Posted on 05/26/2006 5:55:34 AM PDT by Simi Valley Tom
If you knew that someone was about to drive off a cliff, wouldn't you warn that person about the danger? Wouldn't that be the loving thing to do?
When Jesus calls His disciples to be salt and light, he was calling for Christians to do two things:
1. Warn people about their sins.
2. Show people that the answer to their sin problem is to establish a personal relationship with Jesus Christ through faith and discipleship.
The warning about sin is not to condemn people for their sins; that is something only God can do. The warning about sin is to warn people about eternal separation from God, who is the Source of all Knowledge, Wisdom, Love, Joy, and Beauty. The call to establish a personal relationship with Jesus Christ is an attempt to share with people the Knowledge, Wisdom, Love, Joy, and Beauty that a personal relationship with Jesus Christ will bring.
To be salt and light, therefore, is an Act of Love to protect people from the destruction that comes from sin and to make people aware of the Light and Truth that comes from Jesus Christ.
Thus, when we at MOVIEGUIDE® warn people about the dangers of THE DA VINCI CODE, violent horror movies, or sex comedies like AMERICAN PIE, it is an Act of Love designed to point people away from darkness and toward the Light of the True, the Good and the Beautiful.
Although these works are fiction, recent polls from the Barna Research Group in the United States and the IPSOS Institute in Europe show that millions of people will change their beliefs after reading or seeing these fictional works. Barna reports that 11 million of the 60 million people or so who have read THE DA VINCI CODE have changed their spiritual beliefs about Jesus Christ after reading the book. IPSOS reports that up to half of the people who have read the book, 30 million people, have changed their beliefs about Jesus Christ. These numbers include people of weak Christian faith and non-Christians.
According to worldwide box office figures, at least 35 million people have seen the DA VINCI CODE movie so far. This means that the movie may affect the beliefs of an additional 17 million or more people.
The book version of THE DA VINCI CODE is a slanderous, vicious attack on Jesus Christ, His church and the Bible. Unlike the book, the hero in the movie, played by Tom Hanks, makes some positive statements regarding the traditional view of Jesus Christ and His divinity. He then says, however, that it doesn't matter what the real truth is, it only matters what people believe. Such irrational, anti-historical statements may be even more insidious than Dan Brown's book, because they lull people into a deadly sense of apathy about the historical, moral and spiritual identity and mission of Jesus Christ.
What makes this even worse is the fact that children, teenagers and young adults, who don't have the knowledge and wisdom that comes with age and experience, are the most vulnerable to the wicked effects of popular works like THE DA VINCI CODE.
No mater how you cut it, therefore, THE DA VINCI CODE, though a work of fiction, will greatly weaken Jesus Christ's loving mission to bring salt and light to the human race. Anyone who reads or sees THE DA VINCI CODE, especially those who advocate reading it or seeing it and those who say it doesn't matter if people read or see THE DA VINCI CODE, are taking a stand against Jesus Christ and His Gospel. It is they who are being unloving, not those who warn people about the dangers of such works like THE DA VINCI CODE. It is also they who will be encouraging the entertainment industry to make and market more books, movies and videos viciously attacking Jesus Christ, His mission and the Bible.
This is a Culture War that Christians dare not lose. We must win this Culture War and defeat the forces of darkness if we are to follow Jesus Christ's loving command to bring salt and light to the human race. Only by winning this Culture War will we be able to continue baptizing people in the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and teaching them everything that Jesus Christ commands us to do.
The fate of the world hangs in the balance, but God is the ultimate power on whom everything depends. If we remain faithful to God through Jesus Christ, then God will remain faithful to us. For, it is ultimately He who will bring the fruit to our efforts to preach the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is His blessings on our work that will help make this world a better place for future generations, our children and grandchildren.
