“HERETIC” (2024) REVIEW (SPOILER ALERT)

2024 copyright by Curtis A. Hervey, ExecCert in public policy, M.R.E., US Army Retired

Key words:? #heretic #hollywood #religion #christianity #JesusChrist #pagan #deconstruction #iterations #syncretism #mythographers #simulationhypothesis #descartes #prayer #faith #redeem #ransom #unworthy #taautos #thoth #hermes #weighingoftheheart #halloftruth #baphomet #impotent #disqualified #oral tradition #seedofthewoman #protoevangelium #christianreinterpretation #nihilism

“So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares??He said unto them, An enemy hath done this.” (Matthew 13:27-28)

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BACKGROUND

After watching “Heretic” at a local movie theater the author was asked by an attendee for an interpretation. The author explained to the inquiring moviegoer that this film was yet another attempt by the god of this fallen world (2 Corinthians 4:4) to challenge the faith of Christians by attacking Christianity through Hollywood. This is the ultimate purpose of this, and any other film crafted by this world system.

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THE PLOT OF THE HERETIC

“Two young missionaries are forced to prove their faith when they knock on the wrong door and are greeted by a diabolical Mr. Reed (Hugh Grant), becoming ensnared in his deadly game of cat-and-mouse." (Heretic (2024), 2024).

To avoid revealing too much and spoiling the movie for those who haven’t yet seen it, this author will focus on some of the issues raised without discussing too much of the actual plot.

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A DECONSTRUCTION OF RELIGION

The antagonist of the film, Mr. Reed, seeks to deconstruct the notion of religion and initiates a theological debate with the two Mormon missionaries, Sister Barnes (portrayed by actress Sophie Thatcher) and Sister Paxton (portrayed by actress Chloe East). Mr. Reed’s thesis is that all religions are fabrications and not literally true. He claims to have dedicated many years of his life to this investigation before reaching this conclusion.

At a certain point in the film, Mr. Reed delivers a diatribe against Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, but of course, reserves most of his vitriol for Christianity.

Mr. Reed argues that ancient pagan myths which predate Christianity each contain a “virgin-born savior” (Horus, Dionysus, Mithras, Osiris, Attis, Adonis, Asclepius, etc.) who was purported to have been born on December 25 which indicates that Jesus Christ and the Gospel is merely an invention, that is, an integration of previous religious motifs. The directors Scott Beck and Bryan Woods use Mr. Reed as a mask to launch a cowardly attack about a month before the Christmas holiday like a Grinch.

ITERATIONS: PLAGIARIZING AND REPACKAGING?

Mr. Reed’s deconstruction of religion in general (and Christianity in particular) is not clever or insightful.? It’s a litany of rehashed circular arguments used many times before.

Since ancient myths contain motifs also found in Christianity, the argument is that the biblical authors must have borrowed or copied from pagan teachings.

Of course, the converse is true:? mythographers edited their pagan myths after the advent of the Old Testament Torah and the New Testament scriptures. This process has been documented by the Roman Catholic church is called syncretism (CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Syncretism, n.d.).? Just as the Greek pantheon was assimilated wholesale into the Roman pantheon and given new names, aboriginal peoples constrained by Roman catholic missionaries would outwardly adopt Christian terminology and practices but secretly would retain their pagan beliefs and practices as in the case of fusion of Roman Catholicism with Voodoo (Dyekidon, 2023; Haiti: Matches of Lwa with Catholic Saints, n.d.; Mystery in Motion - Louisiana Voodoo | Louisiana State Museums, 2018; Herskovits, 1937; The Mysterious World of Voodoo in New Orleans: A Deep Dive, 2024; Thornton, 1988).

It was Christianity that ushered in the end of the Viking Age in 1050 A.D. (initiated by the famous Christian Norse king Olaf II Haraldsson (995-1030)), and it takes no great leap of logic to imagine that baptized and converted mythographers were heavily influenced by the Holy Bible would not Christianize their previously oral myths once they had been finally written down. An ideal example of this Christian-to-pagan syncretism phenomenon is the Icelandic post Viking era historian, poet, and politician Snorri Sturluson (1179-1241):

“Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda (c. 1220 CE) and Saxo Grammaticus' Gesta Danorum composed a few decades earlier, reworked the changeable, enigmatic, but slightly tangled early Viking sources into much more structured accounts. Snorri's work is the main reason we have an inkling of Norse mythology and myths as a whole, but should also be read critically, as he wrote from a Christian context.” (Groeneveld, 2017; Horte, n.d.).

