All 3 of those can be answered simply:
Most Christians, aren't.

WORD OF WARNING

This thread will NOT be a forum for posting anti-Christian, anti-Semitic, or any other anti-religious rhetoric.  Please keep it on topic.  If you don't like the movie, that's fine, say why, but NO BASHING of any kind will be tolerated on this thread.  Any replies that seek to:

1)  Blame Christianity and/or religion for all the worlds evils
2)  Attack Christianity and/or any other religion
3)  Attack any individual(s) for their beliefs (or lack thereof)

Will be subsequently deleted.  NO FLAMING.  If you can't have a reasonable discussion about this topid, then don't post here.  The usual parties know who they are in this respect.  NO POLITICS.  I'm tired of any topic that involves a religious subject turning political.  Keep it on topic please.

That being said, let's move on.


Well, I've not seen it yet myself.  I'm going to wait for the theatres to become a little less busy.  I have been keeping track of the movie for some time now though, on and off.  I'll try to answer your questions as best as I can.


The answer there is two-fold.  Most movies that depict what Christ went through in his final hours are, shall we say, "family friendly".  Here's what the prophet Isiah had to say:

Isaiah 52:14:"... His visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men"

I'm sure you've heard the term "beaten beyond recognition" ?  He was beaten so badly that he could not be recognized as HUMAN.  Most people cannot contemplate this kind of torture.  Most Christians don't like to think unhappy thoughts.  Seeing something like this gives them a very visceral experience.  It's one thing to say "He was whipped and nailed to a cross".  It's another thing to watch it happen.  As a Christian, you are humbled and you begin to apreciate just what your God went through to buy your salvation.

As far as the "luke-warm" Christians, God has this to say about them in Revelation:  

Revelation 3:15 - 18:  I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.  So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth.  Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:  I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.

Basically what's being said is "You're wishy-washy.  You won't commit to your faith, you just play at it.  I'll reject you for this.  You're more focused on money and material things, and are blind to the fact that you're spiritually empty.  Quit pretending!  Wake up and see yourselves for what you are, then straighten yourselves out and get with the program."

A lot of people who go through the motions, go to church or mass, and don't really live according to the Word are getting a wake-up call when they go to see this.  How many will actually take it to heart, well, who knows.


The only people claiming it's anti-Semetic is the ADL so far as I've checked.  A lot of the people working on the film ARE JEWISH.  What nationality was Jesus's mother, by the way?  She was Jewish.  How can it be anti-Semetic?  From what I've seen the  people criticizing the film are squawking because they say it makes it look like the Jews - not the Romans - were responsible for Christ's death.

As a rule, I don't preach on the boards, but this is an area I need to correct.  If you are a Christian, and believe the bible, then Christ crucified Christ.  How does that work you say?  Jesus offered himself as a sacrifice for the sins of man.  He chose to die.  He did not have to.  How?  

St. John 18:10-11: Then Simon Peter  having a sword drew it, and smote the ear of the high priest's servant, and cut off his right ear.  The servant's name was Malchus.  Then said Jesus unto Peter, "Put up thy sword into thy sheath:  the cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?"

Also in St. Matthew 26:51-56:  And, behold, one of them which were with Jesus stretched out his hand, and drew his sword, and struck a servant of the high priest's, and smote off his ear.  Then said Jesus unto him, "Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.  Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve Legions of angels?  But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?"  In that same hour said Jesus to the multitudes, "Are ye come out as against a thief with swords and staves for to take me? I sat daily with you teaching in the temple, and ye laid no hold on me.  But all this was done, that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled." Then all the disciples forsook him, and fled.

So in this sense Christ new exactly what was happening.  He could have stopped it if he wanted to.  As a Christian, it is wrong to place blame on the Jews OR the Romans for the crucifixion.  This was a gift from God to man, not a martyrdom.  There is a big difference.  A lot of people, even so-called Christians, do not understand this.  Lack of understanding is usually the breeding ground for blame and hatred.  Christians, well, except us birds, are still human after all, and nobody is perfect.  This is why educating yourself is crucial, and being slow to rise to judgement of others is always a good idea too.


Well, this is where we get back to the "Christian themes can't be violent" problem.  The bible is FULL of violence.  In the Old Testament you have God saying to the jews "Go thee forth and slay".  They wiped out entire cultures.  Jesus said "turn the other cheek" to his disciples, but to ignore violence is to ignore a great deal of the bible.  Being a Christian also doesn't mean you have to be a goody-little-two-shoes and behave like the Cleavers.  Jesus got violent.  Want to hear?

Matthew 21:12-13: And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves, And said unto them, "It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves."

People get this idea of Christ as some kind of flower-child with dreamy eyes and Ghandi-like behavior.  Can you imagine Christ being stark-raving mad, running around, hollering, whipping, and chasing people out of the temple, knocking over their tables?  This place was supposed to be a holy place, and here people were selling animals and changing money, and he was absolutely furious.  Ever see those "What would Jesus Do?" T-shirts?  Think of what Jesus did when he felt righteously angry.  Being a Christian does NOT mean you have to be a sissy or a wimp.  It does mean that you have to give account for your actions, but debating the apropriateness of the application of forceful response for a Christian is beyond the scope of this thread.

Anyway, those are my answers.  I hope they're satisfactory.

What I meant is the uproar centers around the fact that Jews are not shown in a very good light in the movie, but then so what? they aren't shown in a very good light in the book either (well the Jews that remain Jewish), yet there is no uproar against the New Testament. That is what I meant. Converting the accounts of a book to a movie yet only attacking the movie as anti-semetic but not the book itself is a rather interesting phenomenon that makes you go "hmm"

Yes Lilazzkicker, I'm sure Phoenix needs your moral support

Phoenix, Devlar, all of wirehead... I come to you as a changed man. Before I saw this film, I admit I was full of hatred and malice towards Jesus Christ, Savior of Mankind. I never understood the suffering that our Lord went through to forgive us for our sins, and lead us from eternal damnation.

Phoenix, I would like to apologize for any cynicism I held towards you or your teachings before. I admit I was not fully prepared to see them, but now that I have seen the light deep within them, I ask if you can forgive me, and accept me as one of your own.

But more importantly... Devlar, like you, I once hated religion for many reasons, reasons I had convinced myself were true. But now... now I must ask you to look deep within yourself. Like I once did, you have a built a cold callous shell towards the outside world, but even you cannot deny there is something that is tearing at you, saying that this isn't right. Devlar, that is the voice of Christ. Through your hatemongering, you are leading yourself down a path of eternal damnation, and an existence defined by pain and suffering. Ask yourself, child, if this is really the path you wish for yourself in the eternal afterlife. I implore you to see this film, and reevaluate your life, and the path you're going down. I ask this not for my sake, but for yours.

May the Lord Jesus Christ be with you at all times.

People are no fun when they don't take your bait.  

I'm a christian ,  type 1) byt the way , or atleast the last 2 sentences , I dont have a problem with hedhuntas post  :unsure:

Pho: thank you.. just skimmed your reading, but it looks good so far..  and i did not intend to start a flame war, i just wanted to vent my concern on the hype the movie is getting..  not that i do or do not like the movie.. once ive seen it i will say that.

im sure the film does depict individual  jews as responsible for death of christ but saying that makes it anti semetic is like me saying me saying RTCW is anti german. Really  lets stop being whiney bitches.