EXPRESSIONS OF FAITH
Negative image in Scriptures

By the Rev. Alfred Bloom

There has been a tremendous brouhaha concerning Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ."

However, it is a case of looking at the symptoms rather than the cause of the disease of anti-Semitism or the anti-Jewish sentiment that is attributed to the film.

The problem is the New Testament and Western tradition. Anti-Semitism directed at Jews started very early in Western history and has persisted, with its culmination in the Holocaust.

For starters, there is the consistently negative portrayal of the Pharisees who were actually the liberals of their day. They are described as "whited sepulchers" and accused of gross hypocrisy. What would be more capable of inflaming religious passion than the portrayal of Jewish leaders in Matthew 23:1-1-39? Verse 33-36 suggests corporate guilt for crimes against humanity. In Matthew 20:17-19, Jesus' death is predicated on the actions of the chief priests and doctors of the law — corporate heads of the people in ancient times.

The text portrays the Pharisees as attempting to trap Jesus to say something against the state (Matthew 22-15). In Matthew 27, the chief priests and the elders of the nation come together to plot Jesus' death. They were supported by a mob, according to the story. Luke 9:22 places the blame for Jesus' death on the elders, chief priests and doctors of the law, all representative of the people.

The Good Samaritan parable contrasts the Levite, representing the Jews, with the Samaritan, representing the outsider and general public.

Luke 11:39, 42, 43 repeatedly refers to "you Pharisees," lumping together a whole group, though in background Jesus himself was a Pharisee, as was Paul. In 47-48 it states the intergenerational responsibility for the alleged murders that Jesus refers to. In Matthew 27:24-26, Pilate the politician saw nothing culpable in Jesus, but the religious leaders urged Jesus' death and accepted the culpability that his blood would be on them and their children.

In the Gospel of John there is a running battle with Jews expressed in hateful speech. John refers not simply to functionaries in religion, but to "the Jews" as a corporate body. In John 8, in the course of a dispute, Jesus describes the Jews as: "Your father is the devil and you choose to carry out your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning — he is a liar and the father of lies."

The language of the New Testament Gospels is sufficient over the centuries to mark off and designate the Jewish people who steadfastly resisted conversion as targets of prejudice and persecution as "Christ killers." Therefore, the source of the fears concerning Gibson's film lies not in the film itself but in the religious culture behind that film.

It is not without reason that Vatican II tried to expunge this centuries-old travesty of Christian faith from the Church teaching. How does one remove this from sacred text and still maintain the spiritual integrity of the text?

The Rev. Al Bloom is professor emeritus of religion at the University of Hawai'i.