Image of Christ in Popular Culture
By Vedran Golijanin
1. Christ and Social Atheism.
Bulgakovs Master and Margarita.
Face of the Devil.
Social atheism regards even the institutional foundation of a
complex society as uncreated. This very foundation is just as much
unplanned and spontaneous development as is the society that builds
itself upon this foundation. If social atheism is supported by a
state, like in the Soviet Union, then the religion is persecuted
and regarded as opiate of the people, according to Karl Marx. In
the Soviet Union, many atheist organizations ridiculed all
religions, and atheistic propaganda was implemented into every
portion of human life, in schools, communist organizations, and the
media. This kind of propaganda was directed against God as Creator
and Maintainer or Preserver of the Universe, but this concept was
also applied to the society. Therefore, God is not the Creator of
the Universe, because there is no God; world came into being by
itself. The same could be said about human society: it was not
created by God, but it evolved from primitive forms into more
complex societies of modern world. In these societies, religion is
dangerous factor, and it has to be ridiculed and disproved in order
to improve the quality of the society in general. This atheist
worldview was presented in the very first chapter of Bulgakovs
Master and Margarita.
Bulgakov started to write the novel in 1928, but he burned the
first manuscript in 1930, seeing no future as a writer in the
Soviet Union. The work was restarted in 1931, and the second draft
was finished in 1936. The third draft was completed in 1937, but
the work on fourth version was stopped four weeks before his death,
in 1940. A censored version, with 12% of the text omitted, was
published in Moscow magazine in 1966 and 1967, while the first
complete version appeared in 1973. This edition was based on the
version from the beginning of 1940, and remained canonical until
1989, when the last version was prepared based on all available
manuscripts. The main theme of the novel is a visit by the Devil to
the atheistic Soviet Union, and the idea of the novel is directed
against bureaucratic social order. The Devil exposes society as an
apartment block. The novel deals with the interplay of good and
evil, innocence and guilt, and the responsibility toward truth when
authority denies it. The novel is heavily influenced by the Faust,
and the work of Nikolai Gogol. The dialogue between Pontius Pilate
and Yeshua Ha-Notsri is influenced by Dostoevskys parable The Grand
Inquisitor from The Brothers Karamazov.
The picture of Soviet society, as expressed by Bulgakov, is best
seen in the anonymity and formlessness of the most of the
characters. The first hint to this is characters last names, such
as Homeless, Bogohulski, Ariman, and so on. These characters, being
formless and anonymous representatives of the atheistic Soviet
society, had to live without individual and spiritual movements of
their personalities. They were expected to strictly follow the
social moral codex, by which they would be accepted as the rightful
members of the society. Anyway, once in that kind of society, all
individual characteristics of man are downplayed to the extreme,
and thats why Bulgakov insists on the personal documents, such as
identifications, membership cards and so on. Without these, a
person is completely formless, but with the membership cards a man
becomes respected member of the society. One such club in Master
and Margarita is Masolit, with two of its members playing important
roles in the novel: Berlioz and Homeless. Their dialogue in the
first part of Master and Margarita expresses the attitude of the
Soviet social idea towards religion and especially towards Christ.
Berlioz insists that the ridicule directed against Jesus should not
leave even a trace of possibility that Jesus ever existed, because
there is no historical evidence to support the existence of the
founder of Christianity. The Devil interferes in their conversation
and offers them several proofs that Jesus existed, and even tells
them the story about Pontius Pilate and Yeshua Ha-Notsri.
Bulgakov doesnt see an essential difference between the society
of Ancient Rome and the Soviet atheistic society. In the story
about Pilate, the idea of sacred Rome is identified with the idea
of Soviet social atheism: Yeshua died because he insulted the
Emperor, and Master from the novel was destroyed by the society
because he allegedly attacked the social order. Jesus Himself was
not presented from His own point of view, but rather from the point
of view of other people, such as Pilate, Matthew, Berlioz, Woland,
and others. Each of them interprets Jesus words in their own
distinctive way, but the most important part of His teachings for
Bulgakov is the relation between individual and the authority.
Pilate was used to firm society and social order, in which an
individual was responsible to the highest authority. Pilate himself
was part of the authority, and the trial of Yeshua should have been
just another case of rebellion which he was supposed to destroy.
Anyway, he was stunned by Yeshuas attitude towards him; Pilate
expected Yeshua to hate him, because he thought that all people are
evil, and that the convict should hate his judge. On the other
hand, Yeshua wanted to see not just Pilate, but all humans as good
people. Pilate thought that life makes men cruel and evil, while
Jesus said that every human being can change his way of life and
turn to good. Yeshuas words, which especially affected Pilate, were
that every authority is violence to people, and that there will be
time when there will be no authority, and people will enter the
kingdom of truth and justice. This is when Pilates dilemma appears:
one part of him wants to free Yeshua, the spokesman of truth, while
the other part convicts Him to death, because He attacked the
authority of an earthly ruler to whom Pilate feels loyalty. This
dilemma is present in entire novel: should man offer his loyalty to
the truth, or should he offer it to temporal authority which denies
the truth?
The dualism in Master and Margarita is fully expressed by this
dilemma. According to the Devil, both good and evil have their own
domains, but it is not domain of evil that causes the problems of
social atheism; it is human stupidity. Even Woland shows no
sympathy toward formless individuals in Soviet society. He admires
Master and Margarita, rebels against ruling social idea, and even
gives them peace, thus following Yeshuas orders. The image of Satan
in European literature starts with medieval folklore, which
introduced the devil who loses existential battle not just against
forces of Heaven, but also against faithful men. Such an image can
be seen in Dantes Inferno, Goethes Faust, and in Russian literature
in the work of Gogol. On the other hand, Romanticism prefers the
devil who is a fallen hero, an angel of reason and improvement.
