Guest Editorial: Ten Reasons Not to See “The Passion of the Christ,”

It is a fact widely ignored, though never without danger, that error rarely appears for what it really is. It is by mingling with or attaching itself to truth that it gains acceptance. The eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evil caused the ruin of our first parents, and the acceptance of a mingling of good and evil is the ruin of men and women today. The mind that depends upon the judgment of others is certain, sooner or later, to be misled. (Ellen G, White, Education , p. 230).

I have found ten reasons why this Hollywood production should not be seen.

1. Based on the reviews which I have read and had related to me, it is not faithful to the Bible account.
1. It is a glorification of Mary (very Catholic in this). In nearly every review, it is Mary that is mentioned along with Jesus.
2. It invents scenes that are not in the Bible (Mary's flashbacks, and Veronica, for examples).
3. It does not take into account the additional light from the Spirit of Prophecy insights.
2. It is a gross and complete mischaracterization of the death of Christ.
1. It cannot depict the wrath of God against sin. Christ's death is not only about the wrath of man against God, but the wrath of God against sin. This is not about a man who died a horrible first death, but about God's Son, who suffered the second death.
2. It is a false representation of Jesus. NO human can correctly portray Christ with His looks of genuine love, sorrow, compassion, forgiveness, peace, humility, etc. The “jesus” this movie portrays is the “jesus” invented by Satan to prepare the masses to accept him when he counterfeits Christ's coming. This is an impure, unclean, imperfect “jesus” that could be acceptable only by those who do not know the real Jesus.
3. It cannot begin to reveal the real suffering of Christ, which was not physical, but primarily the suffering of love from a broken heart. It can not portray the real suffering of Christ and His Father at the separation sin caused between them. It cannot reveal the anguish of Christ as He sees Satan taking control of those He is dying to save. It cannot show the pain that Jesus experienced whenever He witnessed sin, the pain even He never fully concealed.
4. It can not portray the depth of passion and hate of the Jewish leadership nor the frenzy of the mob, whipped up by Satanic beings in human form.
5. It can not properly portray the followers of Jesus with the full emotions of utter disillusionment, surprise, disappointment, and depression.
6. It can not depict the terror and guilt of the multitudes as the earthquake strikes, nor the judgments of God against the city of Jerusalem as the lightening flashes moved from Calvary to Jerusalem.
7. It does not portray the searching of Scripture that the death of Christ engendered, nor does the movie, create a thirst for Bible study.
3. It appeals to the “feelings” of the viewers.
1. Viewers may confuse a sense of sympathy for Jesus for a genuine religious experience built on faith. Jesus warned the women weeping for Him, “Weep not for Me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children” (Luke 23:28).
2. Viewers may also confuse an emotional high, with tears, for a genuine surrender of the life to Jesus. When the high wears off, as it will, viewers ever after may seek further emotional highs and consider nothing less than this to be a genuine experience. Viewers may be less responsive to the genuine gospel story and consider it boring, since it doesn't stimulate the senses in a sensational (and harmful) way (see #7 below).
4. It confuses the external appearance for internal reality.
1. It may harm the actors by deluding them into believing they are doing something very wonderful and spiritual. Instead of spending their time in developing Christlike characters, they spend their time in mere externals, speaking a dead language, dressing up in “ancient” dress styles, etc.
2. It may harm viewers by encouraging an external exactness to form in place of a living faith. Thus the director, Mel Gibson, had a daily mass on site, so the work would be “squeaky clean.”
5. It turns the gospel, which Jesus says must be preached, into a another “gospel” which can be acted.
1. It does not lay the axe at the root of the tree, condemning the Hollywood system, rather it suggests that the Hollywood system is fine and can and should be used by the church to convert the world.
2. It suggests that Hollywood methods, with actors, theaters, advertising and public relation approaches are a solution, not a problem.
3. But the result will not be the conversion of the world to the church, but further conversion of the church to the world.
6. Instead of founding a sacrificial ministry, this movie turns the greatest Gift, freely offered, into a money-making business.
