Come Sunday (2018)

Too much of everything

Simply A Masterpiece

Powerful

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

The plot of "Come Sunday" tells a lot about the political agenda that's behind it. What could be more in tune with our times than the story of a Protestant preacher who believes God has literally told him there is no hell, begins to teach this and is unjustly excommunicated from his church for threatening the status quo? Add some racial tension, hint at the pain of a homosexual teen trying to live up to God's unreasonable standard, and you will surely get a blockbuster... If only the movie wasn't so unbearably dull. Any potential drama or thoughtfulness is overshadowed by a not too subtle assault on Christianity and its hateful God. Don't waste your time with another forgettable piece of social engineering.

I suspect that most people will evaluate this movie based on their personal belief systems. Fundamentalist Christians will hate it because it portrays a high profile Christian leader moving away from fundamentalism and into a universalist theological perspective. More progressive types will likely rate it higher for that same reason. The theology contained within it (such as Hollywood can really portray theology) is interesting. Certainly, the point gets made that the Bible can be used to defend either a fundamentalist (salvation through Jesus alone) perspective or a universalist (God saves everyone regardless of what they believe) perspective. I'll choose not to wade into the theological debate. Suffice to say that as a pastor I am neither fundamentalist nor universalist; I believe both perspectives (which make determinations about a person's eternal destiny) defy Jesus' instructions not to judge. I believe the gospel is intended to provide assurance in Christ without judgement on those outside Christ. I'll leave it at that.As for the movie itself, it's the story of the faith journey of Carlton Pearson (played by Chiwetel Ejiofor.) A protege of Oral Roberts (Martin Sheen), Pearson was ordained by the Church of God in Christ (a fundamentalist, pentecostal-type denomination) and eventually became pastor of a mega-church of more than 5000 members in Tulsa, Oklahoma. But over the course of his ministry there, his theology began to change and he started to struggle with the concept of hell and divine punishment, eventually becoming a believer in universalism (or, universal reconciliation.) That led to a major split in his church and ultimately his being declared a heretic by the Joint College of African American Pentecostal Bishops.I disagree with where Pearson's theology took him, but I can nevertheless admire his willingness to stand for what he believed in the face of the incredible pressure that was brought to bear on him to recant. It certainly showed how difficult both theologically and personally it would be for a pastor to radically change his or her views. It not only caused problems within the church and had repercussions for Pearson's career, it also ended relationships and turned friends into enemies. It's interesting to trace Pearson's theological journey, but there's no real "excitement" to the story. It's simply biographical. If I were to hazard a guess I would say that the perspective of those who made the movie (it's a Netflix production) is sympathetic to Pearson, although the portrayal of Oral Roberts was, I thought fair and balanced.This will probably be of most interest to those who have a theological interest in universalism. (6/10)

Yes you've got it, I don't believe in any of it. But the film was a decent portrayal of someone who does, but then asks questions of their own belief, that's true enlightenment. As Voltaire very cleverly put it, " if God didn't exist, man would have to create him ". Make no mistake there has to be a creative power, I just happen to be one of those who thinks we don't and never have been able to comprehend it. All of human history has had a Heaven, be it Valhalla or Nirvana, basically a fear of mortality. Hell in the modern sense was a late arrival, if you crossed the river Styx, it was just the dead underworld. Hell and demons take centre stage with the advent of Christianity or specifically Catholicism. All pagan gods now become the hierarchy of demonology. All heretics are doomed to hell, salvation must be sought or bought. Christ threw out money lenders, so Christians could be millionaires. If I lie, strike me down now, Aaaaarrrrrgghh.

