Mel Gibson & Icon productions' THE PASSION Movie Trailer

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Justin Kissel

Post by Justin Kissel »

Thank you for the lengthy post, Seraphim. My wife and I will most likely see it... as art :)

For what it's worth, from everything I've heard of Mr. Gibson, he seems like a sincere individual. I remember one sensationalist news paper article with some headline like "Mel Gibson Thinks His Wife Will Go To Hell". In other words, even though he thinks she's much more pious and "saintly" (his word) than he was, he still believed what his Church taught, that there is no salvation outside the Church. He had come to grips with the paradoxical relationship between salvation and the ark of salvation, which is usually a good sign /\ As G.K. Chesterton believed, a paradox is bold enough to take two seemingly contradictory strings of truth and tie them together: and it is in this knot that life and truth itself is held together. Those who can only see a knot (and wish to untie the strings) cannot in fact see either truth or life as it really is.

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ania
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Post by ania »

Random though early in the morning...

Though many people complain that "The Passion" was much too graphic and that these scenes are not portrayed as being so violent in the gospel, perhaps we should think about this... While the gospels were being written, and the people who read them for the next many hundred years, people knew what the beatings, whippings, torture were like, (after all the martyrs went through it on a daily basis, and even non-martyrs witnessed such things regularly). Perhaps there was no reason to tell it in detail, because people back then knew how it was. In our modern society, where even a small act of cruelty (say even a single punch to the nose) is shot down almost instantly (I'm talking American middle class society, not the rest of the world here), we can't even begin to imagine how horrible those tortures must have been. Possibly with being so graphic Mel was trying to drive home a point that we have pretty much forgotten, that Christ didn't just die for our sins, but for 12 hours before that was tortured, spit upon, called names, abandoned by a people who welcomed him 5 days before, and in other ways publicly humiliated. Perhaps that is why people weep when they see it.

I saw the movie last Friday, and thought it was excellent. I almost made the sign of the cross as the credits started to roll. Sometime this week I'm going to go see it again.

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Грешник
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The Passion of the Christ Movie

Post by Грешник »

From a Sermon given by His Grace Bishop Gregory of the ROAC Regarding Mel Gibson's 'The Passion of the Christ'

After reflecting and receiving more information on "The Passion of The Christ", I want to share with you more thoughts.


It seems I was wrong when I said that this movie is reputed to be very accurate, in that it was an attempt to follow most closely the Scriptures. The script. Apparently I was wrong. Mel Gibson put aside the Scriptures and decided he was going to follow the narration of Anne Catherine Emmerich's book about the Passion. This was a Roman Catholic nun who had many dreams or apparitions contrary to the Scriptures, which she recorded. You see how far the Roman Catholics are from the Orthodox? If anyone of our faithful had any such dream, they would immediately be told to cast it away from themselves, and pray that it be blotted out from their memory, for it is obviously not from God since it contradicts the Divine truth as revealed to us in the Holy Scriptures.


Because Mel Gibson chose the Gospel according to Emmerich, rather than the Gospel according to the Evangelists, therefore this explains the inaccuracies of this film. The theme, however, was Christ and His sufferings. Although inaccurate, yet we behold how it affects the good emotions of the people of this country. Everybody is going to see this movie in droves, and it is going to be one of the most successful movies made. Again, I wish to tell our people, however, that this movie is not for you. We do not need to behold the imagination and ideas and listen to the words which authors are putting into the mouths of sacred personages. We do not need to see an actress portraying the Virgin Mary. The Virgin's beauty and holiness surpass beyond all imagination whatever Hollywood can produce through an actress. We call the Virgin Mary "full of grace" and "more honorable than the Cherubim and more glorious than the Seraphim." What actress can j! ustly portray the Queen of Heaven? None. And our mind should not imagine that we see such an attempt. What then can be said of Christ, Himself, and an actor?


I want to share some thoughts about the way we depict Christ on the Cross, and the way the Latins depict Him.


