Since The Passion of the Christ is in theatres...part 9
[noticed at NewsMax]

Controversy may make Gibson’s film a “happening” and draw a general audience to the most talked about movie of our time. People who are not attuned to the film’s religious message are likely to receive a message different from that which Gibson had in mind. They may see a story of a dissenter who paid for his dissent with his life.

The unjust mistreatment of Jesus will bring home the cost of nonconformity and daring to speak truth to power. Many may emerge from the film with their courage weakened and with second thoughts about the wisdom of questioning authority.

---from The Passion's Message by Paul Craig Roberts

Since The Passion of the Christ is in theatres...part 8
[noticed at the Christianity section at about.com]

But there is a problem with this theology, with this piety, and with this movie, a fatal flaw at the very center of Mel Gibson's faith, as well as the popular forms of contemporary Christianity that this film reflects. As Mel Gibson's Passion so powerfully illustrates by negative example, the suffering of one human being, even if it happens to be Jesus of Nazareth, is not sufficient to make all things new. For however bloody and painful the death of Jesus was in fact--and this movie pulls out all the stops in making that suffering clear--ordinary people in the world today, two thousands years after the time of Christ continue to suffer and die just as he did and in the same old ways as victims of ruthless violence, and they do so in the same old places, such as the streets of Jerusalem and Bethlehem and Baghdad, not to mention the awful, violent deaths occurring weekly, daily, hourly right here, much closer to home. Was the death of Jesus on the cross any more ghastly than the deaths not long ago of nearly 3000 human beings in the towering infernos of the World Trade Center, where, within a few painful minutes, these thousands were burned, asphyixiated, crushed, pulverized or buried alive? And as this bloody world turns, such deaths continue daily, hourly, minute by minute such that we are incapable of counting, let alone remembering them.

I happen to believe that the world will not be saved by the repetition of such violent stories, but rather by the saving acts of a loving God who reaches out to each and every one of us in ways that are as numberless as they are real. Today in contemporary America we are fixated upon violence both fictional and real, and I am afraid that Mel Gibson's film is a symptom of that fixation, rather than its cure. What the world needs now is the good that can come from God, and all of God's people acting in concert to repair this broken world, not a ritual of violent sacrifice from which some still believe the good may flow. In American today we need to listen to the words of the prophet of old, who put it quite plainly: "I desire steadfast love and not your bloody sacrifice." Hosea 6:6 -- translation mine.

---from Mel Gibon's Passion, reviewed at christianity.about.com

Since The Passion of the Christ is in theatres...part 7
[noticed at the Conversation Cafe in the reviews section]

My second viewing as an educator and with my Jewish friends in spirit reminded me of 1993 when I was invited to speak on the topic "Is the Christian Bible Anti-Semitic?" to teachers in a Jewish school. A teacher in that school taught comparative religions and took a class to a church so her students could experience a Christian service. The pastor made some statements to the effect that all Jewish people were lost and going to hell, and the teacher and students left traumatized by this approach and what they considered anti-Semitic sentiments read from the Christian Bible.

My comments on that day are very similar to my response as an academic worldview thinker to The Passion of the Christ. Jewish literature historically reflects variegated opinions. For example, the Talmud contains discussion and debate, and notes disagreements via majority and minority opinion. Disagreements over truth-claims in Jewish tradition do not equal or warrant bigotry or racism. As literature written by those with Jewish roots, the Gospels and other Christian biblical writings also record the variegated opinions that surrounded Jesus. Just as the Torah was and has been "interpreted" differently by Jewish groups, so Jesus has been and is "interpreted" differently as a Rabbi, Liar, Lunatic, Revolutionary Threat, Prophet, Messiah, and Lord. Three of the Gospels were written by Jewish people who became convinced based on certain lines of evidence that Jesus was the promised Messiah of the Tanakh. Thus, the Gospels are best viewed as "legal briefs" that contain evidence leading to the legal conclusion that Jesus is Messiah, written in the spirit of Deuteronomy 19:15.