Both versions were in a dying stage when Bulgakov created his
Woland. This name is the variant of the name of a demon that
appears in Goethes Faust: the knight Voland or Faland. Anyway,
Bulgakov was not just copying old images, but also created unique
image of Satan. This devil is not the one who torments sinners in
hell; he actually judges the evil. Except for this, Woland has one
more mission, and that is to save the victims from the evil of
social circumstances. Woland is also an existential philosopher; he
accepts the life as it is, and in that life there is enough place
for both Jesus and the Devil. He celebrates existence and faith in
existence, thus confronting Berliozs limited worldview. No matter
if man is simply mortal, as stated by Berlioz, or unexpectedly
mortal, as stated by Woland, the Prince of Darkness extends the
meaning of existence in the sphere of eternity, thus contributing
to the exploration of the truth. The truth itself is not contained
in an enforced philosophy of social atheism, but in the freedom of
personality. This is why Woland is attracted by Master and
Margarita, and disgusted by Berlioz and other atheists.
2. Christ and Existential Atheism.
Kazantzakis The Last Temptation of Christ.
Existential atheism excludes any transcendental, metaphysical,
and religious beliefs from philosophical existential thought. In
other words there is no hope that man will somehow be saved by God,
which causes death anxiety and existential weakness. Jean-Paul
Sartre once said: Existence precedes essence. He meant that, first
of all, man exists and only afterwards defines himself. If man is
indefinable, it is because at first he is nothing. Only afterward
he will be something, and he himself will make what he will be.
Thus, there is no human nature, since there is no God to conceive
it. Man is a man only when he conceives himself as such, but he is
also only what he wills himself to be. What this man meets in life
is a strict dualism, not just between life and death, but also
between happiness and sadness. He realizes that all beings, animate
or inanimate, are indifferent to his existential sufferings. This
attitude leads man to deny the existence of God, because he doesnt
realize that this existential pain is actually a battle between
spirit and flesh, between God and devil inside the human soul. This
existential attitude was expressed by Kazantzakis in the Prologue
to his famous work The Last Temptation of Christ.
The novel was published in 1953, and was translated in English
in 1960. It follows the life of Jesus Christ from Kazantzakis
perspective, and it is a subject of a great deal of controversy due
to its subject matter, and it is even banned by the Church. The
central thesis of the book is that Jesus, while free from sin, was
still subject to fear, doubt, depression, and lust. Jesus faces and
conquers all of human weaknesses and struggles to do Gods will.
Therefore, the novel proposes the argument that, had Jesus
succumbed to any such temptation, especially to opportunity to save
Himself from the Cross, His life would have no greater significance
than that of any other philosopher. Christ was actually facing the
everyday problems of entire humanity, and His struggle to do Gods
will represents the real answer to existential sufferings, quite
different from the answer proposed by existential atheism. While
writing his novel, Kazantzakis was deeply concerned about political
and spiritual situation in the world, so The Last Temptation was
essentially written in order to try to lift humanity out of its
contemporary dark night and into a new spiritual future by using
the most powerful myth of Western civilization. In this novel,
Jesus is the personification of a creative, spiritual force that
has the power to lead humanity out of its current dark existence.
Understanding Jesus in this manner, Kazantzakis kept his artistic
right to creativity and presented Him not historically accurate,
but in accordance to His contemporary significance for humanity in
general.
In Kazantzakis Prologue to the novel, he does refer to the dual
substance, or ipostasis, of Christ, in terms of both spirit and
flesh, and he speaks about the battle between these two. Anyway,
this distinction is quite different from the Orthodox formula,
because Kazantzakis finds divinity in both spirit and flesh. He
says that every man partakes of the divine nature in both his
spirit and his flesh, and that is why the mystery of Christ is
universal. The mystery of Jesus is universal also because the
struggle between spirit and flesh breaks out in every person.
Spiritual struggle against or through the flesh leads to a
successful religious life, and its final goal is union with God
when flesh is changed into spirit. This statement can be explained
by the Greek understanding of flesh (sarx), which can refer to the
whole spirit-body complex as found in Jesus or in any human being.
In this latter sense, the term flesh refers to the spirit-body
complex insofar as it is fallen, whereas spirit refers to the
spirit-body complex insofar as it is redeemed. In other words, both
spirit and body can become fleshly, just as they can become
divinized. This struggle to change flesh into spirit is the
essential part of the mission of Jesus, and it is in this struggle
that Kazantzakis sees His divinity. In order to accomplish this
task, one needs to free his soul, as expressed by Kazantzakis
Jesus. On the other side, Judas wants to free the body from Roman
domination and then later worry about the soul. In this sense Judas
represents materialism, which is the main problem of contemporary
humanity, and Jesus stands against it by emphasizing the spiritual
way of life. This doesnt mean that body is essentially evil.
Kazantzakis uses his favorite metaphor of a caterpillar which
strives to spread its wings and to become a butterfly, in order to
explain the human ascent to God by defeating material obstacles.
This process itself is divine, because spirit and flesh work
together in the ongoing change, supported by God. In addition,
changing flesh into spirit is not a goal by itself, but rather a
way to a final goal that is God.
This mention of God as the goal of human life is very important
for understanding the entire image of Christ in Kazantzakis
thought. The historical figure of Jesus is a symbol of sacred
humanity, but his Jesus is not divine in the way that traditional
Christianity defines Him. Instead, Kazantzakis viewed Jesus as a
human who had developed to his highest spiritual capacity, in the
same way as several of his characters, particularly Odysseus and
Buddha. Therefore, Jesus is not a goal, but rather an example of
how to reach God. This final goal is deification or theosis, as
hinted in the words attributed to Jesus: God, make me God. Thus the
evolution of flesh into spirit is accomplished in Jesus. He says on
the Cross: It is accomplished, but with the next line Everything
has begun we see that Jesus had really become God. This is where
the essential difference between spirit and flesh was made: Jesus
was tempted by the devil, his guardian angel, to succumb to earthly
pleasures and to fall into flesh, but He chose to transform that
flesh into spirit and to achieve His old goal of becoming a God. If
we omit the idea of Christs evolution from human to God in The Last
Temptation, than we can see the idea of human evolution towards
deification as completely traditional and orthodox. The same idea
of Christs transformation of human flesh body into spiritual body
can be seen in Eastern Orthodox iconography, in which humanity of
Jesus is transformed through the experience of suffering, death,
and resurrection. Therefore, Kazantzakis image of Jesus proves to
be better than almost sadomasochist representation of His dead body
by Western painting after the Renaissance.
