[jonboy]

I hope that this helps for those who have been concerned about the movie based upon what they have been seeing and hearing. GO SEE THIS MOVIE. By the way, I stand by every comment I made in a previous post about the larger political and cultural implications and ramifications of this film. Now just as the world is polarized pre and post 9/11 it will be polarized pre and post Passion. You may read that post HERE.

[LS]

I think I will see this---still undecided, as I just don't know that I can sit through the gore. That said, I KNOW the violence is accurately represented, and this is what is so remarkable about that:

The physical pain on the cross was, as unimaginable as it may be for us humans, the easiest thing Jesus did for us.

Before He ever got to the cross, He had to walk, as a human, a totally perfect life and never sin, despite "being tempted in all respects" as we are. How hard is that? Day after day, year after year, to always make the right decision, to always deny self. Satan's petty temptations were probably nothing to Him by the time He got to that point, having "seen it all."

More amazing is the spiritual death He died in the Garden and the sin of the world that He took upon Himself. For One who "knew not sin" to be "made sin for us" had to be a far greater pain and involve far more suffering than even the torture of the cross.

What really ought to get Christians is that what they see on screen is the EASY part of what Jesus did. Think about that!

[Cicero]

I appreciate the honesty of this review. As a Catholic I'll add my two cents worth that no Catholic ever saw Mary as divine. The "Hail Mary" is mostly made up of a collection of biblical texts. The traditional Catholic view is that Mary is willing to intercede for people with her Son, and that He is pleased to grant her wishes as he was at Cana.

As for what I have heard about the movie, it is this: Mary teachers the viewer, who can barely stand watching some parts of it, how to view the Passion. We see it partly through her eyes and with her help. If she can look, so can we.

As I understand it, Satan is another witness of the Passion. He also is an interpreter, but a false interpreter, of what is happening. Mary and Satan are, as it were, proxy witnesses for the theater audience, who help teach us how to view it.

I would add that if you read the collected works of Martin Luther, you will find great honor and respect for Mary throughout. He only denied her the title "Queen of Heaven." It was some later Protestants who feared that Mary would detract from the centrality of Jesus. But she always points us back toward Him.

[Southflanknorthpawsis]

Thank you for this informative and heartfelt review.

My adult daughters and I have talked about how difficult it will be to see the portrayal of such suffering, yet knowing that it does depict reality.

Judging by your account, I can assume it will be as difficult as we imagine. However, I trust that the horror will touch us as it touched you.

All Christians know that the perfect and sinless lamb of God, Jesus, suffered and died for imperfect and sinful us. The visual may be hard to withstand, but the message knows no equal. We should think of it every day and then celebrate the gift of the Resurrection and the life everlasting.

[jwalsh07]

Those who see the relationship between Jesus and Mary who are Catholic will likely see Mary as divine.

You know it's funny. I just got done explaining this to my son in law who is an Episcopalian from my Catholic pointof view.

We do not see Mary as divine, we see her as the moratl, divinely chosen to bear Jesus Christ and as one of the first true Christians.

Nor do we pray to Mary as one does to the Lord. We merely ask her to pray for us as most freepers do here on a daily basis. Nobody would mistake asking deadhead to pray for them as sacrilege, would they?:-}

Other than that I enjoyed your review.

[Knock3Times]

Even if this had turned out to be the most poorly made movie of all time, I would have paid $10,000 and walked bare-foot through glass to see it, just because of Abe Foxman and the others who launched such an ugly and vicious campaign to smear Mel Gibson and traditional Christianity.

Since I won't have to do any of those things and it sounds like a pretty good movie, I will go several times and drag with me as many people as I can.

[BlessedAmerican]

Thank you for your review. Does this movie show the resurrection also? I understand that it is just the last 12 hours of Christ's life but I am wondering how it will affect those who do not know 'the story' and leave feeling that the death of Christ is the end.

[captain_dave]

I'm planning to see the Passion. What I'm looking forward to is hearing what Aramaic sounds like. From my point of view, the story of Jesus is part of the story of the struggle against the Roman Empire. There were many Jews who opposed the Romans and their puppet king Herod. This eventually broke out into open revolt more than once and the Romans lost several entire legions in Judea. Many of my fellow Jews are concerned about the Passion instigating anti-Jewish feelings. I'm not worried about that here, in the US. As for elsewhere, time will tell (the arabs already hate us - so, big deal). But I understand their concern. In a way, Jesus' life can be viewed as a snapshot of Jewish history.

