{"id":2987,"date":"2021-03-29T18:49:33","date_gmt":"2021-03-29T18:49:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/novels.zerosilver.com\/wordpress\/?p=2987"},"modified":"2023-02-06T17:28:42","modified_gmt":"2023-02-06T17:28:42","slug":"ben-hur-a-tale-of-the-christ","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/novels.zerosilver.com\/wordpress\/ben-hur-a-tale-of-the-christ\/","title":{"rendered":"Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ<\/a><\/em>, by Lew Wallace (American classic, Biblical)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn first century Judaea, Jewish prince Judah Ben-Hur is betrayed by his childhood friend Messala and sentenced to life as a Roman slave. When, during a pirate attack in the Aegean, Ben-Hur saves the life of a galley commander, his fortunes improve and he returns to Galilee a free man. There, his quest for vengeance turns into insurrection, but his life is transformed when he witnesses Christ\u2019s baptism by John the Baptist.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"Movie
Ben-Hur 1959<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

When I was a child, one of the three big television networks in the U.S. ran the film Ben-Hur<\/em> [1959] every year around Easter. In those days, the only way to watch a motion picture was to see it in a theater when it came out or watch it on network television. There was no streaming. There were no DVDs. There was no cable TV. There weren\u2019t even video cassettes! When one of the networks broadcast a major motion picture like Ben-Hur<\/em>, it was a big deal. Families like mine made arrangements to watch it, because if they didn\u2019t, they wouldn\u2019t get the chance to see it again for another year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because of that, the movie Ben-Hur<\/em> not only became a part of my Easter tradition, it became ingrained in my consciousness. I loved this film as a child, and I still love it as an adult. It should be no surprise, then, that shortly after I became a part of the Great Books Group<\/a>, I suggested that we read Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ<\/em>. Imagine my own surprise at the time when, after reading a good part of the book, I realized that I didn\u2019t care for it enough to even finish it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

All of the other ladies in the group, however, loved it. I don\u2019t remember the details of the discussion, but I do remember that it was a heated one. Fundamentally, I liked the movie better than the book. I thought it was more complex in the way it developed the characters and portrayed the Roman Empire\u2014which in the book feels like a caricature of evil. In the movie, Judah Ben-Hur\u2019s quest for revenge against his childhood friend Messala was more personal; in the book, it was leveled at the Roman Empire itself. I could certainly understand some of the feelings that would urge a young man like Ben-Hur to choose the path of revolution, but back in 2007, the story simply didn\u2019t compel me.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Book
Ben-Hur by Lew Wallace<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

I decided to give Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ<\/em> another try, and I\u2019m glad I did. It\u2019s been a few years since I\u2019ve watched the film, so this time around, I was able to approach it from a far more unbiased point of view, although Judah Ben-Hur is still Charlton Heston in my mind. During this reading, I found many parts of the book very<\/em> compelling, both on the story level and the philosophical. Ben-Hur\u2019s quest for revenge against the Roman Empire becomes entangled with his desire to lead the military force that will establish the glorious new reign of the prophesied King. His revenge takes on this more ambitious focus largely because of his acquaintance with the Egyptian Balthasar, one of the Wise Men. Balthasar has seen the Christ-child and testifies of Him whenever the opportunity arises. He has his own opinion about what sort of leader the Child will grow up to be, and others have different ones, including the influential sheik Ilderim. Balthasar explains:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cMen say, I know, that there will be no happiness until Rome is razed from her hills. That is to say, the ills of the time are not, as I thought them, from ignorance of God, but from the misgovernment of rulers. Do we need to be told that human governments are never for the sake of religion? How many kings have you heard of who were better than their subjects? Oh no, no! The Redemption cannot be for a political purpose\u2014to pull down rulers and powers, and vacate their places merely that others may take and enjoy them. If that were all of it, the wisdom of God would cease to be surpassing. I tell you, though it be but the saying of blind to blind, he that comes is to be a Savior of souls; and the Redemption means God once more on earth, and righteousness, that his stay here may be tolerable to himself.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Disappointment showed plainly on Ben-Hur’s face\u2014his head drooped; and if he was not convinced, he yet felt himself incapable that moment of disputing the opinion of the Egyptian. Not so Ilderim.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBy the splendor of God!” he cried, impulsively, \u201cthe judgment does away with all custom. The ways of the world are fixed, and cannot be changed. There must be a leader in every community clothed with power, else there is no reform.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Balthasar received the burst gravely. \u201cThy wisdom, good sheik, is of the world; and thou dost forget that it is from the ways of the world we are to be redeemed. Man as a subject is the ambition of a king; the soul of a man for its salvation is the desire of a God.\u201d<\/p>\nBook 4, Chapter 16<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Ilderim\u2019s observation stems from his own experience on how the political world works. Ben-Hur\u2019s desire to serve the new King by leading His military force is based in a cultural view of prophecy that narrows the mission of the King to this mortal life alone and for one race of people instead of humanity as a whole. Ben-Hur, in fact, although he believes Balthasar\u2019s story, has a difficult time accepting such a radical spiritual observation from one who isn\u2019t of the house of Israel and not well-versed in Jewish prophecy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The conflict between the vision of Christ\u2019s mission as it really is and what Ben-Hur wants it to be provides the dramatic tension for the final parts of the book. Ben-Hur has to decide whether he accepts the true mission of the King and Redeemer or whether he will put his great military training and political influence to use and fill the role of national savior himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the end, we all have to make the same choice\u2014do we use our training and talents to expand the Kingdom of God on this earth\u2014in the way that He<\/em> directs\u2014or do we use them for our own self-aggrandizement? Or do we stumble along, trying to do His work our<\/em> way?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s another quotation from the book that helps us understand Christ\u2019s mission to us individually and how it transcends anything a mere mortal could devise:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It is not extreme to say, if there was a sudden exit of all men from the world, heaven, as prefigured in the Christian idea, would not be a heaven to the majority; on the other hand, neither would all suffer equally in the so-called Tophet. Cultivation has its balances. As the mind is made intelligent, the capacity of the soul for pure enjoyment is proportionally increased. Well, therefore, if it be saved! If lost, however, alas that it ever had cultivation! its capacity for enjoyment in the one case is the measure of its capacity to suffer in the other. Wherefore repentance must be something more than mere remorse for sins; it comprehends a change of nature befitting heaven.<\/p>\nBook 6, Chapter 2<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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The photo “A Crown of Thorns<\/a>” can be found in the collection of Gospel Media at\u00a0www.churchofjesuschrist.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I gave Ben-Hur by Lew Wallace another try and found it compelling on multiple levels.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2993,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33,32,30,98],"tags":[57,51,10,13,12,223,29,9],"class_list":["post-2987","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-adventure","category-american-classics","category-christian-classics","category-film","tag-christian","tag-classics","tag-faith-based","tag-fiction","tag-holiness","tag-lew-wallace","tag-religious-differences","tag-religious-themes","post-preview"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/novels.zerosilver.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2987","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/novels.zerosilver.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/novels.zerosilver.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novels.zerosilver.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novels.zerosilver.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2987"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/novels.zerosilver.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2987\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4854,"href":"https:\/\/novels.zerosilver.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2987\/revisions\/4854"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novels.zerosilver.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2993"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/novels.zerosilver.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2987"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novels.zerosilver.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2987"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novels.zerosilver.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2987"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}