Ignoring the very idea of the novel, Church condemned The Last
Temptation as heretical, mostly because of descriptions of sexual
relationships of Jesus with Mary Magdalene, and later with Mary and
Martha. For many Christians, this is blasphemy, but the apologists
of the book point out that none of these things really happened:
they are all part of a dream in which Jesus is tempted by earthly
happiness. This is the last temptation of the title, a happiness
that He finally and gloriously refuses. Therefore, the emphasis
which Kazantzakis places on the historical Jesus and His human
nature is actually an answer to all problems of existential
atheism. The temptation is seen as an obstacle in a way to
understand a true meaning of human life, and it should not serve as
an excuse to abandon God or to lose hope in salvation. Kazantzakis
does not deny the suffering which pervades this life, but the
suffering is a way to God, not away from Him. In the dualism of
flesh and spirit, Kazantzakis presents the idea of a spiritual part
of man which pushes him upward to God, but also of a fleshy part
which pushes him downward to death and failure. Jesus and His
temptations are the best examples of how to overcome the sufferings
and to use them as means of reaching God and deification. He
emerged as a Victor from the existential struggle, transforming
flesh into spirit and showing to entire humanity that the attaining
of the highest goal is possible. In this sense, Kazantzakis Jesus
presents authors rethinking of Christianity and its application to
contemporary problems, particularly through an image of Christ
which can have more significance to modern man than the dry Gospel
narrative without appropriate interpretation in accordance to the
needs of humanity in modern age.
3. Christ on the Cinema: New Form and New Content
The Passion of the Christ by Mel Gibson (2004)
The Passion of the Christ is a 2004 drama directed by Mel
Gibson, with Jim Caviezel playing the role of Jesus Christ. The
movie covers last 12 hours of Jesus life: it starts from the Agony
in the Garden, and ends with a brief depiction of Resurrection. The
dialogue is entirely in Aramaic and Latin. Gibson drew inspiration
from all four Gospels, but also from the Old Testament, i.e. from
the Book of Isaiah. The movie is also inspired by a traditional
Passion art, and especially by the representation of Jesus on the
shroud of Turin. Gibson stated that he was reading many Passion
stories of Roman Catholic mystics, such as The Dolorous Passion of
Our Lord Jesus Christ by a stigmatic German nun Anne Catherine
Emmerich. Some elements differ from the original Passion
narratives, such as the first scene in the Garden, when Satan tries
to distract Jesus from prayer, and Jesus crushes the head of the
serpent. In another example, Judas Iscariot is tormented by the
demons that appear to him as children.
Even though the movie is not completely historically accurate,
Gibson stated that it doesnt change the core of the Scripture,
which left him enough space for artistic imagination. The movie was
not officially supported by the Vatican, because it is common
practice of pope not to express public opinions on artistic works.
Anyway, The Passion enjoys great popularity among the Roman
Catholic viewers. On the other hand, Jews often accuse Gibson for
anti-Semitism expressed in the movie. According to certain critics,
the movie supports the theory of the curse taken upon by Jewish
people when Caiaphas said: His blood is on us and on our children.
Many critics also state that the entire movie is a classical
anti-Semitic propaganda. Some other Jewish representatives do not
accept this opinion and point at certain Jewish characters worth
admiring: Simon of Cyrene, Virgin Mary, Mary Magdalene, Peter,
John, a Jewish woman who wipes Jesus face and offers Him water, and
several Jewish priests who protest against the trial of Jesus. The
movie also contains explicitly detailed violence; it is 126 minutes
long, and around 100 minutes are devoted to the torture and death
of Jesus.
The Passion of the Christ is probably one of the best movies
about Jesus Christ and His last hours. Even though it is mostly
violent and not completely historically accurate, its message
doesnt differ from the traditional Christian interpretation of the
Passion. It tends to present Jesus limitless love for mankind; He
can choose to die and stop His suffering in any moment, and in one
moment Virgin Mary says: My Son, when will you choose to be
delivered of this? Anyway, Jesus suffers to the end, until the
death on the Cross. The sufferings can be interpreted in various
ways, even as masochistic, but their purpose is clarified by Jesus:
I make all things new. Many Orthodox critics say that the
Resurrection is poorly represented in the movie, but the
Resurrection itself, even though it is depicted in the end, was not
the theme of The Passion. It was the suffering of Jesus till the
very end, and the victory over death, which can be seen in Satans
scream of defeat. The movie introduces several new elements in the
theatrical depictions of Jesus. First, it uses original languages
from the time of Christ: Aramaic and Latin, although several
critics insist that the language used in the eastern parts of Roman
Empire was actually Greek. Secondly, even though the movie was
primarily inspired by the Gospels, it is more vivid than all the
other cinematic versions of Jesus story, and it will probably be
the critic by itself for all future movies about Jesus.
King of Kings by Nicholas Ray (1961)
King of Kings is a motion picture epic directed by Nicholas Ray,
and it is retelling of the story of Jesus from His birth to His
Crucifixion and Resurrection. Jesus was played by Jeffrey Hunter.
It starts in 63 BC, when Pompey conquers Jerusalem, goes to the
Temple and sacks its treasure. Years later, a series of rebellions
break out against the authority of Rome, and Romans place Herod the
Great on the throne of Judea. The life of Jesus and all its events
are placed into political environment of Roman oppression of Judea.
