Kingdom of Heaven
5-19-04
By Mark Stokes
Whose kingdom come?
Today’s Christian subculture seems to include an aversion toward popular culture—a movement that encourages intentional separation from those deemed impure or spiritually dangerous. In one sense, this is wise, as it allows Christians to avoid the temptation toward conformity in pursuit of godly transformation. In another sense, the movement can be dangerous, causing those same Christians to ignore the divine call to evangelize and reach out to those in need of God’s impartial forgiveness.
Meanwhile, popular culture doesn’t seem to be so impressed with our separatism, creating its own stories dealing with the search for spiritual truth, the ineffectiveness of religious hypocrisy and the need for self-sacrifice. These themes have recently prevailed in television shows, video games, comic books, movies and other forms of mass media. Most recent among spiritually relevant films is Kingdom of Heaven, the newest from director Ridley Scott.
Kingdom of Heaven follows Balian, the run-of-the-mill blacksmith (played by the perpetually typecast Orlando Bloom), as he discovers his higher destiny on the road to redemption. The story begins 100 years after the European occupation of Jerusalem, soon after Balian’s wife commits suicide (a cardinal sin in the Catholic faith). After killing an insensitive priest, the blacksmith determines that the site of Christ’s crucifixion is the only place where he can receive forgiveness for both he and his wife.
Soon after discovering the noble identity of his father—Sir Godfrey of Ibelin (Liam Neeson)—on the trip to Jerusalem, Balian hears of Godfrey’s longings for a unified Holy Land in which Christians and Muslims live in harmony. After a series of jumbled and poorly written circumstances, Balian becomes a tool for change for the two warring religious groups—though he is impeded by an early point-of-attack and is also an uneducated hero with an unexplainable knack for military strategy. Nonetheless, the story picks up after several minutes of tiresome back-story, providing plentiful bits of insight on the nature of religious zeal. Rather than pitting the “good guys” against the “bad guys,” Kingdom of Heaven gives a warts-and-all depiction of both sides—two groups of misguided soldiers with sincere beliefs in the holiness of “the cause.” Unlike Troy, Bloom’s previous epic film, Kingdom of Heaven is successful in presenting both sides as genuine and worthy of sympathy.
Obviously, this depiction has the potential of offending both Christians and Muslims, as both groups in the film are led by those who would speak for God in order to further their own personal agendas. Some on both sides will see the violent, R-rated film as blasphemous and offensive, but Balian’s quest for redemption is honest and God-affirming. Despite his constant doubts in God’s gift of salvation, Balian never doubts God’s existence. In essence, his doubts are not directed toward God, but rather toward his own unworthiness of salvation and toward the hypocrisy of the leaders who seek to create God in their own image.
Kingdom of Heaven could also be construed as a humanistic attempt to create a one-world religion bent on doing away with any divisive belief, or it could be viewed as an honest lament about the empty zeal of the self-serving extremists in any religion. Though religion is depicted as a major element in Balian’s culture, that religion seems to bend and yield to the agendas of those who would pervert it to fit their desires (much like some segments of modern American Christianity). This is not a tirade against Christian leadership per se, but rather a warning for any person who would make the decision between serving his or her deity and serving his or her own agenda.
In addition to offering abundant insight on various motives behind religion, Kingdom of Heaven provides a Christ figure in Balian—one who denies the ever-present temptation of power, instead sacrificing himself for the good of a multitude of people, regardless of their worthiness or nationality. Like Christ, Balian selflessly works to tear down the barriers that divide differing cultures and social classes, undergoing a series of key experiences that parallel those of Jesus (including temptation in the wilderness, “death,” resurrection, etc.).
Though the film remains somewhat vague as to whether Balian ever completely understands the notion of God’s grace (as described in Ephesians 2:8-10, Titus 3:4-7 and Proverbs 3:34), several around him gradually convince the hero that his quest to save humanity is truly ordained by God.
Even though the message of Kingdom of Heaven seems redundant and somewhat overbearing at times, the film reminds us to be proactive in the ever-present struggle between our own fleshly desires and the desires of God Himself. Perhaps if we who tout our respective religions would truly evaluate our motives for the numerous “holy wars” we fight on a daily basis, mainstream cinema would not have to continually remind us of our inconsistencies.
CONTINUE:
—Overview
—Photos
—About this Film pdf
—Spiritual Connections
By Mark Stokes
Whose kingdom come?
