At age 8, my parents took me to see BEN-HUR. It left an everlasting imprint upon my soul.
But please don't make the mistake of thinking that my mom & dad were overly "spiritual" folks...6 months later they took me to see Hitchcock's PSYCHO!

WOOF! Talk about SCARS!

But it was BEN-HUR, and that tremendous score by Miklos Rozsa that inevitably had the power to truly influence my thinking about music and about spiritual matters.
During my youth and teenage years, I sought out films about Jesus, and viewed them in an effort to somehow "fill in the blanks" of my less-than-complete Lutheran upbringing.

(A note to ALL Lutherans: I LOVE YOU! GOD LOVES YOU! HE REALLY DOES! He would really LIKE to be invited into your weekly meetings! Please consider asking Him in, OK?)

Anyway, over the decades I have seen The Robe, King Of Kings, The Greatest Story Ever Told, and Jesus Christ Superstar.

ALL of them fall short in telling the TRUTH about God.

ALL of them utilize PIECES of the Truth, mixed with ERROR.

BUT THE MUSIC IS SO WONDERFUL!!!

...comments?

The intention here, was not only to protray Jesus in a biblical manner, but to portray him as an actual human being. Humans, you see, all have the same temptations in life. They all are forced to come to certain decisions about thier virtues and beliefs. There is even a dream sequence in the end where the Devil tempts him to not give himself up on the cross, and instead raise a family and continue on with prosperity. Jesus, knowing that it is not his destiny to live as a normal human being, chose to do what is God's will, and make the sacrifice for his people.

Like a normal human being, he had the same desires as the rest of us, which gives me something alot more real to relate to than the usual stuff that I was taught about my chosen religion.

YES! Jesus was 100% FLESH as a man! He had no greater power in this flesh body than any of us do!

BUT, He was also 100% GOD!

Before He was crucified, He told His 12 disciples (and all of US!), that WE could do even greater works than HE had done, because the Holy Spirit would come to empower us!

The Last Temptation of Christ was an embarrasment. It was badly directed, incredibly badly acted, unbelievably miscasted and took more liberty as far as background information is concerned than Pee Wee Hermmann and his circus thingie.

A) Support Ben-Hur. A GREAT movie with a SPECTACULAR score! I liked the fact that they never actually presumed to recreate Jesus, only his impact.

Miklos Rozsa did a tremendously fantastic job of conveying the idea of the "Prince of Peace" with his gorgeous strings and chorus. Magnificent!

B) I hereby SLAM the ridiculous Jesus mini-series that aired early this year! Did these people even READ the Bible? I heard there wasn't a single real Christian on the production staff ... and it showed! Allow me to compile a list of theological errors, lest any people get the wrong idea about the "story" of Jesus Christ:

1. They include scenes from the proven forgery the Gospel of Thomas ... such as Jesus 'n Pals accidently killing, then resurrecting a bird. A sad attempt to "flesh out" the more human aspects of Jesus, and make him more "real" by giving him a childhood. He had a childhood. The Bible doesn't skip it.

2. Jesus SINS! The first instance being after Joseph's death. He QUESTIONS God's wisdom in taking Joseph, and FUTILY COMMANDS God to give him back. This DIRECTLY CONTRADICS all Biblical precedent, and renders the central theme of Christianity pointless. If Christ wasn't perfect, then he deserved to die just like the rest of us, and his crucifiction would hold no power. No scene remotely similar to this exists in any Christian lore, but I bet the producers thought to themselves "Well, he lost a human dad just like the rest of us." Jesus was never intended to be "like us", Christians are intended to be "like HIM!"

3. While Jesus did have a joyous relationship with His apostles, His primary method of communication was one of deepest spirituality, not lame jokes. In this film, the position of the critical Sermon on the Mount is filled as a sort of half-serious rap-session ... again, to show that Jesus could "jive." And I don't even want to talk about the horrid scenes with John the Baptist.

4. Jesus forgives Satan. WHAT?!? You heard me ... the Son of God forgives the Father of Lies. As if He would or COULD deliberately contradict the immutable will of God! I guess they thought this would be really dramatic, and show how Christ is all about forgiveness. Wrong move! Christ forgives MEN, not DEVILS!

5. Pontious Pilate ... his portrayal is ALL WRONG! Pilate was a just governor with a very confused heart. The notion that he was serving up an innocent man to death deeply disturbed him. All historical documents suggest that he was a basically good man who was more intrigued by Christ than anything. In this film, he is portratyed as a cruel sadist, who uses Jesus as sport.

