ANGLICANS RESPOND TO THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST: THE FILM

by Jim Rosenthal, Good Friday 2004, in Canterbury

Within minutes of posting a note to our subscribers on Anglican Communion News Service, Michael Craske, Communications Associate at the Anglican Communion Office in London, was flooded with quick responses to a film that has shocked some, enlivened faith in others and provides an opportunity that one Anglican cleric urged, "let this film work for us". Other "Anglican/Episcopal" websites carried comments on the movie as well.

Thomas Campbell, an Episcopalian from Florida responded to ACNS by saying, "I found the movie to be greatly upsetting and disturbing, and it should be. The movie puts into perspective just how high a price Jesus paid for our redemption."

From Darwin ACNS heard, "Around 100 Christian ministers and teachers were granted a preview before release day  most were stunned by the film. Stunned by its violence and stunned by the vehement hatred levelled at Jesus," said the Dean of Christ Church Cathedral, the Very Revd Michael Nixon.

The dean also said, "I was moved by the devotion of Mary to Jesus  and felt that if my devotion to Jesus could be like hers my faith would be on the right track.

"The good for the Christian church is that people MAY pick up a Bible and read for themselves something of the life of Jesus and also it has been a started for conversation amongst non-church attendees."

The Revd Mark Lingle told ACNS, "This focus on the very last hours of Jesus left me feeling quite empty. The life of this one is what is so compelling, or, at least, one must consider the richness, power, and love expressed in Jesus' life to contemplate his death. The assumption was that people know the story, but, unfortunately, I fear that the story is not so well known. Without the larger context of Jesus' life, the "Passion," becomes a gratuitous, pornographic, and voyeuristic journey through extreme suffering."

Bishop Colin Johnson, Bishop in Trent-Durham area of Toronto, Canada said in a commentary, "This very day, there are people who will endure violence every bit as obscene and meaningless as Gibson's portrayal. His movie is a stark reminder of the power of that suffering.

"But suffering, even death does not trump God. God's purposes are not thwarted by our sin or by the larger powers of evil or even by our robust constructions of reality. Resurrection is not an afterthought but the point. "

From Brazil, Bishop Glauco Soares de Lima wrote, "What is basic in the film was the way in which it was made, taking advantage of the impact caused by the way its scenes are made, Using the resources of technology the film has an impact on everyone. That's very positive because nowadays, considering the distance in time, we tend to think about the Passion in softer and more romantic moods. The film does well in making us feel the cruelty and evil in people in those days as well today."

Sharing what was in his parish paper, the Revd Chris Rankin-Williams was quite critical of the film. He said, "The movie does have some edifying aspects. The most powerful moments are not what Jesus does, but how others responded to Jesus. The compassion and courage of Simon of Cyrene and Veronica was quite moving and one scene in which Mary runs to her son Jesus as he carries his cross left me in tears. Still, it was the suffering of Mary I identified with, not that of Jesus, and part of it was the empathetic response of a parent."

He went on to say, "The evangelical potential of the film is overstated. Certainly it could deepen the faith of someone who already knows the Christian story. I was called by a former member of my youth group in Santa Barbara who had just seen the film and had a spiritual awakening about Jesus having suffered so much for him. He was engaging in repentance (to turn around, to try again) in the best sense of the word. I know others have found the Holy Eucharist more meaningful after seeing the movie, although I found the last supper scene to be a Jesus-teaches-kindergarten depiction. Those who are unchurched will have no context in which to place the passion of Christ. Jesus' suffering and death alone does not convey our faith in the God of love in a way that is commendable to a seeker. It might start the conversation, but it cannot be the final answer."

The Dean of Bathurst said, "This film is both confronting and disturbing, as it should be. It is confronting because of the portrayal of the violence meted out on Jesus, and disturbing because it reminds us that such violence perpetrated on any person is an evil in any context. To my mind, violence is not something to be enjoyed. Indeed, only a sociopath would find amusement in the graphic portrayal of a brutal killing over a two-hour period.

It is a good thing however, to be challenged by 'The Passion of the Christ'. From the Garden of Gethsemane to the tomb, the depiction of the last twelve hours of Jesus life is reasonably faithful to the Biblical texts. To the trained eye, one can see the addition of many legendary elements of the passion story, but this is understandable in the circumstances."

Like many others who have commented the Dean made mention of the role of the Mother of Jesus. He commented, "Likewise, as a parent I could resonate with the portrayal of Jesus' mother, Mary. The pain that one would experience at the suffering and death of a son or daughter is indescribable. The grief and suffering presented by her was very moving."

The Rev. Canon Dr. Lakshman Peiris of Sri Lanka said "As for the preaching of the passing and death of Jesus today we always we always identify ourselves as those who were responsible. This film does portray the physical sufferings of Jesus than perhaps most of the other films of the passion we have hitherto seen but even this does not depict the Spiritual agony of Jesus sufficiently."

A diocese in Southern Africa ran this notice on the web: The Mel Gibson film, "The Passion of the Christ", opens in Port Elizabeth as Iindaba (Diocesn paper) goes to print. In our next issue, we hope to print some reactions from readers - both clergy and lay. Do send the editor a short paragraph on your experience of the film.

Theologian Ched Myers, in The Witness on line magazine, says, "The focus of Gibson's film is how Jesus died. The question of why Jesus was put to death, however, while of no interest to Gibson, is what Mark's gospel tried to address. The way Jesus died cannot, from Mark's perspective, be understood apart from the way he lived. His radical solidarity with the poor and outcast, his boundary-crossing and non-violent actions, his creative re-enactment of the prophetic legacy, and his criticism of those with wealth and privilege all got him into trouble with the authorities of his day. And those who carry on such practices today from whatever religious and/or political affiliation can reckon on receiving the same treatment, whether in East Timor or East Harlem, Colombia or Columbia Heights. That story would be a movie worth making."

