I've seen the movie The Body a number of times now in the context of discussion groups. How important is it to the Christian faith that Jesus was actually raised from the dead and that his tomb was actually empty? How should faith investigate evidence to the contrary? Secular Science says "Truth, even at the expense of faith." The Politics of Religion prophecies Christianity will survive despite (or worse, by suppressing) evidence to the contrary.
As the plot unfolds, the death of the god Jesus becomes more and more a reality to skeptic (Sharon) and faithful (Gutierrez) alike. Together, the dual competing 'truth' seekers suffer between the hands of dual competing political-recognition seekers: Israeli and Palestinean authorities seek political recognition from the Roman Catholic church. Thus, the Catholic church takes on a form of Antichrist, who gains power as the truth and power of Jesus' resurrection becomes more and more doubtful. Satan strikes with a double-edged sword: one edge seeks to destroy the hope of Christ by the pursuit of truth with a secular heart, the other seeks to preserve "Christ" by participating in a game of ransom with the body for political security.
Father Lavelle gives into the force of the former. Torn between his identity in the church as a priest, and his identity as a scientist to allow for the possibility that Christ was not raised, he finally yields to scientific evidence, loses all hope in Jesus, and takes his own life, Judas-like. Father Gutierrez, in comparison, resembles Peter, whose child-like faith seems strong up to the end, when his spirit, plagued by the evidence, turns to religious apathy and guilt, and his relationship with Sharon becomes questionably intimate.
In the end, Father Gutierrez receives "good news": The truthfulness of Jesus resurrection itself receives resurrection. This first proclamation of gospel, however, is unsatisfying. The dialog is brief, mysterious, and begs for further explanation and confirmation. The viewer is left with the strong need for concrete and conclusive evidence.
One major character is left unfilled by the movie's paid actors. In the end, viewers will realize that the movie has casted them for the role of Thomas: We are the ones shown the indisputable evidence that we really longed for. Yet such evidence does not come without an ironic final rebuke from Jesus himself: "Blessed are those who believe and yet have not seen."
Posted by Eric Pyle at November 3, 2005 9:35 PM
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Passing Thoughts
I need to tell you about dinner conversation last night with Rachel and Jessica. Their cry: Eric thinks too much! ;-)
Posted by: Thainamu | November 4, 2005 3:25 PM
There are a couple of things about the message of the movie that remains disappointing to me, falling short of the truth that sets us free.
The first concerns the significance which the resurrection of Christ has for believers. According to Matt in the movie, the basic point of the resurrection of Christ is that it provides the basis for believers to hope in Jesus as their God. While Jesus is God, and the resurrection is unmistakable evidence for that truth, the significance of the resurrection is essentially broader than that: Jesus is the last Adam who represents and heads up the future which God intended for humanity from the beginning. Additionally, the movie's emphasis on Jesus as God, seems Christomonistic, rather than Trinitarian in theology.
Secondly, there is a strong church vs. believer dualism in the movie, so that in the end, being a "man of God" means "choosing to serve God in my own way" rather than by the shackles of the organized church. But Jesus' resurrection, ascension, and gift of the Spirit is the basis for corporate body of Christ on earth. Even if one rightly rejects Roman Catholic Church as the exclusive expression of Christ's body-politic on the earth, that does not give one the right to make religion a completely individualistic matter. Even though it's true that God wants nothing to do with *our* politics, that should not oppose fact that God's truth is His politics, it is His government, it is His body. Christ's resurrection & ascension means He is Lord and King over all, not America, not the United Nations.
I like the realism of the ending of the movie, but think it tends towards a view that says that the two ways of seeking truth, a Jewish secularistic science and Christian faith, and they can co-exist in harmony as distant pen-pals and ultimately lead both parties to see God in heaven.
Posted by: Eric Pyle | November 14, 2005 8:05 PM