In fact, the Romans in general were given a bad name. The Bible has very little against the Romans. In almost every example, the Centurions and guards come to realize the true nature of Christ where the Jews do not!

6. A terrible, TERRIBLE line! When Jesus is on the cross, he says "Forgive them, Father, for they know not what they do." One of the officials looks up and sneers ... are you ready? ... "Oh no, *Jesus* ... we know EXACTLY what we're doing!" GAG me with VINEGAR!!!!!

7. The Ascention ... the glorious Ascention is glossed over and misrepresented (the Transfiguration is just skipped altogether!) Christ returns from the grave after three days (no emphasis on the significance of this, mind you!) walks into the room, sticks around long enough for Thomas to doubt, mutters some line about "The Force will be with you ... always." then turns around and walks out the window, dissolving into a shaft of light! Lest anyone substitute this movie for actually reading the Bible (for shame!) please understand that this could not be more inaccurate!

In other words, AVOID THIS MOVIE! It's a rather pathetic attempt to redefine the nature of man by redefining the nature of Christ. They obviously never consulted a theologian or even a HISTORIAN and ended up with a product that dangerously misrepresents the TRUTH, any way you slice it! If you really want to learn more about the life of Jesus Christ, from the ONLY AUTHENTICATED HISTORICAL RECORDS, I have a Good Book to suggest.

The music was breathtaking and very appropriate. It NEEDS a score release!

I’ve seen the all of the films you mentioned, Chris. A couple
of TV series also portrayed Jesus, but none have been very
satisfying. All of the movies had their strengths and weaknesses.
Perhaps the subject matter is beyond mere mortals’ ability
to portray on film.

Haven't seen Last Temptation of Christ.

I must say that in almost all of the Jesus movies or
other religious movies (i.e. The Ten Commandments), the filmscores
have been some of the finest ever written. “Mere mortal”
composers are certainly musically inspired by Jesus.

BTW, I don’t have to invite God into our Lutheran church on Sundays
or any other day, as He always has been, is, and will be there.
And I think He follows me home sometimes..even..yikes, I’d better
straighten up.

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Originally posted by joan hue:
Lol, Shaun. You are soooo bad.

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Don't give HIM all the credit! He's just quoting our dear friend Homer Simpson! "Save me, Jeebus!"

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Wedge, what is the title of your beloved mini series?

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"Joan of Arc" And you NEED to rent it! (best hypnotist voice) You neeeeeeed to rent it!

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Perhaps the subject matter is beyond mere mortals’ ability to portray on film.

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Perhaps? I've often said that if I ever HAVE to portray Jesus on film, I'm going to find the kindest, most devout Christian BLACK MAN I can! Just to show 'em! Seriously, the Anglo visual conception of Jesus makes me gag, with His lily-white skin and long fine hair. He looks more like King Arthur's stableboy than the Biblical Christ ought to.

they used to show it all the time at Easter, and as a kid, it was TV, and I watched it. I still remember the performance of the actor playing Jesus. He was a powerful presence in the film.

For humor, there's always "The Life Of Brian".

What I most like in this movie is the Python guys never touches the figure of Jesus, which was a quite coherent fellow, but gives a 100% correct and acid lecture about religions and fanatics of the faith in general.

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"There are enough religions in the world to make men hate each other, but not enough to make them love" - Louis Cypher

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For a great portrayal of Pilate refer to the definitive Jesus movie - Zeffirelli's Jesus of Nazareth

The film is outstanding in every way. I have watched it innumerable times and still I am enriched with every viewing.

And to keep to the purpose of this board - the score is amazing. It is some of the most beautiful music I ever have heard form Maurice Jarre, which is saying something. Sadly, the only piece I have on CD is the great cue on Silva's Cinema Choral Classics.

Does anyone know of more music form this masterpiece?

I would recommend to everyone to watch this 4 part movie. It was originally made for TV and an abridged version was shown in theatres. It is now available on 4 videos, and doesn't let down for a single minute.

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A sad attempt to "flesh out" the more human aspects of Jesus, and make him more "real" by giving him a childhood. He had a childhood. The Bible doesn't skip it.
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I thought the Bible did skip it. You mis-spoke, maybe?

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When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth. And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him. Every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover.

When he was twelve years old, they went up to the Feast, according to the custom. After the Feast was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it. Thinking he was in their company, they traveled on for a day. Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends. When they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him.

After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers.

When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, "Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you."