The Jewish rebels in the time of Jesus are led by Barabbas and
Judas Iscariot. On the other side, Pilate and Herod Antipas rule
Judea, but they are afraid of the prophets such as John the Baptist
and Jesus, so they arrest and execute both of them. Jesus has
resurrected, and in the end He appears to His disciples on the
shore of the Lake Tiberias and tells them to bring His message to
the ends of the world.
The movie met with negative reviews from Time magazine and New
York Times. Critics stated that this was an impersonal film that
constructs a great deal of random actions around Jesus and does
very little to construct a living personality for Him. Anyway, some
other critics praised the movie for its music. What was new in this
film is that it was a first time that the face of Jesus was shown.
Most films at that time did not show Jesus face, preferring to do
shots of his hands, as in Ben-Hur, or of other parts of His body,
but not the face. King of Kings was the first large-budget movie in
English to actually show Christs face.
4. Scorseses Christ: Criticism of Christianity or Criticism of
Christ
The Last Temptation of Christ is 1988 drama by Martin Scorsese
and an adaptation of the controversial 1953 novel of the same title
by Nikos Kazantzakis. Jesus Christ was played by Willem Dafoe.
Scorsese found out about the novel in 1972, and sixteen years later
he made the movie, but he keeps much of the artistic freedom and
shifts the material of the novel in original and often troubling
directions. As it is evident in earlier films about Jesus,
directors usually depict Jesus in two ways: emphasizing His human
nature (low Christology) or emphasizing His Divine nature (high
Christology). Beyond this division in classical Jesus-films, The
Last Temptation of Christ is a unique representation of Jesus. In
this case, the shift is downward from the low Christology of
Kazantzakis to even lower Christology of Scorseses film. As some
critics notice, older films go from the history (the Gospels) to
the character (of Jesus), while Scorsese goes from the character to
the history. He uses the Person of Jesus to interpret parts of the
Gospels and Kazantzakis novel which hold interest to him. Thats why
he doesnt copy the entire plot of the novel, but adds some of his
own scenes, such as when Jesus takes out His own heart and gives it
to the disciples, which shows Scorseses somewhat masochistic
understanding of Jesus and His mission. Scorsese also
overemphasizes the role of Judas, who is more dominant in the movie
than in the novel. Also, the preaching of Jesus is not as
emphasized in the movie as in the novel. The relationship between
Jesus and the disciples is obscure. The main emphasis is again
placed on Judas, who takes the place of Peter as a leader and that
of John as the beloved disciple of Jesus. One strange detail is the
music theme during the Last Supper scene, which is not just Arabic,
but an Islamic call to prayer and confession of Islamic faith. It
seems that Scorsese purposely omitted all the scenes of the novel
which indicate that Jesus is the Messiah or the Son of God. Also,
there is no reference in the movie to Jesus birth or the visit by
the wise men, just like there are no speculations about His divine
identity on the part of His mother, Mary Magdalene, the disciples,
the centurion and others. Although in all interviews Scorsese
insisted that he believes in the Divinity of Jesus, the result of
his editing brings to a different conclusion for the majority of
the viewers. It can be said that, by offering to the public an
inner approach to the Person of Jesus, the struggle between flesh
and spirit in His soul, and by presenting Him surprisingly more
human than ever before, both Kazantzakis and Scorsese in effect
deny the incarnation, the essential Christian belief.
The major problem with Scorseses Jesus is misinterpretation of
both Kazantzakis Jesus and the Jesus of the Gospels. Scorsese also
cannot liberate himself from disturbing, neurotic and even
psychotic characters from his previous projects, which makes his
image of Jesus even more extreme than that of Kazantzakis.
Scorseses Jesus is an embodiment of Kazantzakis eternal struggle
between the flash and the spirit, but behind this eternal conflict
lays radical anti-Christian philosophical and theological
principle. This anti-Christian principle holds that in the human
nature there is a dualism between the flesh and the spirit, which
condemns flash and glorifies spirit. Therefore, Scorsese fails in
the central purpose of the movie, and that is to affirm the
humanity of Jesus while keeping His Divine identity. It is
unacceptable to represent Jesus as having never arrived to a point
of self-understanding as God. Also, it is theologically
unacceptable for this Jesus to continuously imagine God as a
violent bird of pray that pursues and attacks Him, forcing Him to
do something He doesnt want to do. Therefore, Scorseses Jesus
cannot possibly be God, because God doesnt work against His own
will. By representing Jesus in such way, Scorsese didnt even
represent Him as normal human being, but rather as a masochistic
individual.
As for the critics hinted in the movie, it is quite obvious that
Scorsese wanted to point not at Jesus as the one who made mistake,
but at Christianity which almost completely forgot about Jesus
human nature. Almost all previous Jesus-films depicted Jesus as
beautiful young man who was, simply said, too divine to be truly
human. And that was not contended in movies only, but in all ways
of depicting Jesus in art and theology. Scorsese wanted to do
something completely different: to present Jesus as truly human, as
a Man who had doubts, fears, and feelings. In this sense he
criticized contemporary Christian trend to distance the historical
figure of Jesus as far as possible from everyday life, and it was
Scorseses opinion that the movie based on The Last Temptation might
improve general understanding of Jesus and His real historical
Personality. Anyway, he evidently went too far in emphasizing
Christs human nature, making Him not only human, but irrationally
human, even psychotic in some instances. If we ignore this fact, it
is possible to say that this representation of Jesus can actually
move an individual to think about the reality of Jesus historical
figure and it would, of course, move the filmmakers to further
emphasize human nature of Christ in future Jesus-films.
