Bodies At Rest Tend To Stay At Rest

I come by once a week, just to see if anyone's posted. To see a new post honestly got me excited. When I started to read it, there was this vague sense of familiarity, until it hit me: oh! Dusty's quoting.

I have to admit, I barely understood Jake's post, too. Mostly because I didn't really get the context of it. I've never read The Crucified God (which I'm assuming was the inspiration for the post), so it was a difficult one to get into. But I felt like someone should respond to it, because it was evident that Jake had put a lot of his heart into it. He was saying someone confusing, but something new. Something I'm never going to read in Relevant or Release or Christianity Today. I still have lots of questions, but that's just the way theology goes.

(And BTW, I realize you've all got full time jobs [or full time school], but hey, so do I. I guess one of the perks of my job is though, I sit at a computer for three hours or so during my day, so I do get to read a lot of news and other stuff online.)

I guess my frustration found an outlet on April 1st, mainly because of April Fool's Day. (I've been watching Chapelle's Show a lot recently, so maybe that's affected my sense of humor; I really thought the post was funny.) But I was really curious what ya'll thought about The Passion, and still am. I still haven't seen it yet; and I've been pouring over news stories and reviews, soaking in anyone's and everyone's opinion. I'm not even sure if I'm going to see it in the theatre, mostly because I still have problems of my own with the film. Since this town isn't one where people talk much about theological issues, I was really hoping someone would chime in and tell what they thought about it.

Lastly, the reason I came by today: I was reading Roger Ebert's review of the film just a few minutes ago, and something he said struck me more than any review I've read so far. Ebert was raised devout Catholic, so he knows his stuff. And his response to the anti-Semitic issue is incredible.

"The libel that the Jews "killed Christ" involves a willful misreading of testament and teaching: Jesus was made man and came to Earth in order to suffer and die in reparation for our sins. No race, no man, no priest, no governor, no executioner killed Jesus; he died by God's will to fulfill his purpose, and with our sins we all killed him. That some Christian churches have historically been guilty of the sin of anti-Semitism is undeniable, but in committing it they violated their own beliefs."

Realize, this went out in the Chicago Sun Times Entertainment Section. That to me, has been one of the most insightful comments about the film out of everything I've read, including evangelical reviews of the film. This film is engagaing culture in the same way The Matrix or Star Wars did. If anything is worth talking about, it's this.

If you have a few minutes, and want to check out Ebert's review, here it is.

posted by jonny @ 4:46 PM