Defense of "The Passion of the Christ" Against Charges of Anti-Semitism

Yesterday, in the city of Judea, a man, going by the name of “Jesus of Nazareth” was crucified, for blasphemy. In his crimes, he claimed to be the son of God, and was apparently spreading false tales and stories. He had amassed a large following of people, including the 12 he held most dear, the disciples. In the week before his death, he had been observed to enter Jerusalem through the East gate, as onlookers laid down palm leaves, to mark the coming of the “Messiah”. On the second day, he was observed to have turned over tables in the temple, feeling evidently angry at the fact there were gamblers inside the temple, he also very rudely refused to sacrifice an animal to enter the temple, claiming that he did not agree with the moral idea of

In Jerusalem, Jesus was treated fairly by everyone, but Romans and Jews didn’t except him, so he had to be executed. This shows that Romans and Jews would kill anyone who was dangerous, or threatening. Till this day, Jesus is a major part of believe and religion.

The severity of the humiliation that was precedent to the death of Jesus is strategically diminished when it is recounted in order to

Throughout the Holocaust hate and intolerance seemed like the only themes seen in the world. This period of time is often thought of by adults and youth alike as the time when the Germans persecuted the Jews. Assumptions are made that the Germans were cruel and evil, but, sometimes people need to peer through set stereotypes and find the truth. In fact, in the evidence below obtained from fictional film, non-fictional film, children’s literature and literature, there is a clear theme shown that hate and intolerance wedged their way into every person’s own situation during the Holocaust.

Levine’s book titled The Misunderstood Jew: The Church and the Scandal of the Jewish Jesus proves to be a highly informative resource when trying to understand the intricate relationship between Christianity and Judaism. Levine’s primary objective seems to be a desire to address the idea that there is a vast, irreconcilable disparity between the beliefs and practices of Christians and Jews. Levine’s central argument focuses upon a common misperception of this dissimilarity: it is the result of Jesus being in direct opposition to Judaism. Furthermore, she contends that only a decided openness and interfaith dialogue between Christianity and Judaism can truly provide the most complete and compelling portrait of Jesus’s life and work. To me, the most edifying facet of Levine’s argument was her call to anchor Jesus within the historical and cultural context in which he was teaching in order to best understand his work and his message. Levine not only provides support for this idea throughout The Misunderstood Jew, but near the end of the novel also offers up ways in which both Christians and Jews can reconcile these two ostensibly conflicting perceptions of Jesus. Therefore, in this essay, I will analyze Levine’s arguments regarding the importance of historical/cultural context in Chapter One and Chapter Four while synthesizing it with her solutions presented in Chapter Seven.

For this Jesus was crucified a rather insignificant event for the time but in history will go down as perhaps one of the most defining parts in human history. This causes an outrage among the Jewish community and is the start of the rise of a group named the Zealots, they encouraged an armed rebellion against Roman rule (Mckay, et al., 2015). When Jesus died he had left no written accounts of what he taught this is very common with religions where the prophet simply only spreads their beliefs with stories and orally rather than writing them down. With this Christianity is starting out with everyone trying to figure out what to believe in, and the result is mass confusion. His stories are spread in often small gatherings such as neighbor’s homes.

Does “Judenhass” sound scientific? Not to the Germans, who In 1879 developed the word “anti-Semite” to describe “Jew Hatred”, as the term Judenhass, did not sound scientific enough to the Germans. Although the term, “anti-Semitism” was not commonly use till the 19th century, unjustified hatred towards Jews seems to have been in existence from very early on. In fact, it seems the very foundation of the Jewish people was a result of the their being singled out for no reason other than their ancestry to be slaves in Egypt. Ancient history is flooded with examples of Greeks and Romans preventing Jewish observances, destroying temples and exiling the Jews. Pagan and pre-Christian anti-Semitism was ethnic in nature.

The Last Temptation of Christ, was released in 1988, starring Willem Dafoe as Jesus of Nazareth. The film caused controversy amongst Christian’s for it’s contentious representation of Jesus Christ. In the opening scene, Willem Dafoe is seen in a foetal position, whilst hearing disturbing sounds, from a high angle looking down on him, exposing his vulnerability. Jesus in the Last Temptation of Christ, built crosses for the Roman Empire, in order for the crucifixion of the Jewish. Judas barges into Jesus' home, which they have a debate on the activities, Jesus partakes in. Through the debacle, Jesus is portrayed as a coward through the use of high angles, and low angles of Judas, blatantly calls Jesus a "disgrace" and a "Jew killing Jews". This representation of Jesus challenged the Christian subculture's values and beliefs. In the eyes of a Christian, Jesus is represented as a virgin with no sin, who has the mission to help the undesirables. The alternate reading of the film was decoded by Christians in a negative light as they classified the film as sacrilegious, viewing the film as a mockery of the life of Jesus as the two characters juxtapose one another. In traditional images and drawings, Jesus is characterised as having power and influence over others. A character, the illustration of the nativity scene has emphasised the humility of Jesus and promoted a more tender image of him, as a major turning point from the early "Lord and Master”. These attitudes towards Jesus and conservative values are challenged in LTOC. Through the film, it is evident that Jesus has internal conflict and a symbol of violence, when returning from the desert, Jesus, meets with his disciples and holds up an axe, inviting them to war, saying “I believed in love now I believe in this”. This representation disturbed Christians, as it has distorted their image of Jesus, as a merciful and gentle being. The Last Temptation of Christ represents the conservative values of Christians, as they caused controversy. Angry Christians took to the streets to make a change, calling for protests and boycotts. A harsher censorship was wanted, to prevent the movie to be seen from a larger audience. The film was banned in many countries, such as;

