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

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

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."

For us to be made righteous, God expects us to 'do' more than just believe.

As Wmfights noted, this is where we part company.

Men are "made righteous" by only ONE THING -- by the perfect, predestined, merciful and miraculous death and resurrection of Jesus Christ who paid in full one time for all the sins of God's elect.

" [we]"...are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood... He did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus." -- Romans 3:25,26

And how do we know that Christ paid for our sins? By our faith. If we believe, we have been redeemed. And that is because the only way a fallen creature can have faith and do good works is by the free gift of God's grace alone.

"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Not of works, lest any man should boast.
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." -- Ephesians 2:8-10

If our fruit is good, we have been born from a good tree.

"Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit." -- Matthew 7:17-18

And who makes one man fruitful and another man not?

"For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive?" -- 1 Corinthians 4:7

Saved by grace alone.

Kolo, With all due respect (and no disrespect is meant here), John Chrysostom 1)was a human being 2)is not Scripture and; 3)is not here to defend his comments.

You are here, and we are interested in speaking with YOU on this most important subject: The Perseverance of the Saints.

Now, the contention on the table is that no man can pluck us out of Christ's hand but we ourselves can do so after we have been truly saved. To that, I would submit that you consider the following.

1st, the context. Yes, that pesky word that we always have to keep coming back to. The verse appears in the midst of several verses on the subject which negate the possibility of ever fully falling away from Christ if one is one of his sheep.

First, there was a parable about a shepherd, which Christ then goes forward and proclaims that HE is that shepherd. But what did the parable say? Verses 4 & 5 of John 10 say: "And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice. And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers. " So here, we have, posited by Christ Himself, that those who are His sheep WILL FOLLOW HIM and WILL NOT follow another.

But Christ goes even further than this. He makes the welfare of the sheep not dependent on the sheep at all, but upon Himself - the Good shepherd (and contrasts those that would allow the sheep to be scattered with himself in the process). Christ says: "I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep."

Next, we see some of the Jews disputing what He said. "...many of them said, He hath a devil, and is mad; why hear ye him? Others said, These are not the words of him that hath a devil. Can a devil open the eyes of the blind? " And they grumbled. But what did Jesus say?

"I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me. But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. "

This points to John's words later: 1 John 2:19"They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us." The true sheep of Christ will never ultimately stray from the shepherd, but that same Shepherd will bring them back (or in some cases, take them home).

But Christ continues now with the verse quoted: "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. Per Thayer's lexicon, the never in this verse is not just your typical never; but rather, it is a particle of negation with a certain emphasis. He says "The particles ou mn, in combination augment the force of the negation, and signify not at all, in no wise, by no means . So, in translating this verse, the words could actually be translated:" My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall not at all, in no wise, by any means ever perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand." Pretty strong language by Christ.

But, it goes beyond that lest you remain skeptical. Three chapters earlier, you find the phrase ou mn once again "All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out." Using the example from the prior paragraph, we see the ou mn in the translation "no wise" or "no way" for modern speakers. So Christ says, ALL that the Father gives to me WILL COME. And of the ALL that come, he will NOT AT ALL, IN NO WISE, BY ANY MEANS EVER cast them out."

Again, I hear the objection "it doesn't mean we can't cast ourselves out. Well, go back to the chapter 10 example. Christ said that those who are his sheep WILL FOLLOW HIM and that they WILL NEVER, NOT AT ALL, IN NO WISE BY ANY MEANS EVER perish. So, this "we can cast ourselves out" really is a hypothetical without Scriptural support. If one leaves Christ, they were not of the fold to begin with.

But lets continue in Chapter 6 a little bit...John 6: 39And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. Nothing in that verse means NONE. Once again, Christ puts the onus on himself with the protection of those who are His. And, He says, He will lose NONE of those that the Father has given him. Again, strong language. This verse is also found in context with the body and blood verses. He says to those listening: "It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, [they] are spirit, and [they] are life.But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him.And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father." So, here, Jesus is putting an emphasis on those who believe verses those who may follow but really aren't believers (like Judas but not solely Judas since the verse is plural).

Just acting like a sheep doesn't make you a sheep. Following the Shepherd around and pretending you are part of the fold doesn't make you one either. Rather, the sheep are the ones chosen by the Father, who WILL BELIEVE, who WILL FOLLOW, and who are protected to the point of death by the GOOD SHEPHERD who will LOSE NONE of them and therefore they will NEVER PERISH. Therefore, it is an impossibility for a true Christian to ever fall away from Christ completely. We may stray, he leaves the 99 and goes after us. If we are disruptive enough to the fold, he may take us home. But, we never cease being His sheep for it was not of us that we became Sheep to begin with. He called us, named us, raised us, and protected us to be His Sheep of whom he would not lose a single one.

This should cause true Christians to rejoice. And, if you are someone who has a desire to stray, knows down deep you are playing at Christianity, it should cause you to examine yourself to see if you are truly of the faith.

You don't work to be innocent of a crime, either you are or you are not. You don't work to be righteous, either you are or you are not.

Amen. It was only when I finally understood what justification really was, that Christ had taken on the burden of paying for our sins so that we could actually stand "innocent" before God, that I knew the depth of the gift of God's grace.

