This film was out when I was 12. I didn't see it until I was 25. My parents, being devout Catholics, thought it was evil though they never saw it. One of priest in my parish came and talked to my 7th Grade class when the film was out. He had not seen the film but had read the book and seemed to have liked it.
I am still a devout Catholic and I think that this is a good film. There are a few flaws in it artistically. Especially in the John the Baptist sequence, it seemed like it was something out of Woodstock (which incidentally Scorsese worked on the documentary of that famous concert) than 1st Century Israel. There is some confusion with Jesus's relationship to Mary Magdalen if you haven't read the book.
The one thing that I really liked about this film is that it explores mystery of the Incarnation. The Incarnation is God became man in the person of Jesus Christ. What was it like to be both God and man? It is something that we will never truly understand. Was it tough on Jesus? I would imagine so. (I am assuming, of course, that the Incarnation was and is a reality.) Did he know from when he was a small child or was it more gradual? I would assume the latter. So does the film.
This film is a moving and powerful film. I did not find it blasphemous. One reason I didn't is because it is a fictitious portrayal of Jesus's life. This is not exactly how it happened. Neither are the gospels for that matter but they are probably closer than the Jesus Seminar People would like to think.
As for people saying the film was made by atheists it was not. Scorsese was raised a Catholic and still believes in Jesus. The film is not athiestic at all because Jesus is God and man in the film. People say that Jesus sins in the film, that is debatable.
(Spoiler) Jesus is not sinning when he comes down off the cross and marries Mary Magdalen, it is a temptation. He rejects it and excepts his death on the cross, which is the most beautiful part of the film. Building crosses for the Romans I had some problems with but I had to remember it is fiction. (Plus, he was a carpenter and someone had to do it not that the real historical Jesus of Nazareth ever actually did that.)
Fundamentalists don't like this film but I have a lot of problems with fundamentalists whether they be Catholic or Protestant. I think that they are causing a deep wound in Christianity. I think that they forget about the love that Jesus has for all humanity and think that it is just them he loves. I think they are cancer to Christianity. And their mentality isn't too far from the mentality of Islamic fundamentalists (note my emphasis is on fundamentalists and not Islamic). See this film.
I am still a devout Catholic and I think that this is a good film. There are a few flaws in it artistically. Especially in the John the Baptist sequence, it seemed like it was something out of Woodstock (which incidentally Scorsese worked on the documentary of that famous concert) than 1st Century Israel. There is some confusion with Jesus's relationship to Mary Magdalen if you haven't read the book.
The one thing that I really liked about this film is that it explores mystery of the Incarnation. The Incarnation is God became man in the person of Jesus Christ. What was it like to be both God and man? It is something that we will never truly understand. Was it tough on Jesus? I would imagine so. (I am assuming, of course, that the Incarnation was and is a reality.) Did he know from when he was a small child or was it more gradual? I would assume the latter. So does the film.
This film is a moving and powerful film. I did not find it blasphemous. One reason I didn't is because it is a fictitious portrayal of Jesus's life. This is not exactly how it happened. Neither are the gospels for that matter but they are probably closer than the Jesus Seminar People would like to think.
As for people saying the film was made by atheists it was not. Scorsese was raised a Catholic and still believes in Jesus. The film is not athiestic at all because Jesus is God and man in the film. People say that Jesus sins in the film, that is debatable.
(Spoiler) Jesus is not sinning when he comes down off the cross and marries Mary Magdalen, it is a temptation. He rejects it and excepts his death on the cross, which is the most beautiful part of the film. Building crosses for the Romans I had some problems with but I had to remember it is fiction. (Plus, he was a carpenter and someone had to do it not that the real historical Jesus of Nazareth ever actually did that.)
Fundamentalists don't like this film but I have a lot of problems with fundamentalists whether they be Catholic or Protestant. I think that they are causing a deep wound in Christianity. I think that they forget about the love that Jesus has for all humanity and think that it is just them he loves. I think they are cancer to Christianity. And their mentality isn't too far from the mentality of Islamic fundamentalists (note my emphasis is on fundamentalists and not Islamic). See this film.