The Orthodox East, and indeed, the Orthodox of the Roman Church (before 1054), have always depicted Christ as victorious in and over death. He is on the Cross, standing on the footstool, where His feet are nailed. He is depicted as if holding up the Cross. He is depicted not only holding up Himself, but as God, the whole world. He is nailed to the Cross and pierced in the side, and we see this in the holy icons, and the blood from His extremities flow down from the nails and fall on the skull of Adam, which is always depicted beneath the Cross, because He was crucified at Golgotha, the place of the Skull of Adam. His side, when it is pierced, shows two gentle streams, one of blood and one of water, flowing out from His right side. He looks like God incarnate and crucified and it is a wonderful and insatiable sight to behold. Blood is only depicted on the portions of His hands, feet and side. Above His head, holy Tradition presc! ribes that He is labeled "The King of Glory". And indeed, He is at the height of His glory, redeeming man, and giving us the sign of the Cross. True Byzantine iconographers, in the purest expression of Orthodox art, do not put upon His head a crown of thorns. Indeed His hair is even shown well groomed. Thorns are contrary to the glory of this icon. This icon shows Christ crucified and indeed dead, but one only realizes this because His eyes are closed, which in Orthodox iconography communicates the state of death. This death for us is life and hope and joy and peace and salvation.


Let us reflect a little on the modern day Latin depiction of Christ crucified, as expressed even now through the movie "The Passion."
Here we behold the figure of a man who is brutalized. Every part of his body is disfigured and bloody. His hair is disheveled. He is hanging on the Cross as if He is a body without any power. You look upon this crucifixion as an object that would lead us to total despair. Above His Cross is written, "The King of the Jews," but He is not only the king of the Jews. He is the King of the world, and indeed, the King of kings. But we see Him depicted, not as a King, but as a criminal, punished and executed. But there was no sin in Him. But in their depictions, He looks like sin indeed was in Him. This depiction causes us to turn away from this sight. It is not a vision of hope, but of despair. It is not a vision of life, but death. There is no peace when one beholds this depiction of the Latin West. Every part of His body is red with His blood and abhorrent to the dignity that belongs to Christ. We should! honor Him as our God incarnate, but never dishonor Him by depicting Him as one broken and powerless to save Himself. This is showing dishonor. Even the way they cover His nakedness shows dishonor. The Latins put a skimpy, torn, dirty rag on Him; while the Orthodox put on Him a large, clean, dignified cloth.


So we see the difference in the Christianity of the true Church and the others. The dignity shown to Christ in the true one is unsurpassed.

Through the prayers of our holy fathers, Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us and save us. Amen.

In Christ,

+Bishop Gregory

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Chrysostomos
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Post by Chrysostomos »

After Presanctified on Wednesday, we had a parishioner ask about
this film and our Priest read a response from Bishop Tikhon in
response to the film. I won't go into the letter, that isn't the purpose
of my message.

I thought about what this movie is all about, and my thoughts went to
the Icon we have of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in our home.

It is titled:

Extreme Humility

I can add nothing...this says it all.

With humble bow,

Rd. Chrysostomos

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Seraphim Reeves
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Post by Seraphim Reeves »

Chrysostmos,

It's very interesting you say this, since I had a similar thought after seeing this film - I thought almost immediately of the Extreme Humility Icon.

Seraphim

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Post by Tessa »

I saw the movie the first week it came out with my husband. I was impressed with it on an artistic level and moved on a spiritual one. Remembering that Mel Gibson made the film, not Saint Matthew, Saint Mark, Saint Luke, or Saint John-I went in acknowledging that is was one man's (or Emmerich's) interpretation of a particular event, NOT actual factual word-for-word truth. There were parts that were added as theatric and artisitic elements, and as an Orthodox Christian I was able to discern that.

The thing about the GOA writing against it (The Passion) made me laugh harder than anything though, because while forced to attend their Sunday school classes we were made to watch the "Left Behind" series (based on the John Hagee book and Rapture heresy). In the GOA I was taught many more things that are totally outside of the Orthodox phromena and even HERECTICAL-even by modernist standpoints.

ANyway the point is, it's a free country, see the movie if you think you will spiritually benefit from it. After all I like all the other Bible movies like Ten Commandments and so on. It's not fair to bash the guy just because he's not Orthodox. I mean, hey, if he's against the pope (or Nosferatu as I call him) maybe he's on the way to Orthodoxy. You never know.

It has two thumbs way up from me.

In Christ
Tessa

Господе Исусе Христа, Синe Божји, Помилуј ме грешну!

Savva24
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Post by Savva24 »

Hello,

It has been a while since this was talked about here so I hope I am not beating a dead horse but I saw this article and thought that it had something valuable to say about the topic.

Savva

http://www.russianorthodoxchurch.ws/01n ... ssion.html

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