In fact, the directors of “Heretic” (2024), through his cinematic marionette Mr. Reed, conveniently forgot to make any mention of syncretism where pagans borrowed, repackaged and plagiarized from Christianity. And this is a fatal flaw.

Mr. Reed equates the one-eyed, falcon-headed Horus to Jesus even though in the myth of Horus, he lost an eye fighting his evil uncle Set who usurped the Egyptian throne after suffocating and dismembering Horus’ green-skinned father Osiris (equivalent to the Greco-Roman Hades), the husband of the witch Isis. This myth bears no resemblance to the biblical Jesus who had no wife, no murdered and dismembered father to avenge, and no evil uncle to battle.

Furthermore, the word “Amen” simply means “truly” or “verily” has no etymological link to the Egyptian pagan deity Amun-Ra, the likely predecessor to Baphomet (Abarim Publications, 2014; “‘Amen’ Is of Hebrew, Not Egyptian, Origin,” 2024; Chabad.org, 2008; macoka & macoka, 2020). Additionally, the degree of ancient Egyptian influence on biblical text is “remarkably low” (Schipper, 2024).

In scholarly circles, it is no great secret that the Apostle Paul, a learned member of the Pharisees (Acts 23:6-8), quoted pagan philosophers Aratus, Menander, and Epimenides in Acts 17:28, 1 Corinthians 15:33, and Titus 1:12 (Slick, 2016) but this was done only as a evangelistic strategy to make converts by meeting them where they are and speaking their language (1 Corinthians 19:23) and not because Paul was plagiarizing or borrowing from pagan teaching.

Often, Roman Catholic missionaries would seek to Christianize a pagan culture by simply renaming their deities with Christian names. In this way, the formerly pagan society continued to worship their old pagan pantheon but used biblical terminology.? The missionaries would identify a pagan counterpart with the biblical Yahweh or Yahshua (Jesus) and then negotiate a “conversion” in name only.?

Roman emperor Constantine I (306-337 AD.), the fist ‘pontifex maximus” of the Roman Catholic system, following his alleged conversion in 312 A.D., ordained that the birth of Jesus Christ became celebrated on December 25 because Mithra, Sol Invictus and other pagan counterparts were identified with Jesus and dubbed the “mass of Christ” of Christmas (Denova, 2021; Mcgowan, 2019). Eventually, we developed our current calendar with pagan antecedents for our holy days or holidays.?

And the Protestants dutifully adopted this pseudo-pagan calendar with its paganized days of the week (Sunday=sun’s day, Monday=moon’s day, Tuesday=Ty’s day (“Tiwesdaeg” in Old English), Wednesday=Woden/Wotan/Odin’s day, Thursday=Thor’s day, Friday=Frigg’s day, Saturday=Saturn’s day).

But this is not a matter of true syncretism, that is, the borrowing or iterations as Mr. Reed suggests in the film “Heretic” (2024). Instead, it was a deliberate result of a Roman Catholic evangelistic technique to convert the pagan cultures called “Interpretatio christiana” meaning "Christian reinterpretation" (Kinney, 2009). This policy has its roots in Constantine I’s 313 Edict of Milan (Toleration) that decriminalized Christianity is the ancient equivalent to America’s “free exercise” clause and allowed pagan temples to be converted to Christian churches for rededication and reuse instead of the wholesale bulldozing pagan shrines (Baker, 2024; Niederer, 1953). This toleration of paganism continued until the reign of emperor Theodosius (379-395) who began closing pagan temples after establishing catholic Christianity as the official state religion of the Roman empire in 380 A.D. (Christianity - the Alliance between Church and Empire, n.d.).

Now to suggest otherwise would be disingenuous to the audience but this is precisely what Mr. Reed does in the film.

Similarities between Christianity and the pagan myths that predate it are more likely than not the result of editing done by pagan converts during the advent of the Christian era as in the case of Snorri Sturluson and the Prose Edda. This explains how the dreaded R-rated ancient pagan Odin (Wotan) of Norse mythology eventually became Christianized as a G-rated “Saint Nicholas” or Santa Claus conspicuously attended by Norse elves or dwarves and a version of the infamous Wild Hunt of Odin in the form of a sled pulled by magical reindeer (Okleshen et al., 2000; Santa Is Odin | Viking Sons of Odin, 2022; Thompson, 2002; Vissing, 2024).

