the hands of His enemies) at the expense of misleading many and causing confusion with the truth. WHY DID MEL GIBSON FIND IT NECESSARY TO BEAT OUR LORD AND SAVIOR SO BADLY? Was he taking his OWN agression out on Him ABOVE AND BEYOND what He already suffered?
Mel Gibson is expressing his personal understanding of Jesus and the crucifixion. We should think of it no differently than reading someone's post on TruthTalk or listening to someone preach on a street corner. There may be many objections and many valid criticisms because none of us are perfect in knowledge, and there may be many invalid criticisms too because no critic is perfect in knowledge, but at some level we consider what he has to say and judge its overall usefulness. Just because Mel Gibson is Roman Catholic and has that particular bias in his presentation does not invalidate the usefulness of this film.
I have watched the Passion of the Christ twice now. I deeply appreciate the message just as much as I have appreciated hearing Kevin's preaching or reading some of Terry's insightful posts here on TruthTalk. I mentioned on a list that I felt certain some people were going to start reading the Bible more because of this film. People will want to know whether what Gibson is saying is actually in the Bible.
Most of the Christians I have met are not avid seekers and bible readers. I believe most viewers will not read the Bible more because of the movie. Why read the book if you have already seen the movie? (That is pretty ingrained in our society. If you read the book, it is good to see the movie, but if you see the movie, no need to read the book!) TT'rs are an exception to that because we are actively seeking the truth about God.
Well, that indeed has happened. I heard Bill O'Reilly say on Fox News that he read
all four gospels again after seeing this movie. I have heard from many
of conversations that were spawned by this movie that led to Bible
studies about whether or not certain events happened in the Bible. This
has led to people being shocked to see that many of the things Gibson
put in the movie were indeed in the Bible. I don't work outside in a
large office, but friends I have that do say that everybody at work is
talking about Jesus because of this movie, which has led to many
conversations and sharing about Jesus Christ in the workplace. If
people are made more aware of Jesus and his place in history because of
this movie, then we should be glad about that.
Maybe, if every movie viewer has a solid Christian at the end of a 24-7 hotline to explain the truth, otherwise, many will end up with an unrealistic view of the passion.
Peace be with you. David Miller, Beverly Hills, Florida.
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"Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer every man." (Colossians 4:6) http://www.InnGlory.org
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---------- "Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer every man." (Colossians 4:6) http://www.InnGlory.org
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