Evangelist Carlton Pearson in this film raised a very serious question and a more reasonable doubt: "If there's no Hell, then there would be no Heaven; if there's Heaven, then there's no God; if there's God, then He(?) is a Monster!". Well, Heaven and Hell are like inseparable twin, if Hell suddenly becomes non-exist, then Heaven couldn't be stand alone. Hell is like the foundation to enable the existence of Heaven, if the manually and purposely created God suddenly tell the believers there's no Hell, then Heaven would immediately become meaningless. Hell is a mean to scare people to believe in God, then get a passport to Heaven. If you don't believe in God, then you will go to Hell. But if Hell does not exist, then people don't have to believe in God anymore, if you don't believe in God, then there's no such thing called Heaven or Hell; the trio won't be possible to exist. The religions, not just the Christian or the Catholic, or Islam, they all use Heaven and Hell to either give false hope to believe in God or to scare people not to believe in God. The Earth is just like a dust in the vast and boundless universe, the Sun that gives light and heat to the Earth, if compares to other stars in the Galaxy, it's just another tiny dust which is only larger than the Earth, the Solar System where the Earth belongs to, is also like a tiny, meaningless group of dust. All the creatures including human beings are even smaller than an atom or nuclear on the tiny dust of Earth. The gravity that making people stand upright on this micro globe-like dust getting an illusion of up and down, over and below. Then some of the cunning scheming conspirators created the God, Heaven and Hell. Don't raise your head and your eyes to look upward and think that Heaven is up there and Hell is down there, because this tiny dust globe we call it Earth is actually floating and moving with its Solar System in the Galaxy, there's no up or down. The Universe is so big, so boundless to imagine and it still expanding in the vast Void. No God, none whatsoever could really handle this Void. Neither Heaven exists up there, nor Hell down there. Hell does not mean it exists under your feet, or fathomless down below where you stand. In California, you can own a piece of land on this tiny global dust, but regretfully, any things under 300 feet will not be yours, it belongs to the State of California. Why? Because "Oil" or "Shale Oil" might exist under 300 feet. What about Texas? Well, you have to ask the State of Texas.In this film, Evangelist Carlton Pearson threw a curve ball to all the believers, not just a "What If" theory but an affirmative "Is", because he claimed that God had spoken to him, telling him there's no such thing called "Hell". His blaspheme sermon caused a disastrous panic and shock to the believers who attended his church. Why? The reason is like what have already been analyzed above: "If there's no Hell, then what's the purpose of believing in God?" Because Heaven and Hell is what makes people to scare being bad that would condemn them to Hell, the opposite Heaven is why and how they choose to be good; if they are good, if they believe in God, they'd be good, so they'd be qualified to go to Heaven. Without Hell that'd condemn the bad people to go, then Heaven would suddenly become so meaningless, then it could mean all the people, good or bad, they'd all go to Heaven? NO!!! God forbid! Heaven forbid!! Only we good people can go to heaven! Heaven is the privileged final resort for us, the good believers, and yes, there are indeed good people who are not God believers, but Heaven is a private club that only accepts God believing members, so it also means being good is not enough, you've got to believe in God to get a membership of the Heaven Club. BUT if there's no Hell, such membership of going up to Heaven would not be available. Therefore, the premises raised by Evangelist Carlton Pearson is like a bomb exploded inside the Church and its Believers were all shell-shocked. It's a lose-lose exclamation, everybody except the non-believers would be certified loser. It's a never ending contradiction, a subject or a topic that no believers would like to face or to deal with. I saw Evangelist Carlton Pearson in this film wearing pure gold chain, pure gold bracelet and gold watch. He and his wife lived in a million dollars house, driving a big Mercedes-Benz sedan. He, as an Evangelist preacher, he's not just an eloquent preacher, he's also a great singer. Everybody praises the Lord with sublime hymns, by singing those songs to praise God, the Lord of Jesus, all the church goers were moved deeply and affected by those words and the rhythms of the hymns they sang. When Carlton suddenly claimed that God had talked to him and told him there's no Hell, half of the church members stood up and left immediately like an Exodus. Inevitably, it also meant that "Come Sunday" donations to the church would then dwindled in half. And there were so many unavoidable expenses that even a church got to deal with. If the revenue suddenly reduced 50%, nobody could survive, the church, the choir, the believers including Carlton his wife would be like in an immediate Hell situation. So even they know there might be a Heaven, but nobody likes to go there too soon.