Posted on 02/29/2004 5:59:33 PM PST by Coleus
'Passion' shakes North Jersey clergy to the core
|
Sunday, February 29, 2004 |
One Catholic priest in Morris County was so appalled by Mel Gibson's "The Passion of The Christ'' that he described the film as "religious barbarism.''
But a Protestant minister in Harrington Park was so moved that afterward he drove to a park, where he prayed and sat silently for almost an hour.
Meanwhile, a rabbi from River Edge said the movie could bring Jews and Christians closer, despite the film's insistence that it was the Jews who pushed for the execution of Jesus.
Arriving in theaters last week on Ash Wednesday, "The Passion's'' harrowing vision of the final 12 hours of Jesus' life has struck a nerve in the landscape of American faith, inspiring countless believers, polarizing others, and giving fresh focus to interfaith activism.
The bloody, two-hour movie has outraged some Jews with its portrayal of the Jewish high priests as vicious, scheming power barons. And it has turned off some Christians who believe the film's sole focus on Jesus' violent death misses the essence of Christianity.
The film has also delighted millions of conservative Christians - who showed their growing clout by packing theaters coast to coast, helping make the movie a box-office bonanza.
Yet among clergy, the movie's supporters and critics can't be neatly divided along denominational lines.
The Rev. Jack Lohr, a pastor in Franklin Lakes who preaches a liberal brand of Christianity, said the movie startled him personally and raised fundamental questions for all Christians.
"For us who claim to have taken up the cross to follow Jesus, the film challenges any convenient or comfortable reading of the cost of discipleship,'' said Lohr, of the Presbyterian Church at Franklin Lakes. "I shall never again be able to sing the sweetly sentimental lines of 'The Old Rugged Cross' without a dreadful sense of irony.''
And the pastor at one of the most progressive parishes in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Paterson said the film woke him up to the realities of Jesus' death in a way that trumped years of Bible readings.
"It made me realize I've had a pretty sanitized view of what Christ did for me,'' said the Rev. Kevin Downey of St. Mary's in Pompton Lakes. "I've read the story so much, and felt I knew the story so well, that after a while, you take it for granted.''
One thing's for certain, "The Passion'' isn't going away. The movie took in $23.6 million on opening day, a box office showing that suggests the film could wind up in the same esteemed league as such screen classics as "Ben-Hur'' and "The Ten Commandments.''
But unlike those earlier religious blockbusters, "The Passion'' draws razor sharp theological lines that attract and repel.
The movie dwells almost entirely on Jesus' torture and execution, emphasizing that he chose death on the cross to bring salvation to mankind. The movie's violence is now notorious. Jewish leaders call for his death, mocking and spitting on him. Then Roman soldiers take over, whipping him over and over until the flesh is ripped from his back. Finally, his hands and feet are nailed into the cross.
The Rev. Kenneth Lasch, a veteran Catholic priest, said he was repelled.
"I saw it as religious barbarism ... in my opinion, God did not send his son to die,'' said Lasch, of St. Joseph's Church of Mendham. "God sent his son to live, to be faithful. And in being faithful, it cost him his life.''
Lasch, who saw the movie Thursday, also said the film's uncompromising, in-your-face approach reflects a growing divisiveness and belligerence within the major religions.
"As I was sitting at the end of movie I thought, 'This is not bringing us together,''' he said. "This is increasing the separation.''
Others share his fears.
Rabbi Neil Borovitz said he couldn't help but think about "Fiddler on the Roof,'' the classic musical about life in an Eastern European shtetl. The show, which had a revival open on Broadway the same week "The Passion'' reached the theaters, ends tragically with pogroms against the Jews.
"It was the claim of the Jews killing Jesus that inspired people to slaughter thousands of innocent people,'' said Borovitz, of Temple Sholom in River Edge. "I think Mel Gibson has taken a similar approach in this movie, and it's very bothersome.''
But Borovitz also holds out hope. He attended the movie Wednesday with Catholic and Protestant clergymen that he has known for years. And he points to a fresh round of interfaith activism in Bergen County that will make "The Passion'' the main topic of conversation. On Thursday in Teaneck, for example, two scholars, one Catholic and one Jewish, will speak to religious educators and clergy on the complexities of the crucifixion story and how to explain them to students and other lay people.
Borovitz said he respects the story of the Resurrection as the central narrative of Christianity. But he said Gibson has told the story in a provocative, manipulative, and mean-spirited way.
"I feel much more comfortable with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops or the National Council of Churches teaching this story than I do with Mel Gibson,'' Borovitz said. "But Mel Gibson is going to reach more people than they will, and that's what concerns me.''
Many pastors found the movie so compelling they're seeing it again.
The Rev. George Kaden, of Community Church in Harrington Park, saw the movie Wednesday and drove to Van Saun Park in Paramus for 45 minutes of reflection. He is seeing the movie again today with his family.
"It's a film that challenges us to look in our own hearts and ask ourselves about our relationship with God,'' Kaden said. "Each person has to come to grips with what they are seeing and what they are wrestling with in their personal life.''
Others said the movie is transforming the season of Lent, the period of introspection that began on Ash Wednesday and culminates on Easter Sunday.
The Rev. Steve Giordano will preach about the movie in his sermon today. Giordano, of Clinton Avenue Reformed Church in Bergenfield, cited the movie's opening scene in which Jesus decides to face the cross rather than run from it.
"That's the same question that we face at the beginning of the Lenten season,'' Giordano said. "Are we going to accept the challenge of making a significant spiritual season, or is it just going to be business as usual?''
This article contains material from The Associated Press.
LOL! I think the good father is going to get a call from a guy named Ratzinger soon. This is not a good thing career-wise, methinks.
On a side note: Padre, if this dumb old Southern Baptist redneck knows more about Catholic theology than you do, that's not a good thing either. :)
Celtjew, you're correct. It seems these days that most non-Christians (and even many atheists) have a better understanding of the basic tenets of Christianity than some of our so-called Christian clergy. It's scary.
Correct me on the theological point that is, not on my beliefs. 8>)
LOL!
Behold the Man, and the lash marks.
True. But then, we're all sinners. He may have had the faith and lost it, or had it slowly corrupted.
Life is a very fluid situation.
I had that same conundrum at the time I first became a Christian. "Gotta find someone with all the right doctrines or I'll go to hell." I ended up choosing Lutheran, but that's another story. A decade and a half of experience has taught that there is one basic belief issue, that of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. Everything else is on the side. The worst church that still claims Jesus as only God, Lord, and Savior, would be better than nothing.
I think for two reasons-- that Satan wanted them to overdo it and because the point was to get the Jewish priests to back off the crucifixion by showing them that Jesus had been punished severely already. The whipping they did was a separate punishment from crucifixion.
Get another job, Mr. Lasch. You were not called to this one.
Wow. Kind of goes against everything I ever learned about Christ.
Well Father, your either an idiot...or chose to ignore the truth of the scriptures.
John 10:15 As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep.
John 10:17, 18 Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.
Hebrews 2:9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.
1 John 3:16 Hereby perceive we the love [of God], because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down [our] lives for the brethren.
Matthew 26:54 But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?
Revelation 13:8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
Titus 2:14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
Matthew 20:28 Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.
I really despise liberal clergy taking away from the work of the cross.
Nelson W. Lee, Th.D.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.