Posted on 12/04/2006 7:52:47 PM PST by Pyro7480
'The Nativity Story' Movie Problematic for Catholics, "Unsuitable" for Young Children
By John-Henry Westen
NEW YORK, December 4, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A review of New Line Cinema's The Nativity story by Fr. Angelo Mary Geiger of the Franciscans of the Immaculate in the United States, points out that the film, which opened December 1, misinterprets scripture from a Catholic perspective.
While Fr. Geiger admits that he found the film is "in general, to be a pious and reverential presentation of the Christmas mystery." He adds however, that "not only does the movie get the Virgin Birth wrong, it thoroughly Protestantizes its portrayal of Our Lady."
In Isaiah 7:14 the Bible predicts the coming of the Messiah saying: "Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign. Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel." Fr. Geiger, in an video blog post, explains that the Catholic Church has taught for over 2000 years that the referenced Scripture showed that Mary would not only conceive the child miraculously, but would give birth to the child miraculously - keeping her physical virginity intact during the birth.
The film, he suggests, in portraying a natural, painful birth of Christ, thus denies the truth of the virginal and miraculous birth of Christ, which, he notes, the Fathers of the Church compared to light passing through glass without breaking it. Fr. Geiger quoted the fourth century St. Augustine on the matter saying. "That same power which brought the body of the young man through closed doors, brought the body of the infant forth from the inviolate womb of the mother."
Fr. Geiger contrasts The Nativity Story with The Passion of the Christ, noting that with the latter, Catholics and Protestants could agree to support it. He suggests, however, that the latter is "a virtual coup against Catholic Mariology".
The characterization of Mary further debases her as Fr. Geiger relates in his review. "Mary in The Nativity lacks depth and stature, and becomes the subject of a treatment on teenage psychology."
Beyond the non-miraculous birth, the biggest let-down for Catholics comes from Director Catherine Hardwicke's own words. Hardwicke explains her rationale in an interview: "We wanted her [Mary] to feel accessible to a young teenager, so she wouldn't seem so far away from their life that it had no meaning for them. I wanted them to see Mary as a girl, as a teenager at first, not perfectly pious from the very first moment. So you see Mary going through stuff with her parents where they say, 'You're going to marry this guy, and these are the rules you have to follow.' Her father is telling her that she's not to have sex with Joseph for a year-and Joseph is standing right there."
Comments Fr. Geiger, "it is rather disconcerting to see Our Blessed Mother portrayed with 'attitude;' asserting herself in a rather anachronistic rebellion against an arranged marriage, choosing her words carefully with her parents, and posing meaningful silences toward those who do not understand her."
Fr. Geiger adds that the film also contains "an overly graphic scene of St. Elizabeth giving birth," which is "just not suitable, in my opinion, for young children to view."
Despite its flaws Fr. Geiger, after viewing the film, also has some good things to say about it. "Today, one must commend any sincere attempt to put Christ back into Christmas, and this film is certainly one of them," he says. "The Nativity Story in no way compares to the masterpiece which is The Passion of the Christ, but it is at least sincere, untainted by cynicism, and a worthy effort by Hollywood to end the prejudice against Christianity in the public square."
And, in addition to a good portrait of St. Joseph, the film offers "at least one cinematic and spiritual triumph" in portraying the Visitation of Mary to St. Elizabeth. "Although the Magnificat is relegated to a kind of epilogue at the movie's end, the meeting between Mary and Elizabeth is otherwise faithful to the scriptures and quite poignant. In a separate scene, the two women experience the concurrent movement of their children in utero and share deeply in each other's joy. I can't think of another piece of celluloid that illustrates the dignity of the unborn child better than this."
See Fr. Geiger's full review here:
http://airmaria.com/
a bunch of angry west europeons started worshipping printed texts...
= = =
YES, SOME Protesties put inordinate affection/worship toward on some ink on pages just as SOME Orthodox and RC's put inordinate affection/worship toward some icons/statues/images.
And this is supposed to say what about the majority of Protesties, Orthodox, RC's?????
?????????????????????????????
Am a bit puzzled.
Are you asserting that you do NOT BELIEVE:
Jhn 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
???
You are welcome to use any version, you won't find Satan in Ezekiel 28. I usually use NAB. Actually, NIV is pretty close to the Greek originals.
BTW, I gave you Ezekiel 28 from the Septuagint (Greek) and you didn't like it either.