5. Jesus Christ Superstar: Form and Content
Jesus Christ Superstar is a rock opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber,
with lyrics by Tim Rice. It was first staged in Broadway in 1971,
and there is also a film adaptation from 1973. The musical is based
very loosely on the Gospels account of the last week of Jesus life,
starting with preparation for the arrival of Jesus and his
disciples in Jerusalem, and ending with crucifixion. The musical
and film center on the political conflict between Jesus and Judas
Iscariot. A large part of the plot focuses on the character of
Judas, who is depicted as a tragic figure who is dissatisfied with
the direction in which Jesus leads His disciples. The ironic
allusions to modern life are scattered all across the timeline,
reflecting contemporary political events and circumstances. The
musical and movie also reflect the attitude of the hippie movement
which arose in the mid-60es, especially its strong resistance to
the war. This idea is expressed by Jesus, who doesnt want to wage
war against Romans, even though Jews expects Him to lead them in
the war. Anti-war propaganda is especially pointed out in the scene
of the cleansing of the Temple, where different weapons can be seen
under the merchants tends. As mentioned before, Jesus Christ
Superstar is a rock opera, which is a work of rock music that
presents a storyline told over multiple parts or songs in the
manner of opera. Even though Jesus Christ Superstar was originally
a rock opera, it became far more famous as a Broadway musical,
leading it to be called rock musical. Jesus is played by Ted
Neeley, and Judas is played by Carl Anderson.
The play starts with Judas musical monologue in which he shows
his concern about the belief of the disciples that Jesus is a king,
because it might be understood as a threat to the Romans. Judas
also thinks that Jesus is too close with Mary Magdalene, a former
prostitute, which seems as if Jesus contradicts His own teachings.
In the same time, priests Caiaphas and Annas are also worried about
possible bloodshed which Jesus and His followers might draw upon
innocent Jewish people, so they decide that they must crush Him, as
John was crushed before. Jesus arrives in Jerusalem and cleanses
the Temple, where He found virtually everything on sale: from
weapons and prostitutes to drugs. Judas betrays Jesus to the
priests, and later even admits it to Jesus in the Gethsemane.
After the Last Supper, Jesus prays to Father to spare Him from
the horrible death, but in the end accepts Fathers will. Judas
returns with soldiers and kisses Jesus, which was a sign for them
to arrest Him. He was taken before Caiaphas, who receives Jesus
confession that he is a Son of God. Caiaphas sends Jesus to Pilate,
who asks Him the same question and receives the same answer.
Anyway, realizing that Jesus is from Galilee, Pilate sends him to
King Herod. The king asks Jesus to perform miracles in order to
prove His divinity, but Jesus ignores him. This leads Herod to
conclude that Jesus is a fake Messiah and sends Him back to Pilate.
Judas is shaken by the bad treatment of Jesus and expresses his
concerns to Caiaphas and Annas, who in turn assure him that he will
be forever remembered as the one who helped Jews. On the contrary,
Judas thinks he is a traitor and hangs himself. Pilate wanted to
free Jesus at first, but the mob wanted Him crucified, because they
have no other king but Caesar. Pilate calls them hypocrites,
because he knew that they hate Roman rule. He tries to satisfy them
by flogging Jesus, counting thirty-nine bloody strokes. Anyway, the
crowd is not satisfied and Pilate is forced to crucify Jesus, but
he still washes his hands from that deed. Before He was crucified,
Jesus sees the spirit of Judas, who still doesnt understand Jesus
and the way in which He accomplishes His mission. In the end, Jesus
is crucified and dies. There is no scene of resurrection.
6. Master and Margarita Two Filmed Versions
The Master and Margarita by Aleksandar Petrovic (1972)
The Master and Margarita from 1972 is an Italian-Yugoslav film
directed by Aleksandar Petrovic. It won the Big Golden Arena for
best film, with Bata Zivoinovic picking up the Golden Arena for
Best Actor at the 1972 Pula Film Festival. The movie is loosely
based on Bulgakovs novel, from which it distances in many ways.
First of all, the plot is quite different from the original
storyline, presenting the story about Jesus not as historically
accurate, but as a theatre play by the Master himself. Even though
Master is not named in the novel, Petrovic named him Nikolai
Maksudov. Woland and his band of demons are also somewhat
different. For example, Koroviev or Faggot, played by Bata
Zivoinovic, seems more like some drunkard or countryman than as
artistic individual as presented in the novel. The portrayal of
Jesus is also ridiculous, because Jesus here looks like an
uncharismatic individual who would hardly attract anyone to follow
Him. As for the differences between the movie and the novel,
Petrovic said that the movie is based on the ideas of the novel,
and not on the novel itself. Anyway, those ideas, which were
directed against communist regime and social atheism in Russia,
could hardly be seen in the movie.
The Master and Margarita by Vladimir Bortko (2005)
The Master and Margarita is a TV series by Vladimir Bortko. It
was the second attempt by Bortko to put Master and Margarita on the
screen, because the first attempt failed in 2000 when Bulgakovs
grandson demanded the rights as the owner of the copyright. When he
finally began working on the series, Bortko followed the dialogues
from the novel faithfully, and the series became most successful
ever on Russian television. Most of the scenes were recorded in
Saint Petersburg, while the biblical scenes were recorded in
Bulgaria. It seems that this version of Master and Margarita is the
most faithful to the original, because the TV series adaptation was
an ideal format to present the complicated plot from the novel.
Bortko even said that Bulgakov wrote the novel almost like a
screenplay. Despite more than eight-hour long material, number of
characters and events were omitted.
Contrary from other on-screen versions of Bulgakovs novel, it is
evident that Bortkos TV series is successful in transmitting the
original message and meaning of the novel. Several actors are
especially successful in their roles, such as Oleg Basilashvili
(Woland), Kirill Lavrov (Pilate), Aleksandr Abdulov (Koroviev), and
Aleksandr Filippenko (Azazello). A magnificent contrast between
every-day grayness which denies the existence and spiritual
understanding of eternal existence is presented by the change
between the black and white scenes and scenes in color,
respectively. Another stunning fact is a successful balance between
the importance of the dialogue and necessity of special effects in
some scenes. It is not Hollywood style project, but it is still
convincing in its almost nave low-budget depiction of Satans ball,
flying through the air, and other scenes which required computer
editing. The image of Jesus is also faithful to the one from the
novel, and Bortko succeeds in presenting Him both as divine figure
and as simple man who preached love and understanding.