--from the review of The Passion of the Christ by John Geib

(yes, this is going on and on...but hey, it's lent, right? *smile* )

Since The Passion of the Christ is in theatres...part 6

[noticed on AKMA's Random Thoughts]

When I pre-reveiwed the movie, I cited the absence of heart of the gospels from Gibson's Passion. I was wrong, insofar as Gibson does introduce some very brief flashbacks to Jesus' ministry, but I was right that one would never develop from those short scenes any sense of the Jesus of the gospels. Jesus heals the Roman soldier's ear, but we see no program of healing; Jesus utters pithy sayings, but we see no career of teaching in parables or of wisdom teaching; the Jesus who suffers through this Passion doesn't offer us a sense of what the suffering is all about. The Gospels show little interest in abstract "sin", and great interest in the shape of a life that follows Jesus. Gibson shows little interest in the contours of Christian living, and a genius's obsessive fascination with Jesus' remediation of "Sin".

At the end of the film, I was shaken and drained. I earnestly hope I will never again see such harrowing scenes of brutality. My appreciation of the physicality of the crucifixion has increased tremendously. My anger at the way that Christians casually emphasize general Judaic responsibility for Jesus' horrible death, while they trivialize or shrug off Rome's blame, has grown also. My sense of the historic embroideries of the Passion tradition has modulated from detached curiosity to engaged fascination and repulsion. My faith, such as it is, was perhaps least affected by the experience; what I saw this afternoon involves my feelings more than my understanding of who God is.

--- from The Mystery of The Passion at AKMA's Random Thoughts

Since The Passion of the Christ is in theatres...part 5

[noticed by JeffRock at The Door Magazine's Chat Closet]

People view Christians as self-righteous. They see believers as thinking they have all the answers. They see us as confrontational, militant, ready to ambush them with a sales-pitch for Jesus.

This very thing happened this morning in Dallas. A crowd of believers and unbelievers filed into a cinema, experienced a work of intense and complicated art... something that requires a good deal of time for recovery afterward... something that requires contemplation.

But just as the credits started the roll, and while the music was just beginning to soar... the system was shut down.

A team of ministers appeared on stage.

The gospel was explained and an altar call was held.

Some filed out... believers and unbelievers alike... astonished that they were not allowed to absorb the film and think about it. They were ambushed, taken advantage of, while in a state of high emotion.

This is wrong... just plain wrong. It is presumptuous, arrogant, and manipulative. And I believe it is further hardening people's hearts, making them not want to have anything to do with a religion that does not allow them to experience something for themselves and have their own thoughts about it.

---from A letter to Christians. How should the Church respond to The Passion of the Christ?

Since The Passion of the Christ is in theatres...part 4

[noticed by The Door Magazine]

There are no "winners." No one comes off looking "good" – except Jesus. Even His own mother hesitates.

As depicted, the Jewish leaders of Jesus' day merely do what any of us would have done – and still do. They protected their perceived "place" – their sense of safety and security, and the satisfaction of their own "rightness." But everyone falters. Caiphus judges. Peter denies. Judas betrays. Simon the Cyrene balks. Mark runs away. Pilate equivocates. The crowd mocks. The soldiers laugh. Longinus still stabs with his pilus. The centurion still carries out his orders. And as Jesus fixes them all with a glance, they still turn away. The Jews, the Romans, Jesus' friends – they all fall.

--from The Last Word by Jody Dean in the latest The Door Magazine, emphasis mine

Even a loser can win...

The Door Magazine (formerly The Wittenburg Door)

The Door Magazine (formerly The Wittenburg Door)

Since The Passion of the Christ is in theatres...part 3

[noticed by Unedited Ravings]

From audiences around America, I am encountering bitterness at Jewish organizations insisting that belief in the New Testament is de facto evidence of anti-Semitism. Christians heard Jewish leaders denouncing Gibson for making a movie that follows Gospel accounts of the crucifixion long before any of them had even seen the movie. ...

Many Christians who, with good reason, have considered themselves to be Jews' best (and perhaps only) friends also feel bitter at Jews believing that The Passion is revealing startling new information about the crucifixion. They are incredulous at Jews thinking that exposure to the Gospels in visual form will instantly transform the most philo-Semitic gentiles of history into snarling, Jew-hating predators.

