The Green Mile

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The Green Mile by Frank Darabont is a unique story about a man named John Coffey. Coffey is on death row at a State Prison for a crime that many believe he did not commit. Coffey while on death row creates a friendship with one of the guards named Paul Edgecomb. Paul Edgecomb while working discovers that God has blessed John Coffey with the ability to heal and give life. Paul makes this observation after an incident where Coffey grabbed Paul by the groin and held on for a few seconds until the lights flashed. Paul asks Coffey what had happened, and he simply replies with “I helped.” Paul at the time had a urinary infection that was causing him constant pain. The Green Mile is riddled with miracles throughout the story the theological themes of sin, redemption, and atonement comes to light. (Darabont, 1999) In this paper I will show that John Coffey has the ability to perform miracles and his sins are redeemed through his death. Coffey is believed to have severely sinned by murdering two little girls. First to understand what sin is we must know that, sin is conceived as an offense against God. (McGrath, 2013, p. 106) Anselm argued that God created humanity in a state of original righteousness, with the objective of brining humanity to a state of eternal blessedness. The state of eternal blessedness is contingent on the human obedience to God however this is unattainable with sin. This means that there must be something done for the offense of sin. (McGrath, 2013, p. 106) The issue Anselm sees is that there is no way humanity can provide the necessary satisfaction. “Therefore a “God-man” would possess both the ability (as God) and the obligation (as a human being) to pay the required satisfaction. Therefore the Incarnation take... ... middle of paper ... ...sacrifice for atonement of these sins, that we are members of the Body, and therefore share in the responsibility.” (Woodard, Para 8) This is key text is shown throughout the film with Paul having to suffer in the end and Coffey taking responsibility for someone else’s actions. Works Cited Coogan, M.D., Brettler, M.Z, Newsom, C.A., & Perkins, P. (2010). The new Oxford annotated Bible: New Revised Standard version with Apocrypha : an ecumenical study Bible. New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press. Darabont, Frank (Director). (1999). The Green Mile [DVD]. United States: Warner Bros. McGrath, A.E. (2013). Historical theology: An introduction to the history of Christian thought. Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell. Woodard, J. (n.d.). The Green Mile. Retrived November 25, 2013, from The Text This Week website: http://www.textweek.com/movies/green_mile.htm

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