Scholars discuss Jesus ‘film, impact on culture
Jewish and Christian scholars reflected on “The Passion of the Christ” and whether or not it is anti-Semitic.

By Drew Irwin

The Brite Divinity School and the National Conference for Community and Justice sponsored “a conversation on Jesus’ Passion” Thursday night at the Robert Carr Chapel.

Jewish and Christian scholars discussed the film “The Passion of the Christ” and its impact on both Jewish and Christian cultures.

Lyn Osiek, a professor of the New Testament at Brite, gave a Christian viewpoint on the movie and the Passion itself.

Osiek said she saw a major difference in the meaning of the movie and the meaning of the scriptures.

“The thing that stands out from the scriptures is the portrayal of Jesus as one who gives himself as a gift to others,” Osiek said. “This act of service says, ‘I’ve given you an example. What I’ve done is what you should also do.’”

Osiek said she respected several key parts of the film, but that she was discouraged by the excessive violence. She said she believed the film glorified violence and torture, which she said took away from the better parts of the story.

A.J. Levine, a professor in at the Divinity School at Vanderbilt University, gave a Jewish perspective on the issue. She focused on the issue of anti-Semitism in the film.

“The film has become a part of the culture wars,” Levine said. “Those on one side of the spectrum can’t see through the eyes of the people on the other side of the spectrum.”

While Levine never gave her opinion on whether or not she thought the film was anti-Semitic, she offered the viewpoints of both sides of the issue.

She said one part of the society would not see the film as anti-Semitic because they believe the Jews are not responsible for Jesus’ death. These people would believe that the burden of the death falls on everyone, she said.

“That portion of the population believe that the Gospels can’t be anti-Judaism because anti-Judaism is a sin,” Levine said. “Saying Jews were responsible for Jesus’ death is not being anti-Semitic; it is just reporting what happened.”

Levine also said why many Jewish people might see the film as anti-Semitic.

Costumes, music and images subconsciously portrayed Jews as evil and “proto-Christians” as good, she said.

“This second group will see the film as woefully anti-Jewish,” Levine said. “In the film, Jews emerge as children of the Devil, and it simply makes bad things worse.”

She pointed out how the Jewish temple collapses when Jesus dies as a symbol of Judaism.

“That shows that Judaism is destroyed along with Jesus, and it is not resurrected,” Levine said.

Rabbi Ralph Mecklenburger of Congregation Beth-El said the film showed a great insensitivity to the Jewish population.

“The producers just didn’t seem to care about what Jews thought,” Mecklenburger said. “That may not be anti-Semitism, but it’s not loving your neighbor as yourself either.”

After Levine and Osiek gave their looks at the story, a 10-person panel took questions from the crowd. This allowed rabbis and pastors to give their opinions of the film.

When asked how churches and synagogues can respond to the reaction of the movie, Oseik said the overwhelming reaction shows that there is a hunger for knowledge about Jesus, faith and meaning.

Newell Williams, president of Brite, said he was pleased with how the night went.

“Tonight was very much what we thought would happen,” Williams said. “It was a good conversation from people with good will.”

One key thought shared by everyone was that the Scriptures offer more than the film.
“Instead of watching the film, maybe we should read the Book,” Oseik said.