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More About Mel
- 02/21/04
- 5
Should this make me nervous? I know I sometimes have the tendency to “throw out the baby with the bath-water” but quotes like this do not do much for my confidence in the effects this movie will have: “After both of The Passion screenings I attended, the Protestant women talked about identifying with Mary as a mother who was watching her child suffer. From whatever point in his spirituality Gibson’s treatment of Mary is springing, it is touching deeply the maternal impulse in his viewers.” Now I’ll admit that Protestants do tend to shy away from Mary, but Gibson’s Marian theology is definitely far beyond what the Bible teaches. He calls her “a tremendous co-redemptrix and mediatrix.”
This article (also at Christianity Today) speaks more about Mel’s faith, focusing a good deal of attention on his use of Anne Catherine Emmerich’s Dolorous Passion of Our Lord.
Interestingly, neither article seems to point out the obvious error (heresy) of trusting in Mary as a co-redemptrix. What an indication of the state of Protestantism that such error raises no warning flags!
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Comments (5)
I am reminded of a scripture tht struck me upon reading. It was Isaiah 45:13 “I will rasie up Cyrus in my righteousness.” In this case God chooses Cyrus the King of Persia to raise up and be the tool by which he accomplishes his plan. Cyrus was not a Israelite. He seems a very unlikely agent of God’s will, but God chose him and did amazing things through him (see Ez 1). Sometimes God chooses unlikely individuals to be the agent of his work, and if he can choose an “unbeliever” like Cyrus, do we have faith that he can overcome the confused notions of Gibson’s personal faith to create a powerful tool for His will? I don’t mean to suggest that we be un-critical, or to just blindly ride the waves of popular trends, media blitzes and high quality, colour, glossy leaflets. I do think, however, that any time an human being is involved in something there is the risk of imperfection. We need to trust God that He will be at work in those things that He wills. I recognize that this pre-supposes that this film is indeed in God’s plan, but I know alot of people who have been putting a lot of prayer into trying to discern whether this is infact a tool that God will bless, and the overwhelming response has been yes.
We are to give honor to whom honor is due and the scriptures do teach that Mary will be honored AMONG women. It does NOT teach that she should be honored ABOVE women. What a difference one word makes!
When I watched the movie trailer online I was initially moved to tears. The sound track and images were very moving. But as I replayed it a few times, I sensed that something was wrong, especially during the brief glimpses of Mary. Later, I read that Gibson had built the Mary scenes around the visions of two mystic nuns; one of them claimed she could leave her body and travel to foreign lands. This movie undoubtedly will have an impact on evangelism, but to which gospel and doctrine? I agree with you Tim, I have more questions than answers at this point. I find it interesting that most evangelical leaders are silent on the Catholic issue. At this point, I’m not planning to see the movie.
I think you are quite right to have your warning signal alerted by this Tim. I venture to say that I think we will see increasing sympathy to the ecumnical appeal of ‘Mother’ Mary, and leading gradually into increasing devotion and focus on her ‘role’. I think we have an idea where that process will lead.I’m already observing this on forums frequented by people who identify themselves as born again non-Catholic believers. The appeal to women who are mothers themselves appears particularly evident.
Beth,
I have seen much of the same sentiment. Many Protestants are identifying with Mary in a way they never did before. Though that does not necessarily lead to Catholicism, it is a part of Catholic theology (Mary as the one who can identify with our sufferings) while not a part of Protestant theology. Thus it poses a potentialdanger.