Sylvester Stallone a Christian-Fiction!
Summary of eRumor:
Actor Sylvester Stallone found renewed commitment to Christianity through his work on the “Rocky” film series and has “surrendered his life to the Lord Jesus Christ.”
The Truth:
Sylvester Stallone said he had renewed faith in Jesus while promoting a new film in the “Rocky” series in 2006. This eRumor was later proven false, however, when the actor rescinded the claim that he was a born again Christian.
In a video interview with 700 Club host Pat Robertson in 2006, Stallone outlined his religious reawakening. He said he had turned to Jesus and put his life into God’s hands.
“There was a time when I was a very strict Catholic,” Stallone told Robertson. “Then, when I got to Hollywood, all of the sudden you’re given the keys to the candy store and temptation abounds, and I started to believe my own publicity. No question, I admit it, I lost my way. But every time I came back to ‘Rocky’ I was given a new shot in the arm, a new reawakening.”
In an interview with GQ Magazine in 2010, however, the actor denied being an atheist but said he didn’t belong to a structured church.
“I have no opposition to it,” Stallone said. “I think there’s great nuggets of knowledge in there, some wonderful rules to live by. Then the flip side is the amount of agony that’s caused. Original sin. That guilt. How they say, ‘if you really believe, you have to suffer for Jesus.’ Guys in military school would stick their hand into a cauldron of scalding water and yell, ‘I’m doing it for Jesus!’ I was at a retreat, and the priest said, ‘if you can’t hold your hand over this candle for five seconds, imagine what an eternity in hell will be like.’ I put my hand over the flame for two seconds, then I pulled it away. The priest says, ‘Sit down and be quiet!’ I never got over that….”
Despite the actor’s revelations, a series of blogs and videos resurfaced on the Internet in late 2013 that included quotes that Stallone made about being a Christian from 2006.
The TruthorFiction.com Team has reached out to a Stallone representative about the actor’s current stance on Christianity. Future updates will be posted here when they develop.
Posted 05/16/14