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/
Here are a few:
A Brief Statement of Faith from the Presbyterian Church USA.
In life and death we belong to God.
Through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
The love of God,
And the communion of the Holy Spirit,
we trust in the one triune God, the Holy One of Israel,
whom alone we worship and serve.
We trust in Jesus Christ,
Fully human, fully God.
Jesus proclaimed the reign of God:
preaching good news to the poor
and release to the captives,
teaching by word and deed
and blessing the children,
healing the sick
and binding up the brokenhearted,
eating with outcasts,
forgiving sinners,
and calling all to repent and believe the gospel.
Unjustly condemned for blasphemy and sedition,
Jesus was crucified,
suffering the depths of human pain
and giving his life for the sins of the world.
God raised Jesus from the dead,
vindicating his sinless life,
breaking the power of sin and evil,
delivering us from death to life eternal.
We trust in God,
whom Jesus called Abba, Father.
In sovereign love God created the world good
and makes everyone equally in God's image
male and female, of every race and people,
to live as one community.
But we rebel against God; we hide from our Creator.
Ignoring God's commandments,
we violate the image of God in others and ourselves,
accept lies as truth,
exploit neighbor and nature,
and threaten death to the planet entrusted to our care.
We deserve God's condemnation.
Yet God acts with justice and mercy to redeem creation.
In everlasting love,
the God of Abraham and Sarah chose a covenant people
to bless all families of the earth.
Hearing their cry,
God delivered the children of israel
from the house of bondage.
Loving us still,
God makes us heirs with Christ of the covenant.
Like a mother who will not forsake her nursing child,
like a father who runs to welcome the prodigal home,
God is faithful still.
We trust in God the Holy Spirit,
everywhere the giver and renewer of life.
The Spirit justifies us by grace through faith,
sets us free to accept ourselves and to love God and neighbor,
and binds us together with all believers
in the one body of Christ, the church.
The same Spirit
who inspired the prophets and apostles
rules our faith and life in Christ through Scripture,
engages us through the Word proclaimed,
claims us in the waters of baptism,
feeds us with the bread of life and the cup of salvation,
and calls women and men to all ministries of the church.
In a broken and fearful world
the Spirit gives us courage
to pray without ceasing,
to witness among all peoples to Christ as Lord and Savior,
to unmask idolatries in church and culture,
to hear the voices of peoples long silenced,
and to work with others for justice, freedom, and peace.
In gratitude to God, empowered by the Spirit,
we strive to serve Christ in our daily tasks
and to live holy and joyful lives,
even as we watch for God's new heaven and new earth,
praying, Come, Lord Jesus!
With believers in every time and place,
we rejoice that nothing in life or in death
can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. Amen.
LOL.
Naw . . . would give certain folks too much satisfaction.
Yes. To my knowledge they do.
Because I rightly teach that humans are imperfect. I believe that those who are truly seeking God will get it right on the essentials. But our motives are often mixed, our perceptiveness of God's voice often faint, and our willingness to assert our own ideas often prevalent. We mess some things up. Some things aren't extremely clear. We speculate. And we end up with disagreement. I don't expect to be the one entering Heaven that finally got it all right.
Sounds like the summary for protestant liturgistics.
Just as the translator folks have been finding with oral MP3 translations of Scripture . . .
giving folks the Bible orally . . . and getting merely an agreement that the most peaceful man in the tribe will host 1 night a week a 30 minute playing of the Scriptures on the wind up MP3 player plus 30 minutes of discussion . . .
OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN . . .
they go back months later and there's at least a church and usually several churches--fully functioning with an excellent comprehension AND PRACTICE of what Scripture teaches.
miracles, healings etc. are naturally occurring in such tribal groups merely by the listening to Scripture and DOING the Scripture AND TRUSTING GOD TO DO HIS PART--WHICH HE FAITHFULLY DOES . . .
JUST AS THAT is happening in tribal groups all around the world--it has been happening in Mainland China in village after village. Most of the time it seems that the only places where it's rare are the cities where there are theologically trained folks to tell them that the Bible didn't really mean THAT.
I guess all the various denominational hierarchies would rather send folks around to all the trible groups and try and get them to stop listening to Holy Spirit's communications to them directly and in signs-following-them-that-believe miracles.