[ChadGore]

Jesus was a Jew.

[votelife]

in case anyone didn't know, Gibson is in the movie. His hand holds the nail that crucifies Christ.

[Freedom2specul8]

Thank you for the wonderful review. I just told my husband we're taking a box of tissues..I hope we can make it through the entire movie.

Bumped and bookmarked.

[4integrity]

Thank you for your review and for sharing your thoughts.

[aruanan]

When he realized he had been horribly mis-lead he admitted guilt but then went out and killed himself.

...misled...

As to this movie being appropriate for children?

Is being present at a crucifixion or even at the open heart surgery of a parent (granted the successful outcome and consequences of either) appropriate for children?

There's something interesting, though disturbing, going on here. Whereas Thomas, who saw the crucifixion, said he wouldn't believe in the resurrected Christ until he touched the nail marks (too bad Mel went for artistic rather than historical accuracy here) and put his hand into the wounded side of Jesus, we now have Christians, who believe in the resurrection, saying that their faith has become much deeper because of having seen a reenactment of the crucifixion. If their faith was strengthened that much, it must not have been much to begin with or of the kind Jesus spoke to Thomas about: "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." And if they equate with a deepening of faith the reacting emotionally to a depiction of pain, then they have deviated from the Path in the same way as did the sect of flagellantes.

This idea of seeing as believing (instead of the other way round) approaches being the same idolatry as practiced by the What Would Jesus Do* movement. It erects in the imagination a simulacrum of Jesus and reacts to it, imagining that the reaction is essentially the same thing as, or as good as, having actually encountered Jesus.


*WWJD is the modern version of pin sticking, a form of divination practiced in earlier centuries in which people would open a Bible and stick a pin to the page at random and read the pin-pointed verse. The assumption was that God would be guiding their hands to show them something he wanted to communicate to them. At least this had the virtue of limiting outcome to something actually in the Bible--well, to a product of something in the Bible and the imagination of the reader as he tried to shape the import of an isolated verse into a means of communicating something to him about a particular problem or decision he should make. WWJD skips the Bible and just goes directly to the imagination part, informed more or less by people's more or less (usually less) accurate images of Jesus derived from the Bible, Sunday School stories, movies, and other popular sources. The aim of both methods of divination is to shift responsibility for some action to an agent outside of oneself. In the letters of Paul and other apostles, Jesus as an example is referred to, but in very specific ways, not as a plectrum of the imagination to divine the future or to decide what to do.

[Campion]

Those who see the relationship between Jesus and Mary who are Catholic will likely see Mary as divine.

No Catholic can possibly see Mary as divine. That's a heresy. It even has a name; it's called "Collyridianism," after an obscure sect in modern-day Saudi Arabia which actually did see Mary as divine.

Those of us who believe that Mary was a mere woman who was blessed enough to have been chosen to be the mother of the Christ

That would include every Catholic on earth.

[knak]

thanks! great review. I can't wait to see it!

[N8VTXNinWV]

bump

[lonevoice]

Ping! An awesome early review by fellow FReeper and minister, jonboy, who has just seen The Passion of the Christ.

Order your advanced tickets for "The Passion of The Christ"!

1-800-353-6102

1-888-227-1152

Send Mel a message of support!

Needing promotional materials for "The Passion of The Christ" to share with family, friends, or your church?

Share THE PASSION during the holy season of Lenten renewal

This is a ping list for those who wish to share in viewing Mel Gibson's film, The Passion, while observing the traditions of Lent together.

If you want on or off this list, please FReepmail Northern Yankee

If you want to see what areas and countries are supporting the film, and how you can support and promote The Passion of Christ (the official title) to show at a theater near you, please visit this link: Support The Passion of Christ

The Passion of Christ main page (another awesome link thanks to Paul Atreides!)

[Ohioan from Florida]

Thank you for your review of the movie! I have been looking forward to it for close to a year. I expect that I will be mortified by watching it, but I imagine ever more humbled by His sacrifice for me.

[Right_in_Virginia]

Thank you for your review.

[DoctorMichael]

Thank you for the heartfelt and intelligent analysis of the film. One of your best lines:

"....I could just as easily be moved to be against Italians for what the Romans did as I could be against the Jews...."

Kind of puts all this ginned up manic hysteria over the supposed anti-semitic leanings of the film in perspective doesn't it.

Thanks again.

[Windsong]

"...healing His own wounds, and then saying go to it boys as He releases the angels to take care of business."

Heh, nice visual image there :)