'The Nativity Story' Movie Problematic for Catholics, "Unsuitable" for Young Children

LifeSiteNews.com ^ | 12/4/2006 | John-Henry Westen

[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/

[Dr. Eckleburg]

God is not bound by any of the Aristotlean Laws of Logic

Very true. But God has purposed the world so that there is a certain logic within existence that is of Him and by Him.

I love the verses that speak to our "quickened minds." God not only gave us new hearts and new ears and new eyes, but He also reordered our minds, our intellect, our method of discerning truth through a type of logic which, of course, must begin and end with Him.

"And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." -- Philippians 4:7

"This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them" -- Hebrews 10:16

The very act of writing is by definition an act of logic. We received the Ten Commandments and the Holy Scriptures in sentences, not pictures. The Holy Spirit comes to us through our minds in actual words, transforming our own thoughts into His.

"And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." -- Romans 12:2

The only other time the word "renewing" is used in Scriputre is in Titus, and it is defined as an act by the Holy Spirit...

"Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost" -- Titus 3:5

God no doubt ordained this pattern so that men could get together and weigh the words and meanings in order to better understand His intent, comparing Scripture with Scripture. One of my new favorite verses explains exactly how "logical" and self-evident the Holy Spirit is in the Bible --

"And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left." -- Isaiah 30:21

[proud_2_B_texasgal]

...Blood Bought children of the Most High King of Kings and Lord of Lords who have accepted His Bood as their Salvation and Justification. They are Heavenbound, Washed-in-The-Blood; Joint-heirs with Christ; Children of the Most High God Almighty; Grafted-in-Children-of-Abraham; . . .

Wooooooooooo, brother! You 'bout had me shoutin' in my office.. Praise God!!!

[AlbionGirl]

Dr. E, when I wrote that I was thinking you might like it. :)

[Dr. Eckleburg]

You’re way ahead of me if you’ve found a solid Presbyterian church. Mine is still afloat in some confusion. 8~(

[Alamo-Girl]

Beautiful scriptures and testimony truly said. Thank you!

Indeed, all of God's creation is ordered. The mathematics (logic, geometry, information) is so fundamental that physicist Wigner calls it "the unreasonable effectiveness of math." BTW, I see the mathematics also a language of God's creation.

The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. [There is] no speech nor language, [where] their voice is not heard. – Psalms 19:1-3

As Jastrow said the observation that there was a beginning of real space and real time was the most theological statement ever to come out science. And scientists have scrambled since then trying to find any way to obviate the meaning, there was a Creator who was the uncaused cause, i.e. God. And as Jastrow also said (paraphrased) - when they've climbed the last mountain of knowledge they'll meet the theologians who've been sitting there, waiting for them.

Meanwhile, we who are creatures must realize that we suffer from an "observer problem" - we cannot remove ourselves from the creation to see "all that there is" objectively. Thus we ought never to anthropomorphize God.

[Forest Keeper]

After all you can't have a bunch of people running around believing they are saved without the church controlling the process. ;-0

Amen! Ain't it the truth.

[AlbionGirl]

It is a very solid church. It was an Episcopal (sp?) church at one time, and the current Presbyterian church, grew enough that they were able to buy the church, while the Episcopal church withered away. Bitter-sweet, really.

The church is verrrrry serious about keeping the Lord's Day. The psalm singing is unbelievable. First verse starts out with everyone singing same notes, next verse all the harmonies begin. I'm not kidding you when I say that it is beautiful.

There are a few students from the Eastman School of Music here in Rochester, and they lead the singing. It really is impressive. Of course, I try to keep my singing very soft and low, so as to not ruin things.

The pastor and his lovely family have a great dane, named Knox, and I thought that might tickle your Scottish- Lass fancy. Now I'm no longer afraid of great danes. Boy are they regal!

By the way, at dinner the pastor was saying that the roster of the Reformed Presbyterian Church (the old Covenanters) no longer boasts most readily the names of McMann, MacIntyre, etc, but Silveggio and d'Amico instead. I thought that was interesting. How things change...

[Forest Keeper]

And I say to you that we all can't claim the Truth and not recognize it as one and the same. In other words, as far as we are concerned, someone's truth is not the truth but ours is (regardless of the reasons)! We believe that our version is the true one, but we don't know it. Faith is hope, not fact.

It's a continuum. There are some things that all Christians believe and must claim as fact in order to be Christians. These are nonnegotiable. However, there are many others that Christians of good conscience may disagree on, as we see all the time here. So, I still think the core of Christian faith is fact-based and not blind.

I was laughing with my wife last night as I had to admit that Sharpton may have actually said something of merit with his Romney crack. :) I'm not positive, but I think you would agree that Mormonism is not a Christian faith, it is some other faith. They do not hold to the core Christian beliefs that we do, even though you and I disagree on so many other things. I don't hope or "wish" that those core beliefs are true, I consider them as facts.

[Forest Keeper]

Why then is the "need" to mention that the Spirit was with Him? The Spirit is always with Him. But not to "take" Him into the desert.

