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A Cultural Analysis Of The Judgment Day

Essay, Research Paper


A Cultural Analysis of the Judgment Day


?Judgment Day” is a term popularized by Christ and his followers. This term refers


to a time during Christ’s Second Coming when Christ will judge all men. Therefore, many


modern artists look into the Bible and come up with exotic ideas to explain the message in


terms that can be understood by people that may not have had that much contact with the


Bible. One idea that was taken from the Bible was the ?Judgment Day?. This will be a day


when Christ will return and judge all man. This idea was introduced in a movie called


Terminator2. This cultural introduction to the world was taken up by Christians through


out the world writing chapters and books about this cultural event.


He said he?d be back! Arnold Schwarzenegger returns as the Terminator model


800. His mission is to protect John Connor, the boy destined to lead the freedom fighters


of the future. In other words, John Connor sends a Terminator to protect him self about


ten years into the past. But there is a problem, a master computer also sends a Terminator


called the T-1000. The Terminator 1000 has a mission that is quite opposites from the


Terminator that is to protect John Connor, and this Terminator is also the most lethal


machine ever created. This Terminator has a mission to destroy John Connor. Why? to


prevent the freedom fighter from ever occurring in the future. The Terminator 800 also


has an ally, and her name is Sarah Connor, John?s mother. Linda Hamilton costars,


reprising her role as the quintessential survivor, a woman warrior whose warnings go


unheeded by a world careening toward a nuclear holocaust she knows is inevitable.


The movie beginnings with the two Terminators arriving from the future in a time


travel format. There next test is to find clothing and transporting measures so that they can


find John Connor. The first to find him will determine the future as fatal or saved. The first


encounter with the two Terminators is in the back hall ways of a mall where the two


Terminator have a dual to for the boy. The Terminator 1000 being a better combat build


model, manages to keep the other Terminator 800 from saving the boy. But in the middle


of the dual, the boy escapes out of the Terminator 1000?s site only for a while. The chase


is on to see who will get their hands on John Connor first. In the last second during a high


speed chase, in which John Connor is on a small motor bike and the Terminator 1000 in a


semi-truck about to drive over the kid, the Terminator 800 manages to save the kid from


an almost death situation. For now all is fine, the Terminator 800 explains him self to John


Connor, that is where he is from and what is mission is. The next task is to save John


Connor?s mother, Sarah Connor. But the Terminator 1000 is all to smart. It for sees the


Terminator 800?s goal, and arrived at the metal hospital where Sarah Connor is kept first.


In another close to death chase, the Terminator 800 manages to save John Connor and


Sarah Connor from the hands of the Terminator 1000. For now the three are save, until


they learn who?s fault is will be for the three million deaths in the near future. Sarah is


committed to put an end to the project that is being worked on by a certain scientist. This


scientist will develop a computer chip that will learn everything about the world and


become functional on its own. In a high intense action moment, the Terminator 800 and


Sarah Connor destroy the building in which the development took place. But the


Terminator 1000 has not completed his mission, because John Connor is still alive. Sarah


drives the Terminator 1000 into a factory in which metal is melted and manages to put an


end to the Terminator 1000 by melting him in a lava of metal


Christians of different denominations have learned to translate this movie into a


Biblical format point of view. One Christian named Hanry Howard has developed his own


web page with his translated version of the movie into a Christian understanding. He


believes that Sarah is a prophet, in the same vein as Isaiah, Elijah, or Jonah, but more in


the spirit of a Baptist preacher. She fully believes that the Judgment Day is approaching.


John is ?everyman?. He is born into a world of rampant evil and inherits a rebellious


nature. It is only through the intervention of the T-800 that John matures. Moreover,


John’s salvation comes through the T-800. The T-800 (for the purposes of this allegory) is


Christ. He not only protects both Sarah and John throughout the drama, but he sacrifices


his existence for their sake. The T-1000 is the Devil. He brings death and destruction to


everything in his path. He is crafty and can change form in order to deceive.


