Theologian: Christian Leaders Fooled by Noah Film as biblical

Brietbart ^ | 1 April 2014 | John Nolte

[GreyFriar]

Dr. Brian Mattson, a theologian with a Ph.D. in Systematic Theology from the University of Aberdeen who now serves as Senior Scholar of Public Theology for the Center for Cultural Leadership, has written a scathing review of Darren Aronofsky's "Noah" that takes special aim at the numerous Christian leaders who endorsed a film "direct from Kabbalist and Gnostic sources" that has zero to do with the Bible.

"This was a thoroughly pagan retelling of the Noah story direct from Kabbalist and Gnostic sources," Mattson writes.

[GreyFriar]

This is a very interesting take on the movie Noah. The point of Gnostic/Kabbalist view rather than Biblical makes sense to me. It deserves consideration and thoughtful discussion.

[GreyFriar]

Noah film critique ping.

[stars & stripes forever]

The Bible says satan will appear like an angel of light....

Apparently some church leaders have been drawn to the Hollywood glitz. Some are more apt to pack a theater than a pew.

[cloudmountain]

I saw "Noah" yesterday. WHAT garbage. The story was FICTION, pure and simple.
Russell Crowe was fabulous as was Anthony Hopkins in his bit role. Those two are ALWAYS fabulous. I only saw it because of Russell Crowe.
Emma Watson, with her lovely accent, diction and pretty face, was AMAZINGLY miscast for the part.

The star of the show was the special effects. But, no one is surprised at that. Those folks deserve an Oscar.

[wideawake]

Is it pagan, or is it Kabalist?

[GreyFriar]

From my reading of his article: Both

[spirited irish]

Kabbalah, Gnosticism, Buddhism, reincarnation/evolution entered Christendom around the time of the Renaissance. Along with Pico della Mirandola, Ferdinand Baur and other disgruntled Renaissance theologians, mystics and intellectuals, Emanuel Swedenborg was a practitioner of the Magic Way (occult sciences) of Hermetic magic and esoteric Kabbalah.

Occult sciences include, but are not limited to, spiritualism (contact with spirits), alchemy, astrology, divination, Hermeticism and Kabbalah.

Implied in Hermeticism is an inverted exegesis teaching biological and spiritual evolution of the adept from lower to higher states of existence:

“Human beings are themselves the product of a long spiritual evolutionary process that moves from ‘creeping things’ to fish, mammels, birds and then people. Humans can-—through occult knowledge and extraordinary ability-—continue this evolutionary process and become daemons, then gods, and finally planets or stars.” (The Making of the New spirituality, James A. Herrick, p. 40)

Kabbalah inverts the Genesis account of creation as well as the Revealed Word relationship of created man to His Creator rendering human beings virtually divine. As activation of the divine powers of God is the goal, elite men create a God-force for this purpose. The limited God-force can only direct evolution and is entirely dependent on its handlers who control and manage divine powers and teach that human beings are not created but rather emanated (evolved) from God. Kabbalah suggests that elites may destroy the God of the Old Testament, the God “who created us, made us breathe, eat, reproduce...write books; who is responsible for our historical existence” as he is a “blind, arrogant, and merciless” God, a vile God who created space and time. (Herrick, pp. 41-42)

Though introduced by Swedenborg, et al, The Magic Way of intellectual and moral evolution (deification) was made possible by later inventers of theories of spiritual/cosmic evolution. The Catholic philosopher and historian, Thomas Molnar (1921–2010) writes that travelers on this highway were characteristically recruited from theology. Some of these inventers are,

“Bergson, Laberthonniere, Le Roy, Blondel, Bloch, Teilhard de Chardin, Heidegger, Bultmann, Karl Rahner, and numerous others…” (God and the Knowledge of Reality, p. 133)

The evolutionary thinking that has swept the West and America, virtually displacing the Revealed Word (in particular the Genesis account), was introduced by Swedenborg, et al. It is not new, nor scientific except in the sense of occult/magic science.

[x]

It's a typical Hollywood product: flashy trash.

Praise it at your own peril.

But recommendations and condemnations really aren't that newsworthy.

Anyway, here's one of the many responses, this article provoked.

It wouldn't be surprising that Aronofsky's film contains Kaballistic imagery -- so did his film Pi.

Whether that adds up to a thoroughgoing gnostic interpretation of the Bible story is a more complicated question.

[SeekAndFind]

RE: Christian Leaders Fooled by Noah Film as biblical

How do they become “Christian Leaders” then?

Don’t the churches have standards anymore?

[Star Traveler]

What people need to realize is the studio and the director made a liberal, leftist, ‘green’, global warming and enviro-whacko PROPAGANDA HIT PIECE against the foundations of Christianity and the Bible — and instead, sneaking in their enviro-whacko IDEOLOGY as the basis of the movie!

Dennis Prager, in the following Freeper posting, explains what is going on, in our culture. This movie NOAH is a prime example of how that works.

Judaism, Christianity, Environmentalism
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3139589/posts

ALSO ... if someone wants to see the list of articles on a Free Republic search, you can use this, too ...
http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/noahthemovie/index

[Raycpa]

The problem is that many viewers of this film have no firm theological foundation. There are those who have never read the biblical accounts. Then there are those who read them but are not aware of the foundation that is being laid down in theological terms in the early parts of genesis. These people are sheep who are easily led astray.

It is one thing for someone really well versed in theology and basic theological arguments to see and argue the nuances of the movie. It is quite another to let this film have an effect on the viewers understanding of the consequence of sin, our need for redemption, God’s holiness, God’s love for humanity, God’s unilateral promises, God’s power over creation to name a few.

The foundation of Christianity and Judaism is laid out in the first Genesis stories. In order to attack Christianity, it is necessary to attack the foundational aspects in Genesis. The heresies cannot stand without redefining these stories.

[Raycpa]

We make things so complicated when bible is so simple:

Genesis 3:5

“For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God,...

[hinckley buzzard]

Gnosticism arose almost immediately, in the second and third centuries, a thousand years before the renaissance. Much of the patristic writings were in opposition to these heresies. The idea of a Creator separate from the God of Israel was a gnostic concept.

[Shelayne]

I saw this on Facebook earlier today. This is an excellent article and very eye-opening. I believe this is the story the director intended to tell, with a wink that he would use a little artistic license with the story of Noah. The parallels—down to the names of the fallen angels/demons and the “enlightening” powers of the serpent—are uncanny.

I am glad I said “no thanks” to this garbage.

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the ping!

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

Gnosticism popped up in Christianity when the apostles were still around.

It was not new then.

There have always been cults that taught that they had "secret knowledge" that would make you divine or semi-divine and that the physical world was tainted and should be despised.

Old lies. New Dress.

There is nothing new under the sun.

[zot]

Thanks for the Noah film critique ping. Christian leaders should not have endorsed it.

[Biggirl]

I think the Kabbalist aspect is part of Jewish history if my memory is correct.

[Biggirl]

The real aspects of the Christian faith began in John 1, “In the begining was the word”. The OT side was its “propechy”.

[dmz]

I note with some interest that not a single of the “Christian thought leaders” who endorsed the movie is named.