On "Thinking Anglicans" on-line these comments were found from a UK priest. "I have just seen "The Passion of the Christ" for the second time. On my first viewing I was shocked by the violence, especially the flogging, yet realised the power of the film. The second time, I was swept away by the power of the imagery, and I agree that Mel Gibson has made a truly powerful work of art. Was it anti-Semitic? I believe not, for the Jewish people were shown not only in a good and bad light, but also in shades of grey; just like the rest of humanity. I hope that I am a thinking Anglican priest, and realise that the strength of our church is proclaiming not only Christ crucified, but also the power of Easter, if we as a Church concentrated on this we may be renewed, we may even grow."

Bishop Harold Miller of Down and Dromore, after seeing a preview screening said to the press: "I was struck by the appalling violence of it all and found one or two scenes too excruciating to look at."

In Palestine political leader Hannah Ashwari, an Anglican, watched the film on a small TV set in President Arafat's Ramallah office with some visiting Christians who had come to meet the president. According to The Australian, Mr Arafat said the movie was "historic and impressive". The paper states, "The visiting Christians, Anglicans and Protestants, were from the United States, Canada and Britain".

Communicants from Holy Trinity Anglican Church, Sloane Street, London, attended a Eucharist on Tuesday in Holy week and then went to the local cinema with their clergy, including Bishop Michael Marshall, to view The Passion while St Luke's Anglican Church in Maidstone, Kent, UK, made block purchases of seats in their local cinema offering free tickets via the internet and personal contacts, designed to attract non-churchgoers.

Canon Geoffrey Marshall of Wrexham said, "I was sorry there was almost nothing of Jesus' life and teaching and working, so people who didn't know the story wouldn't understand what he'd said or done to cause such offence to get to the position where the film began."

ACNS subscriber Barnabas Nqindi of Zimbabwe said, "I experienced a second conversion."

The Revd Christopher Page, Rector of St Philip's Anglican Church, Oak Bay, sent a lengthy reflection he had complied. He said, "The Passion of the Christ" demonstrates the central message of its central character. Jesus taught and embodied the truth that "the light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not overcome it." Speaking of a "list of charges" against Mel Gibson's movie, the Anglican cleric said, "Most of the criticisms arise from a misunderstanding of what appears to be the director's intention." He calls the film a "poetic meditation".

The rector of All Saints, Palo Alto, California, spoke of his uneasiness with the brutality of the film in a sermon on the Second Sunday in Lent. Dr James McLeod said, "Throughout the film I tried to reflect on the meaning of our Lord's passion as I have done many, many times throughout my life. But what was happening there on the screen, in slow motion and in a deliberate display of sadism, prevented me from finding any redemptive value in this film."

The Revd Alan Colyer of St Paul's Anglican Church, Stanthorpe, Queensland, Australia, said, " people have come back to my church, the reason, the film, the Passion."

Bishop of Birmingham (UK) John Sentamu, offered his thoughts on the film on his diocesan website. The Ugandan born bishop said, "Whilst it's true to say that there are scenes of graphic violence - prolonged bloody beatings, whippings and nailings, Mel Gibson, by consciously conflating the four Gospel's account of the last twelve hours of Jesus' life, presses the viewer to imagine historical unhappiness (and he cleverly does this by using Aramaic and 'street Latin') as he forces the words of the Gospels literally into flesh and blood."

He continued, "The message is clear: ponder the immensity of Jesus' suffering undertaken willingly for all. Let the heart and not just the head respond.

"The graphic depiction of the scourging of Jesus was difficult to watch, but violence is and should be difficult to watch and accept. Whilst in Uganda under Idi Ami I saw individuals treated with real violence even worse than that shown in the film. Similarly when Jesus' mother wipes up the blood of her son, I was reminded of the times when I saw mothers in Northern Uganda doing exactly the same thing after their children had been beaten and tortured to death."

Reflecting more on his homeland, the bishop added, "One of the themes that comes through The Passion of Christ is our potential to treat one another in ways which are brutal and vicious. Just as the Roman soldiers came across as brutal and sadistic, so Idi Amin's death squads delighted in rape, slicing off breasts, ripping out wombs, decapitating a child in front of its mother (who had just been raped), castrating a prisoner and throwing a Chief Justice into hot oil or acid - none of these soldiers believed that such acts were or could be good for those on whom the horror was inflicted."

Some speculate that attendance at churches this weekend will soar as a result of the wide publicity the Mel Gibson movie has received, even though there is the constant complaint that the film is "overly violent".

The Day Christ Died

On this Good Friday Anglican Christians will flock to their local churches to take part in the solemn observances that mark the day Christ died. Most Prayer Books and liturgical books around the Communion provide special liturgies following the ancient rites associated with Good Friday, including the singing or reading of the Passion of St John and the Solemn Prayers.

In Canterbury Archbishop Rowan Williams joined the faithful at the service of the veneration of the cross during the morning service. Many churches observe the hours from 12 - 3 p.m. with preaching and hymns and in some places people follow the Stations of the Cross or hear musical versions of the Seven Last Words of Christ from the cross.

In Westminster in London a procession of witness makes its way from the Roman Catholic Cathedral to the Abbey on Victoria Street. For many Good Friday is a work day and thus churches are re-thinking the pattern of services offered on this day.

ACNS was told that in Wrexham, the local cinema showing the Mel Gibson film allowed a poster to be hung that said, "Come and see Part 2 at a church near you this Sunday!"

JOYFUL EASTER GREETINGS TO ALL OUR READERS.

Christ has died

Christ is risen

Christ will come again

THANKS TO ALL OUR READERS