The Passion of Christ...

[Tonya]

I'm going to watch the movie tonight. I thought I'd start a thread on it ahead of time. Those of you that have seen it, how'd it make you feel? Did you like it?

[G.P.girl]

i haven't seen it yet. i wanted to see it (all my religious relatives are telling me to go see it) and i think it might be interesting, but my sister doesn't want to go with me and i thin kmost of my friends already saw it. so i have noone to go with.

[2kitties]

I want to see it. But I'm not sure it's for me. I sometimes get sick during an episode of ER.

[RedHedd]

I saw it last night. The theatre was almost empty at a 7:45 p.m. show on a Saturday night! It's a beautiful piece of artwork by Mel Gibson. Yes, it was bloody and violent, but those were bloody and violent times and, according to the scripture, Jesus died a bloody and violent death for all our sins. I think Mel Gibson did a fantastic job in portraying what happened during Jesus' final 12 hours of life.

Some people have said it is anti-semitic (one personal friend who hasn't even seen it). I saw NO anti-semitism in the movie. Mel told the story through the medium of film and did an extremely realistic job. Well done!

It made me go home and pull down the Bible and actually read it! I've never done that!

[Soledad]

I saw it.

It really didn't deserve all of the hype it received. Yes, it was violent, but it's a movie about a crucifixion, so how couldn't have been?

Also, I failed to see the anti-Semitism people were talking about. But as far as if it was good, I can't say that it was. The whole thing felt poorly made to me. Especially towards the end when things started getting pretty amateurish.

[Tonya]

Ok, I saw it. It was a very disturbing movie. I've always believed that Jesus died for my sins, but to see it in front of you was so upsetting. I'll never look at a cross the same again. It was the most gory and upsetting movie that I have ever seen, but I am glad that I watched it. It really put my life and thoughts into a whole new perspective.

[GoldenRetrLuver]

My dad just got back from seeing it tonight. He said the whole movie was in Latin, and it had English subtitles. He said it was pretty graphic...and it wasn't what he expected.

Personally, I don't want to see it.

[NoahsMommy]

I do want to see it, but I don't want to puke in the theater if its that bad. (I'm WAY sensitive to anything violent or gorish) Can anyone give me another movie that had the same level of violence in it? Do you feel it was unneccesarily violent?

[trayi52]

I haven't seen it, I don't think I want my husband to see it. He has a bad heart and lung disease on top of that. So I think I will wait and see it when I can see it by myself. He wants to see it, my husband is very religious. I don't go to church with him and he goes all the time.

I got an interesting e-mail about this movie. I just wonder if any of you got it? Just wondering if it was true or a hoax, anyway here is what it said about it:

Here is a true story by Paul Harvey. You will be surprised who this young
man turns out to be. (Do not look at the bottom on this letter until you
have read it fully.)

Years ago a hardworking man took his family from New York State to
Australia to take advantage of a work opportunity there. Part of this man's
family was a handsome young son who had aspirations of joining the circus
as
a trapeze artist or an actor. This young fellow, biding his time until a
circus job or even one as a stagehand came along, worked at the local
shipyards which bordered on the worse section of town. Walking home from
work one evening this young man was attacked by five thugs who wanted to
rob
him. Instead of just giving up his money the young fellow resisted.
However, they bested him easily and proceeded to beat his body brutally
with
clubs, leaving him for dead. When the police happened to find him lying in
the road they assumed he was dead and called for the Morgue Wagon.

On the way to the morgue a policeman heard him gasp for air, and they
immediately took him to the emergency unit at the hospital. When he was
placed on a gurney a nurse remarked to her horror, that this young man no
longer had a face. Each eye socket was smashed, his skull, legs, and arms
fractured, his nose literally hanging from his face, all his teeth were
gone, and his jaw was almost completely torn from his skull. Although his
life was spared, he spent over a year in the hospital. When he finally
left, his body may have healed but his face was disgusting to look at. He
was no longer the handsome youth that everyone admired.

When the young man started to look for work again he was turned down by
everyone just on account of the way he looked. One potential employer
suggested to him that he join the freak show at the circus as "The Man Who
Had No Face". And he did this for a while. He was still rejected by
everyone and no one wanted to be seen in his company. He had thoughts of
suicide. This went on for five years. One day he passed a church and
sought some solace there. Entering the church he encountered a priest who
had seen him sobbing while kneeling in a pew. The priest took pity on him
and took him to the rectory where they talked at length. The priest was
impressed with him to such a degree that he said that he would do
everything
possible for him that could be done to restore his dignity and life, if the
young man would promise to be the best Catholic he could be, and trust in
God's mercy to free him from his torturous life. The young man went to Mass
and communion everyday and after thanking God for saving his life, asked
God
to only give him peace of mind and the grace to be the best man he could
ever be in His eyes. The priest, through his personal contacts was able to
secure the services of the best plastic surgeon in Australia. There would
be no cost to the young man as the doctor was the priest's best friend. The
doctor too was so impressed by the young man, whose outlook now on life,
even though he had experienced the worst, was filled with good humor and
love. The surgery was a miraculous success. All the best dental work was
also done for him. The young man became everything he promised God he would
be.