7. The Chronicles of Narnia. Aslan Son, Creator, Redeemer
Clive Staples Lewis, mostly known as C. S. Lewis and to his
friends and family as Jack was born in 1898. His birthplace was
Belfast, Ireland. He is nest known for his fictional work The
Chronicles of Narnia in seven books. Lewis and fellow novelist J.
R. R. Tolkien were close friends; both served on the English
faculty in Oxford University, and both were active in the informal
Oxford literary group known as Inklings. According to his memoir
Surprised by Joy, Lewis was baptized in the Church of Ireland, part
of the Anglican Communion, but turned to atheism during his
adolescence. Afterwards he slowly re-embraced Christianity,
influenced by arguments of his colleague and friend Tolkien.
Anyway, Catholic Tolkien was somewhat disappointed when Lewis
turned to Church of England and not to Roman Catholicism. In his
memoirs, Lewis expresses the following opinion of the paradox of
his conversion: At my first coming into the world I had been
implicitly warned never to trust a Papist, and at my first coming
into the English faculty explicitly never to trust a philologist.
Tolkien was both. In 1956 Lewis married the American writer Joy
Davidman, who died four years later. Lewis died three years after
his wife, on 22 November 1963, the same day that US President John
F. Kennedy was assassinated. Lewiss works have been translated in
more than 30 languages, and his most popular work is The Chronicles
of Narnia.
The Chronicles of Narnia books were written between 1949 and
1954, originally published in London between 1950 and 1956. The
series is set in the fictional realm of Narnia, a place where
animals talk, magic is common, and good battles evil. It narrates
the adventures of various children who play central roles in the
history of that world. The children are called to Narnia by Aslan,
who leads them from the creation of the world to its final
destruction. The inspiration is taken from multiple sources:
traditional Christian themes, Greek, Turkish, and Roman mythology,
as well as traditional British and Irish fairy tales. The name
Narnia is derived from the name of a place in Italy, which Lewis
liked just because of its sound. Seven books of Narnia are
chronologically ordered as follows: The Magicians Nephew, The Lion,
the Witch and the Wardrobe, The Horse and His Boy, Prince Caspian,
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, The Silver Chair, and The Last
Battle. The main characters of the novels are: Aslan the Great
Lion, Pevensie family (Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy), Eustace
Scrubb, Jill Pole, Digory Kirke, Polly Plummer, Prince Caspian,
White Witch Jadis, Shasta, and others.
The central character of the series is Aslan, the Great Lion. He
is depicted as a talking lion, son of the Emperor-over-the-sea,
guardian and savior of Narnia. Lewis himself described Aslan as an
alternate version of Christ, that is, as the form in which Christ
might have appeared in a fantasy world. The word Aslan is Turkish
for lion, and was also used as a title by Seljuk and Ottoman
rulers. Even though different aspects of Aslans personality are
represented in each of the seven Narnia books respectively, it is
in three of his characteristics that we can see how Aslan
represents Christ: as the Son, as the Creator, and as the Redeemer.
God the Father is not represented in Narnia as one of main
characters; He is actually only mentioned by the name
Emperor-over-the-sea, who is Aslans Father. This land is stationed
far across the sea, and no creature can enter it by its own
efforts. King Caspian and other protagonists reached the border of
this Aslans land in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, but there they
meet Aslan in thee form of a Lamb, and he transfers Earthlings back
to their world. The border between Aslans land, in which
Emperor-over-the-sea dwells, and Narnia represent an ontological
gap between the creation and the Creator, and thats why the
protagonists cannot travel across. Anyway, Aslan Himself has the
power to cross this border and to come in Narnia. But the
Emperor-over-the-sea never descended to Narnia personally; it is
Aslan who mentions Him. In other words, even in Narnia it is only
God incarnate who appears. When the world of Narnia was created, it
is said that the Emperor-over-the-sea also created the law,
according to which all traitors are to be judged by an evil witch
Jadis. Anyway, as hinted by Aslan, the Emperor-over-the-sea also
created more powerful magic which resurrected Aslan from the dead
when Jadis killed him. Overall, Aslans Father remains offstage even
during the creation and the final judgment of Narnia. Aslan
creates, rules, and judges in His name. Anyway, it is not only the
Emperor-over-the-sea who remains beyond writers imagination; even
Aslan has an unpredictable nature and no one can controll him.
Several times in the novel the readers are reminded that Aslan is
not a tame Lion.
In The Magicians Nephew, which comes first in the chronological
order, Aslan is presented as a Creator. The creation described in
this novel is an adaptation of both Biblical story and the
theological doctrine of the Logos. When Digory, Polly, Frank, Jadis
and Digorys uncle arrive in a black nothingness, they suddenly hear
a strange song, pleasant to the good and horrible to the evil. It
was Aslan who created Narnia by the word, calling the world into
being by His primordial song. In this sense, Aslan represents Logos
of the creation. The second part of the story is typical biblical
mythology: all creatures in Narnia, except for Jadis, are good.
Aslan knows that she will be a great threat to the world of Narnia,
so he sends Polly and Digory to bring magic fruit in order to
protect the land. Frank, a man from Earth, was appointed by Aslan
to be the first King of Narnia with his wife Helen by his side. The
analogies with the Bible are quite clear. There are representations
of the Eden garden, the tree of eternal life, the fall of the
Devil, and Gods concern over His creation.