Today’s Christian subculture seems to include an aversion toward popular culture—a movement that encourages intentional separation from those deemed impure or spiritually dangerous. In one sense, this is wise, as it allows Christians to avoid the temptation toward conformity in pursuit of godly transformation. In another sense, the movement can be dangerous, causing those same Christians to ignore the divine call to evangelize and reach out to those in need of God’s impartial forgiveness.
Meanwhile, popular culture doesn’t seem to be so impressed with our separatism, creating its own stories dealing with the search for spiritual truth, the ineffectiveness of religious hypocrisy and the need for self-sacrifice. These themes have recently prevailed in television shows, video games, comic books, movies and other forms of mass media. Most recent among spiritually relevant films is Kingdom of Heaven, the newest from director Ridley Scott.
Kingdom of Heaven follows Balian, the run-of-the-mill blacksmith (played by the perpetually typecast Orlando Bloom), as he discovers his higher destiny on the road to redemption. The story begins 100 years after the European occupation of Jerusalem, soon after Balian’s wife commits suicide (a cardinal sin in the Catholic faith). After killing an insensitive priest, the blacksmith determines that the site of Christ’s crucifixion is the only place where he can receive forgiveness for both he and his wife.Soon after discovering the noble identity of his father—Sir Godfrey of Ibelin (Liam Neeson)—on the trip to Jerusalem, Balian hears of Godfrey’s longings for a unified Holy Land in which Christians and Muslims live in harmony. After a series of jumbled and poorly written circumstances, Balian becomes a tool for change for the two warring religious groups—though he is impeded by an early point-of-attack and is also an uneducated hero with an unexplainable knack for military strategy. Nonetheless, the story picks up after several minutes of tiresome back-story, providing plentiful bits of insight on the nature of religious zeal. Rather than pitting the “good guys” against the “bad guys,” Kingdom of Heaven gives a warts-and-all depiction of both sides—two groups of misguided soldiers with sincere beliefs in the holiness of “the cause.” Unlike Troy, Bloom’s previous epic film, Kingdom of Heaven is successful in presenting both sides as genuine and worthy of sympathy.Obviously, this depiction has the potential of offending both Christians and Muslims, as both groups in the film are led by those who would speak for God in order to further their own personal agendas. Some on both sides will see the violent, R-rated film as blasphemous and offensive, but Balian’s quest for redemption is honest and God-affirming. Despite his constant doubts in God’s gift of salvation, Balian never doubts God’s existence. In essence, his doubts are not directed toward God, but rather toward his own unworthiness of salvation and toward the hypocrisy of the leaders who seek to create God in their own image.
Kingdom of Heaven could also be construed as a humanistic attempt to create a one-world religion bent on doing away with any divisive belief, or it could be viewed as an honest lament about the empty zeal of the self-serving extremists in any religion. Though religion is depicted as a major element in Balian’s culture, that religion seems to bend and yield to the agendas of those who would pervert it to fit their desires (much like some segments of modern American Christianity). This is not a tirade against Christian leadership per se, but rather a warning for any person who would make the decision between serving his or her deity and serving his or her own agenda.In addition to offering abundant insight on various motives behind religion, Kingdom of Heaven provides a Christ figure in Balian—one who denies the ever-present temptation of power, instead sacrificing himself for the good of a multitude of people, regardless of their worthiness or nationality. Like Christ, Balian selflessly works to tear down the barriers that divide differing cultures and social classes, undergoing a series of key experiences that parallel those of Jesus (including temptation in the wilderness, “death,” resurrection, etc.).
Though the film remains somewhat vague as to whether Balian ever completely understands the notion of God’s grace (as described in Ephesians 2:8-10, Titus 3:4-7 and Proverbs 3:34), several around him gradually convince the hero that his quest to save humanity is truly ordained by God.
Even though the message of Kingdom of Heaven seems redundant and somewhat overbearing at times, the film reminds us to be proactive in the ever-present struggle between our own fleshly desires and the desires of God Himself. Perhaps if we who tout our respective religions would truly evaluate our motives for the numerous “holy wars” we fight on a daily basis, mainstream cinema would not have to continually remind us of our inconsistencies.
CONTINUE:
—Overview
—Photos
—About this Film pdf
—Spiritual Connections
posted by Greg Wright at 5:45 AM
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