Posted on 04/11/2006 3:41:19 PM PDT by Rockitz
WHAT ARE YOU DOING MAY 19TH?
May 19th is the date the Da Vinci Code movie opens. A movie based on a book that wears its heresy and blasphemy as a badge of honor.
What can we as Christians do in response to the release of this movie? I'm going to offer you the usual choices -- and a new one.
Here are the usual suspects:
A) We can ignore the movie. ........
The problem with this option: The box office is a ballot box. The only people whose votes are counted are those who buy tickets. And the ballot box closes on the Sunday of opening weekend. If you stay home, you have lost your chance to make your vote heard. You have thrown your vote away, and from Hollywood's point of view, you don't count. By staying home, you do nothing to shape the decision-making process regarding what movies will make it to the big screen.
B) We can protest. ........
The problem with this option: It doesn't work. Any publicity is good publicity. Protests not only fuel the box office, they make all Christians look like idiots. And again, protests and boycotts do nothing to help shape the decisions being made right now about what movies Hollywood will make in the next few years. (Or they convince Hollywood to make *more* movies that will provoke Christians to protest, which will drive the box office up.)
C) We can discuss the movie. We can be rational and be ready with study guides and workshops and point-by-point refutations of the lies promulgated by the movie. ........
The problem with this option: No one's listening. They think they know what we're going to say already. We'll lose most of these discussions anyway, no matter how prepared we are, because the power of story always trumps the power of facts (why do you think Jesus taught in parables?!). And once again: rational discussion of history does nothing to affect Hollywood's choices regarding what movies to make.
But there's a fourth choice.
D) On May 19th, you should go to the movies.
Just go to another movie.
Save the date now. May 19th, or May 20th. No later than Sunday, May 21st -- that's the day the ballot box closes. You'll get a vote, the only vote Hollywood recognizes: The power of cold hard cash laid down on a box office window on opening weekend.
Use your vote. Don't throw it away. Vote for a movie other than The DaVinci Code. If enough people do it, the powers that be will notice. They won't have a choice.
The major studio movie scheduled for release against DVC is the DreamWorks animated feature Over the Hedge. The trailers look fun, and you can take your kids. And your friends. And their friends. In fact, let's all go see it.
Let's rock the box office in a way no one expects -- without protests, without boycotts, without arguments, without rancor. Let's show up at the box office ballot box and cast our votes. And buy some popcorn, too.
May 19th. Mark your calendars now: Over the Hedge's opening weekend. Buy a ticket.
And spread the word. Forward this e-mail to all the Christians in your address book. Post it on your blogs. Talk about it to your churches. And let's all go to the movies.
Oh, I suppose that since I do not hold to the Sunday Sabbath, which also came about as a matter of Church Doctrine, that I therefore cannot be a Christian? My faith is not determined by ANY Roman Catholic Doctrine of ANY form. IF there are things in my beliefs which are the same as theirs.. it is only coincidental to it, not because of it.
It's a fiction book. I don't understand the fury over it.
But do you have the NT Canon as scripture, the doctrine of the Trinity and the Nicene Creed?
Exactly. As if we do not have enough REAL worries than to worry about the plot line of a book that is presented as Fiction. I just think those who are afraid to be exposed to different ideas, right or wrong, are pretty pathetic.
I read the books of the New Testament, as well as many that were rejected by the Council of Nicea. I read them, pray, and follow the dictates of conscience.. but I do NOT place my faith in men.. even if they are Bishops, and no matter what vows they swear. I know of no authority written, even in the books they included, giving those men the authority to decide what is inspired by God and what is not.
I see it as a challenge. I try not to take fiction seriously. However, I hear talk of this DaVinci Code and that Sylvia Browne woman insisting that Jesus and Mary were married and having babies in France. Makes me want to understand the Bible, christian faith and church history very thoroughly. I am going to do what many who are carrying on about this book have not done and that is READ THE BOOK.
It's simply modern day Gnosticism and should be exposed for the fiction that it is. Gnosticism led many people astry in its day and will do the same today. Granted these are weak believers, but belief in anything other than the true gospel will have eternal consequences.
I will have to do more reading on this issue. I do not have much info on gnosticism.
Gnosticism is based on "so-called" special knowledge and appeals to human pride making it all the more intoxicating and dangerous.
Help me out here. Which are those?
I know of no authority written, even in the books they included, giving those men the authority to decide what is inspired by God and what is not.
So, I'm still unclear as to your answer. Do you hold the NT canon as scripture; the Nicene Creed and the doctrine of the Trinity?
And a followup. Which Protestant denominations would you hold as examples of those who do not?
