My understanding of (well, Catholic, 'cause that is what I am) Christian theology is that you aren't disadvantaged by never having the opportunity to explore Christianity. Having the opportunity and rejecting it - I dunno.

Protestant theologians said heaven is like a parking lot with a limited number of spaces, so you have to do "good works" to get Him (Her?) to notice you and reserve you a space in the heavenly parking lot.

I don't know that this is right at all. I am pretty sure the Protestant doctrine is that you cannot make Jesus love you any more than he does already, and that you just have to believe he died for you and for your sins. You get to heaven by faith alone.

Catholicism is (surprise, surprise) considerably more complex on the face of it. The concept, for instance, of needing "good works" to get into heaven is there. However, I reckon it is all sematics - both Protestant and Catholic believe, in summary, that your faith should be reflected in good works.

It is quite interesting how various religions practice such exclusivity among themselves.

Dave - this is, IMO, due to two things:

1) each religion (or denomination within a religion) believes they are right. If one defines Christianity by interpreting the Bible, then it is relatively clear that there will be the "haves" and "have nots". In believing you are "right" to a greater or lesser extent you will believe the other guys as "wrong", or at least "less right". Personally, while I am Catholic, I don't know for certain that it is "right", but I think it is.

2) Human nature - why hang out with people with differing views if it is going to make life hard.

#2 doesn't apply to all either. In NZ, there are some pretty cool ecumenism (sp?) efforts going on. I'm pretty sure of one thing - God doesn't want Christians to argue with one another. :D

And on the 8th day, God made Mel Gibson movies and there was much rejoicing throughout the land.

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Ah, yes. So true. But as they say, "There's one born (or born again), every minute."

Fortunately the Bible says we don't have to earn our way to heaven. Eph 2:8-9 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- not by works, so that no one can boast.

According to the Bible, we are graded on one thing.

Romans 10:9-10 That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.

Ergo: I drive an SC so I'm glad we aren't graded on works!

Two local L.A. movie critics reviewed the movie this morning.

Both said it was extremely violent; on par with "Saving Private Ryan."

One critic suggested that if she talked about the movie much longer, she'd start crying on the air. :eek:

The anchor of this same show asked, more or less, if her emotions have anything to do with being born again.

She stated, "No."

I agree. It sounds very powerful.

There's the kicker ain't it?!

Frankly I believe there's some overlap here. Take a good look at the Koran some time and it's almost hard to believe it's not just an extension of the same faith that Christianity grew up out of. Who's to say that they all aren't, and you are judged by your faith and acts with respect to the religion that you were educated by.... An all knowing God will certainly have given this some CPU cycles!

I struggle with that same question though... Does a person who had never been exposed to Christ but who lived a "christian" life go to hell? I really doubt that. There is no evidence either way in the Bible that I recall... But then again, as we all know, there are some significant portions of the Bible that are missing.

It is deeply moving to know that the film made Billy Graham weep. But is that information meant to be a positive or negative recommendation for the movie?

There's probably various reasons the film made him weep. One is it's probably a good film. And the other (in Graham's case) is he probably thinks it tells the story accurately, which is subjective.

On a simple cinematic level, it sounds very powerful.

As for the overall message... :confused:

What this movie will mean to people of different faiths is already beginning to define itself with early word from movie reviewers and people like Graham.

I do worry about the objectivity of the reviewers. Is it a good movie or not? Their test is to not feed into all the dogma the subject presents. This happens with sports reporters, political reporters, etc., who have to cover "sides." They introduce their beliefs into a news story, and thus it becomes slanted.

For instance, when I alluded to that question asked of the movie reviewer by the anchor of whether or not her born again Christianity played a role in what she thought of the movie, I pretty much shut down from the review in general. Though she said "No," her job requires her to say no. In short, the quesion was asked in truly poor taste. Her religious beliefs should have never been brought into her reporting - by she or anyone else. It sort of burst the bubble of objectivity for me.

Billy Graham - in the end, there is importance in what he thinks? But given the movie's premise, there's little doubt he would dislike it. The journalist OTOH, who people should trust, is in a much different, albeit, more important category with something that should be looked at objectively as first a film. Let the pundits go on about the message the movie gives.

I will see it. I beleive the book it is based on is true. People differ in beliefs. That is fine with me. I am a christian and I am betting my life on my beliefs. Do with yours what you see fit. I won't judge you one way or the other. I can see from the thread people are getting wound up, as often happens with a religious disscussion. It is to be expected. Now lets see a show of hands...Who here is a Republican? ;)

You forgot to define what "kind" of Republican? ;)

Shoot, this is nothin' compared o the religious discussion on the porn thread.

LMAO

on the lighter side. all this talk has me piqued enough to really want to see it

While I think organized religion is a bunch of bunk, if passions is historically acurate and as good as braveheart it should make for some good entertainment.

C'mon, it's not that hard to find dirt on Graham:

http://www.freep.com/news/nw/nixon1_20020301.htm

Hmmm...the more things change, the more they stay the same. And of course, the more we forget.

It is an untrue statement, given there are hoards of right-wing non-Jewish media entities whose base is either Hollywood or would like to project themselves toward Hollywood for a higher market share.

Fox (Murdock) is one. CNN (though not conservative) is another, particularly when operated by Ted Turner. And then there's "talk radio."

Media, in a large way, leans leftward. But it's not controlled by a single religious group, but more an ideology that can lean left.

You may or may not know this name: Michael Orvitz, who was one of the most powerful agents in town. He said the same thing about gays controlling Hollywood. That claim quickly got him silenced and bounced out.

Left leaning media? Only if the center is redefined as the position ocupied by fox.

I say the content of the major media is nothing more than a mix of corporate and government propaganda with a sprinkling of facts where the news is concerned.

Its packaging is centrist as to appeal to the most people possible but only the right wingers appear to think that it qualifies as leftist media.

For those that plan to see the movie I would suggest reading the Gospel accounts of the cruxificion prior to viewing the movie. Find an accurate, modern translation like the NIV or New American Standard Bible. It won't take long, most of us here spend more time reading the Pelican Board everyday than it would take to read those passages. Compare what you read with what the movie depicts.

Ask yourself, what is the truth about this guy? Did he lie to everyone, was he crazy, is he Lord, or did he even exist? This topic should be really interesting once the movie is released.

Brian, good questions that you really have to think about. Either Jesus was a great liar, or he was a wacko lunatic, or he was who he said he was.