It is no surprise by now that Gibson is a devout Roman Catholic who believes that there is no salvation outside of his church, although he has been quoted as saying that "it is possible for people who are not even Christians to get into the kingdom of heaven." (quoted from www.newswithviews.com/BeritKjos/kjo26.htm - site no longer available).
Gibson himself is amazed at how protestants are buying into Catholic Mariolatry ("excessive veneration of the Virgin Mary"). Adventists have predicted this development of the bridging of the gulf and clasping of the hands for a century, and now that it's happening we don't seem to recognize it.
Protestant leaders who are enthusiastically promoting The Passion may not realize that the ultimate beneficiary is the Catholic Church. A century ago, Ellen White warned that "The Protestants of the United States will be foremost in stretching their hands across the gulf to grasp the hand of spiritualism; they will reach over the abyss to clasp hands with the Roman power;" GC 588. The clasping of the hands between Catholicism and Protestantism is taking place in many ways today. The mutual endorsement and promotion of The Passion--a powerful portrayal of the Catholic view of Christ's sacrifice--serves as a compelling reminder that the gulf is being bridged and that hands are being clasped, and Protestants are being drawn into the Catholic web.
As one reads the movie reviews and interviews with Gibson himself, it becomes quite evident that the movie has a strong Catholic bias that expresses Gibson's faith, but his faith is not the Protestant faith. The movie blurs Catholicism and Protestantism, Bible and tradition, and Scripture and mysticism. In fact, Gibson drew heavily from German Nun Anne Emmerich's devotional book entitled The Dolorous [painful] Passion of Christ. Emmerich is known as a Catholic mystic, visionary, and prophet who lived from 1774 to 1824. She purportedly received many visions in which God provided her details about Jesus' last days that are not contained in the Bible. This extra-Biblical account of Jesus' suffering provided many of the details in the movie. Gibson said that "he acquired from a nunnery that had closed down, a library of hundreds of books, many of them quite old. He says that when he was researching 'The Passion' one evening he reached up for a book and a volume tumbled out of the shelf into his hand. He sat down and read" The Dolorous Passion of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and the rest is history. It's obvious that spiritualism has been involved with this movie right from the start. Here is the bottom line: The Passion of the Christ is a Roman Catholic movie, made by a Roman Catholic director, a Roman Catholic false prophet, and Roman Catholic theological advisers.
In the Catholic web site http://www.catholic.net/global_catholic_news/template_news.phtml?news_ id=49259&channel_id=2%20-%2047k (site no longer available) we see that for Gibson, "this film is a Mass." Gibson says, "The goal of the movie is to shake modern audiences by brashly juxtaposing ["to place side by side"] the sacrifice of the cross with the sacrifice of the altar--which is the same thing, said Gibson. . . The script of The Passion of Christ was specifically intended to link the crucifixion of Christ with what Roman Catholics believe is the re-sacrificing of Christ that occurs in the mass."
During filming a priest attended the location every morning to hold mass and celebrate the Eucharist. There is no doubt that Gibson made this movie as an expression of his beliefs, which necessarily places them in conflict with Protestant beliefs. Unbeknownst to most moviegoers that viewed this film, they have partaken of the Catholic mass unawares.
As evidenced by the following quote, those who have been emotionally whipped up by the movie will ever afterward read the word of God with Catholic beliefs imprinted on their minds. Billy Graham in his endorsement of this movie said, "Every time I preach or speak about the Cross, the things I saw on the screen will be on my heart and mind."
This movie has also been lauded as one of the greatest witnessing and evangelistic tools of all time, but in reality it has become a great tool to advance the ecumenical movement and the Catholic agenda. Well known Protestant ministers like Billy Graham and James Dobson as well as many Catholic archbishops and professors are helping to bring the churches together on points they hold in common.
The greatest opportunity for evangelism always has been and always will be the faithful preaching of the Bible. Make no mistake: there can be no more powerful method of evangelism than this.
This movie has already crossed denominational boundaries. The various Passion Outreach site lists on the internet quote from many church leaders, all of whom endorse this movie, and is it any surprise that the bulk of the Protestants listed have in the past made it obvious that they lean toward ecumenism?
One has to wonder why Jesus is depicted as enduring far more punishment than any human could withstand and still live, beside the fact that violence sells tickets. Could it be that religiously, the Catholic devotion to the Passion entails that Christ's sufferings must surpass human limitations in order to meet the demands of divine justice? In other words, Catholics believe that the expiation for our sins is through the intensity of Christ's suffering, rather than through His death as a perfect sacrifice for our sins.
It was through torturing his body that Martin Luther believed he would be ushered into the presence of God. But one day while in Rome, climbing Pilate's staircase on his knees, he heard the words of Rom. 1:17, "The just shall live by faith." What do you think the catholic teaching of purgatory is all about? It's that physical suffering is necessary before entering heaven. The focus of this movie is on physical suffering because suffering is the way of salvation to the Catholic mind.
Oh how I wish the people would turn to the Bible as they have to
this movie. How I wish they could feel the same level of excitement
for God's word. How I wish they would have faith to believe that God
can do so much more through the Bible then can ever be done through a
movie.
First of all it would be well to define the word theater from the 1828 Webster's Dictionary. Theater--"A house for the exhibition of dramatic performances." Let's get one thing clear, whether it's a live play, such as in Ellen White's day, or the screen in a movie house or a video/DVD in the privacy of your own home, theater is theater! Don't let anyone tell you it was different in Ellen White's day and now it's OK to go--that's nonsense. If anything, the modern theater with all the special effects and technology is even more effective at manipulating ones emotions than ever before.