However, those few similarities that indeed existed in the original versions of pagan myths can be explained by the Parable of the Good Seed in Matthew 13:24-30.? The Adversary, with knowledge of the Protoevangelium pronounced in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:15), supernaturally inspired these similarities within the original versions of myths during the pagan era (illustrated in the Parable of the Good Seed in Matthew 13:24-30).

Or are we to believe that the borrowing of motifs conveniently only went in one direction (from the pagans to the Christians)?

The film purports to present a theological debate but sets the table against religion in general but Christianity in particular. This is a strawman argument.

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THE SIMULATION HYPOTHESIS

As he grows more desperate, Mr. Reed, mentions the simulation hypothesis which posits that humanity exists within a complex “computer simulation” just as in the 1999 science fiction action film “The Matrix” (Illing, 2019). This theory proposed by Nick Bostrom (Bostrom, 2003) might sound laughable, but it has taken hold in academia and is even considered valid by some peer reviewed scholars (Irwin et al., 2020; Khan, 2021).

However, even if reality is indeed some form of “simulation” or “dream” as philosophers such as Descartes argue (Windt, 2015), the consequences of sin are still a reality and we each will be held accountable (Ezekiel 18:20, Matthew 12:36, Romans 14:12, etc.).

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THE EFFICACY OF PRAYER

After his biased argumentation, Mr. Reed attacked prayer, that is the Hollywood directors Beck and Woods attacked prayer.? Although the Holy Bible declares to us “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man?availeth much” in James 5:16, the film “Heretic” assures us that prayer is pointless and cite a study that allegedly demonstrated this conclusion which likely refereed to the study conducted by a Catholic priest Dean Marek involving 1,800 patients at the Mayo Clinic (Gellene & II, 2006).

Perhaps God did not appreciate being put to a foolish test (Ephesians 5:4-6)?? Blessed is those who believe and have not seen (John 20:29). True faith is the evidence of things unseen and unmeasured (Hebrews 11:1).

Of course, Mr. Reed (Beck and Woods) omitted the 2009 study that concluded, “some of the results of individual studies suggest a positive effect of intercessory prayer, the majority do not and the evidence does not support a recommendation either in favour or against the use of intercessory prayer.”?(Roberts et al., 2009).

Mr. Reed (Beck and Woods) made no mention of the 2015 peer-reviewed literature review that concluded 7 out of 12 prayer studies showed prayer as a positive factor (Sim?o et al., 2016).

Mr. Reed (Beck and Woods) also seemed conveniently oblivious to a 2023 Dutch study on healing prayer that concluded “In 10 cases the actual healing was experienced instantaneously, and in four cases the onset of the healing started immediately after the prayer and then continued for several days or weeks. Most of the participants did not have any previous experience or detailed knowledge about HP.”?(Bendien et al., 2023).

These omissions represent deception, which is manipulation which, of course, is a form of control.

A WORTHY SAVIOR

The concept of a biblical savior is a substitutionary death to ransom (redeem) humankind from the penalty of the Second Death.? Logically the savior offered in place of humanity must be a perfect specimen and of higher quality than those ransomed.? However, the pagan “saviors” gods are all sinners and of low moral fiber.? Each is an unworthy sacrifice because they are all sinful and morally degenerate.? Any “savior” god that is no better than his worshippers is an unworthy sacrifice. All gods save one are unworthy to serve as saviors for humanity.? This would include Taautos of Phoenicia who is identified with Thoth to the Egyptians and Hermes to the Greeks (Byblos & Powell 1983, p. 213; Clifford 1990, p. 55). According to Graves, Taautos allegedly shares the title “only begotten son” with Jesus (Graves 1875).

Taautos to the Phoenicians, Djehuti/Thoth to the Egyptians, and Hermes to the Greeks, the Ibis-headed scribe (and mediator) of the gods, inventor of writing, magician, and the “god without a mother” which naturally disqualifies him for the title of “only begotten” (Mark, 2016). Thoth died but did not conquer death like Jesus but instead remained trapped in the Afterlife to serve as the record keeper during the Weighing of the Heart ceremony within the Hall of Truth with Osiris and Anubis where the deceased faced a judgment of works by way of the feather of Maat (Frawley, 2021). A practitioner of witchcraft, Thoth is a polygamist and committed incest with his sister Seshat, the goddess of writing (meehan, 2022).