Make up your mind, will you! No matter which version you will accept, you won't find what's not there, not even in KJV.
I looked all over to help you out. Try here http://www.sacred-texts.com/bib/poly/index.htm
Oh, is the Eucharist mentioned by name in the Orthodox translation? Oops, my mistake. The Orthodox don't have a translation. Why, they don't even have a Bible. Please be sure to have the Orthodox fathers include the Eucharist when they get around to writing their version.
BWAHAHAHAHA!!! The Orthodox don't even have a Bible. How do you know ours is wrong???? :OP
I was really unaware of it. I thought they were reading from the original Greek.
LMAO not only do you folks worship a book you pride yourselves of the fact that it's only a knock off and deride the folks who have the original...
in fact we do...
You see Kosta you have a prophecy in the verses in Ezekiel. Ezekiel starts with the human King of Tyre, but then Ez. 28:11-19 refers to the spiritual ruler of Tyre, Satan. It's an end time prophecy and it refers to Satan, no doubt about it. The angels of the nations are bad angels. Babylon and Tyre's angels are Satan. I know that you love the word of god or you would not be here, growing in the Word.
should be "God"
so says self proclaimed Popes infailable in matters of Scripture [protestants].
HD to Kosta: Well, what translation is the best? I suppose a number of Orthodox who can’t read Greek would like to know
What are you talking about? We were talking about post-Jamnia rabbis adding vowels to the Hebrew bible in order to 'purge' Christian bias. Adding vowels changed the words, as in the example I cited.
You, on the other hand, suggested that Greeks didn't have vowels either, which is wrong. And now you come up with 'which version of the Bible...?' Hello, earth to HD...
And if none of them are any good, why hasn’t the Orthodox developed one?
No need. All the books of the Bible are in the Church, as your own article mentions, the OT and the NT; just not neatly bound together, but everyone knows where they are.
The Gospels are on the altar; the Apostol (Epistles) are by the reader. Evening services use the OT. Sunday services use the Epistles and the Gospels. The Great Lent uses the Old Testament.
The link you provide actually defends the Scriptures. It seems to me you just have an ax to grind. My advice to every one is: state your beliefs and don't mind others. Let God sort out what is what.
There are many martyrs for the faith, probably more than there were back then, who live in third world countries. I would consider each one of them a saint. It's not a comfy place for Christians any more. We may well be among them someday. I hope not and if that's the case, I hope all of us stand firm in our faith. Love, Mxxx
so says self proclaimed Popes infailable in matters of Scripture [protestants].
= = = =
It's a lot better when folks tell the truth about us.
I don't know of any Protesties that fit the above description.
On the other hand . . .
Well, let's see. It must be limited to 1) those who can read Greek, and 2) nothing that was written in Hebrew or Aramaic (with the exception of the Septuagint which is OK).
Outstanding work, Quix. As I was passing through all these comments, and saw them piling on top of each other, I began to wish I had cataloged them. Thank you for doing so. There IS a tremendous double standard at work here.
Sorry for the dealy in responding; I will catch up as much as I can today.
That is a tangent to the issue that the sheep are supposed to repent (whatever precisely, that repentance entails). It is therefore somethigng that happens to sheep: they are lost. Therefore, the security that you impute to the same sheep in John 10 is imputed without warrant: sheep do get lost, sometimes they are found, and sometimes they are lost forever.
The Protestants like to make much of the literal meaning of "metanoia", "changing the mind", and the Catholic concept as penance. So, in what sense does the Gospel use the word: does it mean a purely intellectual changeover, or does it involves some penitential work? If we look at how St. John the Forerunner used the word, we have to go with the Catohlics: he wore a hairshirt, lived as a hemit, and fasted. That was the example of "metanoia" he gave. You do your own math.
It was not the sons feeling sorry or doing anything to earn the father's disposition towards him
The repentance of the son is what brought him home. His arrival produced forgiveness. It is notable that it is his suffering in the body (eating with the pigs, etc.) that produced the change of heart.
How do you know what any of them say? Have you seen them? Have you verify they even exist?
I'd be happy to loan you one of mine until the Church prints up their own. I'll even let you use my Revised Standard although you need to be careful of the faulty translation.
Hey, you can even share it among some of the Orthodox fathers there. I'm sure they be happy to see a copy.
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