Jesus in Popular Culture - Jesus Christ Superstar (Paperback)

Chapters: Jesus Christ Superstar. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 57. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Jesus Christ Superstar is a musical by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber. It highlights political and interpersonal struggles between Judas Iscariot and Jesus. The musical is based on St John's Gospel account of the last week of Jesus' life, beginning with the preparation for Jesus' and his disciples arrival in Jerusalem and ending with the Crucifixion. Twentieth-century attitudes and sensibilities as well as contemporary slang pervade the lyrics and ironic allusions to modern life are scattered throughout the political depiction of the events. Stage and film productions accordingly feature many intentional anachronisms. The work's depiction of Jesus is significantly different from Biblical accounts, and offers a free interpretation of the psychology of Jesus and the other characters. Significantly, the resurrection of Jesus is not depicted, and Jesus is not depicted as divine or making the high Christological claims found in the Gospels. A large part of the plot focuses on the character of Judas who is depicted as a tragic figure who is dissatisfied with what he views as Jesus' lack of planning and is also alarmed by the relatively recent claims of his divinity. He fears that Jesus will doom the Jewish people to destruction at the hands of the Romans. The apostle Judas Iscariot, in musical monologue, expresses concern over Jesus' rising popularity as a "king" and the negative repercussions that it will have ("Heaven on Their Minds"). While Judas still loves Jesus, he believes that Jesus is just a man, not God, and worries that Jesus' following will be seen as a threat to the Roman Empire, which would then punish both Jesus and associates. Judas' warning falls on deaf ears, as Jesu...More: http: //booksllc.net/?id=5955