Gibson Movie Was Opening Shot In What Will Be A Visual Display Of Spiritual War

By Michael H. Brown

No, there are not yet mass conversions. No, it wasn't like hordes took to evangelical tubs to immerse themselves -- the River Ganges come to Mulholland Drive. No, it was not quite that type of watershed event.

But the movie based on the Passion of Jesus has had a great effect on many believers (warm and lukewarm alike; click here if you don't believe that, or here) and has also had a profound effect where one might expect it to have a profound effect: in Hollywood.

Here we see the spiritual war burbling visibly -- cinematically -- to the surface.

Expect the spiritual war to now more blatantly break into the open.

There will be more Christian movies, and more from the dark side. What movie finally unseated The Passion of the Christ but a demonic film called Dawn of the Dead?

"Zombies push Jesus from top of North American box office," said one newspaper headline, referring to a remake of George Romero's cult horror film.

This was followed by the announcement that an old Monty Python spoof of the Crucifixion would be re-released, and word that there will be an upcoming movie on the most horrible occultist in modern times, Aleister Crowley. Right now, Hellboy is the big draw at the box office.

And then there is Ron Howard coming out with the cinematic version of The DaVinci Code, a movie that tries its best to vilify Christianity and of course Catholics specifically. "If you haven't read The Da Vinci Code, or stories debunking it, you may want to skip to the next item, because its central argument, based on a millennium-old conspiracy theory that would turn Oliver Stone's head, is about to be revealed, " notes one newspaper. "That theory, put forth in scholarly detail in a 1980s nonfiction book titled Holy Blood, Holy Grail, contends that Christianity is a faith founded on misogyny and on the lie that Jesus was divine. It holds that Christ was not only mortal, but married -- to Mary Magdalene, the disciple to his immediate right in Leonardo Da Vinci's 'The Last Supper.'"

The energy I felt from this novel, however well-written, was such that I stopped reading it and tossed it into the trash bin at an airport.

Translation: the Gibson movie is not going to reverse Hollywood and the modern culture so much as mark a point at which a far more visual duel erupts.

This visual manifestation will be accompanied by more open spiritual combat in the real world. The demonic is becoming more visible in actual life. Just one example: in Mexico, there is now a demonic saint to counter the Blessed Mother. Expect to see this conflict more clearly in all walks of life -- as a new illumination, a cleansing light, a revealing light, shines from Heaven.

A sword is piercing the heart of our society itself, and the potent Gibson movie marks a time during which many of our secret thoughts and motivations will be revealed. Praise God for that! But it could be intense. The spiritual war is materializing as never before, while, at a personal level, we hear constant stories of affliction. Things are strange out there. Folks report a real pick up in spiritual antagonism as well as signs of the times. It goes far beyond movies. But one effect remains. The first shot in this new eruption, thanks to the Passion movie, was from the side of Christianity.

Zombies! Life versus death -- versus Resurrection! As I said, war is breaking out -- greater with each passing month. Expect a flurry of spiritual movies in the wake of Gibson -- both for and against Christ.

The Passion, as it turns out, is but the opening shot.

"If Mel Gibson created a perfect storm with The Passion of the Christ, check the horizon next year for the film adaptation of the current blockbuster novel The Da Vinci Code," adds the New York Daily News. "But don't look for Mel among the clouds, or in the audience. Dan Brown's novel, being adapted by Oscar-winning screenwriter Akiva Goldsman and director Ron Howard, is a provocative and damning lecture on the history of Gibson's Catholic Church."

Ron Howard? Remember Opie?

There you have what is occurring in America in a nutshell.

April 2004