ABSTRACT
Mel Gibson and the many critics of his film, The Passion of the Christ, have generated fresh public interest in what are actually age-old questions, ones that have occupied western culture for two millennia: why was Jesus put to death? What is the significance of his death? What stands out about the circumstances around his death? For Gibson, the answer to the last question is clear. He underscores the brutality and violence surrounding it. Critics, such as the New Yorker’s film critic David Denby, find this focus dangerously misguided. He emphasizes instead what he calls Jesus’s personal radiance, which shines especially brightly in the face of authority and death (Denby 2004: 84).