He was also blessed with a wonderful, beautiful wife, many children,
and success in an industry which would have been the furthest thing from
his
mind as a career, if not for the goodness of God and the love of the people
who cared for him. This he acknowledges publicly.

The young man. Mel Gibson. His life was the inspiration for his
production of the movie "The Man Without A Face". He is to be admired by
all of us as a God fearing man, a political conservative, and an example to
all as a true man of courage.



Mel Gibson has produced the movie "The Passion of the Christ". This is
his way of thanking God for his many blessings. And it's also his way of
showing us how Christ truly suffered. He's gotten a lot of flack from
Hollywood for doing this movie. Please e-mail this to everyone you know.
And go see the movie when it's released on Feb. 25. It will change your
life forever!

So what do you think?

Willie

[IttyBittyKitty]

VERY VERY violent and gory ... especially upsetting for anyone who believes in Jesus as well!

I personally thought it was very well done, those people who say it was too violent are fooling themselves if they think that those weren't violent times and that Jesus' crucifixion was a walk in the park. Those who say there are overtones of anti-semeticism are pulling that one out of their rectums! As someone on another forum pointed out: Mary and Magdalene were Jews, the disciples were Jews, Joseph of Arimathea was a Jew and so on...

[mahayana]

I haven't seen the movie, but of course have imagined the crucifixion all my life. The Catholic crucifixes are graphic, too!

Personally, I don't subscribe to the "dying for our sins" thing; it is logical perhaps to those who seek meaning in this nasty murder/ capital punishment story.

I choose to see meaning in Jesus' life and teachings, and to regret the brutal, mean way he was destroyed for threatening the status quo.

Have you considered that Jews used animal sacrifice, blood dripping from altars, in their faith, and that the common explanation for the crucifixion is subscibing to human sacrifice as something that pleases God?

I would rather have seen Jesus live to a ripe old age, and have spent my life considering a Book filled with hundreds of pages of His thoughts and teachings, instead of the epistles of Paul who was not 1% as enlightened. Happy Easter, friends!

[Pam]

I haven't seen it yet but plan to do so. Yesterday at church we had communion as we do once a month. As the bread was being passed out our pastor told us that he and his wife had seen it Friday night. They didn't say a word all of the way home in the car as they were so moved. His wife was the first one to speak, and her comment was that she would never be able to take communion in the same way again. I think that once we realize the extent of His sufferings we may have a glimpse into the enormous love that He had for us to lay his life down for us in such a way. I hope that this will change us all. To those who say that it is anti-semitic they simply don't understand. This was the plan of salvation, initiated by God, for the world. The Jews were participants in the plan, the Romans were participants in the plan and Jesus himself was a Jew. When one's life is made to be an offering for all there must be someone to carry out the deed. To say that this will turn Christians against Jews makes no sense. Christians understand what this was all about and why this took place and the only thing I hope to take away from this movie is a heart of love and gratitude to my Savior.

[Pam]

Originally posted by mahayana

Have you considered that Jews used animal sacrifice, blood dripping from altars, in their faith, and that the common explanation for the crucifixion is subscibing to human sacrifice as something that pleases God?

The Bible tells us that without the shedding of blood there is no remission for sin. It was done in the Old Testament and that is what Passover is all about. When God saw the blood of the animals at the top of the door of those homes, he 'passed over' and those lives were saved. Jesus is the New Testament Passover Lamb. Without Jesus' sacrifice there is no atonement. It is his death and resurrection which gives us life.

[Logan]

Originally posted by NoahsMommy
I do want to see it, but I don't want to puke in the theater if its that bad. (I'm WAY sensitive to anything violent or gorish) Can anyone give me another movie that had the same level of violence in it? Do you feel it was unneccesarily violent?

I haven't heard a single soul say that they got sick during it. Did they feel sick? Yes. Did they get sick? No. But I also haven't heard a single soul say that they wished they hadn't seen it. My husband has seen it, and I will see it, when we can go together. It will be this week ,even if I have to go alone. I heard (in an interview) Mel Gibson say that he had to "hold back" on the violence, Kelly. He said to really depict the truth would have been too much for his audience to bear. Go see it. I will too, and what a message we will come away with!!!!

[Corinna]

I too will wait till the video release.My family is freinds with the caveizals(Jim plated Jesus) Here went to school with me as well as his brother Tim. They told mom I should wait knowing how I react to that graphic of depiction.I cry at the little mermaid.
Wish I could have been home for the opening Jim was there.