For one thing it is a further evidence of the Spirit's personhood, and supports the idea of the Trinity. I don't see it as any big deal that the Spirit "took" or "led" Jesus into the desert. Jesus also prayed to the Father. We know the relationships. The Spirit leads US, and we are to pray to the Father.

[Quix]

PRAISE GOD AND AMEN TO THAT.

You should find the CD about Jesus Brokenness or some such . . . Maranatha . . . I got the title right on a recent post on some thread the last 24 hrs.

[Forest Keeper]

WESTMINSTER CONFESSION OF FAITH - CHAPTER ONE OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURE

AMEN! Thanks for posting. :)

[Blogger]

Genesis 13:14-15 And the LORD said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever.

As I just posted above, the promise to Abraham was that one day his heir would inherit the entire world (Rom 4:13). It wasn't about physical boarders or boundaries. It wasn't the physical land God was talking about but the spiritual land.
Two chapters later, he spells out the boundaries.

Genesis 15:18 In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:

The promise is repeated through Moses in Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy 11:24 Every place whereon the soles of your feet shall tread shall be yours: from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even unto the uttermost sea shall your coast be.

Joshua

Chapter) Joshua 1:4 From the wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your coast.

Ezekiel

13Thus saith the Lord GOD; This shall be the border, whereby ye shall inherit the land according to the twelve tribes of Israel: Joseph shall have two portions. 14And ye shall inherit it, one as well as another: concerning the which I lifted up mine hand to give it unto your fathers: and this land shall fall unto you for inheritance. 15And this shall be the border of the land toward the north side, from the great sea, the way of Hethlon, as men go to Zedad; 16Hamath, Berothah, Sibraim, which is between the border of Damascus and the border of Hamath; Hazarhatticon, which is by the coast of Hauran. 17And the border from the sea shall be Hazarenan, the border of Damascus, and the north northward, and the border of Hamath. And this is the north side. 18And the east side ye shall measure from Hauran, and from Damascus, and from Gilead, and from the land of Israel by Jordan, from the border unto the east sea. And this is the east side. 19And the south side southward, from Tamar even to the waters of strife in Kadesh, the river to the great sea. And this is the south side southward. 20The west side also shall be the great sea from the border, till a man come over against Hamath. This is the west side. 21So shall ye divide this land unto you according to the tribes of Israel. 22And it shall come to pass, that ye shall divide it by lot for an inheritance unto you, and to the strangers that sojourn among you, which shall beget children among you: and they shall be unto you as born in the country among the children of Israel; they shall have inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel. 23And it shall come to pass, that in what tribe the stranger sojourneth, there shall ye give him his inheritance, saith the Lord GOD.

IT IS THE PROMISE OF GOD TO ISRAEL HARLEY AND NO MATTER HOW MUCH THE DENIERS DENY IT, I T W I L L S U R E L Y C O M E T O P A S S!!!!!! Hbr 11:13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of [them], and embraced [them], and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

We know from the New Testament this wasn't what was meant at all. The promise was that throughout the earth, God would call His people and it would be through Abraham heir by faith. We see this with the discarding of the old covenant and the establishing of the new.

JEREMIAH 33

14Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will perform that good thing which I have promised unto the house of Israel and to the house of Judah. 15In those days, and at that time, will I cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David; and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land. 16In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely: and this is the name wherewith she shall be called, The LORD our righteousness. 17For thus saith the LORD; David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel; 18Neither shall the priests the Levites want a man before me to offer burnt offerings, and to kindle meat offerings, and to do sacrifice continually. 19And the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah, saying, 20Thus saith the LORD; If ye can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night, and that there should not be day and night in their season; 21Then may also my covenant be broken with David my servant, that he should not have a son to reign upon his throne; and with the Levites the priests, my ministers. 22As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured: so will I multiply the seed of David my servant, and the Levites that minister unto me.

Jeremiah 33 is all about the New Covenant. And, it speaks of the land. Jerusalem is a real place. Levites are real people who are ministering. God's prophecies are not nonsensical. They will truly and surely come to pass. His covenant can not be broken, for even when we are faithless, He is faithful for He can not deny Himself.

I have more answers to the things you list here. I believe that you fundamentally misunderstand dispensationalism, Harley. You fundamentally misunderstand WHY the Jews are blessed by God and what dispensationalists have to say about it. I'm not sure you really want to understand. But, if you do, I encourage you to read Zechariah 12-14; Ezekiel 34-48 and beyond. Then, re-read Romans 9-11 in that context. Then we can talk more.

[annalex]

“Heresy” is false teaching. “Disposition” is presence of personal sin. If a bishop falls into sin while teaching correct doctrine, he is an orthodox bishop who happens to be human in need of confession. If a bishop falls into heresy, he no longer leads an orthodox Church and cannot consecrate priests.

[annalex]

The issue is obnoxious restatement of the points already made and responded to. This wastes time. Whoever asks a question, Joe and I are happy to answer.

[annalex]

I will always be happy to respond to a question or listen to a new argument. When the same stuff is rehashed, especially of “water is womb” variety, I tend to want to skip it in order to use my time more productively by talking to people who seem to be interested in having a dialog.

