Gibson film based more on mysticism than gospels

ekklesia.co.uk ^ | 9/7/04 | ekklesia.co.uk

[Destro]

Gibson film based more on mysticism than gospels

9/7/04

Mel Gibson's film blockbuster "The Passion of the Christ" was based more on a novel from the visionary meditations of an early nineteenth-century nun than on the gospels.

This is the conclusion of a contributor to a new book to be published in August, who also suggests that only around 5% of the film is based on the gospel accounts of Jesus' death.

"Jesus and Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ: The Movie, the Gospels and the Claims of History" from Continuum is the first analysis of the Gibson film by an international team of leading Biblical historians and critics.

Readers are guided by historical Jesus scholars who help distinguish between the contents of the film and the contents of the Gospels, and between the contents of the film and what might be historically reconstructed about Jesus. The book also places the film in context as a work of art, assessing it alongside other portrayals of Jesus in different media.

The contributors give thoughtful, factual assessments of the historical and scriptural accuracy of the film, including the contribution made by non-gospel sources, particularly the nineteenth century Catholic nun and visionary Anne Catherine Emmerich.

In his essay "Hymn to A Savage God" John Dominic Crossan comments; "In this film, about 5% comes from the Gospels, that is, the general outline and sequence of events; about 80% comes from Emmerich, that is, the details and characters that carry the best and the worst of the non-Gospel additions and expansions; and about 15% from Gibson, that is, everything that escalates the violence above that already prevalent in Emmerich.

"If Mel Gibson were to receive a Best Director Oscar for this film, it could well be argued that Emmerich should get a Best Adapted (or should it be Original?) Screenplay. If accuracy or even courtesy were followed, the opening credit should read: A Mel Gibson Film, followed by Based on the Book by Anne Catherine Emmerich.

When the film was launched it received backing and acclaim from large numbers of Christians who saw it as an opportunity to use it for evangelism. This was despite allegations of anti-Semitism, charges of hypocrisy and warnings that the film was incomplete in its theology.

John Dominic Crossan continues; "It is surely fascinating to consider that a magnificent publicity campaign has persuaded thousands of conservative, evangelical, or fundamentalist Christians to support enthusiastically an early twenty-first century film based only indirectly on the Gospels but directly on an historical novel from the visionary meditations of an early nineteenth-century Roman Catholic nun."

Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ" also provided a boost for Christian sub-culture in the US with a surge in demand for Christian-themed products.

"Jesus and Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ" is edited by Kathleen E. Corley, Oshkosh Northwestern Distinguished Professor and Professor of New Testament at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, Wisconsin, and Robert L. Webb, an independent scholar living near Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The other contributors are:

* Dr. Helen K. Bond, Lecturer in New Testament Language, Literature and Theology at New College, University of Edinburgh, UK;

* Dr. Craig A. Evans, Payzant Distinguished Professor of New Testament at Acadia Divinity College, Nova Scotia, Canada;

* Dr Mark Goodacre, Senior Lecturer in New Testament at the Department of Theology, University of Birmingham, UK;

* Dr. Glenna S. Jackson, Associate Professor in the Department of Religion and Philosophy at Otterbein College, Westerville, Ohio;

* Dr. Scot McKnight, Karl A. Olsson Professor in Religious Studies at North Park University, Chicago, Illinois;

* Dr. Mark Allan Powell, Professor of New Testament at Trinity Lutheran Seminary in Columbus, Ohio;

* Alan F. Segal, Professor of Religion and Ingeborg Rennert Professor of Jewish Studies at Barnard College, Columbia University, New York;

* Dr. W. Barnes Tatum, Professor of Religion and Philosophy at Greensboro College, North Carolina;

* David J. Goa, Curator Emeritus at the Provincial Museum of Alberta and a Fellow of the M.V. Dimic Institute for the Study of Culture at the University of Alberta.

The 208 page book is a paperback original (ISBN 0-8264-7781-X) priced at .95.

The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent the views of Ekklesia

[xzins]

The focus of the film was the passion. I'd say Mel did a great job of faithfully bringing that horror to the screen.

These so-called "scholars" are all wet and a tad picayunish.