Anyway, it is Aslans role as the Redeemer and Savior that
dominates the Narnia series. Starting from The Lion, the Witch and
the Wardrobe, Aslan shows Himself as the Redeemer of His people of
Narnia, first by dying instead of Edmund. If traitor Edmund is not
handed over to be killed by the White Witch, Narnia will be
destroyed, because such was the magic built into it at its
creation. But Aslan offers to be killed Himself instead of Edmund,
and the offer is accepted. Unfortunately for the Witch, the
substitution of the willing innocent causes the death to work
backwards and Aslan rises again. It was due to a Deeper Magic that
was built into Narnia at its creation, and of which Jadis knew
nothing. Aslan here dies for an individual, but also for the entire
Narnia, which could have been destroyed if nobody died for Edmunds
treason. This is the clear picture of Christs resurrection and the
atonement brought by His death on the Cross. Over the course of the
next books, Aslan is shown as a Savior of both Narnia and
individuals who live in it. For example, He secretly leads Shasta,
Aravis, Bree, and Hwin from the cruel kingdom of Calormene to the
security of the Archenland. In Prince Caspian, Aslan saves the
character of the same name from his evil uncle Miraz. In The Voyage
of the Dawn Treader Aslan is also shown as the one who forgives
sins, as is evident in the example of Eustace who turns into a
dragon. Eustace repents his former wrong deeds, but he cannot
completely free himself from the dragon form, and it is only Aslan
who helped him to take of the thick dragon skin completely.
Aslans final role in the series is that of a Judge, as He is
depicted in The Last Battle. The ape named Shift disguises the
reluctant donkey Puzzle as Aslan and fools Narnians into thinking
that Aslan has returned. Allied with Calormenes, Shift tries to
make use of Narnians to gain great wealth, and even represents
Aslan and Calormene demon-god Tash as the same person, therefore
creating the name Tashlan. Real Aslan appears and brings the
destruction to Narnia, leading good beings into His land, a
platonic ideal of Narnia. As they get further up and further in,
the Narnians find Aslans land getting bigger and better, eventually
encompassing Earth as well. Digory, Polly, Peter, Edmund, Lucy,
Eustace, and Jill learn that they have died and passed into Aslans
country, which is more real than the Shadowlands.
Although Aslan can be read as an original character, parallels
with Christ exist. Aslans sacrifice and resurrection parallel
Christs crucifixion and resurrection. Aslan also has God-like
powers; He created Narnia with a song. In The Last Battle a new
Narnia is made and also a new Earth, as in the Book of Revelation.
Furthermore, there are biblical references of Christ being called a
Lion, as in Revelation (Lion of the tribe of Judah). At the end of
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader He looked like a Lamb, which is also
a symbol of Christ.
8. Tolkiens Vision of Christ
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, better known as J. R. R. Tolkien was
an English writer, poet, philologist, and University professor,
best known as the author of the classical high fantasy works The
Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion. He was born in
1892, in todays South Africa. His family was Baptist. After his
father died, Tolkiens mother moves back to England with her two
sons. His mother converted to Catholicism, and Tolkien himself
remained faithful Catholic through whole his life. He studied
classical languages, such as Latin and Greek, but also Finish,
Old-English, Anglo-Saxon etc. He worked as a professor in Oxford,
and as a member of famous Inklings, he was a close friend of C. S.
Lewis, the author of The Chronicles of Narnia. Tolkien actually
helped Lewis to regain his faith and to return to Christianity.
However, Tolkien was somewhat disappointed when Lewis became a
member of the Church of England, and not of the Catholic Church.
His work on fantasy novels started when he as a professor was
verifying the students papers, and he wrote on the blank sheet of
paper: In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. This would
become the first sentence of his first book entitled The Hobbit,
published in 1937. The Lord of the Rings trilogy was published in
1954 and 1955. The novel was split in six books: The Return of the
Shadow, The Fellowship of the Ring, The Treason of Isengard, The
Journey to Mordor, The War of the Ring, and The Return of the King.
Anyway, due to practical reasons, The Lord of the Rings was
organized in three books: The Fellowship of the Ring (1954), The
Two Towers (1954), and The Return of the King (1955). Tolkien died
in 1973, but his great work The Silmarillion was published in
1977.
C. S. Lewis was using allegory in his novels, but Tolkien
prefers symbolism. This fact is very important, because the symbol
in Catholic tradition, to which Tolkien was faithful, is more than
just a mere representation of the original. It also points at the
original but transcends itself in the same time, making the
original present in certain way. Tolkiens works represent the
classical battle between good and evil, placed in the fictional
realm called Middle Earth. Behind his works there are a number of
ancient and modern influences that combine to create the most
ambitious mythological journey since the Odyssey. Tolkien actually
wanted to write the mythology for English people, but since it
didnt existed, he figured that he has to write it. Thats why he was
using many elements of Old English and Old Norse mythologies:
Beowulf, King Arthur, the Vikings Sagas, etc. In Norse mythology,
the world is made of three levels: the highest is Asgard, dwelling
place of the gods, and the lowest is hell, underworld of the dead.
Between the two lies the world inhabited by Elves, Dwarves, and
Men. It is called Mitgard, which is translated as Middle Earth. In
Tolkiens trilogy, it is through Middle Earth that the main
character, Frodo, must travel in order to destroy the evil ring,
which can make its wearer invisible. The ring too was inspired by
earlier legends. In the Arthurian legend, there actually is a ring
of invisibility, but Frodos ring doesnt just make its owners
invisible; it also corrupts them. This ring was created by evil
lord Sauron, who put the part of himself in the ring, and thats why
the ring twists everything that is good to evil. The ring works as
a bottomless pit: the more one has it, the more he desires it. The
idea of an evil ring also has origins in an earlier myth, in an
Icelandic saga called Volsungasaga. A king from the saga possesses
the ring which gives him unimaginable riches, but kings son wants
it for himself. He kills the king and takes the ring, but the ring
turns him into a hideous serpent. The same incident happens to
Gollum in The Lord of the Rings. The ring ends up in the hands of
Frodo, whose name means wise in Old Norse and Anglo-Saxon. His
final goal is to destroy the evil ring in the fire of Mordor, but
that is already a final chapter in Tolkiens saga.