We still talk about Jesus. This guy has been dead for two-thousand years. Jesus Christ Superstar, (JCSS), illuminates his significance and celebrity status in ancient Israel. This creates a parallel to our current generation. We live in a state of constant inundation of celebrity worship. There are always hordes of people jumping on the next big celebrity or band or whatever is new and exciting. Why would Jesus be any different? Not only was he a god figuratively, but he really was THE Son of God. Realities were shattered, people had a hard time wrapping their brains around his biology, and naturally all kinds of people came out of the wood works. This film brings a human element to the whole story. Commonly biblical stories are told with a goal in mind, to teach people about the word of God and the works of Jesus, and how to parley that into how you should conduct yourself daily. We (collectively, outside of seminary students and religious figures and fanatics) look at the story as a whole. This film breaks down the story into individual novellas. The characters are of two minds, they are complex and conflicted. The masterful lyrics provide insight into the individual struggles as well amplify the buzz that was Jesus. JCSS has an amazing cast, with distinctly poignant characters, all of which want something from Jesus. Simon the Rebel was one such fan as he sings:

The film also depicted that crucifixion was typically a form of death that was harsh, violent, and humiliating, which is accurate in comparison to crucifixions in history. In the film, Jesus was spit on, and the Romans mocked him, saying that if were really the king, that he would save himself. This picture of the Jesus’ crucifixion, and the violence that forced upon him, that was displayed in the film, The Passion of the Christ was an accurate description of what actually happened during crucifixions during the ancient times (Religions).

Many people believe that there is only one account of the Passion of Jesus Christ or they believe that each story is the same; whereas there are four separate Gospel accounts of the Passion of Our Lord. Each of these Gospel accounts supplements the others, however each gospel account of the crucifixion of Jesus is unique, not only in how the story is told but also in the events and features themselves. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John clearly present different portrayals of the death of Jesus Christ. By examining each account the reader discovers the evangelist's understanding of the death accounts of the crucifixion and death of Jesus. The reader must examine and compare all of the Gospel accounts to have a full and

As far as the violence is concerned, The Passion was very gruesome and disturbing to watch at some points. Some people think it is too much to see someone getting their skin ripped off with metal claws but I think it was a necessary part of the ordeal to which Christ was subjected and it brings home the enormity of what happened. Other films made his crucifixion out to be a graceful and peaceful death almost leaving out the fact that he was nearly flogged to death before even touching his cross.

Many Americans flocked to see Mel Gibson’s movie, “The Passion of the Christ.” On over 2.000 screens across America the viewed the “harrowing depiction of Jesus' last 12 hours in wide-screen vivid color.” (Allen 2004) People viewed images of Jesus being flogged, crucified and left to die. This violence caused some Christians discomfort with theology, and some Jews’ fear that it will “incite violence against them because of its portrayal of Jews’ involvement in Jesus’ death.” (Allen 2004)

‘The Prioress’ Tale’ in The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer is a piece of literary work that emphasizes Christianity while conspicuously emanating anti-Semitism undertones. The Prioress’ unwavering devotion to Mary at the start of her tale provides the reader with an understanding of the Christian culture at this time. With an understanding of the Christian culture, the Prioress’ prejudice towards Judaism is portrayed as less incriminating. This understanding places the blame for the Prioress’ anti-Semitism ideals on the social influence of the Christian culture. ‘The Prioress’ Tale’ displays anti-Semitism undertones through the favoritism of Christianity over Judaism, the murder of the young Christian boy, and the terminology used to reference the Jewish community.

Another powerful scene that leads up to the cross is when Jesus carried the heavy wooden pole to a hilltop. In this scene, I was angry and shocked that the Roman soldiers made Jesus carry the heavy cross after his flogging. Jesus had no physical strength after his whipping. But this scene allowed us to see he was willing to take the cross and carry it up to the hill for our sake. We are constantly bombarded with this sacrificial and scandalous love where Jesus knows he is taking in the suffering for our sake. Many of the audience in the movie theatre are Christians, but can also be someone who wants to know Jesus more. When non-Christians see this scene, they may start questioning why is Jesus carrying the heavy cross up to the hill. The movie is portraying extremely why Jesus had to take the cross because he wanted to reveal his love for us. This is not the universal love that we relate to but is a sacrificial and scandalous love which Jesus wants to pour out to the audience. And the visualization of Jesus who is physically incapable of carrying the cross doing the impossible. This visualization allows me and others to sympathize with Jesus, but to understand why Jesus is taking the cross. Jesus is doing to show his love for us and humbling himself before the final act.