I look forward to some good discussion here. I tried to follow the link on films other than the Passion, but could not seem to find it on that website. Here are some films I would suggest that portray important aspects of the Christian faith and/or make for good starting points in conversations about Christ.
- The Matrix
- Pulp Fiction
- The Godfather
- A Man For All Seasons
- 300
- Braveheart
I would be happy to talk about any of those, if others desire.
Finally, a link to suggest: http://www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu/ This is a growing database of every extant Latin text having to do with the church from the time of the Apostles through Pope Benedict XVI. Many of the texts have translations.
Thank you for offering this site!
4 comments:
Welcome! And thanks for posting!
I added your link and changed the link at the end of the "Popcorn" post to go straight tothe listings. Thanks for your additions. I look forward to many more. I noticed a couple of blogs from the Vitae Nova site which would look good here as well.
I would be interested in hearing your take on 300 as a starting point for discusion about Christ. Would this be something to do with the self-sacrificing aspect of it all or something else?
I will begin by assuming you have seen the movie and are familiar with the story. First of all, it was a total rush on a purely action-oriented, testosterone-driven level. And this leads me to my first connection with the Christian faith, at least for men.
As John Eldredge has well pointed out, God created men with unique gifts, among them the desire and ability to defend and protect. Just as when Jesus told the disciples He was going to Jerusalem, despite that they all knew there were people there to kill Him, true men do not shrink from battle of any kind.
It is, however, almost impossible for those of us who are not Jesus to stand alone. We need the 300 stand with us, and this is where the body of Christ comes in. If we have to stand alone, God will, of course, equip us to do so. Most times, however, it is the job of Christians to stand with Christians.
Finally, there is the sacrifice aspect. In the final scene with Leonidas in the movie, we see him stretched out in a cruciform pose atop the bodies of his slain comrades. This is a crucial difference between the true martyer and the suicide bomber. Where the latter is willing to kill for his beliefs, the former is ready to die so others will not have to.
Of course, Jesus came back from the dead, so what He accomplished on the cross infinitely trumps what Leonidas did at Thermopylae. It is, however, a great story and visual to spur the spineless contemporary sons of Adam toward their God-designed manhood.
Yes I did see it and agree with your take on the movie. I just never would have a thought of it as a movie to use as a starting point for discussion. Thanks for opening my eyes and of course saying it so much better than I could.
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