Search - The Miracles of Jesus on DVD

Jesus' miracles are incredible!

01/29/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The first reviewer's intention is to defend the Gospel accounts of Jesus' miracles against skeptics and atheists -- which is a pious act by any Bible-believing Christian -- but he/she obviously never watched the DVD. I strongly suggest that you buy and watch this DVD, and you will know that the first reviewer is not being honest. (A dishonest Christian -- there's a paradox for you.) I have watched it and was surprised that the host, illusionist Mr. Brock, did NOT downplay Jesus' miracles and, in fact, defended them.

For example, regarding Jesus' multiplying a few pieces of bread and fish into thousands, Mr. Brock says that from past to present, there have always been illusionists who could multiply cards, handkerchiefs, eggs, balls, etc. to amaze their spectators, but these are only small objects and are not so plentious as to be easily hidden in the illusionists' sleeves or pockets. Mr. Brock says that Jesus could not have hidden thousands of bread and fish inside His clothes. Skeptics say that Jesus could have used hypnotism to make all His 5,000 listeners feel that they were full, but Mr. Brock says that, by practice, mass-hypnotism only has a 20% success rate.

As for Jesus' other miracles, Mr. Brock merely enumerates how skeptics have tried to rationalize them. But in the end, he debunks the skeptics' explanations with his own faith-based remark: "Yes, it is possible for modern-day magicians to imitate Jesus' miracles, but only by using high-tech equipment and advanced scientific knowledge -- all of which were unavailable during Jesus' time. How was Jesus able to perform them? Only someone with God's power can do such things!" A Christian's faith will be strengthened after watching the DVD. Mr. Brock is on our side!"

Who do you say Jesus Is?

Edward Keefe | Ankeny, IA USA | 03/05/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The single DVD, "The Miracles of Jesus," is a joint production of the BBC, the American Discovery Channel AND Jerusalem Productions.

The three part presentation was produced in 2006 and aired on the BBC 1 channel and the Discovery Channel in that year. The film was rebroadcast in 2007 in the UK.

My Internet acquaintances from the UK started chatting about the show online and I got interested in the movie. I ordered the BBC1 version of the film and then got the American version for comparitive purposes.

In the BBC1 version, the presenter is a well known British journalist by the name of Rageh Omaar, a Muslim and a person of color. According to my British acquaintances, Rageh Omar is widely respected for his reporting on mid-eastern events for the BBC.

The Americanized version of the show substitutes a young, blonde Christian, street magician/entertainer as the narrator of the film. Brock Gill is cast in the role of an "investigative reporter" who asks the question "could these miracles have been produced by magic, hypnosis, etc.

The final outcome of the "investigation" is that Jesus did NOT use magic to perform ANY of his miracles. Students of logic would tell you that the conclusions of ONE person, is not PROOF of much of anything. When the "expert" in magic is not a well-known practitioner of the craft, the proof-value of his findings are less than ideal.

Brock Gill, the magician and narrator, has his own web site and can present his credentials as a STUDENT of the miracles of Jesus. SEE: http://www.brockgill.com He does not profess to be an authority on Scripture or theology. For the purpose of this film, he is merely an "investigator". He tries to come across as a skeptic but a quick look at his Web site shows that he is a believer.

Personally, I prefer the BBC version of the film to the American version. The BBC version is more low-key. The "magic" interludes, in the American version, overwhelm the viewer almost to the point of distraction. However, sad to say, to view the BBC version, you'll need to order the three DVD set from the BBC-store and then find an American DVD player that can handle the PAL formatted discs. The BBC store does not sell an NTSC formatted set of discs for this production.

Once you get beyond the "gee-whiz" aspect of the American version of the film, and look for the real message, hopefully you'll find it.

The underlying message of the film is an answer to the question: "Who did/do people say that Jesus WAS and IS?"

The FIRST film uses the miracles of Jesus such as raising the dead, walking on water and multiplying food in the wilderness to show how some of Jesus's contemporaries came to see Him as a "reincarnation" of an Old Testament figure, e.g., Moses, Joshua, Elijah. They viewed Him as a person who MIGHT become a war leader who would overthrow the Roman occupation of their land.

The second film uses other miracles, including the resurrection and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, to show how Jesus perceived Himself to be the only Son of God. The point of this part of the series is a film adaptation of the famous C.S. Lewis argument, paraphrased as, "Jesus was either a liar, a madman or exactly who He claimed to be, the God of the universe. But He wasn't a liar nor was He insane. Therefore, He must be who He said He was."

In the first two films, Jesus is portrayed as an intense, rugged, young man who is always on the go. For a person with a "kinder/gentler", pastel-tinted image of Jesus, this view of Jesus might come as quite a visual shock. When you see how the film presents the miracle of the healing of the man who was lowered through the roof, you'll probably wonder how Jesus had ANY followers. His "bed-side" manners left a lot to be desired.

The third film asks the question,"How did the earliest followers of'the Way,' including Saul/Paul, view Jesus, based on His miracles?" The film ends with the implied question "Who do YOU say that Jesus is?"

The films ASSUME that the viewer already believes that Jesus performed the miracles acted out on the screen. It is assumed that these miracles do not need to be PROVED on film.

The film is not argumentative in nature but rather it's expository. It tries to show how the miracles of Jesus were just as much a part of the Good News as was the sermon on the mount.

If the viewer approaches the films with a "chip on the shoulder" attitude, the films will NOT knock the chip off the shoulder. In short, if you're a nay-sayer, this film won't change your mind or your heart. The film is meant for those who already have a belief and a knowledge of Jesus Christ. It adds an insight into the miracles of Jesus that is not often mentioned in sermons or short courses.

I highly recommend these films for teachers of Christianity. I plan to use them in an upcoming course. I only wish there was a way to "edit out" some of the "magic" interludes in the films along with some of the "talking experts" and replace these parts with a simple voice-over.

With some editing, the three hour presentation could probably be shown in a single hour and thereby it could have more impact on the viewer, who knows?







"

Really, really, slow

R. Miller | Texas | 04/14/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This was an OK production. We have to agree with the other reviewers who said that it was disappointing considering it came from the BBC. The beginning was VERY slow and took a while to get to the "meat" of the video. It almost felt as if it were an "advertisement" for Brock Gill.

We were slightly dissapointed that they would interchange the words "illusionist" and "magician". Not the same thing, especially to a Christian.

Once they arrived to the substance of the film, we were impressed with the examination of each miracle. It was nice to hear scholars dismiss the possibiltiy that these were just "tricks" used to fool onlookers.

Borrow or rent this ~ We definitely wouldn't encourage you to spend any money on it though."