1. The money expended to view this movie is lost to the cause of God. It does not feed the hungry, clothe the naked, or advance the cause of God. The profits from this movie will be used to strengthen the hold of Hollywood on our nation and the world. It will help theaters stay open and actors continue their acting careers.
2. It seeks the approbation of religious leaders to further a marketing plan.
3. We should never forget that it was religious leaders who led the people to crucify Jesus. Could the religious leaders be performing the same function again?
7. It appeals to the voyeuristic instincts and morbid curiosity of man who delight to see the “unusual” and view violence and crime. The movie may cause deep emotional scarring to some who view it.
1. If a prophet warned of “highly wrought” written descriptions, what should our concern be for “highly wrought” visual scenes? “There are statements and pen-pictures which set the imagination upon a train of thought that has been deleterious and positively injurious. These highly-wrought pictures have taken hold of nervous, susceptible youth, and they have lived them over and over again in imagination. It has destroyed appetite for the Bible, and the desire to attend prayer-meetings; for everything was stale and without interest after feasting upon the diet found in this book [Uncle Tom's Cabin]. The food taken into the mind was of such a character that heavenly and divine things found no place in the thoughts, and the imaginations were evil.… This laid the foundations for a train of evils, and the imaginations became intensely excited, and the thoughts would recur again and again to immoral subjects which led to sin of licentiousness and impurity, to disobedience, to secret plannings, and to deception.” (Ellen G. White, Manuscript Releases, vol. 6, p. 257).
2. The result will be a hardening of hearts and a further preparation of the public to enjoy the persecution of saints. It will make viewers less appreciative of a simple Bible study. Like spicy foods or amphetamines, this will make people demand more sensational entertainment to stimulate and temporarily satisfy them.
3. The commanding angels refused to watch the agonies of the son of God, should we?
4. God Himself surrounded His son with darkness to hide His expiring suffering, should this not be respected?
8. It particularly breaks down the barriers between the Southern Baptists and other evangelicals, who are actively promoting it, and the Catholics who produced it, thus hastening the union of Catholic and Protestant, and lessening our days to freely give the genuine gospel.
9. Jesus warned that in the future false “christs” would arise and deceive many. He warned us not to go to see these popular and acclaimed “christs.” If we go to movies, simply because lots of people go, and many leaders, even confused Adventist leaders recommend it, are we setting ourselves up to continue to blindly follow others and ultimately accept the greatest actor of all time, Satan, when he comes as “jesus?”
10. With the clear instruction Adventists have been given we place ourselves on Satan's ground when we view such a movie. Like Eve, who tried the fruit from the forbidden tree, we will be deceived and used by Satan to deceive others. When God tells us not to do something, but we decide we will go see it, to see if it is harmful, we are placing ourselves above God. Satan can easily fool us.

In closing, consider this remarkable inspired statement: “I tell you now that you must have divine enlightenment. If you do not seek this, Satan will set up his hellish banner right in your homes, and you will be so blinded to the real nature of his deceptions that you reverence it as the banner of Christ. If you seek God with contrition of soul, His angels will be round about you, and will minister to you, helping you to discern between the sacred and the common. But a nominal faith, a nominal religion, will find no favor with God.” (Ellen G. White, 1888 Materials, p. 505).

Phil Mills, MD is a Loma Linda School of Medicine graduate, 1975. He took his residency in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation from Ohio State University, finishing in 1979. A fellowship in outpatient Physical Medicine at Kettering Medical Center completed his medical training. He is board certified in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and Electroneurodiagnostic Medicine. He is in private practice and is on the faculty of Kansas University School of Medicine. Combining a busy medical practice with outreach, he serves as the head elder of his church. He is active in giving Bible studies locally and seminars nationally. He assists with a family project of My Bible First, a rapidly growing ministry producing Sabbath school materials for cradle roll kindergarten, and primary.