Joe and Kari: A Quick Take II: updated

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Well we've been open for a while now & already had our first Art Show. It was a great success & I can't wait to have more! We've got more cleaning up in the back half of the bottom floor that we should be finished with soon & then we can start on the top floor, again. Our goal is to remodel the small bathroom that is already upstairs, so that we can go ahead and move in! So in about 6 months, we should be living Downtown!!

5.30.2006

A Quick Take II: updated

We finally went to see a new movie at the theatre which happens to be a semi-controversial flick called, ‘The Da Vinci Code’. 'Why is THIS movie so controversial?' I was thinking throughout the movie. Ironically enough, I believe it is because it makes people question their faith, and ardent evangelical church members do not take too kindly to their brothers and sisters questioning what they believe. Still, ask someone why the Da Vinci code movie is so controversial and they'll most likely say because it depicts Jesus in an uncharacteristic light. If that was the case, no one but sadists, atheists and agnostics would go see this movie. It simply depicts Jesus in a different light. Can you not be human and divine at the same time, even if you’re the son of God? Is it against the rules? And who exactly makes these rules, God? Why is it so unrealistically unfathomable that Jesus might have sired children? Fact is, this movie does no more damage to faith in God, then does the 'The Lion King' or 'The Prophecy' movies.
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Then there is the argument as someone last night pointed out, that if Jesus had sired children, then he wouldn't be the 'spotless lamb' that the bible claims him to be. -Who makes these rules?- Also, this person points out that the son of God, or God in human form would not have sired children because, 'what is the point?' Why would God want to have fathered a child, it seems unrealistic and unfathomable. I said, becuase he wanted to experience it, to which was said, that he is God, he is all knowing, he knows what it would feel like. So I let it be. Perhaps, what I should have said, is that God works in mysterious ways. WHAT a mystery, eh? Perhaps not if you are a true believer. Perhaps so, if you believe there is more to the bible then is told.
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So what did I think of the movie? I thought it was really great; it seemed to really bring the book to life, which they followed remarkably close. Still, and as always, the book was much better.

5 Comments:

Dad, God Love ya! :) I don't think Joe litterally meant that God owes him any kind of explanation...it was an attempt at wit! Obviously, like all his other attempts, it failed :)

By Kari, at June 02, 2006 12:16 AM
I really enjoyed reading this discussion. Lots of interesting points raised which, I think, reveal a lot about the people asking them. Forgive me if I become verbose, It's my tendancy when writing.
I have not read the book nor seen the movie but only because my life is filled with other things most of the time. There, I believe, is a pivotal point in this argument. Read the "Screwtape Letters" by CS Lewis. This is an unsettling account of a minor demon, Wormwood, reporting to his commanding officer, Screwtape, on his progress to keep a man from living a righteous life. The account shows Wormwood using one distraction after another to sway the man from his path. I think Dan Brown's book falls in this category. While some people may find the story interesting, others heretical, others prophecy...I see it as a story. It doesn't change what is important. What will you do with Jesus Christ!
Whether you beleive in 7 literal days of creation or millions of years of evolution, the fact of man's broken relationship with the Creator still remains. The bible tells us the only cure for what ails us is to confess our disobedience and believe that Jesus was God's son sent as a sacrifice to provide us a way to have that relationship again. Whether or not you believe Dan Brown is unimportant...whether you believe John 3:16 is an eternal question. Is Da Vinci Code from Satan? Only in as much as it becomes a stumbling block. I plan on seeing the movie at some point, I guess, but it's not a problem for me. I know there's a God who knows me and sent his Son so I could live as much for Him as I am willing and die to my reward.
That, mi amigo, is the scoop on Da Vinci. Not some long dead secret that in the end means nothing...nor some all important heresy that should be burned or stamped out... but simply the clanging of some lone cymbal; one insignificant story. What's that compaired to ...well...God!

BTW Joe. I've been reading Karen Armstrong's book for several years now. (I get distracted.) I'm curious what your thoughts are. I find her academic approach apt to what SHE is trying to accomplish but all in all inadequate to the task. I like certain points of the book because she reveals some history I'm unfamiliar with. I guess I'm a bit of a mystic in my approach but she sometimes offends me when she puts God on equal footing with idols like Baal. That however is my own obvious bias at work. (Wouldn't have it any other way.) Thanks for inspiring me enough for this response. Sorry if it's too long.

