Yesterday
I
watched Mel Gibson's The
Passion of the Christ
on my iPad; the first time since seeing it at
the cinema in 2004 (even though we've owned the DVD). It is
unparalleled film making, IMO.
Because of it, Gibson was targeted by Hollywood for neutering.
Upstairs, I learned, MoSup had been watching the movie version of Bill
O'Reilly's book "Killing Jesus."
I Googled it up on the iPad, but of course Apple does not accept Flash,
or whatever the hell format the civilized world
use, but I found something better on YouTube. The full 6
hour+ Audio Book read by O'Reilly. Just finished the first two
chapters, and what a treat. In that time the book has covered an
introductory birth of Jesus replete with a short political history of
the area and then into a broader—and
captivating—history
of
Caesar's Rome itself. What an unexpected treat. I've paused
now (at 1:09),
after the account of Casca shoving his shiv into Caesar's sack left me
... queasy.
ASIDE: I can appreciate that Jews
were fearful that The Passion
of the Christ
might have the power to rekindle old hatreds. It did not.
But the Sanhedrin, led by high priest Caiaphas, which demanded his
crucification was the earlier equivalent of General Pétain's
lackey Vichy government under the Nazis. Rome controlled the
Temple, and who ran it. Hell, they erected a statue of Caesar
inside of the Temple! Many learned and pious Jews of
the time reacted to this abomination by forming splinter groups
having nothing to do with that ilk. Of course Jesus, his
apostles, and most early converts were Jews. As a Roman Catholic
I have come to view the church as a Jewish sect, and myself a
member. For me, this is riveting history.
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