![]() They face great danger to find a Jesuit who is rumored to have apostatized. Rather, they set out to find one guy from their order who may or may not have disclaimed Jesus. They do not seek to spread the Gospel or to minister to the saints. Yet, the priests in the story, played Adam Driver and Andrew Garfield, are not venturing into a great mission field. If the priests are risking their lives to bring Jesus to Japan, why are they suffering so much? Isn’t that unfair? Is God being cruel? This leads to the questions posed by the movie. “It must be God’s work to go to Japan”, one of the Jesuits note in the movie. It is tempting to get sucked into this narrative as presented by Silence. The horrific persecution they find in Japan on arrival seems to confirm the nobility of their cause. It seems, initially, like the young Jesuits of the movie are working from this holy motivation. We love tales of fearless men and women who have given their lives to bring Jesus to the world. Not a Missionary StoryĬhristians love missionary stories. It seems this is strategically left out in order to point fingers at faith. It does indicate there is much more going on at the time. This does not minimize the suffering involved. The Roman Catholic population supported the losing side in this terrible civil way and was being punished by the victors. Yet, it omits the important detail of a violent and bloody civil war in the region prior to the persecutions. The movie claims to be based on a true story. Christians in Japan are being brutally tortured and killed in the hundreds of thousands by the ruling warlords of the time. Silence is the story of two Jesuit priests who set out for Imperial Japan during a time of intense persecution. It is more subtle and philosophical in its accusations. ![]() It just doesn’t rub it in your face like the prior movie. Silence is no less man focused and lacking in understanding. It seems like Martin Scorcese learned from his prior movie on faith, The Last Temptation of Christ. It hides these problems behind a veneer of faithfulness in order to cast aspersions at the nature of God. It is hard to sift through all of the issue. Silence is a movie that twists the message of Jesus in many ways, large and small. Rather, it lays out a Christian themed story through the lens of a world weary post-modernist viewpoint. It is not really a Christian movie, though. It is a very well produced movie as could be expected from such an accomplished filmmaker. This is the fatal problem with Martin Scorcese’s film, Silence. ![]() Christian topics, themes, and setting mean nothing if the creators impose secular viewpoints on faith issues. But, if you want to tell a Christian story in a Christian film, it must be told through a God honoring worldview. Christians in every role are not required. They are actors, directors, and other film professionals faithfully telling a compelling story. Many of the quality faith based movies include artists who don’t follow Jesus. You don’t have to be Christian to be part of a great Christian movie. ![]()
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