The Story of Jesus Christ: Where Do You Fit?

The making, content and release of the new movie The Passion of the Christ has been surrounded by controversy. Regrettably, this takes away from a central question—which is, where do we personally fit in the story?

By Scott Ashley

For months now, dating back long before its release, The Passion of the Christ (the word passion meaning suffering ) has been attacked from several sides.

Some Bible scholars have attacked it for what they feel are inaccuracies, director Mel Gibson's Catholic slant evident in some aspects of the film, and his taking a certain amount of creative license in telling the story (all of which I thought detracted from the story in the preview screening I saw).

Many Jews have condemned the movie for supposed anti-Semitism, fearful that it could ignite another wave of persecution. Their fears are understandable, considering the history of Christendom and rising hatred toward the Jewish people around the world, but anyone who walks away from this movie harboring feelings of anti-Semitism has missed its point entirely.

Other attacks have been more subtle and far-reaching. Mel Gibson has been targeted with personal criticism; major movie distributors, in spite of the fact that his films are generally solid moneymakers, declined to have anything to do with this venture.

It's ironic that the Hollywood movie machine can crank out the worst kinds of degeneracy—murder, mayhem and misogyny coming soon to a theater near you!—with hardly a peep of protest, but a reverential treatment of Jesus Christ's sacrifice for our sins is criticized from virtually every quarter. The hypocrisy is even more evident considering the fact that the truly perverse 1988 film The Last Temptation of Christ was heartily hailed by Hollywood for its supposed "artistic vision" (which included a blasphemous sex scene between Jesus and Mary Magdalene).

A Christianity that doesn't know Christ

In some ways these different criticisms of the current movie reflect the different minds people have toward Jesus. Some reject Him because they think they know better. Others reject Christ out of fear of the unknown, or fear that they would have to make unwanted changes in their lives if they dug a little deeper into the story. And others, like the Hollywood antireligion establishment, simply abhor the idea of anyone who would have a say concerning what they're allowed to think and do.

Read the full article at www.gnmagazine.org/issues/gn51/thestory.htm

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