Kingdom of Heaven

"I put no stock in religion. By the word religion I have seen the lunacy of fanatics of every denomination be called the will of God. I have seen too much religion in the eyes of too many murderers. Holiness is in right action, and courage on behalf of those who cannot defend themselves, and goodness. What God desires is here [points to head] and here [points to heart] and what you decide to do every day. You will be a good man - or not." The Hospitaller (Kingdom of Heaven)

The other night I watched Ridley Scott's epic, Kingdom of Heaven. It is an interesting and thought-provoking take on the Crusades. Much has been said of it's historical and theological inaccuracies in other reviews - but they're not something I plan to get bogged down with. As a film it's primary aim is to entertain, to tell a good yarn - not to present truth. What intrigued me was the way an agnostic film-maker takes kingdom language and places it in the mouth of an anachronistically agnostic hero without apparently realising he is doing so. He also fails to spot the contradiction in depicting faith as being the despicable cause of violence whilst creating a film which presents violence as entertainment.

Despite this the script-writer manages to slip in some truly Christian principles. The character of the Hospitaller is perhaps the most interesting, he being the only non-agnostic character whose faith consists of more than using the name of Christ to justify his wrong actions. But perhaps this is not a bad lesson. Much damage has been done to the kingdom by those who use the name of Christ but do not follow his teachings. As Gandhi says "I don't reject your Christ. I love your Christ. It's just that so many of you Christians are so unlike your Christ."

I enjoyed the film. It definitely made me think - but it seems a long way from the kingdom that Christ was speaking of.

Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place."

"You are a king, then!" said Pilate.

Jesus answered, "You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me."
John 18: 36-37