Fr. Barron comments on "The Book of Eli" (SPOILERS)

[Eastwoodisboss]

I'm a wiered Christion. I love The Exorcist and stuuf like that lol

[TheBook0fEli]

The Book Of Eli is a great Movie! You atheists can cry all you want. watch it for what it is and enjoy it, if not, go be a nuisance somewhere else!

[MzShaybutta]

I really love some of your videos, I was baptized catholic and went to catholic schools for the majority of my life. Although I'm falling into that new Age bull crap, (which is eating away at my soul slowly) a person with no beliefs has no passion, what it is for me is I MISS GOD!! Where did he go? How do I find him again? It's painful, it's like a void. I really don't care about the politics of the church, what I miss more than anything is inspiration and a feeling that goodness is REAL!

[Audioepics]

@MzShaybutta Wow, that's refreshingly honest. I thought Youtube comments were all about claiming the moral highground and/or bullying people with different opinions. Your post is amazingly humble and open. Just wanted you to know that. Btw: I hear what you're saying...

[MzShaybutta]

@Audioepics -Thank you, and I truly mean it. My soul is weary, I've been filled before with the pressence of our lord. I KNOW that's real, but it's been a long time. What I want from our priest, pastors, whoever is the way to bring him back....Once you're touched by the creators glory, it's hard to live in a world where to say you believe in him is looked down on as stupidity, or being naive.

[aikighost]

I enjoyed this movie a lot but its thesis that the bible as an entity itself is a template for the re-civilising of the broken world is extremely flawed.

[OMGITSDRJESUS]

God doesn't exist, and christianity is a joke.

[wordonfirevideo]

@OMGITSDRJESUS Thanks for that searching and articulate argument--so typical, sadly, of the "new" atheism.

[OMGITSDRJESUS]

@wordonfirevideo Wasn't meant to be articulate.. Sadly i cannot say the same to you due to the fact that, you've done what i just did for centuries, theirs nothing new about it..

[wordonfirevideo]

@OMGITSDRJESUS So let me get this straight: you're writing for a public forum and you didn't mean to be articulate. Well, congratulations; you succeeded!

[Eastwoodisboss]

@OMGITSDRJESUS proove that

[OMGITSDRJESUS]

@Eastwoodisboss ok.

[MontChevalier]

Father, I continue to disagree with you on several counts. There is no such thing as "The Dark Ages". Why even the more pro-muslim biased writer, David Nicolle admits that. What happened wasn't a "Dark Age" but rather, a rebirth of civilization. Germans are known for being the people that revived the Roman Empire, but they are also the ones known for making it a Holy Roman Empire. Although the tribe that did so was the Franks, they were germanic.

[dmitriymazur]

People who helped build our modern civilization were mostly the ones who were hunted by the church like Galileo, and Copernicus. People who challenged the established order gave us the Enlightenment. People like Thomas Aquinas and St Agustine gave us the Inquisition. Church wasn't the light - it was the source of terror. Don't forget all the religious wars and the Crusades.

[wordonfirevideo]

@dmitriymazur Friend, I'm sorry, but that is such a simplistic account!  Where do you think Galileo and Copernicus learned their astronomy and mathematics? In church-sponsored universities. And to reduce Thomas Aquinas and Augustine--two of the most profound intellectuals in western history--to the Inquisition! Come on. Thomas dialogued with Jews, Muslims, pagans, Christian heretics, etc, etc. And don't forget that modernity gave us the Holocaust, Hiroshima, Hitler, Stalin, and Mao.

[SamuraiQuester]

@wordonfirevideo And ,if I am not mistaken, Copernicus was funded by the Roman Catholic Church, as well. Also, The Inquisition - horrific as it was - was more of a money-making scheme for the Spanish monarchy than an instrument of The Church.

[worldofdraculas]

@dmitriymazur Galileo got in trouble because he basically gave the finger to the pope. The church was not anti-science, or even anti-heliocentric. In fact, the reason Galileo conflicted with them was because he had no proof of it.

And the Crusades were a response to 400 years of Muslim conquest.

[irishgal2002697]

@dmitriymazur eveything you said was histroically inaccurate. congratulations. btw. galileo was Catholic.

[dmitriymazur]

I wouldn't give christianity all the credit for preserving western civilization. In the dark ages monks were the only people who were educated enough to read ancient texts because the Bible was written in greek and then translated into latin. It wasn't translated into vernacular language until 16 or 17 centuries. Church wasn't the "light" - it was part of the established order that perpetuated ignorance and intolerance. It was the official dogma.

[jaumesisa100]

What a ridiculous movie. Leaving aside the quality of the story (the bad guy is so bad the good guy is so good) I can't find a more useless book to be saved than the bible. Only a blind thinker can find this movie has "moral truths". I don't think the catholic church is in a position right now to give moral lessons to anyone.

