Christians tend to be gullible. They are so used to Hollywood and the other major media forces openly attacking them that when someone comes along with a film that treats a religious subject sympathetically they jump on the bandwagon. Thus many Christians were delighted with the film The Nativity Story. I am not going to say very much on the fundamental problem of all such artistic efforts but I will repeat a point I have made before in these commentaries: I reject (and I believe that all Christians should reject) every portrayal of the Lord Jesus Christ, whether as a baby or as a man, by any actor or artist. My reasoning is simple. Jesus Christ is God manifested in the flesh. This is the most fundamental doctrine of Christianity, as 1 Timothy 3:16 makes clear. Now the Bible is adamant that we are to make no physical representation of God. God Himself has banned it. Holy pictures, icons, statues, and images are outlawed by divine command. And the same goes for any stage portrayal of Christ. In fact this last could be the worst breach of God’s law on the matter of them all, for in it a depraved creature assumes that he can with some honesty and reality portray the actions and attitudes of the sinless Son of God. The thought of a drunken, swearing, licentious actor portraying the Holy One of Israel is terrible indeed. And yet many Christians condone it and flock to see their productions. Enough said.
Now to return to The Nativity Story. The part of the Virgin Mary is played by a 16 year-old up-and-coming Australian actress, Keisha Castle-Hughes. But producers ran into a problem. Castle-Hughes was pregnant out of wedlock as she played the part of the Virgin Mary. Evidently the father of her child is her boyfriend of three years (remember she is now only sixteen—perhaps police should be investigating him as a possible child molester). At once Hollywood’s spin doctors went to work. They were afraid that usually gullible Christians would be disgusted at the thought of a pregnant fornicator playing the part of the Virgin Mary and not go to see the movie. They were already counting their lost revenue. So they had to do something about it. Castle-Hughes was, according to them, to be admired because she put the life of her baby above her own blossoming career. She did not have an abortion. So while Christians may be disappointed in her pregnancy they should not be so judgmental as to boycott the movie.
Now let’s be clear. Castle-Hughes is to be commended for not going the abortion route. To add the murder of an unborn infant to her immorality would have made matters so much worse. And let it be clear that her sin is not the unpardonable sin. There is grace for her as there is for every sinner. The girl needs to be saved and the best thing Christians can do for her is to cry to God to have mercy on her. Christians cannot put the clock back for unwed mothers and therefore should extend to them the kindness and grace that the Lord has extended to them.
But can you imagine a bigger slap in the face to the memory of the Virgin Mary than to cast a pregnant teen to play her? Yet, many Christians were determined to be gullible or “not too judgmental.” Quite simply, they wanted to go to the movie. Sorry, Mary! This is, after all, what media critic Bernie Goldberg called “The United States of Entertainment” where Hollywood profits trump holy purity any day.
—Dr. Alan Cairns, Teen Fornicator Acts the Virgin Mary in The Nativity Story
Also see "No Graven Images" A Sermon By Dr. Alan Cairns
