Nice comments. I, too enjoyed the surprisingly _Jewish_ depiction of apocalypticism. Not only the reincarnation themes... but also the Guf, the idea that Jewish and Christian "End Times" prophecies are combining... and for me, expecially the "low christology" in which Jesus/Prochnow is not the ontological Son of God/Trinitarian Son, but rather an angelomorphic being who came to us first as a lamb, but has returned as a lion. This is a _Jewish_ Jesus very close to the earliest Jewish christologies that we know about, where Jesus is not seen as God, but is revered as a great prophet, God's adopted son, and apocalyptic deputy, who will return to execute God's judgment. A very unusual film. And Prochnow is perfect as the returning, stern Jesus - who himself nurtures a forlorn hope that Earth contains the last, "one, single" saintly person who just might possibly turn back The End...
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TheButlerDidItYes
13 years ago
<<Nice comments. I, too enjoyed the surprisingly _Jewish_ depiction of apocalypticism. Not only the reincarnation themes... but also the Guf, the idea that Jewish and Christian "End Times" prophecies are combining... and for me, expecially the "low christology" in which Jesus/Prochnow is not the ontological Son of God/Trinitarian Son, but rather an angelomorphic being who came to us first as a lamb, but has returned as a lion.>>
Yeah, I noticed the film's Arianism too. Jesus in this film really seems to be separate from and less than God along the lines of the theology of the 4th century heretic Arius. Arius taught that Jesus was created by God before the creation of the universe rather than being part of the eternal Godhead as the Church taught. Arius's Jesus was thus subordinate to God and followed His every command rather than being His equal and was a "super-angel" rather than a part of God. This kind of Jesus is the kind who would be more acceptable to Jews. The Jesus of this film is more the Jesus of the Book of Revelation than the Jesus of the gospels.
<<This is a _Jewish_ Jesus very close to the earliest Jewish christologies that we know about, where Jesus is not seen as God, but is revered as a great prophet, God's adopted son, and apocalyptic deputy, who will return to execute God's judgment.>>
So are you saying you see this movie version of Jesus as having not had a pre-human existance but rather was adopted as the Son of God at His baptism? This is even more heterodox that Arius's view was.
Yes, I believe soup is a meal.
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bastasch8647
13 years ago
Sorry for the late reply.
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So are you saying you see this movie version of Jesus as having not had a pre-human existance but rather was adopted as the Son of God at His baptism? This is even more heterodox that Arius's view was.
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I'm not saying it's in the movie, but I would guess it's implicit in the movie's Jewish depiction of Jesus.
Some early Jewish Christians such as the so-called "Ebionites" apparently had a dual christology which said that Jesus was a human prophet adopted via the Spirit as God's Son ... AND that the descending, indwelling Spirit was in actuality the Heavenly Adam/Christ (similar to what Paul said about Jesus and Adam).
They therefore held both to a "low" christology (adoptionist claims) and to a higher christology (the Heavenly Adam/Christ descending on and dwelling in Jesus). Some _may_ have even gone so far as to claim that the divine voice at Jesus' baptism that said, "This is my beloved Son" might equally refer to the human Jesus who is being baptized/adopted ... *AND to the descending/indwelling "Spirit Like A Dove" * ...
They elevated their Jewish Jesus to as high a position as possible - even to the scandalous "Second Power in Heaven" status - but stopped short of making him a deity. For them, he was "divine" (holy, adopted, full of the Spirit), but not "God". At least that's what I get from my reading on this subject :)
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