"Why were you searching for me?" he asked. "Didn't you know I had to be in my Father's house?"

But they did not understand what he was saying to them. Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart.

And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.

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This passage could not be more clear. Jesus spent his childhood growing, meditating, enjoying life and praising God. What more do you want or need to know?

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Originally posted by Wedge:
Lovely quote, Andre ... too bad it makes no sense whatsoever.

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What planet do you live?

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Originally posted by Wedge:
Believing with faith and believing without THINKING are two very different things.

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Yeah, sure. But isn't it what ALL the thousands religions and sects around the world think about the myth THEY believe??

"My faith is right because I think about it. YOUR FAITH, which is different from mine, is wrong because you don't think like we do. So you're an unbeliver pagan".

Let the war begins!!!!

"Inference" suggests an action on the part of the listener/reader...We could infer that, but we might not. If not, we could infer something else.... What else could we want to know? Everything? Maybe not--some things do require a certain bit of faith. (Ask how many people would buy a James Horner score never having heard it--that's a leap of faith, isn't it?)

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Originally posted by Lancelot:
(Ask how many people would buy a James Horner score never having heard it--that's a leap of faith, isn't it?)

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Umm... I did! I bought A Far Off Place, Courage Under Fire, and The Mask Of Zorro unheard, and was pleased with all of them (especially Zorro). I bought Perfect Storm on the 45-second sound clip at Sony's website.
On the other hand, I didn't buy Bicentennial Man, and I heard any of it.. I didn't get it because it has been compared to "The Wedding" from Deep Impact, a cue I don't really care for.

NP: Tombstone, Broughton

This gospel was unsigned, but Luke is thought to be the author. He was a physician and friend of Paul. In any event the author was well educated and wrote excellent Greek.

But the book was written about thirty years after the crucifixion. That would be, say, fifty years after Jesus was twelve. It's certainly plausible that a precocious 12-year-old would have a side-trip like the one described, but I wouldn't feel certain of it. I'd say it's probably a true anecdote.

If your main point was that the TV miniseries was off kilter, then I can take that on faith. I saw a TV Guide article on the title-role actor, and he's a Buddist if I recall correctly.

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thanks for the passage, Wedge. I looked it up. I have to give you that the Bible, therefore, does mention a childhood for Jesus. But it isn't much.

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no, it's not much, but Jesus didn't even start ministering until he was about 30 anyway, so we missed His awkward high school years, His college years, His mid-20s, etc.

that's not the point. It is clearly stated in the Bible that Jesus went through temptations from Satan, and He resisted them all. pretty amazing. So I'm just not understanding the point people are trying to make about these "missing" years of His childhood, and the possible temptations he "might" have gone through, as portrayed in Last Temptation.

NP -- Deep Water, Beltrami

Scott

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Originally posted by Wedge:
Perhaps? I've often said that if I ever HAVE to portray Jesus on film, I'm going to find the kindest, most devout Christian BLACK MAN I can! Just to show 'em! Seriously, the Anglo visual conception of Jesus makes me gag, with His lily-white skin and long fine hair. He looks more like King Arthur's stableboy than the Biblical Christ ought to.

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I'm reminded of the song during the credits of an awful WWII movie parody titled "A Man Called Sarge". Some lyrics to the best of my memory:

"Jesus was a black dude,
Not a skinny white guy with a tan.
I'm talking 'bout you big guy!"

"And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. Amen." John 21:25

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Originally posted by Lancelot:
1) "Louis Cypher" = Lucifer.

2) Please don't confound the issue by trying to argue with Andre.

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I presume you've never seen a movie called ANGEL HEART...

"Louis Cypher" = Robert De Niro

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"There are enough religions in the world to make men hate each other, but not enough to make them love each other."

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It doesn't make sense on a number of levels. First off, religions don't "make" men hate each other. Men do that on their own. Most major religions advocate the opposite, in fact. Which brings me to the second part of the quote: if some religions make people hate each other, how would MORE religions make people love each other? Presuming religion COULD make people love each other, the world already has several religons that advocate loving your neighbor/enemy/fellow man. There's no need to create a religion based on love -- it exists!

If we assume that "Louis Cypher" meant that there were too many religions in the world, then it's possible that whoever actually thought up that quote had in their head an idea that made some sense on some level, and it was the attempt to make it catchy and quotable that rendered it worthless. In any case, quoting it was I think about as impressive as telling us that music hath charms to soothe the savage 'beast'.

"Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails."
I Corinthians 13:4-8