Jesus and Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ: The Film, the Gospels and the Claims of History

Description

An exciting and engaging book that will appeal not only to academics but to the film-viewing public, educated lay-persons and students. Not only will the book aid this audience in a greater appreciation of the film 'The Passion of the Christ' but perhaps more importantly it will enable the reader to distinguish between both the contents of the film and the contents of the Gospels and between the contents of the film and what may be historically reconstructed about Jesus. Furthermore the book will aid the reader to appreciate the contributions that the study of the Gospels and the historical study of Jesus can make to the discussion of the film 'The Passion of the Christ'. Jesus and Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ is edited by Kathleen E. Corley, Oshkosh Northwestern Distinguished Professor and Professor of New Testament at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, Wisconsin, and Robert L. Webb, an independent scholar living near Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The other contributors are: Dr. John Dominic Crossan, Professor Emeritus of religious Studies at DePaul University, Illinois. Dr. Helen K. Bond, Lecturer in New Testament Language, Literature and Theology at New College, University of Edinburgh, UK; Dr. Craig A. Evans, Payzant Distinguished Professor of New Testament at Acadia Divinity College, Nova Scotia, Canada; Dr Mark Goodacre, Senior Lecturer in New Testament at the Department of Theology, University of Birmingham, UK; Dr. Glenna S. Jackson, Associate Professor in the Department of Religion and Philosophy at Otterbein College, Westerville, Ohio; Dr. Scot McKnight, Karl A. Olsson Professor in Religious Studies at North Park University, Chicago, Illinois; Dr. Mark Allan Powell, Professor of New Testament at Trinity Lutheran Seminary in Columbus, Ohio; Alan F. Segal, Professor of Religion and Ingeborg Rennert Professor of Jewish Studies at Barnard College, Columbia University, New York; Dr. W. Barnes Tatum, Professor of Religion and Philosophy at Greensboro College, North Carolina; David J. Goa, Curator Emeritus at the Provincial Museum of Alberta and a Fellow of the M.V. Dimic Institute for the Study of Culture at the University of Alberta.

Dr. Kathleen E. Corley is Oshkosh Northwestern Distinguished Professor and Professor of New Testament at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. Robert L. Webb lectures in the Religious Studies Department of McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada. He is the executive editor of the Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus (Sage) and of the monograph series Library of Historical Jesus Studies (a subset of LNTS, T&T Clark). He is the author of John the Baptizer and Prophet: A Socio-Historical Study (Sheffield Academic Press, 1991) and more recently the co-editor with Kathleen Corley of Jesus and Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ: The Film, the Gospels, and the Claims of History (Continuum, 2004) and with John Kloppenborg of Reading James with New Eyes: Methodological Reassessments of the Letter of James (T&T Clark, 2007).

"...solid collection of 14 scholarly and well-argued articles. Highly Recommended."-Library Journal "This volume contains fifteen essays by biblical scholars from Canada, the U. S. and the U. K. who have viewed the movie attentively and who comment from various perspectives on the experience of watching the film, on its relationship to the gospels and to history and on the artistic influences that shaped it. Since religious leaders have touted 'The Passion' as exceptionally faithful to the gospels and to history, it is important to test those claims against the film's actual content. This informed and multifaceted volume would be suitable for use in a course on Jesus films or in church-based 'faith and film: discussions." -Toronto Journal of Theology 'Lively and engaging, it undoubtedly makes fine reading for specialist and mere (screen-) spectator alike...Love or hate the film, there is no denying a deeper appreciation of its aims and issues will be gained with this superb collection to hand.' ~ Louise Lawrence, University of Glasgow Mention of Robert L. Webb's essay: "...provides a useful analysis of the much criticized, anti-Semitic influence of Anne Catherine Emmerich on Gibson's screenplay..." (Christianity and Literature, Spring 2007) -- S. Brent Plate, Texas Christian University "Many of the essays...identify a subject from The Passion, such as Mary or Pilate, examine its depiction in the film, and then consider how the Gospels and Scripture scholars treat the same subject. This is useful way of considering the accuracy of the film." -Commonweal, May 2005 * Commonweal * '...All of the essays in the book are well written and balanced...a thoroughly useful tool in evalluating the film...highly...recommended! -- Helenann Hartley * Expository Times * "With the surprising and long-lasting popularity of Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ, there is every reason to expect that this solid collection of 14 scholarly and well-argued articles about the film will receive attention as well. The editors have commissioned scholars from Jewish, Protestant, and Catholic perspectives from the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States.... The first thorough investigation of the movie, this is highly recommended." -Library Journal, November 15, 2004 * Library Journal *