Faith Like Potatoes, or Biblical Faith?
It is highly significant that in the book, Angus Buchan himself makes it clear that he was uncertain whether the woman was merely unconscious, or truly dead. He relates how lightning struck the hut where some women were sleeping, and all had recovered except one, whom they had left lying in the hut, covered by a blanket. They were all shouting and screaming, and they said to him, “She is dead.” He went into the hut, which was dark and smoky, and he could see very little at first. He writes, “I had no idea whether the woman was dead or unconscious, but I acted in raw faith, in fear and trembling. I laid my hands on her, closed my eyes and prayed” (pg. 45). He then felt he should lift her up, so he did so and she remained standing. He told her to lift up her hands to God, and she did so.
Note that there was no verification that she was truly dead. The women were highly emotional, shouting, screaming, sure she was dead. They had just come from a hut which lightning had struck, and this was a very natural reaction! Their friend was not moving, so they assumed she was dead. No one can blame them for thinking it, but there was no solid evidence. Angus Buchan could not see well inside the dark and smoky hut, and by his own admission he had no idea whether she was dead or merely unconscious! Why, then, must we believe that she was dead? Why should anyone? We only have the word of some hysterical women, who had just emerged in terror from a dark hut which had just been struck by lightning.
This same reviewer, so enthusiastic in her praise for the supposed “miracle” of raising someone to life, in the very next paragraph makes a most telling admission: “While the heart of the Gospel, that man is a sinner and can only be changed because of Christ’s redeeming work on the cross, is neglected, the message that God can transform lives comes through clearly in the film.”
Apart from any other consideration, then, how can this be a truly Christian film if the heart of the Gospel is neglected? I am not for a moment saying that the Pentecostal “gospel” is the true Gospel of Christ. It most certainly is not. It is an Arminian, “God loves you”, “God loves everyone”, “just believe in Jesus” message that is totally unbiblical. But the point is this: this movie claims to be a movie about a Pentecostal evangelist, and even within Pentecostalism there is at times a very watered-down, shallow presentation of some fundamental aspects of the Gospel (there is some truth in other words, but nothing like the whole truth); and therefore one would expect the movie to at least present this. But apparently, according to this reviewer who is very much in favour of the movie, even this is neglected!
Or perhaps, the Pentecostal/Charismatic “gospel” is itself so watered down these days, that this movie will actually be accepted, by Pentecostals and Charismatics, as indeed presenting their “gospel”!
One is left with the strong suspicion that the film’s makers knew that too “strong” a message would simply not draw the crowds, and thus not make money, to the extent that a more ambiguous message would do. This is why it is so often described merely as an “inspiring story of faith and perseverance.” One has to ask: if Angus Buchan truly is an evangelist of Christ, why would the very heart of the Gospel of Christ be omitted from a movie about his life?
The suspicion grows stronger when one reads the comments of Frank Rautenbach, the actor who plays the part of Angus Buchan and who had previously starred in a South African soap opera. He said: “It was of paramount importance to me that we should make a real movie and not a ‘religious’ one…. the most attractive thing to me about this role was the message of hope that the movie brings. Hope in spite of the difficulties of life.”
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