[wordonfirevideo]

@jaumesisa100 So a tiny handful of Catholics behave badly and suddenly the "church" has no moral credibility. Because some Americans do wicked things, American values have lost their luster?

[jaumesisa100]

@wordonfirevideo I agree that only a tiny handful of catholics were involved (I would label that in stronger words that simpley "bad"). But the reality is that the hierarchy of the church to which you belong (up to the Pope himself) commited a crime (one of the worst) while MANY others watched somewhere else. And then the pope goes to UK and in his discourse says that the origin of all evil is due to atheists. Sorry, but I am offended by that,

[jaumesisa100]

Respond to this video...

 And again, some books on vaccines, basic health care, human rights, ethics and family/social stuff would be much more useful that any religious bunch of texts written by a bunch of people and lacking real historical value. You seem to me a very intelligent person. I cannot believe you support the idea that God inspired that.

[OoohReally1]

amazing commentary.... indeed, people really tend to overlook the FACT that the Catholic Church held together western civilization after the collapse of the Roman Empire.

[cupwnd]

@Loudmouf84 not only the crusades but religion has caused so much pain and grief and don't come and change the meaning of religion, what i mean by religion is what christians refer to as FAITH in the teachings of the judeo-christian monotheism.... Proud Atheist my friends... other then that how is it possible this video has only 7000 views in months? I uploaded a video 2 days ago and have 1000 hits already.... hahaha

[Loudmouf84]

@cupwnd No, Christianity has not caused a single war as far as Nation against Nation, nor has Faith as you say. Wars have been fought because of hate, racism, greed, power, and Money, period. I am sick of people like you who blame "religion" for hate and war. Just as the Quran is not responsible for radical muslims, the Bible is not responsible for the crusades or anything else. And if people followed the word of God, the sermon on the mount being a prime example, then there'd be complete peace

[cupwnd]

@Loudmouf84 You clearly are either misinformed or live on another planet then the one I live on because on the planet I live on religious biggots constantly hinder the development of civilization and ahhh the bible has caused wars and persecution from its beginnings and I mean even before it was compiled by the Roman Catholic church, i mean when even when i was still in oral form... ahhh guess what the Crusades were?

[mespo727272]

I see great irony in the fact that monks preserved classical knowledge and philosophy which led directly to the Enlightenment which in turn led to intellectual questioning of the Church's authority and its teachings and ultimately the first stirrings of liberty. Hume said it best: "In all ages of the world, priests have been enemies of liberty." The circle thus being completed and proof shown once again that no good deed goes unpunished, or, perhaps more aptly, to be careful what you wish for.

[cristianfcao]

Wow that sounded like the stupidest Hollywood movie in a really long time.

[cupwnd]

In that movie wasn't religion what caused the war??? I recall him explaining it in the movie...

[Loudmouf84]

@cupwnd NO!! That is not what caused the war. In the movie, he says, "Some said this is the whole reason for the war in the first place." Key words "Some said." Doesn't mean it was the reason, and I guarantee you the Bible has never started a single war ever. The cause for wars have been because of the greed and hate of men, and the pursuit of power. The Bible speaks to these things, and if you understand the Bible, then you understand it's instruction to us on how to treat and love one another.

[HarfangX]

At the same time that it preserved books, the church did have organised libricide and did maintain the Index Librorum Prohibitorum that banned books, and States enforced the bans, limited who could print and even had "illegal" printers executed...

This is pure speculation but seeing how rich the classical period was in some scientific aspects, like mathematics, one could wonder what those monasteries elected not to preserve... like why do we see so little in the field of biology from that era

[chesterton101]

Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa­aaa

[chesterton101]

You people are so ignorant and stupid it's hilarious reading your posts. Just a word to the wise I'm catholic and proud and there are many like me. So you better watch your mouth in public about Christ and his church, like Jesus in the temple with the money changers, I don't play that disrespect to God game Ohhh and good video by the way. To whoever uploaded this

[jaumesisa100]

I cannot imagine a more useless thing to be saved after an apocalyptic scenario than some religious book. I am not saying that they all deserve to burn, but I can think in many relevant books to help humankind. It's ridiculous.

[ryanmactattoo]

I think the Celtic Rebel has explained this movie and almost every movie HolyWood excretes. The "Go West" theme is rich in The Book of Eli. This chap the Celtic Rebel is not a believer although I think he once was. Still, this has nothing to do with whether or not it is true that he has decoded much of HolyWood in his video, "Don't Go West."

Father, I appreciate your videos and I have already learned much, and as far as the reason Eli goes West, it is not a good one!

Ave Maria!