MYP 398 "The true Christian . . . will not be found in the theater . . . To those who plead for these diversions, we answer, We cannot indulge in them in the name of Jesus of Nazareth. The blessing of God would not be invoked upon the hour spent at the theater. . . No Christian would wish to meet death in such a place. No one would wish to be found there when Christ shall come."
Read the context of the following one-liners for yourself.
1T 490 "Attending theaters have a tendency to evil."
4T 653 "The only safe course is to shun the theater."
COL 54 "Theatergoing . . . stimulate(s) every passion to intense
activity."
LS 351 "Theatergoing (is) a species of idolatry, a sacrifice upon
idol altars."
CS 135 "Theatrical performances are all of his (Satan's) own
inventing"
The next quote is from a very interesting article in Signs of the Times May 18, 1882 titled "Burning of the Magical Books." If you have the material you should read the whole thing, because it connects the theater with spiritualism.
"Professing Christian, when you resort to the theater, remember that Satan is there, conducting the play as the master-actor. He is there to excite passion and glorify vice. . . it matters not how innocent the guise under which he conceals his purpose."
Oh friend, stay away from this movie called "The Passion of the Christ," it is one of Satan's objects to impersonate Christ! He is there as the "master-actor" in the person of the one who portrayed our dear Saviour.
"It is the lying wonders of the devil that will take the world captive, and he will cause fire to come down from heaven in the sight of men. He is to work miracles; and this wonderful, miracle-working power is to sweep in the whole world.
"Some will be tempted to receive these wonders as from God. The sick will be healed before us. Miracles will be performed in our sight. Are we prepared for the trial which awaits us when the lying wonders of Satan shall be more fully exhibited? Will not many souls be ensnared and taken? By departing from the plain precepts and commandments of God, and giving heed to fables, the minds of many are preparing to receive these lying wonders."
"Miracles on the Set of the Passion" quoted from www.stjosephsmen.com/ articles/Passion2 (Site no longer available.)
"What's particularly interesting is the way God seems to be working in incredible ways through miraculous situations on the set. {Then Gibson says,} 'There is an interesting power in the script, there have been a lot of unusual things happening on this set, good things like people being healed of diseases, a couple of people have had sight and hearing restored, another guy was struck by lightening while we were filming the crucifixion scene and he just got up and walked away. There was even a six-year-old girl who had epilepsy since she was born and had up to 50 epileptic fits a day. She's doesn't have them anymore for over a month now. . . . It's like wow! I mean, we're not kidding around about this. It's really happening.'"
Many Adventists along with other professed Christians have been urged on by well-meaning friends and acquaintances to experience this movie, but they would do well to heed the words of Jesus instead. "Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before. Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not." Matthew 24:23-26.
As late as 1976 when the SDA Encyclopedia was printed, the denomination took a stand upon acceptable and unacceptable presentations of visual entertainment (see page 1187). And guess what's at the top of the list of unacceptable presentations? "Motion pictures impersonating Christ". But what has become their stand 28 years later in 2004? The following quotes are from www.nadadventist.org.
"Several Seventh-day Adventist media ministry directors, as well as this reporter (Mark A. Kellner), were able to view the movie during a private, February 16 screening at the 61st National Religious Broadcasters convention in Charlotte, North Carolina. . . . 'During this private screening of "The Passion", we were overwhelmed with the impact, [and] not only on us,' said Pastor Lonnie Melashenko, speaker /director of The Voice of Prophecy, an Adventist radio and television ministry based in Simi Valley, California.
"'It was a profoundly spiritual display, amazingly accurate.'"
"Pastor John Lomacang, of the Thompsonville Seventh-day Adventist church in Illinois, . . . 'The strongest point for me was that Jesus was bruised for our transgressions,' he said the morning after the screening. 'If [Mel Gibson] was aiming at accurately depicting Jesus' suffering, he succeeded.'"
"Dick Duerksen, director for spiritual development at Florida Hospital, also viewed the film at a private screening. . . . Anticipating that the film will 'become a subject of conversation,' at the Florida Hospital's branches, Duerkson said tickets have been purchased for fifty of its chaplains, to prepare them for discussions with patients and others." If you want to see for yourself how "accurate" to the Gospels this movie is, please access the more detailed information mentioned at the end of this article.
TM 411 "The conflict is to wax fiercer and fiercer. Satan will take the field and personate Christ. He will misrepresent, misapply, and pervert everything he possibly can, to deceive if possible, the very elect."
GC 561, 562 "Little by little he has prepared the way for his masterpiece of deception in the development of spiritualism. He has not yet reached the full accomplishment of his designs; but it will be reached in the last remnant of time. . . . Except those who are kept by the power of God, through faith in His word, the whole world will be swept into the ranks of this delusion."
Friend, you need to understand that going to this movie is a plain departure from a "thus saith the Lord", and if you go, you will be witnessing the impersonation of Christ sacrificed on the Catholic altar.
If we should ever have the opportunity, what we should be prepared to do is direct these inquiring minds to the Bible as their only safe guide and do our best to correct the erroneous implications that this Hollywood production has created.
Many people would say that going to a movie is such a little thing, especially a film about Jesus: what could possibly be wrong with that? But in the very near future many will also say that the day of worship is a little thing, but it's the little foxes that spoil the vine.
In this short article we have only scratched the surface by
exposing a few of the deceptions which this movie injects into the
unsuspecting mind. Click here for
more detailed information.