This was in my comments this morning:

Diva

I'm sure your interest in "Passions of the Christ" is old hat by now - but its actually based on the book "The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ" - a book written by a 19th century mystic.

I disagree your argument about being based on a book - analogous to Harry Potter - at least insofar as unless you experience something first hand - everything is based on some second hand cultural medium. Ultimately, Christianity is a question of faith - not of empiricism.

I do think the movie itself is a bit misguided. It’s an interesting commentary for me on the conservative movement in the church, and particularly in Catholicism. Not being a particularly astute scholar of the bible myself, I was nevertheless led to believe that the message of the New Testament was about love, hope and resurrection/new beginnings. The conservative obsession with the crucifixion, in that context seems rather irrelevant, or at least ancillary to the point. It’s about as relevant as doing a three-hour movie about the how Jesus learned to tie his shoes.

Thoughts?

Mike

I do not have a way to contact Mike, so I thought I would reply here.

When I said the movie was based on a book, I meant it was based on a work of fiction. I do not believe in the Bible. I believe it has some great messages in it. I believe it is worth reading (for the most part).

Do I feel it is worth getting all worked up about? No.

I do believe a lot of what the Bible talks about is based on actual events. Just as most historical novels are. The Bible is no different than the myths and legends of the Greeks. They are just in a different format. Same lessons are found in both.

I think if you have faith, that is awesome! I think everyone needs faith in something. But to have someone push their faith on me will only piss me off.

Yes, I believe Jesus existed. I believe he was an intelligent, kind man.

I never did see Passions. Maybe I'll rent it when it comes out on dvd.

We'll see.

Anyone else have something to say on this?