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Saturday.
Even after all the bad reviews from the critics. This will be about the 6th movie in 4 years I’ve seen in a theatre. The others are Master and Commander, We Were Soldiers, You Can Count On Me, Gladiator and The Patriot. (I’ve probably seen over 500 on DVD and video since then though.)
What's strange is how I can anticipate some film critics' reaction based on who they are or who they write for before I read the review. There's a free alternative weekly newspaper here in Baltimore staffed with a lot of gays, socialists, and other "progressive" liberals and I knew exactly what the critic was going to say before I even read it. I opened it up and started reading and sure enough... I swear I could have written his review for him.
As for the criticism that the events are out of context and that Jesus' character is undeveloped, I would argue that he is, after all, Jesus Christ, not some obscure, unknown figure. Another thing critics may not have thought of is that maybe Gibson designed the film that way intentionally; to spark interest in non-Christians to find about who Jesus was and read the rest of the story. It fits with the whole evangelical mission thing. If so, it's a stroke of genius. He even got me to read the gospels.
I’m a Christian but not a very pious one. What little knowledge I have surrounding the events in the film comes from studying the Roman Empire. I’ve found it virtually impossible to study the empire without brushing up against some Judeo-Christian history:
Augustas--Jesus born.
Tiberius--died.
Caligula--declared himself a god; wanted to put a statue of
himself in Holy Temple in Jerusalem.
Nero--blamed Christians for fire in Rome in 64 A.D. He was
probably correct. (long story)
Vespasian--started conquest of Jerusalem.
Titus--the "Hammer of the Jews" finished the job.
Destroyed Holy Temple and leveled Jerusalem. Left Masada
to be mopped up.
Diocletian--more intense persecution of Christians.
Constantine the Great--semi-conversion to Christianity
etc., etc., etc..
I've only read through the Bible here and there but I believe most of it is based on historical fact. What turns me off (and I guess most people) is how Moses starts out so metaphorical in Genesis... but then, unlike most people, I've never believed evolution and creationism to be mutually exclusive.
Anyway, from what I've read, the Bible does become more and more specific as it goes along, mentioning historical events and kings by name, albeit sometimes using different names than they go by today, e.g., the 500 B.C. Persian king Xerxes (of Battle of Salamis fame) goes by the name Ahasuerus in the book of Esther. The last book in the Old Testament (Malachi?) has a nasty, pessimistic tone.
The gospels and St. Paul’s epistles etc. seem credible enough considering all the time and translations they went through. Even though historians think they were written about 70-80 A.D., that would just put Jesus’ contemporaries around that age as well. Augustas lived to age 77. And even if they couldn’t read or write, they could easily find someone who could.
Then you get to Revelations and all those visions and its obsession with the number seven. Hatred of pagan Rome and its seven hills? It’s totally out of character with the previous books.
I read the gospels back to back for the first time a couple weeks ago when the controversy was really high. If you believe them, one can speculate on Pontius Pilate's motivations. Although Jesus would be regarded as a flea next to the elephant of the Roman Empire, I find it plausible that Pilate would be reluctant to execute him for a few reasons:
1) He was not a common criminal accused of theft, rape or murder but a prophet with a sizable following. Blasphemy was bad but the idea that it was this horrendous capital crime akin to murder; a direct affront to the “god” of Rome or the emperor and immediately punishable by death is just silly. It was a much more serious offense to the Jews than it was to the Romans. Blasphemy is, after all, just speech. The Roman people thought Caligula was ridiculous and insane for declaring himself a god. They laughed at him (though not to his face). If they did deify someone it was usually after they died.
2) Pilate apparently sensed some personal vendetta from the Sanhedrin. He would want to interview him to size him up first; see what he had to say. If you believe the gospels, Pilate was apparently impressed by the way Jesus kept his composure and seemed self-assured during the questioning. Odd for a man facing a death sentence. That might give him second thoughts.
3) He was already under scrutiny for crucifying too many Jews for less than good reasons.
4) Also in the gospels is the implication that Pilate knew that Jesus was going to be brought before him the next day and that he may have shared this info with his wife, who subsequently had a dream about Jesus that night. Dreams were taken very seriously then and not regarded as mental backwash like today. That would be a sign of something.
I’ve heard some speculation from a scholar that when Jesus refers to the “Kingdom of God” that he’s really referring to a political revolution in Jerusalem and not the otherworldly heaven that we imagine.
Well, we know that people back then had the idea of that other world because Augustas stood in the Roman Forum soon after Julius Caesar was assassinated and he and the people saw a comet streak across the sky for 7 minutes. The people thought it was Caesar acknowledging them from this “heaven”. Augustas thought it was a sign of greatness for him and his reign. Jesus also mentions the clouds and sky when referring to this “heaven” but I don’t remember what book it’s in. Matthew, I think.
Eh, who knows.
BTW, I saw a documentary a couple months ago and in the 1940's some Arab in the desert was digging and found a man buried and next to him was a clay pot filled with about 40 other gospels of Jesus. He took them home and couldn't read them. His mother started burning them for kindling but most of them were saved. Anyone else see that?
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