They probably aren't quite so brazen as to try and tell Holy Spirit directly to knowck it off. But they will abuse the sheep that way.
if you want to see brazen personal attacks check out your post 6056.
I believe that those who are truly seeking God will get it right on the essentials.."
Isn't that where teachers are supposed to help? And help far beyond the 'essentials' whatever you may include in this category.
I don't expect to be the one entering Heaven that finally got it all right.
Me either, and I don't think it's a theology exam. However, that's not my point. I'm talking about the Church and teaching - how you know or teach anything that's 'right'. And how sola scriptura is ineffective and I believe not really practiced in its pure form anyway.
if you want to see brazen personal attacks check out your post 6056.
= = = =
REALLY? This is the closest possible to such from that post . . . and if this qualifies . . . then evidently the
MAD RUBBER DICTIONARY MAN has struck again! LOL
So . . . is the doctrine you are espousing
THAT
I should pay attention to St Paul when he's giving his personal opinion about women in a local historical context as though it were the 10 Commandments from Mr Sinai
BUT IGNORE ST PAUL when he very sternly exhorts us to be charitable and conciliatory about relatively minor differences of interpretation about Scriptural principles and spiritual life?
And, please, pray tell . . . what are we to use to guide us in such
ARBITRARY PICKING AND CHOOSING from St Paul?
I don't suppose I really expected a reply to my points. Those being so extremely rare.
But it would have been nice.
Uhhhhh, Kawaii? Where was the personal attack in that post? Quix said what Paul said (with a little embellishment that was not directed at any specific person) and then asked you whether we should take Paul's comments about women as the 10 commandments while ignoring other parts of Paul's epistles.
If you think it was a personal attack, ping the Religion Moderator. I doubt if he/she would agree.
Misrepresentations about Orthodoxy, personal attacks and accusations are not 'points'.
Thanks for the ping. All I can think of in reply is "Guffaws to the Max, Dude!"
{^_^}
Quix accused my lobbing the same accusation at his church as he dd mine a 'personal attack' my post was tame in comparison and as a bonus didn't have more capital letters than lower case!
Sola Scriptura IS practiced in a pure manner. I still don't think you understand what it is. It isn't someone locking themselves up in a closet with a Bible and refusing instruction. We have teachers. They get their cue from God's Word. They are evaluated BY God's Word.
The WORD is the anchor to what we believe and the Holy Spirit directs the action. To what extent we listen to Him, we will get it right.
Human imperfection doesn't invalidate Sola Scriptura. It does undermine Scripture PLUS tradition - particularly when you consider that a lot of tradition was formed by Second Sons of European Aristocrisy TM who were only clergy because they weren't going to inherit their father's fiefdoms.
The post you pointed to was not a personal attack though. Colorful. But not a personal attack.
D-fendr; in other words - how do you know that your teachers are right? How do you know that they got it right? How do you know the church is right? What gives you that assurance?
Maybe this will explain part of what I'm trying to say better:
If someone walked up to you and wished to learn about your religion, would you hand him a Bible and say read this? And then if he came back later with questions, would you say, 'read some more'? Ad infinitum..?
I think the answer is of course, "No."
So teaching and direction is done, is necessary is a requirement. "Sola Scriptura" is a misnomer, not practiced in it's literal sense.
Would you agree?
Based on Quix accusation of my (far tamer post) I figured it'd qualify for him (further large letters = yelling which is a heck of a lot closer to a personal attack IMO).
That said if I felt it di cross the line I WOULD have pinged the mod.
Have I been out of the country too long?
Have the linguistic constructions:
YOU ARE AN IDIOT!
YOUR FACE IS THE FACE OF AN IDIOT!
THE ONLY IDIOT SOUNDS IN THIS ROOM ARE YOURS!
are no longer considered
DIFFERENT
from
There's some really silly concepts in that kind of theological notion.
Many theological groups and structures sure seem to include a lot of folks who pontificate in very vain glorious, self-righteous ways.
All theological groups have some degree of pontificated absurdities--especially if they are older than a year and a half and narrow, rigic and multi-layered bureaucracies.
= = =
Or is it merely that some struck critters are squealing ouch?
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