[ladyinred]

The date threw me for a loop! 9/7/04? :-)

For all of the criticism of The Passion, I feel it did more good for the cause of Christ than any film in my memory. Why don't they just enjoy it and quit trying to undermine it?

[Nevski]

What hooey. Looked like the Gospels in the form of the Stations of the Cross to me. Only a bit of Emmerich here and there, from what I've heard.

Liberals.

[seastay]

"In this film, about 5% comes from the Gospels"

Without the gospels we wouldn't have a story, where does this the 5% comes from?

[Pyro7480]

They are probably using the "international" method of dating - calendar day, month, year. So it would be 9 July 2004, which was this past day.

[Polycarp IV]

John Dominic Crossan is Professor Emeritus of Religious Studies, DePaul University, Chicago. He has written twenty books on the historical Jesus in the last thirty years, four of which have become national religious bestsellers: The Historical Jesus (1991), Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography (1994), Who Killed Jesus (1995), and The Birth of Christianity (1998). He is a former co-chair of the Jesus Seminar, and a former chair of the Historical Jesus Section of the Society of Biblical Literature, an international scholarly association for biblical study based in the United States.

Former co-chair of the Jesus Seminar"... 'Nuff said.

Destro, you should be ashamed of yourself for posting this drivel.

[Tuco Ramirez]

I know; He was actually married, divorced, gay, alcoholic, and/or whatever other behaviour you want to excuse...

Sarcasm off/

Get a life.

[broadsword]

For all of the criticism of The Passion, I feel it did more good for the cause of Christ than any film in my memory. Why don't they just enjoy it and quit trying to undermine it?

Couldn't have said it better myself, lady.

[kosta50]

In this film, about 5% comes from the Gospels, that is, the general outline and sequence of events; about 80% comes from Emmerich...

Well, I personally liked the movie and all the hoopla about it causing anti-Semitic backlash were ill founded.

The only thing I find strange is the pope's qualification of the movie as "It is as it was."

[Desdemona]

Hang on a second. It wasn't just Emmerich's mystic writings. The Stations of the Cross have been with us almost 2000 years, on the walls of the churches, and they were all there. It is an historical fact that Pilate's wife was a Christian and left him over the Crucifixion. The scene with the blood being wiped off the ground has some connection with a good number of Eucharistic rituals, so it's completely believable.

Why post something that can be disproven quite easliy?

[Pio]

"Readers are guided by historical Jesus scholars ...."

I stopped reading right there.

[NYer]

I read something about this group a few years back ... will research it. In the meantime, you can glean plenty from their website.

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[RochesterFan]

"Readers are guided by historical Jesus scholars ...."

Aren't these the same guys who say that the Scriptures are only about 5% true...? Wanna bet that this sells less than 50 copies. OK, maybe a few more it the academic types among them make it "required reading" for their students.

[AAABEST]

I know; He was actually married, divorced, gay, alcoholic, and/or whatever other behaviour you want to excuse...

I had to laugh at some of the stuff they were throwing out there when this movie came out.

I think my favorite was the one guy who admitted that there actually was a Jesus, only he died by getting thrown off a roof.

[AAABEST]

Destro, you should be ashamed of yourself for posting this drivel.

It's not his fault, it's clinical. He has a chronic case of Passion Induced Stress Trauma (PIST)

[LadyDoc]

In his essay "Hymn to A Savage God" John Dominic Crossan comments; "In this film, about 5% comes from the Gospels, that is, the general outline and sequence of events; about 80% comes from Emmerich,

That's Crossan of the "jesus project" that decided that Jesus only said 5 % of what he's supposed to have said in the Gospels.

And Gibson's scrip is straight out of Catholic piety: the stations of the cross and the sorrowful mysteries of the Rosary, both of which go back a couple hundred years before Emmerich...

[B Knotts]

ROFL

You post an article attacking Mel Gibson, and quoting...John Dominic Crossan!

Oh, yeah...there's a reliable authority. That guy doesn't even believe in the Resurrection!

[Varda]

"Why don't they just enjoy it and quit trying to undermine it?"

Because undermining Christianity is what these "theologians" do for a living.

[B Knotts]

LOL...I think you've nailed it!