"Jesus gave his life on the cross for any who will believe. We're not redeemed by silver or gold. Jesus paid for it with his blood (1 Peter 1:18). When some one tells you that your religion is a bloody religion and the Bible is a bloody book, tell them yes, Christianity is a bloody religion; the gospel is a bloody gospel; the Bible is a bloody book; the plan of redemption is bloody. It is. You take the blood of Jesus Christ out of Christianity and that book isn't worth the paper it is written on. It would be worth no more than your body with the blood taken out. Take the blood of Jesus Christ out and it would be a meaningless jargon and jumble of words."
-Billy Sunday
I was going to write a long blog about how much I love Elmer Gantry and There Will Be Blood but instead I'll provide the following online reading for any of you who like myself has the time, the attention span, and the curiosity.
First is an intelligent study about There Will Be Blood, some good points are punctuated as well as interesting information that I wasn't aware of. Read the entire post and then the comments to maximize the experience.
The Chutry Experiment
http://www.chutry.wordherders.net/wp/?p=1819
The second is just plain ol' fun, especially if you're one of the following,
a Burt Lancaster fan...
an Eli Sunday fan...
or just someone who thinks evangelists are nuts...
Billy Sunday is who Eli is referenced to (his name is Eli Watkins in the novel Oil! from which There Will Be Blood is adapted). Billy Sunday is also the inspiration for Elmer Gantry. Billy Mays was the Billy Sunday of Product Infomercials, just to give you an idea of his character. PT Anderson even used a piece of Elmer Gantry's "Booze Sermon" in There Will Be Blood, when Eli is preaching and insists that he'd bite, and if he had no teeth he would gum, satan. I was curious as to what a Billy Sunday sermon would be like. Sure enough google and I got down and there it was "Billy Sunday Sermons." One caught my eye immediately, "Atonement Through the Blood of Christ." Through Frank Gorshin's unforgettable impression, I can hear Burt Lancaster's voice as my eyes slide across the screen wishing I were a scared sinner. Billy Sunday not only rocked the word into you, he quaked the earth in the process, respect where respect is due.
Billy Sunday Sermon,
Atonement Through the Blood of Christ:
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