Psychological deconstruction is a universal acid; if you try to use it against belief in the Virgin Mother, you undermine your entire theology.
-A8
Posted on 12/04/2006 7:52:47 PM PST by 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/
Hic-up.
Psychological deconstruction is a universal acid; if you try to use it against belief in the Virgin Mother, you undermine your entire theology.
-A8
Let the language of the Salve, Regina, with its appeals to the goddess, speak for itself.
And a great sign appeared in heaven: A woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars:
*Mary, or Bette Midler, as Queen of Heaven?
It's a fascinating read, illustrating the current and fairly recent idolization of Mary as a restatement of the Cult of Cybele and the outgrowth of a certain type of anti-male masochism.
Unlike my faith in Jesus Christ of which I know the origin.
Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee. And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife. Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath: That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec." -- Hebrews 6:13-20"For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself,
And you post this non-responsive non-sequitur which does not even include the words you claim exist - that of Mary as a Goddess.
If you are having this much trouble understanding simple declarative sentences, it is no wonder you are having trouble with more sophisticated and complicated Christian Doctrine.
Perhaps more prayer, study, reflection, and guidance ought be sought by you before you continue to advance unsubstantiated charges against your Christian brothers and sisters
The Catholic Catechism is free online. Please search it and read what it is we Teach about Mary.
The Doctrine of the Catholic Church is exoteric. There is nothing hidden. It is EASILY found online.
Those making false charges about the Catholic Church reveal more about the state of their own souls when they make false, easily disproven charges.
I mean, I don't go around claimng America's Constitution says "The President is Royalty" even though my generation thought JFK was a King. I'd be seen as rather absurd were I to make such a silly charge because ANYONE can read the Constitution (and the Catechism) free online ans see such a "fact" is non-existent. The same goes for your false charges against us.
The more you insist that which does not exist is what we in fact teach, the less you will appear as a reliable commentator in here
"For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus" -- 1 Timothy 2:5
Israel, of the OT and NT eras.
-A8
So? PLease post a citation from any Universal Catechism, any Papal Encyclical, any Ecumenical Council Teaching Mary is a goddess
"Read "The Cult of the Virgin Mary: Psychological Origins" by Michael P. Carroll."
_________________________________
Thanks for the listing I will put it on my reading list.:-)
Amen to that. If anything it makes you go home and read the gospel of Luke. I saw the movie and liked it very much. Of course there will always be things in any movie that you wished had been done better. But going to the movies is not what makes ones faith. But we can be very grateful for a movie to come out like this at Christmas! And pray enough people will see the movie and send hollywood a message. We want more movies like this please.!
Reviewer: A reader
This book attempts to analyze Catholic Marian devotion using Freudian psychology, and many of its strange conclusions arise from this approach. For instance, the author argues that Mary appeals to Catholic men because they have an "oedipal" need for a mother, while she appears to Catholic women because she fulfills their (alleged) "subconscious desire" to have a child by their fathers (since Catholics believe that Mary bore the Son of God the Father). While his conclusion about men may have some validity (we all need a spiritual Mother) his conclusion about women is absurd (Freud was never right about women anyway). I am a Catholic mother, and I have spoken to many Catholic mothers like myself, and the reason why we love Mary - besides the fact that she is our Mother in heaven - is because we can relate to her as a mother and feel that she knows what we are going through, since she too had a family. This guy just doesn't have a clue!
His analysis of Marian apparitions is similarly awful; the author simply ignores any historical details of the apparitions which do not fit his pat theories. The treatment of Guadalupe is perhaps the worst; he claims that the apparitions to Juan Diego are a myth, and that they were never recorded until long after the event! The fact is, there *are* contemporaneous documents which mention the apparition; a little research would have confirmed that. And Juan Diego *is* a historical personage; in fact he was recently beatified by the Catholic Church. The pope does not beatify mythological characters!
*Is this the sort of recomendation you wih to be associated with?
Did YOU read the book?
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