Monday, January 5, 2004

'Passion' Follows the Scripture and Ancient Jewish Writings

Interesting defense of Mel Gibson's "The Passion" from the LA Times.



From Los Angeles Times: 'Passion' Follows the Scripture:



"It's unfair of Jewish critics to defame Gibson for saying what the Talmud and Maimonides say, and what many historians say. Oddly, one of the scholars who has most vigorously denounced Gibson — Paula Fredriksen, a professor of religious studies at Boston University — is the author of a meticulously researched book, 'Jesus of Nazareth,' that suggests it was the high priests who informed on Jesus to the Roman authorities.



Would it have been better if Gibson never undertook to make this movie in exactly the way he did? Maybe, but trying to intimidate him into fundamentally reworking it was never a realistic or worthy goal. The best option now is to acknowledge that other sources besides the Gospels confirm the involvement of Jewish leaders in Jesus' death and clear the anger from the air. Considering that Gibson's portrayal coincides closely with traditional Jewish belief, it seems that leaving him alone is the decent as well as the Jewish thing to do."

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