I haven't seen the movie yet---I might go see the movie---However, some thoughts: I don't buy into the theology that Christ suffered X amount of brutality to atone for X amount of sin. Again, I haven't seen the movie yet but what I fear is that it will be a hugh flog fest---And a big Boohoo tear jerker--hence, He did this for me. I get offended by statements that "Christ did all this suffering for all of us".
But, the reviews I've heard so far seem positive. So I might just go see the movie. I am no longer Christian, BTW. I used to be a missionary for two years in Haiti in a former life. Now, I am Agnostic. I threw Christian theology out the window years ago as I could no longer reconcile several Christian tenets; namely: the tension between faith and works, grace and salvation and sin. Supposedly by the Fall of Adam all men fell when sin was introduced. Hence, we ALL need a redeemer or a Savior to come back in the presence of God. This Savior will intercess for our sins and pay the price for the wages of our transgressions. In a nutshell, that is what mainstream Christian theology preaches.
Then comes the confusion for all of the rest of the sectarian world. One camp of Christians believe that we must 'work out' our salvation by doing good works and by 'earning' our salvation. Hey, no arguement here. Good works are a good thing. Being just, true, charitable and doing good to all men is a righteous thing. Well, the other camp says you can't 'earn' your way to heaven. In other words, salvation or grace is a free gift. You can't earn it. You can only 'deserve' it. The one requirement is 'faith'. You believe in Christ, profess his 'name' and voila, you are SAVED. Glory Hallejuiah. It sure works for a bunch of convicts who are afraid of going to hell. But seriously, all people make mistakes and have skeletons in their closets. So, to have understanding, forgiveness, mercy is a good thing. Hey, nobody is perfect. In the works-only-camp, everybody is stamped out of the same cookie cutter mold, strives to be perfect, shuns those who aren't, and maintians a zero defect mentality. Nobody can live up to those standards for very long. We need mercy. But then the other camp goes to the extreme and says good works aren't required. Only 'faith' in professing Lord. Very forgiving and appealing to us mere mortals, yes, but it's an empty hollow religion with no substance. All sectarian debate is swept aside except for the faith vs works issue.
In essences the only thing the two camps have in common is a NEED for a Redeemer because 'sin' has entered the world. Well, here is where I threw the baby out with the bath water. I no longer believe in 'sin'. It is a Christian concept only. True, there are universal crimes against humanity like rape and murder and from a humanistic standpoint, nobody disagrees that those things are 'wrong'. However, just about everything else is subject to interpretive morality. I base my morality on consequences and my ability to to accept the consquences. For illustrative purposes, Is it 'wrong' for me to live with my girlfriend? Well, that's a personal decision and frankly none of your business but if I may clue you into my way of thinking, I believe sex between two mature consenting adults is again, frankly nobody's business accept those involved. If I am ready to accept the consequences of a pregnancy, how is it 'wrong'? On the otherhand, if my young daughter would so chose to have sex and accidentally get knocked up, is that 'right'? Or 'wrong'? Based upon her ability to accept the consequences, I would say it is wrong. But that is in a lot of ways, none of my [censored] business---Except that I would be the parent bearing the responsibility. Even then, how could my daughter call her offspring, or my offspring's offspring a mistake? Life ain't black and white folks. Morality is relative. So, I do not accept the concept of sin. It is a Christian invention. You throw out sin and you have no need for a redeemer. Without sin, there is no need for an Atonement.
Sure, people do stupid things. There are crimes against humanity. Humanity, perhaps civility requires forgiveness and mercy. Some cultures do not accept the death penelty for that reason. Our culture at the very least does not accept cruel and unusual punishments. In wartime, we have the Geneva convention. There are basic humanitarian rights and civil liberties. Does that make me a humanist? Then I am a humanist.
My other contention with Christianity---From someone who for half his lifetime has immersed himself upon the subject, is bothered by the basic lack of historical collaboration in the Jesus story. The only source outside the Bible that mentions Jesus is Josephus, the great Jewish historian. However, it is strongly believed that some Christian author inserted the Jesus story within the Josephus's works.
My other contention with the Bible is that all of the Gosepel where written well after the epistles. In some cases, many, many years (up to 100 yrs) afer the birth of Christ. And none of these gospel writers ever claimed to know Jesus! I find it amusing that the Bible gives a one liner mentioning Jesus appearing to 500 people but spends versus tried to offer appologetic claims to rebutt the Roman contention that Jesus didn't really resurrect. The Bible seems to go out of it's way to show the reader that Jesus really did resurrect.
I don't doubt that Jesus is a true historical figure but I am very agnostic towards the idea that he is the Christ, the long awaited Jewish Messiah. In fact, I don't believe in Judaism. It's all a myth. All cultures have them and Christianity just so happens to pervade American culture (And Western civilization for that matter) quite pervasively. If you want to see how ridiculous religion can be, take a look at Islamic Fundamentalism as a bunch of whackos (albeit devout whackos) that drove planes into the New York Twin Towers. I now view religion more from an anthropolical point of view. Perhaps that is the reason I might go see the movie. And, in a former life, I devoutly once believe in Jesus the Christ.
PS: I hear the movie is a work of art.
Peace.
