WHY EVANGELICALS ARE CHEERING A PROFOUNDLY CATHOLIC MOVIE

By David Neff – Christianity Today, February 20, 2004

Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ—steeped in pre–Vatican II Catholic devotion—has ignited extraordinary enthusiasm among evangelicals. Why?

Though shaped by mystic Anne Catherine Emmerich’s visions, devotion to Mary, and intense focus on Christ’s wounds, the film powerfully affirms classical Christian truths evangelicals hold dear:

The Reality of Evil

Satan tempts Jesus in Gethsemane—not as a grotesque villain, but as a beautiful, veiled woman whose robe conceals a serpent. Jesus crushes its head—a visual echo of Genesis 3:15. Gibson told pastors: “Evil masquerades. If your antennae are up, you’ll detect it.”

Personal Culpability and Atonement

When accused of anti-Semitism, Gibson replied: “For culpability, look to yourself. I look to myself.” In a striking moment, Gibson himself (off-camera) hammers the nails into Christ’s hands—symbolizing his own responsibility for the Cross.

The Necessity of Blood Sacrifice

The film’s brutality is theological, not gratuitous: “In the Old Covenant, blood was required. In the New, blood was required. Jesus could’ve pricked His finger—but He went all the way.” Gibson affirms Leviticus 17:11: “It is the blood that makes atonement.”

Contemplative Engagement

Gibson calls the film “contemplative—not a documentary, but an invitation to remember… in a way that cannot be articulated, only experienced.” Its structure mirrors the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary—encouraging meditation on Christ’s suffering.

For Gibson, the project was salvific: emerging from “emptiness, regret, despair,” he turned again to prayer—and “went to the wounds of Christ to heal my own wounds.”

One viewer summed it up: “I’m sorry. I forgot.”