[BadaBingBadaBoom012]

I finally came around to see the movie and was not disappointed, it was a great movie.

[theheatofthemoment]

Why do Christians treat Eli's mission to save the bible as a good thing? If you watch the film they make it clear that the bible was the reason for the apocalyptic war in the first place. Carnegie causes a LOT of destruction over just ONE bible. Why would Eli want more to exist?

[sphynxalive]

@seriouslymatsteele I have influenced your decision to take the life of an innocent human being?? Well it's easy now to understand why you so easlity accept the belief that there is no God. Atheism appears to be for weak minded folk who a scared to trust in someone they don't fully understand nor wish to follow.

[seriouslymatsteele]

It's funny that the weak minded person is someone who doesn't accept a belief in something for which there is no evidence, ie. god. The strong minded person, such as yourself, is the one who believes that an old collection of writings and poems is true because it says it is. It's above all other books because it says it is. It's the word of god because people before us believed it to be. Whatever your reason for belief, it is an illogical one. Your ignorant attack on atheists is comical to me.

[sphynxalive]

Great analysis as usual Fr. Barron. Looking forward to hearing others.

[savagehenry1234]

hey guys take a pill or something, you guys shouldn't take too much meaning in a "Hollywood" movie, never rely on anyone else to define the God or anything of the sort especially when budgets and profits are at stake. I liked it, but it was still very formulaic as the plots, characters and religious undertones have been seen before. Always observe from afar, and never trust the profit hungry mainstream media to resolve any questions but to only foster conflict in order to improve their margins.

[WizArdOZfan42]

what bothers me is the particular version of the bible and that the church is dead ....this to me is offensive

[ElvisRockatansky]

@WizArdOZfan42 I noticed that too. And notice that the bad guy wanted to use it to control people, but Eli was basically good from just reading it on his own. So church = bad, bible alone = good. It was sort of an Evangelical answer to "A Canticle for Leibowitz" or something.

[GhostSnake]

You should comment on Cool Hand Luke

[TKDLime88]

@paraisoat In Eli's defense, I can see his decision not to help the woman in one of two ways. First, it could be logically entertained that, since Eli was high up on a broken overpass, he couldn't have gotten to them in time to do anything. It looked like it would have taken a couple minutes just to run down there carefully enough not to get hurt. Another explanation could just be that he's...well, a fallen human-being. I think Eli still demonstrates enough virtue to be considered a hero.

[paraisoat]

Father, the movie was pretty bad... Eli had the Word but did not help the woman who was being hurt. I think the Hughes brothers have perverted the meaning of the Apocalypse. As Catholics we know that not only do we have scripture, but we also have 'works'. Thank you for reminding the world that it was the CATHOLIC monks who preserved the Bible. Most protestants do not realize that.. It is a part of faith and tradition, but never in the BIble does it say 'sola scriptura'. God bless you.

[wordonfirevideo]

@paraisoat I agree with you: it was no "Godfather." And it certainly doesn't present the fullness of truth in regard to the Apocalypse. But during a depressingly secularist period, don't you think we should emphasize whatever good we can find?

[Nemesis000000]

@paraisoat

Eli admits to this at the end, he says he was so obsessed with protecting "the word" that he forgot to follow it. The movie isn't meant to portray Eli as a saint.

[ZoneTelevision]

@paraisoat Please.. You might want to brush up on your history there. It was Rome that hijacked the Christian faith (by constantine 325 a.d. at Nicea.) ALso read Eusebius a few sects fled to Western Europe to escape the Churchs control. It was about this time that the Dark Ages ensued. it wasn't until the 1200's AD that the Priest Wycliffe went against the Church to give the Bible to the common man. The Church excommunicated him, exumed his body 40yrs later and burned it.......

[ZoneTelevision]

@paraisoat ... 'works' ? hardly, Christian healing which was practiced up until about the 2nd century A.D. and virtually disappeared after the church took over. Also lets not forget the man William Tyndale whom the church hunted like a dog for printing the Bible in English and after finding him threw him in jail then burned him alive. This was known as the period of reformation and enlightenment given to us by the Protestants NOT the church Laughing about factual inaccuracies ?? .. I am.

[vonVince]

@paraisoat I will have to disagree with you about one thing: it was not the CATHOLIC monks who preserved the Bible (among countless other writings), but Christian monks in general. When Western Europe was in the grip of the Dark Ages following the end of Roman rule there, it was Constantinople; seat of the remaining Roman Empire and Christianity in the East, that played a central role in preserving knowledge. Our knowledge of the Bible would be very different without Constantinople.

[TheRemainingFaithful]

@paraisoat Actually Eli realizes that was the biggest mistake he made when he was in the car with Solara. It shows a good example of how christiansget so tied with protecting their views, they forget a very big command Jesus gave us which is to do good for others. I think Eli was meant to be an example of this to warn other christian not to make the same mistake he did.

