cleanbullfrog

The Apostle hit close to home for me. I spent me teenage years attending churches in the holiness tradition. Since about my senior year of high school, I have grown increasingly skeptical of the emotional and spiritual experiences displayed in these Pentecostal churches. Because of my skepticism, I am glad I watched this film. Maybe somewhere along the journey I dismissed the possibility that God manifests Himself to different people in different ways. In some ways it is easy to dismiss Sonny (Robert Duvall). He is a flawed man. He is divorced, full of lust, and a murderer. However, it is also clear that his faith is enormous and despite his struggles he sees God perform miracles in his mist. Residing within him together with all his shortcomings, Sonny is full of love for God and for other people, especially those who do not yet know Jesus. The amazing accomplishment of this movie is that it shows you Christ in the form of a sinful man. And you can really see it. Over the film's 2 hours and 14 minutes, the audience's love and concern for Sonny grows increasingly stronger. He is a real person; the real Christian everyone wishes they knew because even though they know he is a sinner they also know that he really has a relationship with the God he speaks of. I'm glad I watched this movie. I hope that I am more tolerable to other Christian traditions. I hope that I am more loving and real with people. I hope that in the mist of adversity, in the darkest valley, I know who is with me at all times…Jesus.

I decided to watch this movie because I am very intrigued by the stigmata. Hearing that St. Francis of Assisi and St. Catherine of Sienna both were afflicted with it further piqued my interest. However, I don't think this movie was about the stigmata. It instead seemed to be a criticism of organized religion and religious tradition. In a way I could see the film's point. Sure, God is not confined to building; He is present everywhere. St. Francis recognized God's presence in nature very much. Also Christianity is about love not rules or dogmatic opinions. That said, church buildings are necessary; they give people a place to come together. Christianity was never meant to be a me-and-Christ-against-the-world thing. Christianity is about loving God and loving people. The Church is the Body of Christ on this earth and as Christians we cannot survive cut off from the body. According to II Clement Christ is the head of the body from whence nourishment is received and no one can be nourished apart from the body. I was also very disappointed by the end of the movie. To elevate a Gnostic gospel to a position of higher authority than the true gospels is to be ignorant to Church history. It is also important to note that the Gospel of Thomas can be found in most public and academic libraries – hardly violently suppressed by the Church as the film depicted.

Besides just being a stinkin' cool movie, The Matrix is a story of the coming of the Messiah. The film has references to many religions and philosophies, both Western and Eastern. That said, I believe The Matrix is primarily a mixture of Judaism and Christian themes, used to make the average moviegoer ponder his/her existence and reality. First let me explain why I consider this movie a story of the Jews. All of Jewish history is of their oppression and the anticipation of their Messiah. In the film we are presented a race held as slaves by a stronger force. Those who realize they are in bondage talk of the prophecy of the coming of their Messiah. This Messiah will be a warrior who will overcome the oppressor. There are also references to the city of Zion, a place of refuge mentioned frequently in the Hebrew scriptures, and the ship is named Nebuchadnezzar, a king of Jerusalem found in the Old Testament book of Daniel. In a sense the movie follows also bears the influence of Christianity. Besides the obvious reference in the name Trinity (only Christians believe in a triune God), they are some subtler hints as well. When the camera shows the Nebuchadnezzar's name plaque you may notice the reference to Mark 3:11. This verse from the Christian scriptures reads, `Whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and shouted, ‘You are the Son of God.' This is an interesting allusion to the Messiah and his power over evil forces which are hinted at during the film's final climax. Of course there is also Neo's death and resurrection which parallels that of Jesus'.

I also thought that this film was an interesting, though probably unintentional, knock against Gnosticism. Rather than transcending the physical to be only a mind, the goal in the film is to realize that to be truly living you must be more than just your thoughts. You must a whole person – the body is as important as the mind. It seems the Wachowski brothers gathered pieces from many sources to create this fantastic work of cinematic art. This is a film that will be examined and speculated about for years to come. I wait with baited breath for the sequel.