Noah Movie is an Adaptation from the Original Genesis Story And So Is the Church

The Noah movie with Russel Crowe follows the pattern of all book adaptations that I have seen. The movie departs substantially from the book. The question is, how much departure is too much?

Image source: http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2014/02/21/do-christians-care-if-noah-movie-jibes-with-bible-survey-says-yep/

Here are three takes on the question:

(1) Fr. Barron "Noah: A Post-Modern Midrash" ("The midrashim—extremely popular in ancient Israel—were imaginative elaborations of the often spare Scriptural narratives.")

[Update 4/15/2014 YouTube: "Fr. Barron comments on 'Noah'"]

(2) The Catholic World Report "Noah: A Theological Reflection: Darren Aronofsky’s controversial film is sometimes divisive and divided, but is also deeply serious about Scripture and essential questions"

(3) Alfonzo Rachel "ZoNATION: Does the Noah Movie Float?"
"Zo knows that liberal Hollywood has long leeched off the Bible to promote their world view. Whether it's making characters that are religious fanatics to make people prejudiced against the Bible, or cherry picking scriptures and twisting what they don't even really believe in to justify their world view. The 2014 Noah movie is no exception."

The traditional Christian understanding of Noah's ark compares it to the Church. The word Church comes from the Latin word ecclēsia (ecclesiastical is the adjective in English). It literally means to "call out from".

In a similar way that Noah, his family, and animals were called out from the fallen, disordered world, Jesus and His Bride the Church are to call all of humanity from its fallen-ness, or sinfulness onto the boat of the Church. We are all called to be passengers on the boat that Jesus built, and baptism is the way onto the boat. We just have to answer the call and follow Jesus on His Way.

Image source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Arche_No%C3%A9_Vaisseau_Eglise.jpg

So, maybe the latest Noah movie departed from the original Genesis Noah story in some substantial ways. The Church also has in some aspects, but She relies on Jesus for the Way to depart from the world today.

 (The picture above shows Noah's Ark in the upper portion, while the lower portion shows Jesus in the boat with His followers, the Church. Many church building show Noah's ark which represents the Church.)

How I Live Now Part III

So, in the last post, the swimming scene in the movie How I Live Now was explored. ***Spoilers Alert!*** In this post, the wedding scene between Daisy and Eddie will be looked at.

Image source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mirror_of_erised/9627836862/meta/

If you saw the movie, you may be wondering when the wedding scene was. Well, it was the scene where the marital relations take place between Daisy and Eddie.

Before any religion or society, marriage was naturally taking place all the time. No vows were taken, just two people who consummated a marriage and usually raised their children (or adopted children) for life were living it out. In this movie with "no rules" (as the kids at the house said), the natural law rule of marriage still took place. From that intimate scene on, Daisy and Eddie were married, in what is called a de facto marriage, or natural marriage.

As was said in the first post on this movie, I saw this movie as an allegory of the Christian mysteries. This particular scene between Eddie and Daisy can be seen as the marriage between Jesus and the Church. After recognizing the beauty in Christ, whom Eddie represents, and then the life changing act of letting go in the swimming scene (baptism), Daisy who represents a Christian or the whole Church is nourished in the relationship with Eddie. She desires this nourishment wholeheartedly.

For Christians, when Jesus gave his entire self, his entire life up for the Church (those who where baptized in the "bath of water"), he was mysteriously marrying the same Church. When we receive him in the sacrament of the Eucharist at mass, we remember and participate in this saving act. We desire to be intimately joined to Christ.

Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ loved the church and handed himself over for her to sanctify her, cleansing her by the bath of water with the word, that he might present to himself the church in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. So [also] husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one hates his own flesh but rather nourishes and cherishes it, even as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. “For this reason a man shall leave [his] father and [his] mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This is a great mystery, but I speak in reference to Christ and the church. In any case, each one of you should love his wife as himself, and the wife should respect her husband. Ephesians 5:25-33

How I Live Now Part II

In the last post, Daisy's encounter with beauty was discussed (comes out in the video below in one "somehow" moment 3:25). ***Spoilers Alert*** In this post, the scene where Eddie and the children push Daisy into the water will be examined.

Image Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mirror_of_erised/9627821236/meta/

The pushing-into-the-water scene seemed to be the point when Daisy changed. She was so hesitant to let go of all the weight she put on herself. It was the act of being plunged that seemed to drown all that weight. She was free.

This is much like baptism through water where the Holy Spirit does the pushing and the changing in the sacrament. The Holy Spirit takes all of our sins and baggage away so we can be free.

The Wolverine Part II

Here is the last part, Wolverine Part I.



In the last post, I gave one reason why living forever in heaven could be a good thing.

In this post, I would like to give the other. The second reason is that the other possible outcome of death is that we could end up in the other place, hell.

So, whether we like it or not, when we die, we either have everlasting life or, essentially, everlasting death.

This is not meant to scare or tick-off people. If that was the case, I might as well say that we are given the gift of life. Life just is, we didn't create it. Well, life after death just is too. The difference is, we get a say about what happens after life in this fallen universe since we have free will.

That's why Jesus came to redeem all of humanity on the cross. That's why he rose from the dead. That's why He commissioned the Church to go and make disciples of all nations through baptism.

Thank you God, since we can't do it all on our own, that is, get to heaven. We just have to respond to His call to discipleship in His body, the Church.

Star Trek: The Motion Picture Part II

This post is about the "meld" between the V'ger probe and Decker.



In the last post, I likened Decker to God the Father (Creator) and the V'ger probe as standing in for humankind. This post will discuss how the relationship between Decker and the V'ger probe is parallel to God the Son and to an individual.

During this clip, Decker wanted to be with the V'ger probe who was once his love interest Ilia. The V'ger probe who is made in the likeness of Ilia, who now stands-in for V'ger, wants with all its being to be with Decker.

This whole relationship reminds me of what St. Paul said about the one-fleshness between man and woman in marriage. He said that the sacrament of marriage was mysteriously a direct parallel to the bond between Christ (Jesus) and the Church.

The question is, how does an individual become part of the Church to have this special relationship with Christ? The answer is baptism.

This Star Trek movie is a commentary on baptism!

The "meld" scene above sort-of shows how Christ and His disciple become a new creation through baptism.

Could it be that the Enterprise is the Holy Spirit that brings the Christ character (Decker) to V'ger? That may be too much. What do you think?

(My first post on Star Trek: The Motion Picture is here.)