My understanding is that the Council of Nicea included in Canon only those books that were referenced by Christ and those with apostolic pedigree with the exception of Hebrews I believe? I've also heard at least one person say that the book of James is in question as well.
The source I used (also given in #66) can be found here . Please be aware that this is ... um, direct, blunt and to the point.
This is where you and the bible diverge. Jesus was a Jew (ie. King of the Jews), Jesus observed Jewish customs and traditions, including dietary restrictions. He grew up a Jew, he was a Jew, he came to spread his message to the Jews.
As I stated earlier:
Jesus was called 'Rabbi' by Peter (Mark 9:5; 11:21), by Judas (Matthew 26:25,49), and by Nathanael (John 1:49), and other disciples (John 1:38; 4:31; 9:2; 11:8), He acknowledged the title without dispute.Great masses of the people also called Him "Rabbi" (John 6:25); and when Nicodemus, a Pharisee, and a ruler of the Jews acknowledged Jesus as "Rabbi", it was conclusive evidence that Jesus was a Jewish Rabbi (John 3:1-2).
There is evidence that Jesus was married. A Rabbi must be married. I submit that it really doesn't matter. Jesus was the son of God, he was sent to earth for a purpose. Whether he had a pet dog, preferred veal to chicken, was married or single has no impact on either his divinity, nor his message. But, he was a Rabbi.
Now, if you can provide a single bible verse in which Jesus states he is not a Rabbi; I will concede. However, I'm pretty certain I have this point nailed down (no pun intended).
"Rabbi" means "teacher," and he was honored as a teacher. But he was not a rabbi like those rabbis who came to serve the Jewish community after the destruction of the temple. Rabbinical Judaism was not simply a continuation of the Judaism of the 2nd Commonwealth but a narrowing of it. The historian Paul Johnson speculates that many of the "Greeks" who displaced Jews as leaders of the Christian community were actually hellenized Jews, like Stephen,
Then by what criterion do you measure inspiration?
A lot of the scriptures are "missing". These may have been removed (hopefully not destroyed) by the Council of Nicea, or simply lost due to events in human history.
Consider:
Book of the Covenant Exodus 24:7
Book of the Wars of the Lord Numbers 24:14
Book of Jasher Joshua 10:13
Book of the Acts of Solomon 1 Kings 11:41
Books of Nathan and Gad 1 Chronicles 29:29
Prophecy of Ahija and Visions of Iddo 2 Chronicles 9:29
Book of Shemaiah 2 Chronicles 12:15
Book of Jehu 2 Chronicles 20:34
.....
and 8 others that I'm simply too lazy to type. If you verify these, and ask nicely I'll pick up with Acts of Uzziah.
A lot of decisions were 'made for us' by people we do not know.
No, 'Teacher' means 'Teacher', much like a 'Professor' means 'teacher', but all teachers are not professors. If one is called 'Professor' and has not earned that honorarium; and this person does not correct the error, that 'teacher' is a liar.
The word 'Rabbi' has specific meaning, both now and at that point in time. Admittedly, a 'Rabbi' is a 'great teacher'; but like the term 'Professor', 'Doctor', or 'Senator', each term has certain requirements. Words mean things, and the term 'Rabbi' was not used arbitrarily, it was used specifically, on numerous occassions; both by Jesus's follwers as well as the Jewish Pharisis who had him sentenced to death.
Can you provide a source that disputes that Jesus was a Rabbi? I've provided multiple biblical sources stating that Jesus was a Rabbi.
I'm speaking of Nicea of the creed, the Arian heresy, etc., in 325.
I don't believe it addressed books of the NT canon.
Hebrews and Revelation, along with others have and were debated then and later - Luther for example thought Revelation was trash.
However, and here I'm going from old memory, all sides were satisfied and the canon included both books.
So I didn't follow you when you said you read the NT canon including books that were rejected by the council.
My point is that the ROP (that's Islam, you know) feels exactly the same way: if you stray from that religion, they feel that it's better to kill you than to let you go.
It frightens me to hear people say that others, who may not think, worship, or believe exactly as they do, are going to hell. That way leads to intolerance, violence, and ultimately war, murder, and genocide. Haven't we learned anything from recent experiences with Muslim extremists?
I think that believing that reading a fictional book will cause one to "lose one's soul" is nonsense. If reading a (all together now) FICTIONAL book can shake one's faith, it seems to me that wasn't real faith to begin with.
And I remind you that the notion of rabbi as an office was a post-70 development of the Jewish communities. Lacking a home land and a central temple, Judaism went in a new direction, with a renewed interest in the Hebrew text which included a new canon.
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