The Passion of the Christ

[Mogwai]

Anyone here see this movie yet?  Thoughts?  Did it move you or change your opinion of Jesus in any way?

Also, it's being shown in select areas of the Middle East now which is very exciting...Yasser Arafat himself saw it and was quoted as saying it was not anti-Semitic.  It's opening in India soon as well.

[Golyadkin]

I haven't seen it, but I do have a funny, related story:
On my new message board, there was censoring software, and it changed all swear words into other things (it actually changed Charles Dickens into Charles thingyens), and I set it to change only select words into astricks (ass=***, etc.) and when I put in The Passion of the Christ, it replaced it with The P***ion of the Christ. I thought that was kinda funny.

[axon]

I have seen the movie almost as soon as it came out...even though I am an agnostic, it has moved something in me. The movie is extremely powerful and important. It is unfortunate that it is surrounded with so much "controversy", mainly fueled by the Jews.

I have not found it to be anti-Semitic at all, and am sorry that Gibson has left out some very important phrases from the movie that have originally been there due to Hollywood's pressure. One of these is "My blood will be on your hands"...it is still in the movie, but if you don't understand ancient Aramaic you're out of luck

The movie is doing a lot of good in many people who see it…in my girlfriend and many of my friends, who are not necessarily hardcore believers and/or practitioners of the religion it has strengthen their beliefs….two of my buddies even started going to church regularly. What it did to me is that I again picked up the Bible and want to give it another try, and every night I read a few pages and ponder over what it means….I now know why Dostoevsky was so fascinated with the book of Job!

[Alyosha]

So you all recommend this movie?

Hutton Gibson is anti-semitic, but I think that this is a central belief of Christianity that we are not to be blamed for our parents.

Reading all the Jewish reviews it really made me wonder. They seemed to have no understanding what Christians believe. If you think the message is that the Jews killed Christ, you have understood nothing.

[Mogwai]

...it has moved something in me....

…two of my buddies even started going to church regularly.

What it did to me is that I again picked up the Bible and want to give it another try, and every night I read a few pages and ponder over what it means….I now know why Dostoevsky was so fascinated with the book of Job!

Perhaps the Holy Spirit is tugging on your soul.    This was Gibson's purpose for the movie...to reach the unsaved.

Once you are saved by the blood of Jesus, you truly are born again and experience quite a revelation of truth and the gentle presence of God.  The New Testament (especially Paul's letter and the Gospel) are must-reads and totally relate to our time.  As I said before, either Jesus was truly the Son of God, the Messiah, or he was a complete lunatic worthy of blasphemy.

[Golyadkin]

So you all recommend this movie?

Well, I don't not recommend it. I've just never seen it.

[Mitya]

I haven't seen it. I'm not good at watching violent films in theaters, it's larger than life and I have so much adrenaline from the excitement of getting out of the house   that it can be a little disturbing. From what I've seen, in previews, et cetera, it seems to be excellent artistically, and I have great respect for Mel as a filmaker. I also believe that the story is timeless and powerful and always deserves revisiting. I'll probably see it when it comes out on video.