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PASSION PLAYS

A "Passion Play" or "Passion Story" is about the final hours of Jesus's life, when he was arrested, condemned, and crucified.

The Passion story has a long history. For some Christians, it is a source of religious inspiration, but it has too often led to condemnation, violent attacks and hate.

From Jesus' own century we have only the four gospel accounts in the New Testament ( Matthew, Mark, Luke, John ) for the story of his betrayal, arrest, trial, condemnation, and crucifixion. They are sparsely told, with little detail. John's whole account uses fewer than the 700 words of a typical op-ed piece in your morning newspaper. There is no description of the cross or the size of the crowd or the number of soldiers in the detail that executed Jesus. These all have to be supplied. -- Christian Scholars Group on Christian-Jewish Relations, Boston College.[link]

With the release of the film "The Passion of the Christ" by Mel Gibson, the subject is once more in the "popular domain".

Today, it is not only anti-Semitism that may be provoked by such drama: The play has also become a vehicle for evangelicals to fuel their zeal to convert Jews to Christianity.

The resources here are meant as aids to provide insights and meaningful discussion on both anti-semitism and aggressive missionizing that may be engendered in those who view the play or the movie.



Movie reviews...

not everyone thinks Mel Gibson's new movie is a winner.
  • MSNBC.com -- Gibson's 'Passion' is bloody empty ... if you flogged yourself for two hours and six minutes, the result might be about as enlightening as this film.
  • Boston Globe --"THE PASSION of The Christ" by Mel Gibson is an obscene movie. It will incite contempt for Jews. It is a blasphemous insult to the memory of Jesus Christ.
  • Chicago Jewish News - Does this movie about Jesus crucify the Jews?
  • MSN/Slate.com - " This is a two-hour-and-six-minute snuff movie -- The Jesus Chainsaw Massacre -- that thinks it's an act of faith. "

 

FURTHER STUDY

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Approaching the Passion Play

On The Passion of the Christ movie by Mel Gibson

 

  • Beliefnet.com --Section on the Passion Movie - many interesting and helpful articles and resources. Caveat: Has perspectives from all many faiths.
  • A MUST READ! ANSWERING THE PASSION WITH PASSION -- What we need here is a meaningful Jewish response; not more stammering reactions. And how should we respond? The film title itself tells us. Using the Jewish principle of "measure for measure," the answer is: Jewish passion.
  • The Danger in Not Knowing Our Story -- We have to understand their sacred story, but assuredly, we must understand our own sacred story.
  • Mel Gibson and the Jews -- Ironic, isn't it, that the same Gibson who willingly accepts universal guilt for the crime of deicide chooses only the Jews to be singled out as the real perpetrators. "We all killed Jesus," he claims -- but it's just Jews whom the movie clearly depicts as the scoundrels.
  • Another Scriptwriter for Mel Gibson's Passion? -- A close look at how an 1833 book written by a bedridden nun parallels the movie. (beliefnet.com) [RELATED ARTICLE --What's not in the Bible]
  • Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ -- A large collection of links to comments and articles on the movie are found at this site from the Commission On Interreligious Affairs of Reform Judaism

Antisemitism and Passion Plays


LINKS

 

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