Breaking Dawn Part 2 – Review
If you want to use Breaking Dawn Part 2 as a gateway into a conversation about the Christian life, here are two very easy segues.
Edward’s Gratitude
There is a scene where Edward looks to Carlisle and thanks him. Carlisle had turned Edward into a vampire about 100 years ago. It was a tough transition and has had its own peculiar sufferings, but on the other hand, being a vampire also means immortality (basically, anyway—they are immortal but they can die…it’s a little contradictory, I know), super-human powers, and a special kinship with the Cullens. Edward is suddenly filled with gratitude for this wonderful life that Carlisle gave him and thanks him with touching gravity.
There was something about that scene that stuck with me (maybe it was the sheer absence of any other powerful scenes in the movie that made this one stand out…but I digress, and almost certainly have polarized friends and enemies with that comment). I couldn’t help but think that we (Christians) ought to feel a bit like Edward. Because of what Jesus did for us, we have immortality and the Holy Spirit and are sons and daughters of the King of Kings, heirs to the Kingdom with access to all the treasures and powers of Heaven. We may forget it from time to time, as we too have our own peculiar sufferings as we pick up our cross and die to self and put on the sufferings of Christ, but we have it SO much better than Edward Cullen ever did. It made me want to stop and thank God right then and there for what He did for me…and what He still does for me, every moment of every day.
Questions for Discussion:
- How do you see the Christian life paralleling Edward’s life as a vampire and as a Cullen? How is the Christian life beyond compare with (aka better than) Edward’s?
- Do you envy the power, special talents and immortality of the vampires?
- Some vampires had special abilities. Did you know that in 1 Corinthians 12 the Bible talks about Christians having special abilities (see below)?
7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 8 To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10 to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues,[a] and to still another the interpretation of tongues.[b] 11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.
- The vampires had to train and discipline themselves or their hunger for blood (especially when combined with their powers) would wreak incredible destruction. They also had to train their abilities and learn how to use them. Do you see parallels to this and the Christian life?
- If you and God were in that scene instead of Edward and Carlisle, if you were about to go into battle against a fierce foe and you didn’t know what the outcome would be (of course, that wouldn’t really happen because we know that Jesus already has the victory, but just imagine…) what would you want to thank God for?
Aro’s Choice
Alice shows Aro his choice. She uses her ability to see the future to show him that if he continues on his present course, the inevitable outcome will be death and destruction (not just for some members of the Volturi and the Cullen clan, but for himself as well). Aro has a choice, life or death. If he chooses to get his way, he’ll die. If he yields and walks away (letting go his hope of gain), he can live.
There are many places we could turn to the in the Bible where we are given much the same choice, but one that I love for its incredible clarity is in Deuteronomy 30, spoken directly to the Israelites, but very applicable to us as well.
15 See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. 16 For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.
17 But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, 18 I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.
19 This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live 20 and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
God is pretty clear. If we follow Him, we will live. If we choose to follow other gods, we will die. Life and blessings, or death and destruction—we all have a choice and it’s laid out for us in the Bible every bit as clearly as Alice laid it out for Aro. Aro didn’t have to believe Alice’s vision. We don’t have to believe the Bible—but is that a risk you or I really want to take? Aro chose wisely. He chose his life. If you and I choose life, we get so much more…we don’t just escape eternal death and destruction, along with eternal life we are given the love of God and the riches of heaven. Our choice is actually far more weighty and far more rewarded than ever Aro faced—“now choose life!”
Questions for Discussion:
- How have you responded to the choice for life or death set before you? Is it something you have been aware of?
- Have you ever been in Aro’s shoes (other than in your choice for eternity)? Have you ever been headed down a path and felt that you saw what would happen if you continued…and it was not good…maybe even deadly? What was it that helped you realize that you had before you the choice of life or death? What helped you change?
- What examples can you think of in the Bible where a person was faced with a similar choice?
- What verses can you think of where Jesus or a prophet or a disciple, etc. warns someone else (readers, listeners, etc.) that they must choose between life and death, blessings and curses?
Link to MORE Twilight series resources here!
By Stacey Tuttle