As the trickster messenger god of trade Hermes (Mercury/Thoth/Taautos) is the son of the philandering god Zeus and father of Pan, the satyr and archetype of the satyr and archetype of transgender goat god Baphomet (Pan (Mythology) - New World Encyclopedia, 2019).

How can Thoth (Taautos) be a worthy savior of humanity when he is a sinner and was too impotent to revive himself after death?

The Holy Bible teaches that the gods are real and truly exist (Psalms 82, Exodus 20:3, etc.), but they are all sinners who miss the mark of perfection.? None qualify to be God’s Lamb to take away the sins of the world.

Clearly, there is only one authentic savior who is without blemish (Ephesians 5:27) and conquered death (1 Corinthians 15:55-56): Jesus Christ, the sinless Lamb of God (John 1:29). All others are disqualified to redeem humanity and will one day kneel while confessing Jesus Christ is Lord (Philippians 2:10).

Jesus is unique because He is the only begotten son of God (born of a virgin), His sinlessness (without spot or blemish), and His conquest of death, possessing the keys of death and hell (Revelation 1:18).? Therefore, comparisons are pointless since none can compare.

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CONCLUSION

The significance of the “Seed of the Woman” Protoevangelium (SPE) recorded in Genesis 3:15 is that this was the ORAL TRADITION of the Gospel that predates all religion on earth and the wellspring from which all religion was based on.? Therefore, all pagan religion is a bowdlerized version of the SPE oral tradition and was taken to the ends of the earth when humankind was scattered to the four winds at Babel (Genesis 11:7-9).? The SPE represents the Gospel in oral form during the prebiblical pagan era.?

The Adversary had thousands of years to “muddy the waters” with counterfeit messianic “seed of the woman” virgin-born savior pagan myths before the recording of Isaiah 7:14 (“Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel”) by the Prophet Isaiah in 750 B.C. (Katz, 2021) and long advent of the true Messiah (Jesus Christ of Nazareth) to preemptively sow confusion concerning the SPE and thereby undermine the veracity of the future Gospel message.

No wonder Mr. Reed (Beck and Woods) conspicuously never mentioned SPE because this debunks the entirety of his argument that the Holy Bible plagiarized pagan religion.

Indeed atheist Kersey Graves lists sixteen mythical “saviors” who were crucified on a cross or tree before ascending into heaven (Thulis of Egypt, Krishna of Inda, Crite of Chaldea, Atys of Phrygia, Thammuz or Tammuz of Syria, Hesus or Eros, Bali of Orissa, Indra of Tibet, Iao of Nepal, Buddha Sakia or Muni of India, Mitra or Mithra of Persia, Alcestos of Euripides, Quetzalcoatl of Mexico, Wittoba of the Bilingonese, Prometheus of Caucasus, and Quirinus of Rome), as well as others divine figures who did not ascend such as Osiris of Egypt, Odin of Scandinavia, Zoroaster of Persia, Baal of Phoenicia, etc. (The World’s Sixteen Crucified Saviors, by Kersey Graves, 2024) but fails to understand that not one of them are the only begotten Son of the Most-High (John 1:14-18; 3:16). As previously discussed, these similarities can be explained by the muddied wasters of SPE or the Roman Catholic evangelistic practice of “Interpretatio christiana” (Christian reinterpretation).

Believers know that God does not sow confusion (1 Corinthains 14:33) so any medium that promotes confusion must not be of God.? The fingerprints of the Adversary are evident in this film.? The devil is seeking to destroy your faith through this film if you’re believer and make you cynical about Christ if you are not.

Control is not the one true religion as Mr. Reed would have us to believe.? Humanity has free will and can choose (Joshua 24:15).

The directors of “Heretic” (Beck and Woods), claim faith is a crutch for those made vulnerable by the lingering effects of trauma.? But they ignore the reality that millions choose Jesus Christ daily without being under the effects of trauma. The real “trauma” comes to those who reject Jesus in this life and suffer the Second Death (Revelation 20:14).

Based on the apparent bias by the directors (Beck and Woods), the movie “Heretic” seems to have the agenda of making a heretic out of those who view it.

The film’s directors are hypocrites because they seek to manipulate their viewers with their “gospel” of nihilism while decrying the control of religion.

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