Gibson's passion film 'too Catholic'

Belfast Telegraph ^ | 19 March 2004 | Alf McCreary

[presidio9]

THE controversial Mel Gibson film 'The Passion of the Christ' has been dismissed by the Evangelical Protestant Society as a 'Catholic' interpretation of events which "does not present the Gospel".

Wallace Thompson, secretary of the Evangelical Protestant Society, said the film displayed "an un-Biblical fixation on Mary, the mother of Jesus. None of this should surprise us, for both Mel Gibson and Jim Caviezel, who plays the part of Christ, are enthusiastic devotees of the traditional teachings of the Church of Rome."

He further claims that Mel Gibson "belongs to an ultra-conservative Catholic group which does not recognise the reforms of Vatican II, and celebrates Mass in Latin".

Mr Thompson says that "this malign influence of Rome ought to cause all evangelical Protestants to reject The Passion of the Christ" and refuse to be swayed by the subtleties of the alleged arguments in favour of it.

Sadly, however, it will be welcomed and praised by many who ought to know better."

Mr Thompson also says that the film is "extremely violent", and that "anyone who watches it will be shaken and possibly terrified by its graphic and bloody scenes."

[presidio9]

If it be God's will, Unc and I will hug again in heaven.

I have no doubt that it will be so.

I ask the Blessed Mother to pray for your Uncle Blake.

[iconoclast]

But that would then imply that some in Heaven outrank others.

Not necessarily. I respectfully refer you to C. S. Lewis' The Great Divorce.

Let me me know what you think of it.

[presidio9]

I knew a Protestant guy who told me that very thing and testified as to how he was SAVED. Then (I kid you not!) in the next breath said (and this is an exact quote) "I love Tucson. I haven't had a single date here where I haven't been blown or laid."

I lived in Tuscon for a while. I think I knew this guy!

The desert does strange things to people's minds. That's why Satan chose it as his venue for Temptation.

[Havoc]

You are a man. The Holy Father is a man, and the head of the Church. You call him a blasphemer. I.E. you say he is not only wrong, but a serious sinner.

You can call him blasphemous titles all you will and in your opinion state that he is holy while he blasphemes. Your message betrays you. I have no authority save that given me by Christ. My authority is not what counts. Your authority doesn't count. The authority of the Word of God is what counts and it stands in testimony against you.

[wolfman]

simply and truly believes in Jesus Christ as his personal Savior

Emphasis should be on the "simply and TRULY"

[Fury]

Still waiting for that link...

You might be waiting for a bit...

I've done just a bit of looking on the Vatican's web-site for this and have not yet been able to find. I'll keep looking.

Much of this concerning what the Pope "stated" seems to come from:

http://www.one-fold.com/mariology

Several other sites, offer the same article (in full or in partial form):

http://www.acts2.com/thebibletruth/MARYOLOGY.htm

http://www.rapidnet.com/~jbeard/bdm/Cults/Catholicism/mary.htm

n.b - The article above claims that:

*Much of the material in this report (unless otherwise noted) has been excerpted and/or adapted from an article titled, "The Truth About Roman Catholicism," September-October 1996, Foundation magazine, pp. 5-16. Interesting is that I have found several references to this article, including at:

http://www.rapidnet.com/~jbeard/bdm/Cults/Catholicism/general.htm

Seems to me that these folks would have saved a lot of time and trouble if they had updated their web-sites to show the link to the Vatican of the references in question.

[AMDG&BVMH]

"So the first Adam was created in the image of the second Adam who was in the likeness of the first.. wheww!"

I hadn't even considered that aspect of it, but . . . I like it ;)

What amazes me, the Scriptures make more sense since Einstein explained the special theory of relativity; which sounds a lot like what Augustine said centuries ago, about time in God's eyes. It is as though, so much that was accepted on faith can, ultimately, be explained through reason; and in the mean time, there is faith. How wonderful is Our Lord!

[Havoc]

You miss the whole point. Mary can't get salvation for anyone. It doesn't matter how you try to explain it away and try to make it seem cute. She can't do it. Salvation is obtained when men believe and confess Christ. How then can Mary obtain what only the individual can bring about for themselves - recieving the gift directly from Christ by believing and confessing. She can't do it. She can't hear you to begin with. She's not God and as it happens, Ecclesiastes 9 tells us it's impossible. It's a blasphemous fairy tale.

[presidio9]

I have no authority save that given me by Christ.

Since you need to LIE to make your point. We knew who's offspring all lies are, don't we?

[wolfman]

Goods works ALWAYS accompany true saving faith

[Canticle_of_Deborah]

Exodus 40 discusses the Dwelling (Ark) in greater detail.

I'm trying to find the verse where the servant who touched the Ark dropped dead. I noticed in a later book Moses instructed the Levites to place an additional scroll inside the Ark. It could be that High Priests were able to touch it directly or indirectly. The specifics are out of my scope. Maybe someone Jewish or an OT scholar would know.

[NYer]

If this is not praying to Mary, what is?

Oh dear, you've caught us reading scripture!

Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee (Luke 1:28 with 'Mary' gradually added by the Church).

Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus (Luke 1:42 with 'Jesus' being added by Pope Urban IV in 1261).

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen (based on the declaration of the Council of Ephesus in 431, this part of the prayer appeared in the mid-15th century, being codified by the Council of Trent in 1568)

And all this time, you probably thought catholics did not know their scripture.

[AMDG&BVMH]

"The authority of the Word of God "

Yes, but when you and the Pope disagree on what it means . . .

[presidio9]

Seems to me that these folks would have saved a lot of time and trouble if they had updated their web-sites to show the link to the Vatican of the references in question.

These people need to get a life. BTW, I provided a link in post 199.

[wolfman]

Jesus is the one who took our place on the cross (1 Pet. 2:24), became sin on our behalf (2 Cor. 5:21), and turned away the wrath of God from us (Rom. 5:9) by being a propitiation (1 John 2:2) that turned away the wrath of God. He was punished in our place. Therefore, Jesus was our substitution. The righteous work of Christ is imputed to the believer by grace (Titus 3:7) and through faith (Rom. 5:1). This justification is a legal action on the part of God ‘reckoning’ the believer as having satisfied the Law — all of the Law.

It necessarily follows that to be justified in God’s eyes, is to be fully justified. It is not ‘part’ of the Law that must be satisfied, but all of it. Perfection is the standard. Likewise, it is not ‘part’ of our sins that were born by Christ, but all of them. This justification includes all of the sins of the believer (past, present, and future) or else we could not be justified.

[Praxeus]

Amen. Good Preaching.. ;-)

[AMDG&BVMH]

P.S. My screen name means: (from the Latin) to the Greater Glory of God, and Honor to the Blessed Virgin Mary. That should show that while we honor Mary, and ask may ask her to intercede for us, it is God only whom we worship.

If you don't want to ask Mary to intercede for you, well, don't.