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We are a Christian Fellowship meeting in North London with a strong interest in teaching the Bible and understanding our time in
the light of Bible prophecy
Shepherding the sheep
A book review
How many evangelical Christian pastors would invite a traditional Roman
Catholic, who sees Mary as a Co-Redemptrix with Jesus and believes that
eating meat on Fridays is a mortal sin, to speak in their churches? Or a nun
who has mystic visions and claims to be able to levitate in a state of
ecstasy and says she lives on nothing but the Eucharistic wafer and water?
Probably not many.
Yet evangelical pastors sent their flocks out in droves to watch The
Passion of the Christ directed by Mel Gibson, a traditional Catholic who
received much of his inspiration from Sister Emerich (1774-1824), a nun who
wrote The Dolorous Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ. While some have
described the film as one of the greatest evangelistic tools in modern day
history T.A. McMahon, in an excellent book Showtime for the Sheep
uncovers the danger behind this film and points to the way it is being used
to bring yet more deception into the church.
The book documents the stated Roman Catholic influence behind the film and
the way it is being used to bring evangelical Christians further under the
influence of Rome: The movie is Mel Gibson’s Catholic vision. His scholarly
resources were Jesuit priests. It reflects my beliefs - Ive never done
that before, Gibson told a reporter. (Page 55). James Caviezel, who plays
Jesus in the film, states: This film is something that I believe was made
by Mary for Her Son. (Page 84 quoting the Medjugorje Website).
The conservative Catholic magazine Inside the Vatican acknowledges the
ecumenical influence the film is having: For evangelicals the film has
given them a glimpse inside the Catholic soul, even the traditional Catholic
soul. Many evangelicals, reflecting on what they saw in the movie, say they
are beginning to get the whole Catholic thing: Lent … the ashes on the
forehead … no meat on Friday … the sorrowful mysteries … the Stations of the
Cross … the emphasis on the Eucharist … the devotion to Mary … the enormous
crucifix hanging above every Catholic altar. They may not be rushing to buy
rosaries, but some of the things no longer seem so strange, so alien. (Page
84)
The pope is alleged to have commented after seeing the film, It is as it
was. McMahon points out the absurdity of this statement, since no one
living today was there to verify what did or did not happen. The people who
were there recorded the Gospel narrative which conflicts with much of the
film. For example in the Gospels when Jesus prays in Gethsemane an Angel
comes to strengthen Him. In the film Satan comes to tempt him. McMahon
writes: Peter denies Jesus without the cock crowing; as he calls Mary
Mother Peter kneels before her, acknowledging his guilt in denying her
son; … Mary goes to Jesus as he falls under the weight of the cross; a
flashback shows Mary running to Jesus as a young child; … the cross with
Jesus on it appears to levitate before it is placed on the ground; as the
cross is put in place, Mary alone among the followers of Jesus is
standing; Mary kisses the blood drenched foot of Jesus; … the body of
Jesus is partially draped across Mary. (Pages 47-8).
In the film Mary plays a key role in the events of the crucifixion,
comforting and strengthening Jesus in his suffering. Her role is in line
with the Catholic view of her as McMahon shows in the chapter, Mary the
Executive Producer: The Passion advances Mary, not in an overtly Catholic,
Queen of Heaven way, but showing her presence continually in her humanity
as a mother suffering along with her son. (Page 89). James Caviezel credits
Our Lady of Medjugorje for enabling him to play her son: In preparation I
used all that Medjugorje taught me. (Page 88).
Medjugorje is a place in war torn Bosnia where Mary is claimed to have
appeared and told those who saw the vision: Tell the priest, tell everyone
that it is you who are divided on earth. The Muslims and the Orthodox, for
the same reason as Catholics, are equal before my Son and I. You are all my
children. (Page 87-8). Mary as the queen of ecumenism is being promoted
as the one who can bring together diverse religions, including Islam and
Roman Catholicism.
The mythical Mary of Roman Catholicism is exalted as Queen of Heaven, Mother
of God, Eternal Virgin, Co-Redemptrix. However this teaching and the
apparitions which come in her name have nothing to do with the real Mary
(Miriam), a faithful Jewish girl, who conceived the Messiah supernaturally
and gave birth to Him as a virgin, fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah 7.14.
She then went on to have other children in the normal way by her husband
Joseph. The real Mary needed a Saviour and found one in the Son she gave
birth to (Luke 3.47, John 2.5). The mythical Mary of Roman Catholicism is a
deceiving spirit which is playing a major role in the great end time
deception leading to the fulfilment of Revelation 17.3-6, the woman riding
the beast.
The real Mary played no significant role at all at the cross. She is
mentioned only once in the four Gospels in this connection: When Jesus
therefore saw his mother and the disciple, whom he loved, standing by, he
said to his mother, Woman behold your son! Then he said to the disciple,
Behold your mother! And from that hour that disciple took her to his own
home. (John 19.26-7) Far from strengthening Jesus at the cross, He shows
His concern for her by making sure she is looked after by John. In fact some
commentators say Jesus actually sends her away from the cross so she does
not have to watch His suffering and death, and John takes her straight away
to a house he had use of nearby in Jerusalem. Mary was among the other
disciples seven weeks later in the Upper Room (Acts 1.14), but there is no
further mention of her in the Book of Acts or the Epistles. This shows that
she played no special role in the life of the early church.
McMahon shows how the approval given to this film is the result of the
growing reliance in evangelical circles on entertainment to communicate the
message of the Gospel instead of preaching and teaching the Bible. While the
Bible is the infallible Word of God, movies about the Bible are the product
of human imagination, adding to its message and using techniques which
manipulate the mind in order to get its message across. McMahon shows how
films become a visual translation of the Bible which leads to confusion in
the uninformed viewer who may think this is what the Bible says, when in
fact it is how the producer of the film interprets the message. He goes so
far as to conclude that any actor playing the role of Jesus is in fact
violating the commandment not to make graven images (Exodus 20.4-5). Some
may think this is an extreme view, but it cannot be denied that an image is
a visual representation of something or someone but is not that actual
person or thing. Since we cannot represent God we are commanded not to make
any image of Him and since the New Testament teaches that Jesus is God, we
cannot truly represent Him either.
McMahon shows that the success of The Passion of the Christ and its
widespread acceptance by evangelical Christians is the fruit of a process
that has been going on for some time. In 1994 an historic document was
produced Evangelicals and Catholics Together (ECT): The Christian Mission
in the Third Millennium. Its mission goals were Christian unity and
co-evangelisation. The document declared that Evangelicals and Catholics
are brothers and sisters in Christ and that as we enter upon a Third
Millennium that could be in the words of John Paul II, a springtime of
world missions, we must witness together to win the world to Christ. In
that endeavour however ECT cautioned against sheep stealing asserting that
it is neither theologically legitimate nor a prudent use of resources for
one Christian community to proselytise among active adherents of another
Christian community. In other words its not right for evangelicals to
evangelise Roman Catholics and vice versa. (Page 120).
On this subject McMahon, who came to know the Lord from a Catholic
background, says, The gospel according to the Church of Rome is a false
gospel. Believing it cannot save anyone. Roman Catholic dogmas such as
baptismal regeneration, the Eucharist, and purgatory are a rejection of
Christs gift of salvation paid for in full by Him on the cross. To
truly love Catholics means to share that truth with them not to embrace a
work that denies the biblical Gospel. (Page 15).
We recommend this book which is available from us at £6.75 including
postage. Also on the subject of Roman Catholicism we recommend All Roads
lead to Rome? by Michael de Semlyen available for £5 including postage.
