Government and Morals Committee (Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster): The Blasphemy that is 'Jesus Christ Superstar'

Friday 4 November 2011

The Blasphemy that is 'Jesus Christ Superstar'

On the overwhelming majority of occasions, we welcome the presence of the name of the Lord Jesus Christ in the news. Not, however, when it is as ‘Jesus Christ, Superstar.’

Forty years on from its original release, there is still nothing to celebrate in this ‘rock opera’ that purports to represent the last seven days in the life of Christ.

A joint statement released by Andrew Lloyd Webber (composer of the music) and Tim Rice (author of the lyrics) states everything a Christian needs to know about their production:

“Basically the idea of the whole opera is to have Christ seen through the eyes of Judas, and Christ as a man, not as a god. And the fact that Christ himself is just as mixed up and unaware of exactly who he is, as Judas is.”

This statement positions the opera in a long line of historic assaults upon the wonderful person, life and work of God’s well beloved Son.

Through this vehicle of their creation, Rice and Webber present Jesus as a mere man, not God; as a mixed up man, who had little true idea as to who He was or what He had come to do; as a man surrounded by myth (“an awful lot happened in Christ’s life that could easily be legend”); and as an impure man, engaged in an illicit relationship with Mary Magdalene.

Each of these allegations is contrary to the biblical description of the Lord Jesus Christ – a calculated attack on One who is, “Holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens” (Hebrews 7:26).

Given the fact that other statements and suggestions that lie at the heart of ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ plumb even deeper depths of blasphemy, this opera is a seriously corrupt aberration and shameful misrepresentation of the Christian message. No Christian should have anything to do with it. And production theatres should consider that this idiom, characterised by such inaccuracy and blasphemy, is most inappropriate for teaching our current generation.

[ For further information, check the audio at:
http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=47051739 ]

This letter was carried by the 'Belfast Newsletter' on Monday, 7 November 2011:
http://www.newsletter.co.uk/community/letters/rock_opera_corrupts_christian_message_1_3222592

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