January 7, 2004

CHICAGO - The Consultative Panel on Lutheran-Jewish Relations of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) offered advice to Lutherans, civic organizations, Mel Gibson and "people of good will everywhere" in anticipation of "The Passion of the Christ" - a film to be released Feb. 25, Ash Wednesday, the day Western Christians begin the Lenten season. Gibson is writer, director and producer of the film about the last 12 hours of the life of Jesus Christ.

"Tragically, portrayals of the Passion over many generations have led to the virulent condemnation of Jewish communities, with Christians lashing out to punish those they had learned to call 'Christ-killers.' This doleful history demands a special vigilance from any who portray the Passion today," said a Jan. 6 statement from the panel of six Lutheran scholars and church leaders. The panel said Gibson "has been widely quoted as aiming to produce the most accurate historical portrayal of Jesus' Passion ever filmed. This goal requires that he give credence to the critique of historical scholars who are expert in the period, cultures and sources of this story.

"We believe that he aspires to produce a film that will neither stir anti-Semitism nor lend itself to anti-Semitic exploitation. Individuals and organizations that work regularly to counter and diminish anti-Semitism can aid him in fulfilling that aspiration," said the panel.

"This film is not the first effort to depict the events of the Passion in dramatic form," said the Rev. Franklin Sherman, the panel's chair and associate for interfaith relations, ELCA Department for Ecumenical Affairs, Allentown, Pa. Passion plays have a long history of oversimplifying dynamics surrounding the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, blaming Jews for Jesus' death, "overlooking the role of the Roman overlords and obscuring the fact that Jesus himself and all his initial followers were Jews," he said.

Sherman said the Lutheran panel became concerned that "The Passion of the Christ" may repeat some of those mistakes when it received reviews from Christian and Jewish scholars who read an early version of the script. That concern continued as publicity was released about the film, he said.

"We have also been informed by reports from persons who have seen the film as shown to selected audiences during the past few months," Sherman said.

The Lutheran panel urged ELCA pastors and educators "to learn the history of Passion portrayals and their consequences for the Jewish community." It went on to "urge them to teach boldly in their congregations and to make public witness to this church's commitment to confess its faith and preach its gospel in ways that will not demean, malign or harm the Jewish people."

The panel's statement urges ELCA congregations, civic organizations and others to conduct public studies and discussions about Passion portrayals, including Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ." "Open discussion and analysis of the Passion whenever it is portrayed will assist Jews and Christians and others in our communities to understand one another, the diversity of our respective views and the Passion itself as central to Christian faith," it said.

"We want to try to convert what could be an occasion for hostility between Christians and Jews into an occasion for deepened understanding and mutual respect," Sherman said.

"Our statement is designed to help Lutherans and others to be informed and critical viewers of the film, aware of some of the difficulties of translating the Passion story into dramatic form, which has to invent dialogue by the various characters and attribute motives to them in a way that goes beyond what we actually know from the New Testament," Sherman said. "We hope people will be on guard against any tendency to blame 'the Jews' collectively for Jesus' death, rather than only a small circle of Jewish collaborators with the Roman authorities," he said.

The ELCA's Consultative Panel on Lutheran-Jewish Relations was instrumental in drafting the church's three statements on Christian-Jewish relations: the 1994 declaration rejecting those of Martin Luther's 16th century writings which the ELCA said recommended violence against Jews, the 1998 "Guidelines for Lutheran-Jewish Relations" and the 2002 "Talking Points" - eight discussion-starters for Lutherans on topics in Christian-Jewish relations.

A statement on "The Passion of the Christ" serves "to help the ELCA fulfill the commitments it articulated in 1994 and 1998," said Dr. Peter A. Pettit, a member of the panel and director, Institute for Jewish-Christian Understanding, Muhlenberg College, Allentown, Pa.

"With a project of the scope and visibility of this one, we have an unprecedented opportunity to educate and inform," he said. Muhlenberg is one of the ELCA's 28 colleges and universities.

The statement, "Concerns and Recommendations in Anticipation of the Forthcoming Film," is at http://www.elca.org/ea/Interfaith/gibson_statement.html on the ELCA Web site. Links to other ELCA documents on interfaith conversations are at http://www.elca.org/ea/interfaith/ on that site. The film, "The Passion of the Christ," has a promotional site at http://www.thepassionofchrist.com/ on the Web.

ELCA News Service