[blonddoctor]

Thank you Father, again you have brought the culture home. Thank you and God Bless.

[havock89]

Awesome review Father Barron. Please speak more on how the church rebuilt western civilisation. If we christians do not tell our story, islam will eventually rewrite history and claim it for themselves.

[crossofwar]

I thank the Lord for you Fr. Barron and I thank you for your videos...always a breath of fresh air as from a mountain top

[Nzie]

wow, I thought this movie sounded really interesting but now I'll have to find a way to see it-- wonderful review, Father! Thanks.

[SmokiSounds]

Good analysis, and good info about Dark Ages. Thank you Father! God bless you.

[MGR1900]

Great movie. Great review.

[vint7107]

5/5!

[prax70]

I thought people in the Byzantine Empire and those in the Dar-al Islam preserved classical literature that made it's way into Medieval Europe???

[Billhawk74]

@prax70 Certainly some, but definately not all.

[CarcharodonMeg]

I think Billhawk74 is correct.

What's more, I believe the Koran which is visible near the Bible at the end of the film can be interpreted as giving credit to those elements in the Muslim world which have, at one time or another, worked to preserve those elements. In other words, although the Bible is the centerpiece, as the movie holds, there are others who deserve credit to some extent.

[havock89]

@prax70 I know mullars and Rajs offered bags of gold to anyone who could bring them ancient texts. The muslim warlods knew enough to know that knowledge was power. They did not save these things for humanity, only for the benefit of mohammedians.

[CarcharodonMeg]

I don't believe I've ever been taught about Christianity's role in preserving Western civilization in any great detail.

Leave it to our secularized institutions to make omissions like that, I suppose.

[leakim26]

That is so true! the only thing I hear all the time is how Christianity (specifically the CC) lead to the killing of hundreds and thousands of people. And if you do mention how the Western Civilation benefited from the Church they shoot back with such venom about it being a lie! It's just so mindboggling how people just ABHORE the faith!

[seriouslymatsteele]

@leakim26 Wait... so you are aware that the Catholic Church and Christianity is responsible for the killing of hundreds and thousands of people and you don't understand why people abhor this faith? Don't be silly. You know exactly why people hate this religion.

[leakim26]

@seriouslymatsteele my being stunned at the abhorence of the faith does not equate 'literally' to my failing to understand. Do people hate all Germans just because of the mass genocide they were involved with in the past? One reason I believe people hate the Catholic Church because it speaks 'THE TRUTH' and sometimes people don't like hearing THE TRUTH. People have this tendency to say "it's my life I'll do what I want and who are you to tell me what to do" This mentality just leads to chaos.

[sphynxalive]

@leakim26 Exactly right. This world we live in today subscribes to the Crowleyan belief in "Do what you want".

[sphynxalive]

@seriouslymatsteele Men are responsible for the killing of hundreds and thousands and millions of human beings. Catholics, Hindus, Muslims, Atheists and people of all religous and cultural persuasions have been killing for millenia. More than 5 Million unborn humans and countless other grown people have died at the hands of atheists. Why are people still subscribing to that movment?

[seriouslymatsteele]

@sphynxalive A. Nobody's been motivated by their atheism to kill someone, it's logically impossible. B. It's not about who has killed more people throughout the history of man, it's about who is killing people right now! C. Atheism is not a movement, it's an answer to the question, "do you believe in god?"

[sphynxalive]

@seriouslymatsteele A. Yes Hitler, Mao, and countless others (some "claiming" to be Christians to gain trust) did not believe in any god. B. Which Christians are killing people today? In Sudan, India and China hundreds of Christians are being killed and many more mutilated because fo their beliefs. C. Yes it is a movement. If if was a simple answer then atheists would not all share the same "beliefs" and worldviews.

[sphynxalive]

@seriouslymatsteele I looked forward to a cliched atheistic response from you when I get back from my trip on Sunday :) God bless you.

[sphynxalive]

@seriouslymatsteele Oh ... one more thing to add to your point A. Many people who have advocated for abortion and are still doing so do so because they believe that they are not answerable to God for it as they believe He does not exist.  Margaret Sangar is an example as she has rationalized, for the weak in mind and faith, the killing of the innocent unborn.

[shedininja001]

wow.

[jesseakers]

been waiting on this one since the day i saw the movie-thanks for listening to requests---now the earth was without form and void (as the whole of humanity is without God) and the spirit of God moved upon the waters-- the waters being the whole of humanity-- The Book of Eli reminded me to take seriously my lack of gratitude for all that I had- and to always give thanks- remember my Creator in the days of my youth-before calamity comes- man shall not live by bread alone...