| ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ( A ) THE HOLY GHOST WAS WORKING THROUGH ME The purpose of this study is to examine certain statements and actions of Mr. Gibson regarding his film, The Passion of the Christ ( formerly titled, The Passion ) including his Roman Catholic faith and the scriptural reasons as to why these issues should alert the Christian so as not to support seeing this film. As far as any claims regarding the film being particularly antagonistic towards the Jewish people and anti-Semetic, to the best of my knowledge, there is the belief among a percentage of the Jewish community that the film itself is not anti-Semetic. Nevertheless there is the belief that the film could cause a rise in anti-Semetism. I suppose there are valid and justified arguments for and against that issue. One interesting website which discusses this matter is located at: http://www.chroniclesmagazine.org/Chronicles/October2003/1003Wolf.html . But the information in these articles about Mr. Gibson and his film will not deal with the anti-Semetic issue but rather with Mr. Gibsons� statement of Holy Ghost involvement in his film and the different scriptural problems in relation to that claim. These articles will discuss various reported issues such as the development of the Passion film script, the actions and motives of Mr. Gibson as he has sought approval and acceptance from his viewing audiences of the film and the reported changes being made in the Passion film due to the pressures of those audiences and the media. Let me begin this research by stating that there are reports of Mr. Gibsons� claims of the direct intervention of the Holy Spirit during film production. According to various articles, Mr. Gibson claims that the Holy Ghost was working through him, ( http://atheism.about.com/b/a/003520.htm see also Newsweek magazine Februrary 16, 2004 p.46 ). Mr. Gibson expressed the hope that the film would have the power to evangelize and that it would affect people on a profound level with the ability to somehow change them ( http://atheism.about.com/b/a/003520.htm http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0710/p11s01-lire.html?entryBottomStory http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=33461 ). In another article it is reported that Mr. Gibson meant for his film to just tell the truth and that the Holy Spirit was dictating what went into the film, ( http://www.wilmott.com/messageview.cfm?catid=15&threadid=8895 ). It is certainly quite a bold statement to claim that the Holy Spirit of God had direct involvement in the making of this film. There have been various Jesus films and other Bible films made in past years. Why would the Holy Spirit of God take particular, direct interest and involvement in this film ? The answer is He wouldn�t. Cinema, by and large, is a medium which relies on untruth, fiction and make-believe to tell its� stories with emotional, subjective intent for its� audiences. The purpose of film is not to teach and instruct with facts and truth, but rather is for the purpose of amusement and entertainment. ( With this being said however, I don't believe that Mr. Gibsons' Passion film was for amusement nor entertainement. ) With the exception of the documentary film and educational films which rely on truth and fact, the medium of film by its� nature is a dramatic tool which is crafted and designed in such a way as to tell and relay a story to its� respective audience with the intent and purpose of affecting the audience on a desired emotional, subjective level. An emotional, subjective level not based on any truth or fact. There are educational and documentary films which can be objective in purpose and truthful or factual in nature. But even certain documentaries can end up being biased, slanted mediums which end up embellishing their facts and therefore are not entirely based on solid truth. Jesus often used parables and stories to relay a spiritual principle and truth to His listeners. However, none of His parables or stories were for the purposes of amusement or entertainment. None of Christs� parables or stories were ever meant for dramatic or emotional intent. Christ was not a dramatist, He was not an entertainer. He was a teacher with a serious intent for disseminating absolute truth. His stories and parables were by intent and nature, spiritual instruction with a specific purpose to teach and instruct His audiences of spiritual truth. For example, the Word of God itself provides its� mode of operation with these verses from the scriptures in the New Testament book, 2 Timothy; 16. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 17. That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works. - 2 Timothy 3:16-17 The Word of God is an instructive and teaching tool which is unchanging. Whereas the intent of drama and story telling in cinema is commonly subject to change. Thus, the film making process requires the film makers to craft and construct their stories in order to obtain a final quality of story which will move their audiences on some desired emotional level. Therefore, absolute truth and fact are not necessities of cinema and film production. Holy scripture and the Holy Spirit on the other hand are means for distributing truth, not subjective, fictional stories. The Holy Spirit and Gods' Word operate in the realm of truth, not fiction and fable, ( 1 Timothy 1:4; 4:6-9 / 2 Timothy 4:1-4 / Titus 1:12-14 / 2 Peter 1:16 ). Neither the Holy Spirit nor Gods� Word are given for dramatic purposes of amusement and entertainment, but rather to relay the instruction of absolute truth to mankind. Mr. Gibson as a film maker had to construct his film in such a manner that simply is not truthful to the scriptural events of Christs� crucifixion as outlined in the texts of the gospels. Therefore, the design and nature of the film making process and due to his own remarks concerning his desire to provoke a strong emotional response of his audiences toward his Passion film, Mr. Gibson had to construct his film in such a manner that simply is not truthful to the scriptural events of Christs� crucifixion as outlined in the texts of the gospels. These are some reasons why the Holy Spirit would not participate in a film which clearly has not honestly presented the scriptural, truthful events surrounding the time of Christs� crucifixion. I will deal more specifically regarding the dramatic licence which Mr. Gibson has had to take in order to tell his emotional story of the events of Christs� crucifixion as opposed to telling the actual information as outlined within holy scripture itself. Continuting on with reports surrounding the film, it is also reported that healings occurred and that Muslims and agnostics were converting to Christianity, ( http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=33461 http://www.rense.com/general48/who.htm http://patriotparadox.mu.nu/archives/036468.php ). ----------------------------------------------------- |
| A - Holy Ghost working through me B - Scriptural Examination C - Validation of other people - Pt. 1 D - Validation of other people - Pt. 2 / other source material |