Monday, January 14, 2008

Iranian Filmaker Produces Movie About Islamic Jesus

Do you think Infidels around the world will be rioting in the streets?

Oh, and by the way, wait until you get a load of who dies on the cross.

From Breitbart:


A director who shares the ideas of Iran's hardline president has produced what he says is the first film giving an Islamic view of Jesus Christ, in a bid to show the "common ground" between Muslims and Christians.

Nader Talebzadeh sees his movie, "Jesus, the Spirit of God," as an Islamic answer to Western productions like Mel Gibson's 2004 blockbuster "The Passion of the Christ," which he praised as admirable but quite simply "wrong".

"Gibson's film is a very good film. I mean that it is a well-crafted movie but the story is wrong -- it was not like that," he said, referring to two key differences: Islam sees Jesus as a prophet, not the son of God, and does not believe he was crucified.

Talebzadeh said he even went to Gibson's mansion in Malibu, California, to show him his film. "But it was Sunday and the security at the gate received the film and the brochure and promised to deliver it," though the Iranian never heard back.

Even in Iran, "Jesus, The Spirit of God" had a low-key reception, playing to moderate audiences in five Tehran cinemas during the holy month of Ramadan, in October.

The film, funded by state broadcasting, faded off the billboards but is far from dead, about to be recycled in a major 20 episode spin-off to be broadcast over state-run national television this year.

Talebzadeh insists it aims to bridge differences between Christianity and Islam, despite the stark divergence from Christian doctrine about Christ's final hours on earth.

"It is fascinating for Christians to know that Islam gives such devotion to and has so much knowledge about Jesus," Talebzadeh told AFP.

"By making this film I wanted to make a bridge between Christianity and Islam, to open the door for dialogue since there is much common ground between Islam and Christianity," he said.

The director is also keen to emphasise the links between Jesus and one of the most important figures in Shiite Islam, the Imam Mahdi, said to have disappeared 12 centuries ago but whose "return" to earth has been a key tenet of the Ahmadinejad presidency.

Talebzadeh made his name making documentaries about Iran's 1980-1988 war against Iraq, an important genre in the country's post-revolutionary cinema.

But such weighty themes, and his latest film on Jesus, compete with domestic gangster thrillers and sugary boy-meets-girl love stories, the movies that continue to draw the biggest audiences in the Islamic Republic.

The bulk of "Jesus, the Spirit of God", which won an award at the 2007 Religion Today Film Festival in Italy, faithfully follows the traditional tale of Jesus as recounted in the New Testament Gospels, a narrative reproduced in the Koran and accepted by Muslims.

But in Talebzadeh's movie, God saves Jesus, depicted as a fair-complexioned man with long hair and a beard, from crucifixion and takes him straight to heaven.

"It is frankly said in the Koran that the person who was crucified was not Jesus" but Judas, one of the 12 Apostles and the one the Bible holds betrayed Jesus to the Romans, he said. In his film, it is Judas who is crucified.


I am a Christian. Speaking as a Christian, I can think of few things less blashpemous to the story of Christ's death on the cross (in expiation for our sins) then the idea that Judas (the betrayer) took his place.

Certainly, this blasphemy does not make me angry. However, I want to be clear that it is blasphemous to the religion of Christianity, and I'm guessing, to God Himself.

The reason Muslims believe Jesus could not have died on the cross is because Muslims have a power-based view of the world. They believe that God has to be more powerful than everything and everyone. That is why they say, "Allah is the greatest", not "Allah is Great."

The beauty of Christianity is that God was willing to make himself less powerful, in order to demonstrate His love for human beings. Christianity have a love-based view of the world. Love overcomes power.

7 comments:

VinceP1974 said...

The Muslim Jesus' job at the End Time is to assist Islam's Caliph.. the Mahdi, in the erradication and extermination of Jews as a people and Christnianty as a religion.

The Muslim Jesus will testify that he is not the son of God and compell Christians to convert to Islam or be killed.

That the Media never reports this just shows their ignorance.

All Chritians should understand that the Muslim is relying on their naivite when they cite Jesus as 'common ground'

Pastorius said...

I didn't know that, Vince. Thanks.

Do you have any links or articles on that?

Anonymous said...

I shudder to think of the sort of "Christian" who is going to fall in line with a Muslim reconfiguration of their faith. However, does anyone know how much ground the story of Judas being Jesus' confidant assigned to "betray" him to fulfill a prophecy and/or dying in his place has gained, particularly in Europe? I have a reason for asking.

Pastorius said...

I don't know much about that meme. Is that what it said in The Da Vinci Codes?

Anonymous said...

No, that's a whole other thing involving Magdalen. But there is something out called the Gospel of Judas that states roughly the above premise. I wasn't all that interested so I haven't read it but it rang a bell when this "Muslim Jesus" thing came up.

Ρωμανός ~ Romanós said...

The reason Muslims believe Jesus could not have died on the cross is because Muslims have a power-based view of the world. They believe that God has to be more powerful than everything and everyone. That is why they say, "Allah is the greatest", not "Allah is Great."

I like this point alot. If anyone is interested in examining this concept of the nature of Islam in a little more detail, take a look at my blog post, The work of Muhammad: http://cost-of-discipleship.blogspot.com/2007/06/work-of-muhammad.html

If you're interested in the contrast between Christian and Islamic martyrdom, take a look at this: http://cost-of-discipleship.blogspot.com/2007/09/martyrdom.html

I know it looks like I'm advertising my blog to you guys, but actually I just want to make contact with you on this subject.

I found your blog accidentally while searching for articles about this blasphemous "Jesus movie."

Go with God, brothers, who rewards His soldiers with more battles as they prove themselves worthy of the armor He gives them.

Pastorius said...

Thanks. I'll check out your links.

:)