Should Children watch "the Passion"???

[hippo's hope is HIM]

Gibson has said that no one under the age of 12 or something close to that should see the movie.

Um, yeah it is totally violent. I think that one of the reasons he focused on the mutilation of Jesus is to make us realize what Jesus did for us...it was NOT peaceful and it was NOT painless, Jesus Christ felt every single piece of His flesh being ripped from His body for me and for YOU. I don't think many realize what Christ went through, and I don't think we can really appreciate what Christ did without realizing the extent of every thing....not only His resurection, but his flogging and the cruxifiction as well.

So I do not think a child should see it, however I do not feel that it is a bad thing and I truly believe that it is going to change lives.

[kjvtrue]

Why would any Christian want to see their Lord beaten and suffering like that?

[ted]

The image of Jesus suffering on the cross is one that we should keep in our hearts as a reminder of just how big the price of our Salvation was. I don't believe, however, that the image we should have should be one that was generated by anyone connected to Hollywood. We should have this image in our hearts rather than in our minds. Meditate on what the Bible describes and not on what our eyes have seen to be recorded in our memories as a result of a movie. I don't see a reason to pay to see what Mel Gibson, or anyone else for that matter, deems to be what really happened. I have even less reason to see it because it comes from the roman catholic point of view.

The Bible tells us to stay away from these images and concentrate on God's Word instead.

All in all, I'll just stick to what God's Word says as opposed to what someone in Hollywood deems it to be.

God Bless all,

t.

[Andrew007]

Why would any Christian want to see their Lord beaten and suffering like that?

He suffered FOR US.

Lets just say - if you were living in those times - would you have went to the crucifiction? Same thing.

[hippo's hope is HIM]

Hollywood didn't have anything to do with thte production of the movie. Mel Gibson did it himself...and How was it a Roman Catholic point of view when Mel Gibson is Chrisitan???

Christ suffered...yeah I reckon you wouldn't want to see it, but the hard truth is that HE did! And He did even more than is depicted...and He did it to save lousy sinners like us.

[Andrew007]

Christ suffered...yeah I reckon you wouldn't want to see it, but the hard truth is that HE did! And He did even more than is depicted...and He did it to save lousy sinners like us.

Amen!

[papasangel]

Maybe its me or not but I think that Mel is trying to impress upon us exactly what Jesus suffered for us so that we may be forgiven. Too many of us today think that yeah Jesus suffered but it hasn't sunk in how great that suffering was and how horrendous that suffering was. He is trying to get us to see and be able to realate to that sufering. Am I far off track on this?

[CaliGuy4Christ]

Maybe its me or not but I think that Mel is trying to impress upon us exactly what Jesus suffered for us so that we may be forgiven. Too many of us today think that yeah Jesus suffered but it hasn't sunk in how great that suffering was and how horrendous that suffering was. He is trying to get us to see and be able to realate to that sufering. Am I far off track on this?

I agree with u... I think ur right on track.

[OneAccord]

Jesus' suffering was not just physical. I think the greater portion of Jesus' suffering was in having the sins of the world laid on Him.

His physical suffering was not more than what others have experienced in the history of this world. There were thousands of people who died on crosses in that era and who were probably severely beaten, humiliated and neglected in prisons as well. There are stories of torture that people have endured that seems equally if not more painful than the physical suffering that Jesus endured.

I believe the greater suffering was the spiritual anguish He had to endure when the sins of the whole world, which are exceedingly many, were laid upon Him and when He was momentarily forsaken of God in His death. This suffering we will never begin to grasp in our wildest imaginings, nor could Gibson capture it in a Hollywood rendition of the cross.

Nevertheless if it be a witness to the many and brings someone to his knees, then it served the higher purpose, in spite of my own private interpretations.

[Catsmeow]

Christ suffered...yeah I reckon you wouldn't want to see it, but the hard truth is that HE did! And He did even more than is depicted...and He did it to save lousy sinners like us.

Amen and amen!

OA: Excellent point...we'll never know the true agony He suffered.

As far as children seeing this...my fourth grade class watched "Jesus of Nazereth" and they were all crying and in tears by the end of the movie.

That was graphic enough...

I think it depends on what's age appropriate...and the individual child's ability to cope with such violence.

It could be very emotionally disturbing for young children to see such things even though I totally support this film.

It's a personal call a parent has to make; I don't know if there's a right or wrong answer.

Remember: It's R rated for a reason. The audience being targeted are adults.

A good movie for the children and still not watered down is "Jesus of Nazareth" shown over a period of 3 or 4 days....since it's a 6 hour movie.

It was first shown on regular television.

Fourth graders can handle it but it really brings them to tears, as it did me.