By Dr. Ted Baehr, Publisher

PASSIONATE ABOUT JESUS

News has spread quickly among Christian groups that movie star and director Mel Gibson announced on Fox News Channel's "The O'Reilly Factor" on Monday, January 13, that he is under attack for making a realistic movie about the suffering, sacrificial death of Jesus.

 Mr. Gibson told Mr. O'Reilly that a reporter was dispatched by a "reputable" but unnamed publication to "dig up dirt" on him.

"Whenever you take up a subject like this, it does bring out a lot of enemies," he added. His private life, his banking records, charities he supports, friends, business associates and family members have all undergone scrutiny in this investigation, he said.

Mr. Gibson told Mr. O'Reilly that "This is a movie about love, faith, hope and forgiveness. [Jesus] died for all mankind. He suffered for all of us. It's time to get back to that basic message. The world has gone nuts. We could use a little more love, faith, hope and forgiveness." Since Jesus suffered and died to pay to forgive us our sins, Mel told Mr. O'Reilly that he forgave those who were trying to attack him.

Mr. Gibson's movie that is eliciting so much ire is one of several new Hollywood movies on Jesus entitled THE PASSION. Mr. Gibson is taking a unique tack by filming the entire movie in the original languages, Aramaic and Latin, for authenticity. Mr. Gibson wants his movie featuring Jesus' crucifixion to be the most accurate ever and is working closely with Vatican experts on every detail.

The script is based on the diaries of St. Anne Catherine Emmerich (1774-1824) as collected in the book "The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ," "The Mystical City of God" by St. Mary of Agreda, and the New Testament books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

Jesuit linguistics professor Bill Fulco has translated the screenplay into Latin and Aramaic; and, there won't be any subtitles. A devout Catholic, Mr. Gibson told ABC news that he hopes he will "be able to transcend language barriers with filmic storytelling." He added that, "the audience will have to focus on the visuals, but they had silent films before talkies arrived, and people went to see them."

Production of THE PASSION started Nov. 4 in Matera and Craco in Southern Italy. Mel Gibson says he chose to shoot in November because of the particular color of the light in this month on the soft stones of the ancient part of Matera. The landscape surrounding Matera looks very similar to the one surrounding Jerusalem. Moreover, the ancient part of Matera (Sassi), abandoned 50 years ago, still looks like a city of 2000 years ago.

According to the Italian press, Mr. Gibson has a good knowledge of the biblical text and of the ecclesiastical documents, that he quotes in Latin. When a local priest paraphrased the apostle Peter, "I'd be ready to die for Christ, even now," Mr. Gibson confirmed, "Me too."

The movie stars MOVIEGUIDE® friend James Caviezel who is a deeply committed Christian. Jim goes to church every day to take the Holy communion. Even during the pauses of the shooting, he is completely involved in Jesus. Between takes, there is always a priest with him.

As the Millennial Issue of MOVIEGUIDE® noted, Jesus has been the subject of more than a hundred movies from Edison's The Passion Play at Oberammergau in 1898 to THE JESUS FILM. Many have led people to faith in Jesus Christ, and many have fallen short.

Do we need another movie about Jesus Christ? Well, God decided that one Gospel was not enough and has called everyone, including Mr. Gibson, to preach the Gospel to all the world. In fact, of the five Greek words which are translated into the English word "preaching," the one which Jesus uses the most often implies proclaiming the good news in the marketplace of ideas, which is what these movies do.

By focusing on the crucifixion and by using the original languages, Mr. Gibson's version assumes that his audience knows the story of Jesus Christ and knows the ending, which is Jesus Christ's glorious resurrection as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Because they have had experience in many areas of the world where people do not know the story of Jesus Christ, another group is producing a Hollywood movie about the redemptive story of Jesus starting with Creation and ending with the Judgment as set forth by the Apostle John in his Gospel ("In the beginning was the word . . . through whom all things were made") and John's apocalyptic account of Jesus Christ's Revelation to him of the coming Judgment. Another group is giving the Gospel a more youth oriented treatment while remaining true to orthodox theology.

Therefore, the good news is that, after years of neglect, the Gospel is once again being treated as a compelling subject in motion pictures.

Dear Friends:

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This e-mail update is published by the Christian Film & Television Commission movieguide.org You'll find subscription information for DR. Ted Baehr's MOVIEGUIDE® eNewsletter on our MOVIEGUIDE® website. 

For more information from a Christian perspective, order the latest MOVIEGUIDE(R) magazine by calling 1-800-899-6684(MOVI) or visit our website at movieguide.org . MOVIEGUIDE® is dedicated to redeeming the values of Hollywood by informing parents about today's movies and entertainment and by showing media executives and artists that family-friendly and even Christian-friendly movies do best at the box office year in and year out. MOVIEGUIDE® now offers an online subscription to its magazine version, at movieguide.org . The magazine, which comes out 25 times a year, contains many informative articles and reviews that help parents train their children to be media-wise consumers.

 Dr. Ted Baehr

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 © baehr, 2003