The beginning of Tolkiens mythology shows some striking
similarities with the Bible. In Tolkiens creation story from
Silmarillion, there is one supreme god named Iluvatar (Father of
all), who creates angelic beings called the Ainur, who sing songs
so beautiful that the world springs out from them. But the most
important Christian-based character in The Lord of the Rings and in
Tolkiens mythology in general, holds a wizard named Gandalf. Clues
about Gandalfs origins can be found in Norse mythology. In Old
Norse, Gandalf means Magical Elf or Magic Using Elf. Gandalf
himself is not an Elf, but he certainly is a magical figure of
great power. Even Gandalfs appearance is modeled after Norse most
powerful deity Odin. Odin had multiple roles, but it is his role as
wonderer that echoes most clearly in Gandalf. When Odin travels
across the Earth, he often travels as a gray wonderer, who wears a
gray robe, a large hat, and a long beard. The same picture is that
of Gandalf in Tolkiens mythology. Anyway, this character was also
inspired by Jess Christ. As for his origins, Gandalf was sent by
the Valar, the divinities of Middle Earth, to save the land from
the evil brought by Sauron. He was originally a spirit named
Olorin, who took the flesh for people to trust him. On the other
side, Christ also became a Man in order to save humans from evil
and Satan. When the fellowship was chased by a demon named Balrog
in the mines of Moria, Gandalf sacrifices himself so the other may
live, and he falls from the bridge into the abyss. Gandalf
eventually slays Balrog, but he also dies. Anyway, Gandalf
resurrects more powerful than before, as Gandalf the White, which
is a hint to Jesus sacrifice and resurrection.
Some interpreters of Tolkien also find symbol of Christ in a
character named Aragorn. He symbolically dies when he enters the
Path of the Dead to rescue the captured spirits of a long lost
army. With this army by his side, Aragorn beats Saurons forces and
restores the peace to the Middle Earth. He is crowned the King of
Gondor, which is emphasized in the very title of the last book: The
Return of the King. According to the interpreters of Tolkien, this
image of Jesus was drawn mostly from the Revelation, where Christ
is depicted as a King who returns to renew Heaven and Earth and to
rule His people in eternal peace. Therefore, Aragorn is Christ the
Warrior and Liberator, as well as the coming King who will reign
with glory. Some interpreters also think that Sam, a Hobbit who
follows Frodo through the entire adventure, also symbolizes Christ
the Suffering Servant and Faithful Companion.
9. Images of Broken World: Chagalls Christ
Marc Chagall was born in 1887 and died in 1985. He was Russian
and French artist of Jewish descendent. He was an early modernist
in almost every artistic medium, including painting, book
illustrations, stained glass, ceramic etc. He also created his own
style of modern art based on Eastern European Jewish folk culture.
In his Bible illustrations, he was inspired by the works of El
Greco and Rembrandt, but his major source of inspiration was the
Old Testament itself. Therefore, he painted most of the Old
Testament important events, emphasizing the man and his unity with
the rest of the creation, and even angels in his pictures are
somehow as ordinary as humans. Anyway, soon after his painting of
the Old Testament themes, Nazi authorities made a mockery of
Chagalls art, describing it as degenerate and as an attack on
Western civilization. Chagall was very distressed because of these
events, so he criticized Christian artists for not speaking up for
the Jews, while praising Russia for saving many Jews from
slaughter. Anyway, Chagalls vision of these unfortunate events was
even deeper. He was not speaking only as a Jew, but as a man with
universal message, using both Jewish and Christian themes.
According to his opinion, the reserve of energy supported both
Christians and Jews for two thousand years, but during the last
century the split had opened in this reserve and disintegrated the
major components of the world: God, Bible, love, education,
prophets and even Christ Himself. In other words, the World War 2
meant not just the separation of Jews and Christians, but also a
separation of the entire world in its major components. Therefore,
the world was broken.
Chagall himself wanted to repair this broken world.
Surprisingly, he even created stained glass windows for several
churches. From 1958 to 1960 he created windows for the Metz
Cathedral. On the other hand, Chagall also created glass stained
windows for one German church St. Stephens church in Mainz, in
1978. The glowing blue windows of this church were Chagalls
masterpiece, but they are also a sign of Jewish-Christian
attachment and international understanding. This church was
especially important for Chagall, because centuries before Mainz
was the capital of European Jews, and his windows signify the
contribution of the Jews to European culture in general.
One of his most startling works regarding the connection between
Judaism and Christianity is a painting entitled White Crucifixion.
Chagall painted it in 1938, after he traveled in Europe and
witnessed the rise of Nazi brutality. The Crucifixion itself is a
Christian theme, and it is usually understood as referring to
Christs sufferings by the hands of the Jews. Anyway, in this case,
crucified Jesus is also represented as a Jew. Therefore, the
painting signifies sufferings of both Jesus and Jewish people. The
picture was originally even more specific than it is now, for
before over-painting, the old man at the left side of the Cross had
Ich bin Jude written on the plaque which he wears around his neck.
The picture also shows in vivid details the destruction of Jewish
world. At the bottom of the Cross is the Menorah, though only with
six candles, and only five alight. Left from the Menorah is the
mother with child, running away from destruction, and above her is
a Torah scroll, with light streaming from it and a figure stepping
over the light. This refers to a famous Hasidic tale, when a bishop
ordered Torah to be burned. The figure which steps on the light is
usually interpreted as Jewish wanderer from Yiddish tradition, or
as Prophet Elias. Left from the Cross is also an image of
synagogue, being burnt by a Nazi brown-shirt. Right from the Cross,
anyway, a Jewish village is burn by communists. Crucified Christ
dominates the picture, but this is Jewish Christ. Over His head is
title in Hebrew King of the Jews, while around His body is wrapped
a Jewish prayer shawl. Therefore, the suffering of the Jewish
people is summarized in a Christian icon. The agony of Jesus is
seen as the agony of the Jews. Therefore, Chagall actually used an
image of Christian God, who was Jewish man, to reconcile Christians
and Jews in the world broken by anti-Semitic politics of Nazis and
communists.
