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Jason Silver

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Thoughts and Reflections on Scripture

2005

March

Monday, March 21st, 2005

Constantine

Joanne and I had a night 'out' Friday, thanks to a generous friend who bought us a couple of movie passes. We decided to see "Constantine," which seems fitting in retrospect: the passes were gifts for excorcising about six different demonic viruses from three of her computers.

Hmmm. Constantine. What a movie. I loved it.

It wasn't because this movie had any kind of accurate portrayal of theological truths. It came close lots of times, but fell short.

Examples it came close:

Constantine is trying to earn his way into heaven, and the angel Gabriel explains to him that salvation comes through faith, not knowledge. (Ironic, considering Keanu Reaves is a Gnostic). One can hear echoes of Jesus' message in these, Gabriel's words. For example, Jesus said, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'" (NIV) (Link is to The Message version)

I was sad to see little children attend this movie. The pictures of demons and excorcisms were much too scary for kids. The lad I noticed had eyes like saucers as he walked out of the theatre. Stupid dad.

On the other hand, hell was portrayed in a really scary way. If you ever thought going to hell seems more fun than going to heaven, you'll reconsider once you see this.

I decided to collect some of the theological mistakes, and contemporary myths which I found listed on various sites (linked to above).

  • Hell is a fiery version of LA
  • Hell is a place where demons torture damned souls
  • God and Satan are two equal opposing forces
  • Self-sacrifice will redeem a soul from a "mortal" sin -- actually, Christ's sacrifice covers all sins if we will accept his forgiveness.
  • Constantine is looking for and earns redemption, although the conditions of his search are not of Christianity, nor does he earn redemption through Christ
  • Demons can be harmed with physical objects like holy water and blessed medals, or 12 guage shotguns that use "special" blessed metal bullets filled with holy water.
  • Angels are jealous of "mankind" and free-will.
  • Gabriel tells Constantine that he will surely go to hell for what he has done
  • Angels can be made mortal
  • The writers tried to throw in aspects of every known religion in some manner
    • the "balance between good and evil" (Karma – Buddhism/Hinduism)
    • concern about facing east (Islam)
    • importance of holy water and crucifixes (Catholicism)
    • universal properties of water (Nature - New Age)
  • Mythical items were included like dragon's breath and the electric chair from Sing-Sing-- perhaps the movie is trying to discredit itself-- if those items seem ludicrous and make-believe, then angels and demons must be as well. 
  • The power and especially intelligence of supernatural beings is underestimated, if not trivialized.
  • Constantine approaches the demons with shameful arrogance and even calls them names and curses at them, all of which we are warned against in Jude 1:9.
  • The Bible teaches us that supernatural beings are extremely powerful and intelligent—especially Satan, who was also the most beautiful angel—and it's dangerous to flaunt ourselves to them
  • God is not only absent, but distant throughout all that happens.
  • Constantine explains how God made a wager with Satan for the souls of all mankind, and then sat back to watch what would happen. This leaves a rather disdainful and cruel impression of God, instead of the God of the Bible who is intimately involved in everything that takes place and with whom we can have a relationship

These are mildly fascinating comparisons, but in no way devalued the entertainment value for me. There is enough truth here to have a good conversation with someone who is interested in Christianity, and if you're moderately confident in your faith these won't get in your way. If you're easily troubled by half-truths and misrepresentation, then you might want to avoid this film.

~Jason

 


Tags:movies