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/
Oh, dear! Goodness NO! No way.
Holy Spirit tolerates no gatekeepers on HIS operations . . . generally and over all particularly. All creation is held together by His operations and He doesn't bother the Apostles about permission or sanction or routing 0.000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001% in that.
Nor does He do so in the affairs of individuals on earth currently.
Oh, it's quite fashionable for the leaders of every little group to insist that God ONLY FLOWS AT ALL OR FULLEST THROUGH HIS PERSONAL PARTICULAR LEADERSHIP, OFFICE, BRILLIANCE, SKILLS, GIFTINGS etc. . . . that HE HAS A CORNER ON GOD'S TRULY TRUEST TRUTH AND TRULY MOST SANCTIFIED REQUIREMENTS FOR LIFE AND HEAVEN--for whatever list of reasons.
Maybe it's tradition, family lineage, miracle experiences, memorization of Scripture; worship skills; anointing in a flash of light on the road to San Francisco; laying on of hands back to Adam; graduation from Harvard school of Divine Hogwash; fasting for 40 days on the back side of Las Vegas . . . whatever.
But the wise saints run screaming from the building and group the minute such an attitude or mentality shows up.
Righteousness is not inherited from parents nor spiritual leaders.
Holy Spirit, God contracts individually moment by moment with each individual alive. GOD BROOKS NO INTERLOPERS NOR HINDRANCES IN SUCH FELLOWSHIP, CONTRACTING.
HE CREATED US FOR FELLOWSHIP. THEN HIS ONLY SON DIED THAT IT MIGHT BE RESTORED.
It's not REMOTELY LOGICAL NOR BIBLICAL that he would THEN submit the fellowship to the idiocies and whims of a tradition bound, fossilized, calcified, rigid, narrow, fleshly, HUMAN BUREAUCRACY!
. . . whether the bureaucracy was 3 years old 300 years old or 3,000 years old.
I wasn't aware of the .0...1 percent can you site this in scriture?
"Please don't post again."
= = =
Goodness. Is that some magic formula? Does it work? I can think of a long list to apply it to! LOL.
/joke, mostly
The Catholic belief is that original sin is removed through the grace of God at baptism, and holiness can be achieved through faith by grace. What Our Lady had in St. Anna's womb, is ours to have also, albeit by a different path.
Dismissing the martyrs of the Church as a "bunch of dead people" is a sure way not to get Jesus.
LOL.
OK, I should have just said,
AT ALL.
That was my point, as I think you know.
Scripture says Holy Spirit gives gifts AS HE WILL. etc.
. . . goes/leads WHERE HE WILL.
holiness can be achieved through faith by grace. What Our Lady had in St. Anna's womb, is ours to have also, albeit by a different path.
= = =
Fanciful story.
Not a Scriptural one.
Dismissing the martyrs of the Church as a "bunch of dead people" is a sure way not to get Jesus.
= = = =
Oh? Hmmmmmm
Scripture declares . . . perhaps particularly in the end times . . .
ALL WHO CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD SHALL BE SAVED.
Christ is righteous and paid the penalty in God's eyes for my sins. God looks at us (believers) as being righteous because of Christ. Anything that I may do for God's kingdom, any good work that I may offer, is strictly because of Christ working in me. If HarleyD tries to do anything it is vain. God will give me the proper amount of work and reward that He so deems.
That is all one need to know about God.
Which makes it sort of arrogant for folks to stand on stage and declare folks to be born again of the spirit as though they are commanding the Holy Spirit to enter them.
A stage does a lot of funny things to pontifications about Christianity.
I think there is a place for commanding in Jesus' Name
but UNDER HOLY SPIRIT'S STRICT INSTRUCTIONS AND ORDERS not the gas pains from one's taco.
To most Bible-believing Christians, the far greater error is praying to anyone other than Jesus Christ. We are expressly forbidden to do what you do every day.
He feedeth on ashes..." -- Isaiah 44:19-20"And none considereth in his heart, neither is there knowledge nor understanding to say...'Shall I fall down to the stock of a tree?'
"For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus" -- 1 Timothy 2:5
Why does the Bible forbid necromancy? Saul was condemned for visiting the witch of Endor to speak with Samuel. Samuel was certainly an Old Testament saint but was Saul was not supposed to try to communicate with him.
Deuteronomy 18
10There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch.
11Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer.
Commanding in Christ name perhaps. Commanding the Holy Spirit to do something not so much.
I agree with you.
"Anyone who believes that she was sinless, regardless of when one considers the grace had entered her fully, has to face this question. That includes the Orthodox. The question, by the way, is a product of a distinctly unorthodox theology of atonement as purchase. If there is no sin, the transactional heresy of atonement goes, there is nothing to redeem. But we know that the work of Christ was to give us eternal life. This is the life He gave the Blessed Mother also. Whether it was given at conception or at some later point is beside the point."
In great haste I will respond now only to this as I am at the office. The whole theory of purchase/atonement is indeed a heresy and so far as I know, a Protestant innovation. Orthodoxy does not teach this at all. What Orthodoxy does teach is that because of the Sin of Adam's effects on us, no matter how good humans were, they were in bondage to death. The Righteous of the OT were bound up by death in hades, not in union with the uncreated Divine Energies. That bondage was broken by the death, descent to the dead and resurrection whereby death's hold was destroyed. The icon of the Resurrection graphically demonstrates this. Sinless or not, prior to the resurrection we were all stuck. That's what the Sacrifice of Christ wrought. It has nothing to do with a payback to some divine, blood thirsty monster, popular opinion to the contrary notwithstanding. In any event, that's why the Theotokos needed a savior, not because of any personal sin.
More later.
Well said.
Have no clue who these are, but if you need invective against them from a Catholic source, just ask.
That was discussed at length on the Erasmus thread, with the most enlightened participation of Jo Kus.
Your statement is, of course, very inaccurate. We hold that all three atonement theories have complementary merits. They are: (1) atonement as ransom paid the Devil; (2) atonement as pedagogical lesson of love; (3) atonement as delivery of satisfaction ot God for the offense of Adam.
The Orthodox strongly prefer (1) and have sympathy with (2). (3) is the latest, developed post-Eastern Schism by St. Anselm, and that the Protestants inherited from us.
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