Let us prayerfully ask God, therefore, to deliver people from the historical, moral and spiritual confusion that comes from such things as THE DA VINCI CODE. Use us, Oh Lord, to bring salt, light and love to our fellow men and women. Fill us with the power of the Holy Spirit to seek first Your kingdom and Your righteousness. In the Name of Jesus Christ, our Savior. Amen.
Note: For more about THE DA VINCI CODE and other current movies and issues regarding the mass media, go to www.movieguide.org.
See what you wish.
You attempt to frame my response.
Sorry, not today.
Yes, of course He knew. He also knew you would ask that question. :)
Why didn't He stop it, if it is so horrible?
For the same reason He didn't stop Adam from disobeying Him in the garden, and for all the other sins of man since then. We either follow Him or follow our own desires. One brings peace, joy and a contentment in any circumstance that there are no words to describe. The other produces the opposite. It has always been that way.
Answer the question. What entertainment out there does not contain inaccuracies, lies, etc?
Nor any day, I'm sure. Have a nice weekend.
pearls. swine. rend.
Get ready, here it comes.
Until someone asks what it means to believe. Then your simplistic approach fails miserably. Is it mere intellectual ascent ... as in "I believe George Washington was an actual person who lived 200 years ago, even though I never saw him?"
It is easier for people to believe that Jesus was God's son if they believe He was born of a Virgin.
News flash to you ... the virgin birth of Christ is a stumbling block to belief for most of the world; it makes belief in Him difficult for most ... not easier.
But it is not necessary for the Gospel to be true ...
To the "theologically challenged" it is not necessary.
Whether or not Jesus married and had children is also irrelevant to the Gospel.
Hogwash to the extreme. You are attempting to take the most unique individual in the universe (only one who is fully God AND fully man) and reduce him to just a man. Give him a wife and kids, let his interests be divided between his ministry and a family, doesn't matter if he was sinless or not, doesn't matter whether he was resurrected or resuscitated. Just believe in Him and your safe.
Your position here is theologically, morally, and intellectually bankrupt.
I believe, what we do, are His desires, and that He knows about them before we are born, and He creates us, knowing what we will choose.
So the "loving thing to do" is to warn someone that they are too much of a gullible moron to realize that the Da Vinci Code is fictional, and therefore they must never see the movie or read the book?
The answer to your question is there if you are being sincere. If not, there is no answer that will satisfy you.
You are using the "argument from silence". Not a good idea in apologetics.
You know, many programs, movies and novels include a statement that says they are a work of fiction, AND that any characters in the story are also fiction.
The Da Vinci Code, cloaked as fiction, has been treated as truth, by those that wish to eliminate THE TRUTH.
Newspapers are on the decline because of their daily deceit.
In other words, you cannot think of one. Fair enough, neither could I.
Hmmm..
I wonder what color the wardroom was on the Titanic.
Post 19 was a very good response as to why Christians find this movie objectionable. The normal process in a fictional work is to use real settings of time and place and introduce fictional characters. When you introduce real characters you are at a different level. Post 19 used the holocaust as an example. How about a story about George Washington portraying him with inaccuracies? I think much of the stir about this work results from the author saying in some venues that it is factual, and then when pinned down in other venues saying that it is fictional.
Centuries later, it was Mae West.
Then Elvis.
Then the Beatles.
Now (insert demonic rock band here.)
The love of God and Jesus Christ have withstood all of these.
Sincere, believing Christians need not be dismayed.
It isn't about what we believe, it is about what is True and what He says is True and how we respond to Him and His Truth. Lots of people believe lots of things, many of the wrong, (some of them get it mostly right) because they are led astray by what appears to be God's way, but it is not. The choice is what we want to believe vs what God says is True. We are supposed to take every thought and put it under the authority of Jesus Christ. ouch!
How would you show what is true, without believing?
Ice blue, I'd imagine. :-)
Many many books are based on real events, and introduce fictional characters and twists on truth, or downright falsehoods. And if he believes some aspects of his book are true (as some believe the Illuminati and the Elders of Zion control the world), he'll say so.
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