CADRE Comments

I came across a very short article today that has me puzzled, and I'm hoping that someone reading this can help me sort this out. According to the World Entertainment News Network, (as fed through PR-Inside ), China has removed The Da Vinci Code from their movie theatres. Here's what the article entitled "China Drops Da Vinci Code" reports: Chinese cinemas have pulled controversial blockbuster THE DA VINCI CODE off their screens, allegedly to make way for local films. The excuse has been questioned by some media sources, who suspect the religious content of the film has upset some conservative Christian groups. * * * WU HEHU, spokesman for Shanghai's United Cinema Line Corporation, reveals he is still confused as to why he received the order to stop showing the film, which is becoming one of the most successful foreign movies to be released in China. He says, "This is such a short notice from the film's distributor. I don't know the reason. We just ...

(After waiting more than a month, my library has finally provided me with a copy of Michael Baigent's The Jesus Papers . This is part three of some posts that I intend to write reviewing parts of the book as the mood strikes me. Part I is located here and Part II is located here .) With Chapter 3, Michael Baigent turns from telling irrelevant tales that seem to be divorced from reality (chapter 1) and drawing conclusions from minor changes in artwork (Chapter 2) to something of an analysis of the Biblical accounts of Jesus life. Of course, to do so he has to confront the Bible, and he doesn't seem to be able to do that in an honest fashion. Here's what he says: First, and importantly, crucifixion was historically the punishment for a political crime. According to the Gospels, however, Pilate gave Jesus over to the mobs, who then brayed for his execution on the basis of religious dissent. The Jewish execution for this particular transgression was death by stoning. Crucifixi...

Before Dan Brown's book, The Da Vinci Code (as if you didn't know which book), I had never heard of Opus Dei. The idea that it is somehow a murderous society, however, struck me as patently absurd. But then, most of the material in Mr. Brown's book is patently absurd and yet according to Fact of Fiction in the Star On-line, almost half of the people in Britain believe that the background facts are likely to be true. Thus, if people really think that because Mr. Brown wrote a fiction book that says Jesus and Mary Magdalene had a love child where absolutely no evidence exists for such a belief, then why wouldn't they also believe that Opus Dei is a murderous Roman Catholic organization? The response by some in the Christian community has been to call for boycotts of the film. However, I thought (and continue to think) that such a boycott is a mistake. Boycotts (especially by religious organizations) encourages some people who value free speech above everything else to ...

By now if you are a regular or even semi-reader of the Apologia Christi blog you could easily come to the conclusion that I do not have much interest into eschatology. Rather than get heated over an issue in the church that tends to cause nothing but strife and division*, the only conviction I have in the matter is this: "One day Christ will return and fulfill His promise to save His beloved. Satan will be defeated once and for all. Redemption and justification will be finalized. And lastly, we will forever be in the midst of our Heavely Creator." The details of when, how, where, and what countries will be involved are perochial matters that I would rather wait to find out than to speculate and cause unnecessary division. Do not get me wrong, though. I do believe particular views sound more convincing than others and I am open to hearing their arguments and the evidence for the view they take. One such view I find pretty convincing, though not exhaustive enough to completely...

On the eve of the allied invasion of Nazi-occuped France, the following message was distributed to the British, Canadian, and American troops: Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force! You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you. In company with our brave Allies and brothers-in-arms on other Fronts, you will bring about the destruction of the German war machine, the elimination of Nazi tyranny over the oppressed peoples of Europe, and security for ourselves in a free world. Your task will not be an easy one. Your enemy is well trained, well equipped and battle hardened. He will fight savagely. But this is the year 1944! Much has happened since the Nazi triumphs of 1940-41. The United Nations have inflicted upon the Germans great defeats, in open battle, man-to-man. Our air offensive has seriously reduced t...

As anyone who follows this blog knows, I prefer to write about early Christian history more than anything else. So how did I get roped into spending so much time posting and commenting about the forthcoming Left Behind video game, known as Left Behind: Eternal Forces? (For the details of the lies told about the game, check my earlier post here ). How Did I Come to Write the Original Responding Post? A friend of mine on the History Channel's discussion forum for religion started a thread reciting as true the incredibly inaccurate description of the game at an anti-Christian right website (known as Talk2Action). I did some research, found out what the game was really about, and posted my results on that board. My friend, whom I know to be a man of honor, quickly disavowed the description of the game. Unfortunately, I quickly found out that he was not the only person to be taken in by this false description. The anti-Christian right site reported 40,000 hits on that particular...

College of Holy Cross has just made available on-line the transcript of a debate between William Lane Craig and Bart Ehrman entitled "Is There Historical Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus?" I have only scanned through the debate thus far, and I have to agree with at least one of Dr. Craig's points: . . . this isn’t a debate about what professional historians are permitted to do. That would be a debate about methodology, about the rules of professional conduct. This is a debate about whether or not there is historical evidence for the resurrection. And even if the historian is professionally blocked by some methodological constraint from inferring the resurrection of Jesus, you and I aren’t so blocked. We’re not so constrained, nor, would I say, is the historian so constrained in his off-hours, so to speak. It would be a tragedy and a shame if we were to miss the truth about the past, about Jesus, simply because of some methodological constraint. It seems as though t...

According to Coming Soon.net , a new David Wain movie is in production entitled "The Ten". City Lights Pictures and MEGA Films have teamed to finance and produce The Ten, a comedy spoofing the Ten Commandments, to be directed by David Wain (Wet Hot America Summer). Now, I never saw Wet Hot American Summer , but based on the metacritic site, linked above, it wasn't a particularly good movie -- just your average parody which was loved by a few critics, but mostly treated as average or below average. Again, I don't think there is anything wrong with spoofing Christianity (I loved Monty Python's Life of Brian ), but there is a difference between spoofing and being mean-spirited. I don't know which this will be. However, I am hopeful that since Jessica Alba signed on in a role in the movie and she claims (or, at least, claimed ) to be a Christian (she does retain conservative leanings as reported here , although she didn't show it at the MTV Music awards where ...

A few days ago, I wrote a short blog about a recent archaeological effort to find the city of Sodom north of the Dead Sea. The scholar conducting the search, Steven Collins, believes that he has found the City of Sodom in an area that has been named Tell el-Hamman. Details on Dr. Collins' work can be found on the Trinity Southwest University site, here . In my earlier blog on this subject, I discussed the points listed in an article in Bible and Spade giving the ten reasons that Sodom should be found south of the Dead Sea. I did not, in that blog, set forth Dr. Collins' case for locating Sodom north of the Dead Sea, and I want to set forth part of his argument here. The following does not consitute his entire argument which is enclosed in a booklet he has produced entitled The Search for Sodom and Gomorrah , but represents three of the keys from Scripture that he uses for looking north of the Dead Sea instead of south of that location. The first reason Dr. Collins gives for l...

It is amazing sometimes to witness how fast and uncritical e-hysteria can spread bad information. In this instance, an anti-Christian right website claimed that the new video game based on the popular Left Behind books has players trying to impose a Christian theocracy in New York by armed force. Also, the leftist site claims that "You are on a mission - both a religious mission and a military mission -- to convert or kill Catholics, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, gays, and anyone who advocates the separation of church and state - especially moderate, mainstream Christians." Pretty frightening stuff, if true. The CADRE, disclaimer not withstanding, would harshly condemn any such video game or endorsement of a "convert or kill" mentality. Fortunately, the story is not true. In fact, it is a lie. Here is the truth. Left Behind is a popular Christian novel series about the end times. Under the author's theology, Christians and babies/children are raptured into...