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anyone remember the big brouhaha about mel gibson's new film, The Passion of Christ? i'm trying to find out what the accusations were exactly, but it was something about how gibson's father was a kind of neo-nazi "christian" fanatic, blaming the jews for every evil in the world, blah blah blah. what i remember of the allegations were that mel believed the same things as dear ol' dad and that it was this "jews are evil" POV that is prominent in this film.

can anyone fill me in on this? more info, anything?

a friend of mine is pushing this film -- released next month -- on anyone and everyone, touting it as "life changing" (though she's not seen it). normally she's a very level-headed woman with a good heart and NOT the type of woman who would get behind something with ANY kind of anti-semitic message. so i'm just trying to figure out the whole "what's up" with this film -- if she's all rah-rah over a movie that sends the message out that jews are evil incarnate, she'd really like to know about it.

anyone know exactly what the big controversy of this film is based on?

tony check out Newsmax dot com.. they have a long reading on this film

and Jesus own People.. our ancestors Did Kill Jesus...

He Died for our sins.. and it was his own people who turned him in, shunned him, and to this day all are forgiven!!!!!

Hog

that doesn't give you a rain check to cash in later though!!!! "Think About IT"

Watched an interview with James Cavezial (spelled wrong I know) who plays Jesus on Bill O'Reilly (I am sure the Liberal Left such as Matt Lauer and Katie Couric will interview him as well) and he said he spent days filming the crucification scenes and that it strives to be as real as possible! He thinks it will be a box office blockbuster and pre screenings are saying the same thing!

I am not sure how I feel about this flick, but I know one thing the star (Cavezial) is one of the few Hollywood Republicans and a conservative, so let us see how it gets slammed, er reviewed and what is said about Gibson by press, etc!

Charlie

For those of you that do not know, my wife is a non-speaking paster at a very large church here in Cincinnati. She was invited to go see the movie in it's entirety at Willow Creek Church in Chicago several weeks ago. We have talked about it a little bit, she doesn't want to spoil iot for me, but needless to say it was an extroidinary experience for her and the other 6,000 pastors that attended. Mel Gibson showed up and was interview by Bill Heibels, the founding and head pastor of Willow Creek, for a little over an hour. The movie came about a little over twelve years ago when Mel was in his big office hits prime. He had everything in life that he coudl ever want, but was unhappy and something was missing from his life. He started researching his unhappiness and delved into religion. He found his focus and reason for living, to honor his Savior Jesus Christ. While this is happening, he continued to research Christ in both Biblical writings and non-religious writings. It just happened that this research developed into a movie project from his heart, the telling of the ultimate sacrifice ever made on earth the crucifiction of Christ. He financed the movie outof his pocket at a tune of 25 million dollars, he directed it, and has a very small part in it. I won't tell you what it is, but you never see his face only his arm.

As to the controversy of this film, thee are two overlying controversies here. First of all it is due to the graphic violence that is portrayed in this film. Jewish critics have stated that this film portrays Jews as haters, murderers, etc. and secondly that specific Bible verse "the sins of the fathers will come down on the children." Some Jewish scholars that have seen previews of the film say that the verse mentoned above was in the film. This is a huge controversy for the Jewish community, but my wife told me that it was never mentioned in the film at all nor was there a theme or portrayal of this in the film. As to teh violence of the film, when is the last time you have read the last Testament of the Bible? It is purhaps the most violent time on Earth and if the film is to be true it has to be violent. My wife assured me that there is no gratuitous violence in the film, just what was recorded in Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and Acts.

For more information on the movie see the following links. The first link is very informative and also has endorsement from Billy Graham, James Dobson, Michael Medved, Jewish Film Critic and Radio Show Host, Lee Strobel, Former Atheist & Author "The Case for Christ" & "The Case for Faith" to name a few.

www.thepassionoutreach.com
www.thelife.com
www.passionmovieinfo.com
www.thepassionofthechrist.com

Matt

Hoagie-

So they did go with subtitles after all? The last I heard (and this was many months ago), Mel had chosen not to have subtitles. That is why I mentioned it.
Should have done a little more research.

re: The Jews killed Jesus?

Palestine was occupied by Rome (like Iraq) and the Jews did not have the right to execute anyone (hence the involvement of Pilate and Herod); crucifixion was a Roman execution method (should we blame the Italians?). But most directly important is that Jesus HAD TO DIE! It was not a failure of the plan, it was the fulfillment of the plan. The Jews are not culpable; we are all culpable. Hallelujah!

"Which of the two do you want me to release to you?" asked the governor. "Barabbas," they answered. "What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called Christ?" Pilate asked. They all answered, "Crucify Him!" "Why? What crime has He committed?" asked Pilate. But they shouted all the louder, "Crucify Him!" When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. "I am innocent of this man's blood," he said. "It is your responsibility!" All the people answered, "Let His Blood be on us and on our children!"

Was the crowd made up of Romans?

All the people answered, "Let His Blood be on us and on our children!"

Yes, I understand WE all killed Jesus, but to repeat donutboy's comment, they had the chance to release him but instead cried out for crucifixion.

Granted, it was fulfillment and had to be done, but we are talking about the all mighty God of the universe...
If man had changed his mind and allowed Jesus to be freed, God could have worked within those parameters.

We don't need to get into theology and philosphy, but how can anyone claim God to be supreme ruler but if man interferes it throws off His plan?
M

The film is NOT in Latin, it is in Aramic which was the native tongue of that time. It is a dead language, but they had speach historians, tharapists, professors, whatever, teach the actors the language and it is true to the time. No one except someone that has studied Aramic would kow what is being said.

Any more questions?

Good and thoughtful points, all. Just my $.02 more:
I am looking forward to seeing the movie, with anticipation unmatched by any other movie. I understand the torment of Christ is very graphic, but I guarantee you I will not leave the theater thinking "I wish the Jews hadn't killed Jesus." I cannot understand Christian anti-semitism. I have heard it said that the best friend that Israel has is the American Christian. May it be ever thus.

Second, the issue of God's sovereignty vs. man's free will is way bigger than my little mind can fathom. But it helps me to try to conceptualize God as being beyond time. We see events unfold in a sequence of time; the past is knowable but the future is not. God is omnipresent in time, too. So He is not awaiting events to see what happens, and not just because He 'knows' the future, but because the future is present to Him. So the idea that God could have a 'Plan B' if Jesus is not crucified is not a possibility.