From: ralthoff@s.psych.uiuc.edu (Rob Althoff)
Subject: Re: Jesus Christ Superstar
Organization: Dept. of Psychology, Univ. of Illinois, Urbana
Date: Wed, 16 Dec 1992 02:25:44 GMT

In article <1gii6sINN5l7@coral.bucknell.edu> whelan@coral.bucknell.edu
(The Blue Adept) writes: 
>Hi Everybody,
>
>	I jsut wanted to bring up a topic that was of interest to me and
>see what everyone else thought.  I am (as I write) listening to Andrew
>Lloyd Weber's Jesus Christ Superstar, the rock opera.  I started listening to
>it before I became a Christian 14 months ago, and I have gotten to love
>the music.
>	The lyrics,however, I don't think are completely accurate.  Tim
>Rice, who I think was the gut who wrote the lyrics, took some liberties
>with scripture and so I don't think that it is completely edifying to God.
>	However, when I saw the musical performed at a church, it was done very
>well, and I saw the message of Christ's resurrection touch many people.
>
>	My question is this:  Is it wrong to listen to this musical, even if
>it can touch people?  Is the musical wrong?  
>
>Any thoughts would be appreciated, over the net, or to me personally.



I have some opinions on this particular topic since it was in part due
to this musical that I came to become a Christian.  

We put on this show at Green Pastures Christian Campground in Merodosia,
IL (ever been there?  you should go!) about 6 years ago.  At the time I
did not particularly believe in God.  I also did not believe in the
divinity of Christ because I could not figure out why God would have
sent His Son for us.  I did not think, according to the accounts that I
had gotten as a child, that God coming down to earth made any sense.
This is because all that I had been taught (or at least all that I had
learned) at church was that God came to earth as Jesus and He was pretty
much the same on earth as He was in heaven (holy, just, righteous,
Godly).  I'm sure, in fact that He was all of these things.  But (and
more importantly to me) He became a man.  For me, this means that He
completely understands what I go through.  He understands pain, and
loss, and hunger, and temptation -- all those things that I deal with on
a day to day basis.  This understanding is what I really missed out on
up until the time that I had the chance to be in this opera.

My best friend had the lead in the show.  I cannot tell you what an
impression it made upon me to see my friend whipped, beaten, and
crucified.  It made me understand what Jesus really went through.  Every
part of the opera made me understand that Jesus was a man, could relate
to me on my level and could understand me on that level in a way in
which no God who merely resided in heaven could.  It was at the point
that I made the connection of God AND MAN that I was able understand and
accept that there is a God and that God became man and dwelt among us so
that He could understand and relate to us.  It was at that point that I
became a Christian.

So, yes, I think that the show can be used for the edification of God.
I also think that Jesus Christ Superstar is threatening for some
Christians that think that they have God all figured out and cannot
accept someone else's interpretation of who Jesus is.  In addition, many
churches and, sadly, many Christians would like to downplay the fact
that Jesus was a man.  They would like to "Godify" every aspect of His
life on earth.  Throughout the centuries we have even made His birth and
death into something pretty.  Quite frankly, I'm sure that being born in
a stable is not all that great.  We see it portrayed as something
beautiful and clean and precious.  Ever been in a stable?  It's not all
that beautiful.  It doesn't smell that great either.  How many times
have we seen pictures of the crucifiction and seen a perfect-looking
Christ (who is almost always Anglo-saxon, but that is another gripe)
looking up and dying.  I would bet that there are a good many more
pictures of a clean crucifiction than there are accurate portrayals of
what it was like---because that picture is too disgusting to put onto
canvas.

So many Christians would like to downplay the fact that Jesus was a man
and would like to pretend that He was just God who happened to be on
earth.  This is wrong.  God became man.  He went hungry.  He cried when
He was sad.  He got ticked off in the temple.  He was tempted.  He had
buddies and joked around with them.  I saw a TV movie a few years ago
where, in one part, it has the apostles all challenging Jesus to see
which of them could beat Him in wrestling.  This is the Jesus that I
believe in.  One that would laugh with me, wrestle with me, and be human
just as I am human. It is because of His humanity that He can also
adequately judge me.

That was a long-winded answer to a simple question.  Sorry.  Thanks for
bringing it up, Christopher.  Good question.

Rob
--
Rob Althoff
Neuroscience Program and College of Medicine
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
email to : ralthoff@s.psych.uiuc.edu
Newsgroups: rec.music.christian