Yesterday we went with some friends to see the new film about the offspring of Jesus and Maria Magdalena. The film was already going on in Europe since more then a week, but we couldnt find any good sits at all. Most of the people have already reserved their tickets on Internet or telephone before, so the only possibility remained to take some places on the second row.
The content of the film goes according to Dan Browns book Da Vinci Code. The story tells about detective hunting in our times but the main issue is almost 2000 years old. You see some beautiful parts of modern France and England, but the main characters were based neither in Paris nor in London. You see a very claver professor (played by Tom Hanks) and attractive French police officers but actually they dont play the central role.
If this film gets any prizes in the future, then it has to go not to our well known Hollywood stars but to others: Jesus from Nazareth and Maria Magdalena. These two ar e actually the beginning and the possible end of this story.
Were Jesus and Maria Magdalena married to each other and in sexual relation or not?
This is the most desirable and provoking topic of our times: to know as more as possible about the private life of well-known personalities. Famous sportsman, artists, pop stars, politicians and so on have to be always on the first pages of our news, but not especially with their latest achievements, rather with their engagements, marriages, divorces and other life troubles. The sexuality of stars is one of the most popular issues, which you may find almost in every kind of media in our days.
So why not to write a book or to make a film about the marriage of Jesus? He is the most famous personality in the history of humankind. There is nobody else, about whom you may find so many published books and articles. If you want to use this modern term, then you can say: Yes, he was and he is the star for the last 2000 yea rs at least for the majority of people on the earth!
But the difficulty comes when you consider of how to accept the person of Jesus. Is he the only begotten Son of God or just a human being like us?
If you accept the first answer, which is indeed the dogmatic principle of Christianity, then you will never want to speak about such heretical topic. How can the Son of God marry with a simple woman, who in fact was a prostitute in her past? It is an absolutely blasphemy. Thats why the Catholic Church and also many other churches have condemned both the book and the film, trying to keep their believers away from such a dangerous temptation.
But what if some people dont believe in the divinity of Jesus? Is it not permitted for them to discuss this question? If Jesus was just a famous man like others, then it is absolutely legitimated to speak or write about his sexuality. Why not?
So here you are - you have got the best idea to crate a bestseller. If Jesus is the most well-known star of the last 2000 years, then the story about his marriage will be much more interesting then any other subject at your first page and it will be the most popular Movie in every continent.
Does it mean, that it was just a new commercial trick from D. Brown to win an audience or was there some other message behind? In other words: was it a pure fantasy or a kind of modern interpretation of Christology?
When you look at some specific points or short impulses of Da Vinci Code story, then you realise that the writer tries:
- to praise the tolerant attitude of paganism towards male and female genders in polytheism;
- to refuse the divinity of Christ and to reduce the person of Jesus to a human being;
- to disqualify the basic sacrament of Eucharist, which i s the most holy foundation of Christian Churches;
- to glorify the role of Maria Magdalena as the wife of Jesus and after that the most special bearer of Christian testimony;
- to speculate on the continuation of their blood line;
- to struggle the Catholic Church, which tries to hide the truth during many centuries.
You may find all these topics very interesting but the question is - how they relate to objective reality? Are they some how near to be concerned as historical facts or shell remain as subjective speculations?
Since last 300 years many theologians and historians are trying to find the truth about Jesus from Nazareth. Many specialists of modern exegetics are doing long-term researches on related issues. But nobody from them could confirm at the moment those theories of Dan Brown. They could remain just as hypotheses without any rational witnesses.
So, why somebody needs to send such curious messages without any strong historica l arguments? I dont think that this is just a commercial question. There is something more. I would say even though we live in post-modern world and mostly in post-Christian societies, there is still a strong desire to find the spiritual values and a trustful orientation for our personal lives. You may see many related religious issues at www.sosglobe.com
I dont think also that all those people in the cinema came there just for fun. Almost nobody was speaking with each other when we went out. In their faces you could see lots of questions. Some of them where upset and many of them where looking to think very hard. What they where trying to find out?
This big number of visitors in the cinema tells me how much they are interesting to find the truth about Jesus from Nazareth. The Vatican and lots of other Churches condemned Da Vinci Code, but they have to realise as well - how many people have started to (re-)think about their Saviour seriously after looking this fi lm. May be this is a good opportunity for Christian leaders to actualise their traditional messages and to consider about new ways of spiritual mission in post-modern world?
Harut Harutyunyan is a Ph.D. candidate in Theology from University of Munster and is the editor of http://www.sosGlobe.com that provides news and research information on global peace and religious issues.
Author:: Harut Harutyunyan
Keywords:: Christianity, Jesus, Maria, Da Vinci, Movie
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