The Evidence. Throughout Jewish, that is Christian, tradition, we find prophets. Likewise,


many modern day Christians find the fire and brimstone message of evangelists prophetic.


It is claimed that the presentation of Sarah incorporates both Jewish tradition and modern


perception. The idea of original sin can be found in the works of many past and present


theologians. This means that the sinful state is inherited and unavoidable for human beings.


It is thought that John is presented in a similar light, namely rebellious by circumstance.


Consider his background. He is a foster child whose mother taught him to steal. One can


see the film scene where he gets money from the ATM. This seems to imply that John is


?everyman?, born into sin. There are several similarities between the T-800 and Christ:


Both sacrificed their lives, though innocent, for the sake of humanity. When the naked


T-800 first enters the bar, he is stabbed in the chest. Look at any painting of Christ on the


cross and compare it to the T-800 as he enters the kitchen of the bar. The wound Christ


receives in John 19:34 looks remarkably similar, in any painting, to theT-800’s wound.


Note – the T-800’s wound is in a different place than where he was stabbed, watch closely!


It would seem the creators went out of their way for this symbol. Thomas doubted that


Christ had been resurrected. He put his finger in the nail holes in Christ’s hands (John


20:24-27). Consider the scene after Sarah, John, and the T-800 flee the mental institute.


John puts his finger in the bullet holes! As Sarah watches the T-800 slap five with John in


the desert, she has a mental soliloquy about the faithfulness of the T-800. Sarah notes that


the T-800 is better than any earthly father. Now check out Hebrews 3:6 (there are many


others). A second coming is important for both (Hanry Howard 149).


There are also several similarities between the T-1000 and the Devil:


The Devil is thought to change form. In Christian tradition Satan takes the form of a


serpent and he is called the beast. Also, look at 2 Corinthians 11:14. Clearly, just as the


T-1000’s main asset is his ability to change form, so is it Satan’s. The T-1000 desires death


for John (i.e.. ?everyman?). Likewise, Satan desires death for all men according to


Christian tradition. Look at Revelation 19:20. We see that the Devil will be thrown alive


into

a lake of fire. Now consider how the T-1000 dies. This alternate theory hinges on the


fact that John is the savior of humanity (though not through death). Consequently, Sarah


would be the Virgin Mary. This would then explain the mysterious nature of Sarah’s


impregnation since John’s father corresponds to the Holy Spirit (Genesis, Revelation).


R.C. Sproul has a lot to say about judgment day. In one of his books, called ?Now,


That?s a Good Question!? he points out that Christians could be the victims of judgment


day. A Christians should realize that there might be all sorts of possibilities for a Christian


to become victim of suffering during the tribulation or by different sorts of trials, or by a


person?s unrighteous behavior. Recall the scientist in the movie Terminator2, and his


abscission in building the chip. We might ask God why he allows us to be the victim of


someone else?s unkindness. God puts us to many tests to see if we have faith in him. This


makes us victims of another attack by Satan, but we have to remember that God is


sovereign over all of those things. Recall the scientist being the victim of Sarah Connor?s


violent behavior when she shot him in the shoulder during her unexplained, violent act in


his house. A Christian therefore, should take this as an test of Satan?s attack to turn away


from the good. Sarah Connor keep her faith and does not finish the scientist off even


though she could. Sproul challenges us to ask the question of whether or not God is


turning to tell us something in order to correct our behavior. Therefore, we should loyalty


to God when things happen to us (R.C. Sproul 99).


Recall in the movie Terminator2 a shocking dream Sarah Connor has which shows


a city being devoured by a wall of fire in which three million people die in not entirely a


minute. Sproul asks whether or not the Scriptures say that during the last days the earth


will be destroyed or that God will regenerate the substance that already exists here? One


thing is certain, while the judgment will come to all men, the expression of God?s wrath


upon the earth will not involve the total annihilation of this planet. John has a vision where


he is looking at a new heaven and a new earth, meaning that God will renovate it.