Without that understanding, the rest is striving after false pride.

THE DOCTRINE OF JUSTIFICATION
by Zacharias Ursinus

III. IN WHAT DOES RIGHTEOUSNESS DIFFER FROM JUSTIFICATION?
Righteousness is conformity with the law; or, it is the fulfilling, of the law, or that by which we are justified before God. Justification, on the other hand, is the application of this righteousness to anyone. They differ, therefore, as shape and the application of it to an object, or as whiteness and whitening, or making white. Justification admits of the same division which we have made of righteousness, into that which is legal and evangelical. Legal justification consists in effecting in us conformity with God and the law. This is commenced in us when we are regenerated by the Holy Spirit. Evangelical justification is the application of evangelical righteousness; or, it is the application of the righteousness of another, which is without us in Christ; or, it is the imputation and application of that righteousness which Christ wrought out for us by his death upon the cross, and by his resurrection from the dead. It is not a transfusion of righteousness, or of the qualities thereof; but it is the acquitting, or the declaring us free from sin in the judgment of God, on the ground of the righteousness of another. Justification and the forgiveness of sins are, therefore, the same: for to justify is that God should not impute sin unto us, but accept of us and declare us righteous; or, which is the same thing, that he declare us righteous on the ground of the righteousness of Christ made over unto us. That this is the proper signification of the word is clear from these passages of Scripture in which it occurs: "In thy sight shall no man living be justified," that is, no one shall be acquitted, or declared just by inherent righteousness. "Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity," etc. (Ps. 143:2; 31:1-2). Paul, in accordance with this declaration of the Psalmist, interprets justification to be the remission of sins, where the word impute is repeated seven times (Rom. 4: 7).

Your reading of 2 Peter 1:5-10 does not agree with the text. If Peter wanted to say what you impute into it, he would have said it. But he did not: he lists a program of sanctification that, he says, will make the election secure.

Oh come now, Annalex, you know better than that!

Look at what Peter is talking about. Here are some of the verses which precede this:

" According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that [pertain] unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.For if these things be in you, and abound, they make [you that ye shall] neither [be] barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:"

Okay, lots of things in this portion of Scripture. First we have a gift that is given by a giver. The giver is God. Who by his divine power gave us certain things. That is significant. God is the giver. What does He give us? All things pertaining to life and godliness. So God all things. Who does He give them to? Small word, He gives them to "US." He doesn't give them to everyone. He gives them to "US." And, who is the "US" that Peter is referring to? The ones he is addressing: Verse 1:"them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ" It's the saved by faith in the righteousness of God and our Savior Jesus Christ." In short, God's elect.

So, we have God giving His elect all things necessary to life and godliness. But that isn't all that He gives us. He gives them promises. And not just promises, but exceeding great and precious promises. It isn't just scratch my back and I'll scratch yours - but these promises are indicative of how God Himself has worked in their lives. Peter says: "Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust." These promises help us to commune with and experience God's nature in ways that the world can not but there is another little nugget here - it says we have escaped the world's corruption already. It is not that we are escaping it. We've already escaped it. How? Through the power of God. By His grace we escaped. Done deal. We aren't subjected to the world's corruption. We should have peace, right? Well... we should but don't always. Peter continues.

Peter says, already having escaped the worlds corrutpion through the power of God by faith and having received the promises of God add to your faith these things. Virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, kindness, charity. Sound familiar? It should. Galatians 5: 22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

Peter and Paul are both speaking of the fruit of the Spirit in one's life. We don't work these things up. The workmanship of God in our lives brings them about naturally. They are the Spirit's fruit. Not ours. And what does Peter say then?

"For if these things be in you, and abound, they make [you that ye shall] neither [be] barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ."

What is he talking about there? If these things be in you and abound in you, then you will be fruitful in the knowledge of our Lord. It isn't talking about a loss of salvation or lack of salvation. Rather, it is talking about a fruitfulness in one's life and growth as a Christian. Continuing..."But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins." If a true Christian doesn't have these things abounding in their lives, he may suddenly become forgetful that he was purged from His sin and can only see his current state. He isn't fruitful. He is blind in his knowledge of Christ. He isnt' growing. And very likely, he is feeling insecure because He has forgotten that He was already purged from sin. But, let's wrap the verse up...Wherefore the rather, brethren, [those who are of the elect] give diligence [1) to hasten, make haste2) to exert one's self, endeavour, give diligence] to make your calling and election sure[translation:unshaken]: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall[translation: stumble (in your understanding of what Christ has done for you)].

In summary, Peter's verses are not speaking of how one can make their salvation sure by doing good works. The subjects are already those who have already escaped the corruption of the world, been given the promises of God through faith, and have had their sins purged. Rather, he is speaking to those who may have some doubts because the fruit of the Spirit isn't evident in their lives as it should be. They have forgotten, perhaps. But, he is saying "make sure." That's all. Make sure that you are Christ's. And to you that have doubts, but do see these things evident in your lives and abundant, you don't need to worry because they are the Fruits of the Spirit in your lives, indicating that You are His.

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