By Anonymous, at June 04, 2006 11:14 PM
I believe all of the controversy is just sound and fury. It does not relieve Christians of the responsiblity of following and knowing Jesus' example and teachings. I'm probably the last person to insist on a "cookie cutter" Christian, but again I say the issue is a moot point.

I admire your desire to live with and worship God for who he is and not what he gives. But in order to be with God, you must first answer the question of Jesus. Read John 6:43-51. Eternal salvation through Jesus Christ IS living with God. The only alternative is eternal seperation from God. Salvation is a reward freely given, but it is also the only way to know truly know God, also. In the book of Acts and Pauls letters we are told that salvation through Christ also brings us the filling of the Holy Spirit who leads us, compforts us, and inspires us. That is not to say we should wait around for some spooky feeling and forget about the spiritual disciplines of bible study, prayer, meditation, corporate worship, etc. BTW, apply the concept of the HS to the writing of the bible. If God inspired its writing and collection through the HS, why is it so hard to believe that its purpose remained clear through thousands of years and many different people. You notice I wrote purpose. Don't pelt me with issues of inerrancy. I just show my moderate Texas Baptist slip.
Finally, religion is not personal. Religion is social. It is man's construct for worshiping God. We know He wants our worship both individually and corporately. The bible tells us not to forsake the assembling of ourselves. I think what you mean is our "relationship" to God is personal...and you'd be right. Read the book of James to find out what religion is pure and undefiled before God. It's a small book and you'll find the answer near the beginning. Go ahead...try it.
I have really enjoyed this conversation. I hope we can continue it at length. It has made me really study and meditate on some of these issues.

By Tim and Melissa, at June 07, 2006 12:15 AM
Okay, my only comment on this is that Larry is right. You have to go see Cars. Excellent movie.

By Tim and Melissa, at June 10, 2006 9:19 AM
Wow - I seem to have a permalink to an old post and just now found this. Lots of good discussion. I haven't been able to see the movie but I did read the book. I had to read it just like I had to read Harry Potter - to see what all the fuss was about. I agree that it is just a story. I think if satan is involved at all, it is in how things like this cause Christians to react publicly which tends to puch people away from the church instead of drawing them to it. I think that there are definitely and understandably strong negative reactions from the Catholic church as the story is accusing them of a history of dishonesty but as Tim said - the church (any church) is "man's construct" for worshipping God. Show me any church led, staffed, and attended by human beings that doesn't have dishonesty all through it. I agree with the saying that the church is a hospital for sinners, not a warehouse for saints and have to admit that thought I love The Church - I have met some of the meanest people sitting right in the pew with me. Maybe that is the true problem with the book and movie. While believers know that none are worthy - and attending church doesn't change that, people who are not "churched" looking from an outside perspective might take the kind of publicity this movie generated and use it to justify whatever thoughts they have used to not be involved in corporate worship. While I have experienced the worst and best of church, I think that it is important that we have others who we are accountable to as Christians. We (meaning humans in general) are weak and tend to become like the people we spend time with. The "old" folks used to say that if you lie down with dogs you get up with fleas. I think the opposite is true as well. If you surround yourself with believers who cause you to spend more time in prayer, study, and worship, then your relationship with the Lord grows as a natural extension of that. An older gentleman that I attended church with for years used to have an answer for any debates that came up whether they be doctrinal, scriptural, or just plain silly church stuff - "Not essential to my salvation" I try to use that as a measuring stick for questions that come up. I guess that kind of brings me to the summing up point which is I don't know anything for sure - whether the bible is completely infallible, of whether Jesus could have fathered a child and the church covered it up. All I know is that I am a completely helpless, unworthy sinner, that through God's provisional grace Jesus paid the price for my sin before I even existed, that nothing I can do can make me worthy, and that without Jesus I am nothing and will be nothing, and that my friend IS essential to my salvation. Dee

By Anonymous, at June 13, 2006 6:49 PM

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5.30.2006

A Quick Take II: updated

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