Tuesday, June 09, 2009

Rocky Balboa Misquotation

[sigh]

Many of you probably think I expect to much from popular culture with respect to religion. But there are some errors that are so egregiously obvious that not only am I surprised to see them made, but I'm surprised that anyone would expect an audience to believe them.

The FX network ran Rocky Balboa this evening. Right before Rocky's big fight, his friend "Spider" is shown reading scripture to him:

"Zechariah 4:6 says, 'It is not by strength, not by might, but by His Spirt, that we have already claimed the victory in our Lord Jesus Christ.'"

In and of itself, this "Bible passage" is entirely believable, seeing how it strings together two well-known verses:

So he said to me, "This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: 'Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the LORD Almighty." -- Zecharaiah 4:6

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. -- I Corinthians 15:56-58

The problem is that, unlike other deftly edited movie Bible quotes, this one placed a reference to Jesus in the Old Testament! I mean, obviously we Christians believe that the person of Christ is referred to throughout Old Testament prophecy. But not by that name. Any movie goer literate enough to recognize "Zecharaiah" as a book in the Bible would know that instantly, and I'm a little offended that Stallone thought we wouldn't notice.

1 comment:

LauraT said...

Maybe it was his interpretation of the verse?? Idk but I love it. Makes sense to me!