Ethical Issues In Kingdom Of Heaven

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Kingdom of Heaven Kingdom of Heaven depicts the life of Balian of Ibelin. Balian was a blacksmith in France in 1184. The death of Balian’s child, the following suicide of his wife, and the antagonizing actions of his brother lead Balian to murder his brother and follow his newly found father, the Baron Godfrey of Ibelin to the Holy land. Balian joins Crusaders in defending Jerusalem in the days preceding the third Crusade in pursuit of forgiveness for both his wife’s sins and his own. Godfrey is mortally wounded while on their journey to Jerusalem, but lives long enough to knight his son a Baron. During Balian’s journey to the Holy Land, his ship is capsized amidst a storm. He awakens on an arenaceous landscape. Balian appears to be the sole survivor of the shipwreck and makes his way to Jerusalem. From there Balian takes control of his father’s desolate land and revolutionizes its…show more content…
One of the greatest reasons Crusaders are encouraged to join in the fight against Islam is the promise that service in the Crusades will absolve all of their sins. While this promise is not Biblical, it is both historical and shown in the film. This is an ethical issue for Christianity because it defies the teaching of God. The scripture states in John 14:6, “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” The promise of eternal life in exchange for following the way of a man is completely against the teaching of Christianity. However, despite not showing Islam as an aggressive violent religion, but as a people group who merely want to live peacefully in their own homeland. The Quran states, “Fight against them [infidels] so that Allah will punish them by your hands and disgrace them and give you victory over them and heal the breasts of a believing people." According to Islam the murder of an infidel is not an ethical issue, but commanded by

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