Bishop73

Question: Why do so many people consider this movie to be anti-semitic? There have been many movies made about Jesus' life but, no-one says anything about them being as such.

Answer: Professor John T. Pawlikowski wrote a paper explaining in more detail about why he and others thought the script was heavily anti-Semitic ("Christian Anti-Semitism: Past History, Present Challenges Reflections in Light of Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ") In part, the story line presented, Jesus being pursued by an evil cabal of Jews, has been previously rejected by the Vatican and other mainstream Christian churches. And some took offense to the way the film portrayed "evil" Jews compared to "good" Jews. Others felt that the film falsified some of the history. On top of that, many found the film to be too violent which left them "spiritually drained" compared to other films of depicting the passion of Christ that left audiences uplifted. Those that felt the film was anti-Semitic felt that the violence portrayed would fuel hatred towards the Jewish people.

Bishop73

Not to mention the fact that Mel Gibson has his own anti-Semitic rants in real life and many felt the film's message must reflect Gibson's personal rants.

Bishop73

Question: When speaking, why was a mixture of different languages used instead of Hebrew? Hebrew was a primary language back then so shouldn't it have been the only language used?

Answer: Hebrew would have been the main language for Jewish residents, especially in religious teachings. However, Aramaic was a common language in Judea and it's believed that Jesus and his disciples spoke Aramaic. The land of Israel also had heavy Greek influences, and the Romans spoke Latin and Greek. The New Testament says the title Pilate wrote to put on the cross was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin.

Bishop73

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