---from Rabbi says 'Passion' protests do more harm than good by Rabbi Daniel Lapin

Since The Passion of the Christ is in theatres...part 2

[noticed by Al Speegle in The Door Magazine's Chat Closet]

So what's the problem? Why is Mel getting pounded for making this movie? It's too easy to claim that Mel is just another victim of routine Christian-bashing. What is going on is a disconnect in how different people see the movie.

Mel (and most Christians) see this movie in an intensely personal way -- "Jesus did this for me, because of me, to save me." And they're right. That's what the movie is about. It's a theological, artsy movie dealing with the cosmological vanquishing of sin by the Sin-Bearer, Jesus, God Incarnate. That is Mel's message and his only message. If you are a Christian (as I am) you see this easily.

Whereas most Jews see the movie very differently. Jews see this as yet another medieval Passion Play, featuring evil Jews running a kangaroo trial for Jesus, evil Jews scourging Jesus, evil Jews turning Jesus over to Pilate, evil Jews screaming for the blood of Jesus, evil Jews calling down the blood curse on themselves, evil Jews building the cross. And they have a point. Now that I've seen the movie, I think they have a very serious point. Scene after scene shows a large crowd of Jews baying for blood. The vast majority of the movie's Jewish characters are in this crowd. Which gives a very distorted view of reality, because in fact, the proportion of Jews involved in the death of Jesus was probably very small. In the Jerusalem of that time, the vast majority of Jews would happily have elected Jesus their king in the hopes that he would crush the Romans and set up a theocracy, the Kingdom of God, here and now. Jesus would have refused that option, but the Romans and the Jewish aristocracy were terrified that he would accept it. All this is clearly spelled out in the only decent historical documents we have for this episode, the four Gospels in the New Testament.

A historical fact is that Passion Plays in medieval times were flash points for anti-semitism. The Passion Play is an intensely emotional experience, and it sometimes led rather directly to the murder of "Christ-killers." That is not likely to happen here and now, not in modern America. But I am less sure that it won't happen in eastern Europe, or Russia, or anywhere else in the world where anti-semitism still lives. Since Gibson's movie does not address the issue of anti-semitism, or even take any steps to counter it, anti-semites can easily take away a message of hate that Gibson never intended. That's a shame. Mel was warned, but he didn't listen. To be fair, his critics chose some poor tactics, but he chose to mostly ignore them.

---from About Mel Gibson's Passion Movie by Randall Ingermanson

Since The Passion of the Christ is in theatres...part 1

[noticed by Eric in The Door Magazine's Chat Closet]

It’s a curious thing to consider the immediate versus the underlying causes of Christ’s death. On the one hand, according to the story, he had to die, and he came to offer up his life of his own accord. No one group therefore is inherently culpable for his death. All humanity is collectively guilty since it was our sins that he came to deal with. On the other hand, the biblical account gives a fairly accurate rendition of how an innocent man became the pawn in a game played between two competing power structures.

It’s a fascinating piece of case law. The Jewish high priests can’t condemn a man to death for breaking their own Sabbath laws, but they can insinuate the effects if the Roman rulers don’t execute him. Caiaphas accuses Jesus before Pontius Pilate of the political crime of sedition—if he claims to be King of the Jews, then he won’t pay tribute to Caesar. By implication, Pilate will face a usurper if he does not immediately quell the uprising, and will have to answer to Rome for not executing Jesus.

Christ is not killed by either the Jews or the Romans. He is killed because the Jews don’t want him and the Romans can’t have him. For the Jews, to let him live means harboring a false prophet; for the Romans, continuing his life means freeing a known political terrorist. But these accusations are only tossed by each group at the opposing system of power—Jesus is not guilty of either crime, and this is so whether or not he truly is the messiah. As he says to the former charge, “If I have done wrong, then tell me what I have done,” a question to which his accusers are mute. Of the latter charge he tells Pilate, “My kingdom is not of this world.”

The story is so arranged (or so happens) that Christ falls through the cracks of a he-said, she-said argument. In between two competing definitions of justice, Christ falls guilty to neither party, but his death continues to show that true justice is foreign to this world. Guilty of no crime, he is ultimately the “victim” of political necessities much smaller than his own purpose.

--from Metaphilm's review of The Passion of the Christ