Hollywood movies come and go. Those on religious themes often cause consternation and controversy. Some of these even open interreligious wounds that thankfully have begun to heal. One such, ‘ The Passion’ by Mel Gibson, is making money out of the pain.

For the Christian there is nothing new here. No new inspiration or theological insight, just the familiar stuff of passion plays and endless Good Fridays but with an overdose blood and gore.

Of course Hollywood’s obsession for violence is abhorrent. We can only pray for our society whose insatiable appetite for blood and horror defines this particular genre. That the beautiful story of Jesus is reduced to 2 hrs of pain and agony is regrettable. As we know the ‘victim’ Jesus is only a part of the story. With no reference to his life, his ministry his teaching and only a fleeting image of the resurrection just before the credits roll, the story is sadly skewed.

Wounds have been opened between some Protestant churches and their Catholic counterparts. The film is shaped on the five Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary and its stark Counter Reformation images would please both a Grunewald and a Rubens. ‘This is not how it was’ cried the Protestant Reformers. ‘This is how it was’ says today’s Pope – and ironically many evangelicals step in line and claim Mel’s version as the hottest evangelical tool since Christian bumper stickers. Even the nails and the artefacts, once treasured in Catholic devotion, now become the ‘have to have’ merchandise of the Gibson epic.

And then whether or not Gibson or his father has any intention to attack the Jews, it is our Jewish community that has experienced the pain. Old wounds have opened and in some parts of the world there has been an upsurge in anti Semitism. That the ‘assassination of Christ’ opens a few days after the assassination of Sheik Yassein is unfortunate timing for our Jewish brother and sisters.  The film ‘traditionally’ portrays the Jews as a bloodthirsty mob who forced an eminently reasonable Roman leader to allow Jesus to be crucified. There is no more anti-Semitism here than is suggested in the gospel accounts and in every school passion play. But Christians must take the opportunity to repeat our teaching that Jesus died for (because of) the sins of the world and to hold one person or one race of people eternally culpable for the death of God is theological nonsense. We might also remind our Jewish friends that the one, who through divine grace was able to walk the path of sacrificial love, was taught and nurtured in their community of faith.

Anglicans have a proud history of holding the space between Protestant and Catholic, between Jew and Gentile. We will not allow one American movie threaten ecumenical or interfaith relations. ‘The Passion’ requires a strong stomach and a thoughtful and prayerful response and a reminder that after all the debate – it is just another Hollywood movie.

John Oliver.