Christians such as Sproul look at judgment day as a purification process rather a


destructive process. A process in which the old will be renewed, restored, and brought


back to life (R.C. Sproul 100)


We have to agree that the format in which judgment day was explained and in


Terminator 2 was easy to understand. After all, we understand the concept of a nuclear


bomb and its capability. That is what the wall of fire was cause by, a nuclear bomb.


Therefore in the movie. The Bible teaches us that we will be judged by the same measures


by which we judge others. The indication is that Judgment Day will cause a massive


destruction after all? Jesus says in the New Testament that whatever form of judgment we


give is what we can expect to receive. Mr. Sproul finds an answer that soothes the thought


of pain. If we find our selves in a situation in which we are aware of the cause and harm of


others, and we do it any ways, the ?just Judge? or better known as God will give us a


more hurtful judgment. If we find our selves in a situation where we do not know the


cause, and the effect will become tragic, the ?just Judge? will recognize our mistake.


Therefore, we have to ask our selves, did we allow the nuclear bomb to be created


because we didn?t know better, or was it created for specific purposes (Sproul 132)?


As Christians in the world we should exposes our selves to everything, because


through exposure we can learn how to be better Christians, and what we have to do in


order to get closer to our saver. Almost all Christians would agree that the movie


Terminator 2 is not the best movie to watch as a Christian, because of all the violence and


bad language. The movie also communicates a lot a sin to the world, because it says that


bad language is fine to use, that going out of the law to save other humans will a positive


adittude to have. But with the right maturity and purpose, a Christian can learn a lot from


a movie like the Terminator 2. The movie teaches the viewer how evil the world really is


and it does not only fantasies these things, but it also reveilles the basic structure of crime


that really does happen in our world. When Sarah Connar goes to kill the scientist, it is not


the fact the people kill other people for the same purposes in the world, but just basic


nature of killing is a sin. Therefore, no one should kill (Hunt 78).


Humanity is also considered as a threat in this movie. The entire movie is based on


the near extinction of humanity, and the way the movie brings across the message of


humanity is that humans are unaware of the coming of the end. Dave Hunt is an author of


?Global Peace? and he talks about the prophetic message coming across from some


researchers these days. he simply says that many people have prophesied the end, and even


as early as the apostles, people have known that we are living in the end of times. So it is


only expected that the nearer we approach the year 2000 the more talk there will be


concerning the end of the world, the second coming, and the dawning of a new age of


peace and plenty, since not everyone expects God?s judgment.


The movie Terminator 2 deals with the wrong morals to those that will develop


any morals by watching the movie. The movie Terminator 2 deal with the fact that


everyone wants world peace and will do anything to keep peace going. One of the


extremes the movie goes into is kill for peace. Normally the two would contradict each


other because if one wants peace then killing is not the best way of arriving at peace. The


movie does not deal with moral in the right ways, because it also teaches that future can


be changed. According to the Bible, in Revelation 1:8 it says that God is the beginning and


the end. He sovereignty rules over all human history. But in the movie, Sarah Connor, her


son, and the Terminator 800 are trying to change the future by first killing the scientist so


that the end will not come. As Christians, we have some what different morals then


non-Christians have. Therefore, we will view this movie differently then non-Christian


would whether we like it or not. It is therefore very important to realize that God tells us


not only to look into the Bible for answers, but in addition we should also look into the


nature to find what God has revealed to us (Lindsey 78)


One idea that was taken from the Bible was the ?Judgment Day?. This will be a


day when Christ will return and judge all man. Throughout history men tried to predict the


day He will come back but no one has done it yet. In order to keep people informed of


such an event, many have gone out to explain this upcoming event to those that may not


know so much about it. Terminator 2 was one of the best ways of explaining this event


using a different approach to it so that all come watch the movie and think about such a


possibility in the future.

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