[kosta50]

There are some things that all Christians believe and must claim as fact in order to be Christians. These are nonnegotiable

I would say hey are nonnegotiable truths, but they are not (demonstrable) facts except to a believer.

Thus, the Holy Trinity, or dual nature of Christ is non-negotiable dogma of main-line Christians (Orthodox/Catholic/Protestant/Baptist) but is not demonstrable without an apriori faith.

That is the core. And it's not much. Outsiode of that, just about everything esle is negotiable and disagreeable in that bunch.

I had to admit that Sharpton may have actually said something of merit with his Romney crack

I though it is curious (if not symptomatic) that no one is asking for his resignation. Obviosuly, we have a double standard here, although I do not consider LDS "Christian" anything.

But don't get me wrong. I am all for principled discussions and not for politically correct ambiguity. People need to state what they believe in. We don't have to agree with their beliefs, but we can only expect to be free to believe and worship if we allow others to do the same, ragardless what we think of their theology.

[kosta50]

For one thing it is a further evidence of the Spirit's personhood, and supports the idea of the Trinity

My point was that God is never partially God, but always perfect, complete God. This is suggestively implied, in my opinion, in Mat 3:16, where the Holy Spirit is seen descending on Jesus after he emerges from the baptismal waters.

Christ's divine nature is complete, perfect God whis at no time without the Father or the Spirit.

In Mat 4:1 it says that fllowing His paritsm and the HS descending on Him, Jesus was ledleading and Jesus following to be tempted of the devil.

Why would He be led by none other than the HS to be tempted? First, I propose that the Word was with the Spirit all the time, and with the Father, and that He didn't need to be led by anyone as if lacking in ability to lead himself, why the temptation when God knew that it would not work.

[Forest Keeper]

FK: "Why were Adam and Eve not adopted through Jesus Christ like everyone else who is saved?"

Because God apparently thought the world needed to wait a few thousand years before Christ showed up. In the meantime, He tried everything else, it seems, floods, giants, plagues, you name it.

Are you saying that God only resolved to send Christ after He had FAILED at trying other things? How does Perfect fail? Jesus' sacrifice applied retroactively. God isn't subject to time, right? The OT righteous were saved by grace through faith, exactly the same way we were.

Besides, I already told you I don't know where the Church is getting the idea that Christ went to Hades to rescue the OT "righteous," including Adam and Eve, nor do I know why Adam and Eve would have been "righteous." All this is nebulous, legendary and mythical to me — and certainly not biblical.

I agree that it isn't Biblical, which is why I don't believe it. I also don't KNOW as a fact that Adam and Eve were saved, I just "think" so. One small clue that Eve, at least, had repented is in Gen. 4:1-2. But, it may not be a slam dunk.

Let's not forget that at His Transfiguration on Mount Tabor, Moses and Elijah were there...physically! That means Moses was not in hell...

Excellent point.

FK: "Upon being born again, there is an emergence of a completely new being, not existent before (2 Cor. 5:17). I don't understand why you think it is a play on words."

There is no new being born. There is one and the same person who dropped his arrogance and pride and decided to obey God's will, to accept God's free offer and follow Him, as in "sell everything you have and follow Me." Clinging to God is a decision.

But Jesus says it as plainly as it can be said. What is your interpretation of:

John 3:3 : In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again."

I can only assume you would say infant baptism. It never occurred to me before that you don't believe there is a very real change of a person at the point of belief. You all believe the Spirit temporarily indwells at infant baptism, and the rest is up to us, so there wouldn't be any need for a change in nature of the person from a slave to sin, to one of righteousness, etc. All the many verses that refer to this transformation just mean "something" else.

I do not believe the Bible is a literal word of God. I believe it contains God's truths, along with legends and myths, embellished with human desires, culture and historical issues.

If the Bible includes human desires in ADDITION to God's truths, then they must oppose each other since if they were the same they would be included as under God's truths. Therefore, you cannot believe the Bible is inerrant. In addition, if human desires are added, then God should prove the Bible to be a document with lies:

Prov 30:5-6 : 5 "Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. 6 Do not add to his words, or he will rebuke you and prove you a liar.

I for one do not believe the Bible is a document with lies. :)

I have a strong suspicion that [Paul] did appoint himself, but that he honestly believed it was his destiny.

If Paul did appoint himself, then he could not have been sent. That means he was not one of God's chosen Apostles, and you should discredit absolutely everything he ever said that was not officially sanctioned by the consensus patrum. And, if Paul WAS a fraud, then what does that say about the Church in the areas it agrees with him, based on his writings?

[Forest Keeper]

The soul is not independent of its Creator. We are the sum and substance of that which the Creator ordained from before the foundation of the world.

AMEN! Excellent post. The scripture says what it says.

[annalex]

You two have had a most enjoyable conversation lately; thank you for including me as a spectator. It is a testimony to Christian faith that you can do it, and where I cannot, I try.

One day, after we all die, we will look at such talk and be very pleasantly amused. Now we see darkly, but in the Lord’s time we will see it bright.