A Christian's response to having seen the "Passion" Movie

A Christian's response after having seen "The Passion" movie.....She didn't say, but I would suspect that she is from a Catholic background, for she picked up on the many "Catholic" innuendos in the movie [3/1/04]:

Dear Tony:

I am sorry to say that I have just seen the movie. I was deceived from the endorsements of other Christian pastors that this was a biblical movie. My pastor on Sabbath however, did NOT recommend that we see the movie, fearing that the true message of God's sacrifice would be lost through all the violence, and also because that this comes from a devil-indorsed industry.

However, I and my husband still, yet repentantly, viewed the film. I was in shock at the false doctrines being portrayed in the movie. The "Marian" themes portrayed were so incredibly obvious. The characters in the movie kept calling Mary, "Mother." I was furious. Blasphemy I say !!!!!!!! Catholic mysticism also played a primarily role in the form of relics. At one point in particular, when Christ falls with the cross, a women goes to give him water and wipes his face with her tunic. The supposed "image" of Christ's face is then revealed on the cloth. This is the cloth that is supposedly kept at the Vatican. I am so thankful that my pastor did not indorse the film, but am shocked that other evangelical Christian leaders have not exposed the film for what it truly is, false catholic dogma. This is not a film for believers and now that I know the truth I will try my best to discourage it to others, believers and nonbelievers alike.

Another Christian's response after having seen "The Passion" movie. [3/2/04]:

As a Christian I was hesitant to see the movie after reading so much here on your site and listening to different reviews, etc from other sources. I was however asked by other Christians to see the movie with them. In my flesh my curiosity led me and in my spirit of fellowship I was drawn also.

As I watched the scourging scene unfold I kept asking myself how does this glorify God? I couldn't find in Scripture where such violence or a fixation for the extreme was revealed in any of the accounts. From there the downward spiral of violence continued to the point of being the most horrific display of anything I have ever seen in all of my pre-salvation days. If God wanted us to focus on this aspect of Christ's suffering wouldn't He had inspired the authors of the Gospel accounts to treat it with much more detail?

I think Gibson has missed the true Gospel message by trying to evoke an emotional response from his audience by searing their minds with 21st century poetic license and sensationalism of film which draws the focus back to him as some genius of film-making. When I left the movie more people were talking about what Gibson had done rather than anything that Christ had done.