AW CHRIST, THE PASSION…

I have been telling myself over and over–in hopes that I’ll believe it, perhaps–that “The Passion” will not set off a wave of anti-Semitism. That although it will undoubtedly reinforce those who already hate Jews, it won’t take anyone who doesn’t hate Jews and turn them into anti-Semites. And that people will have the intelligence to realize that it’s just a movie with a singular point of view that is not automatically the truth just because Mel says so.

Then Marc Foxx sent me the following e-mail, forwarded from Robert Seltzer of the American Jewish Committee. It reads:

Subject: This is what we are concerned about….

My AJC Denver colleague reports that outside a church there stands a new, large sign which reads:

The Jews Killed Jesus. Settled.

Having seen the Gibson film, I am not surprised, tho it is shocking.

I have always believed, and still do, that the best response to free speech is more free speech. It is difficult to respond with more free speech, however, if people are coming at you with fists, knives and torches.

This has always been a country brimming with divisiveness, hatred and bigotry. But I don’t think it’s been this prevalent–or this sanctioned at the highest levels–in half a century.

God help you if you’re a marriage-minded Gay Jew.

PAD

174 comments on “AW CHRIST, THE PASSION…

  1. This is what truly freaks me out:

    A friend: I’m going to see “The Passion of the Christ” on Tuesday. My sister can get tickets for just $2!

    Me: Wow… how?

    A friend: Through her church.

    That is, to me, really really really creepy.

  2. There will always be morons whose self-esteem derives from belittling and demonizing others. Whoever put up the sign already believed the “Christ-killers” drek, and so would latch onto anything that might in any way seem to support that view. Most likely the person who made up the sign hasn’t even seen the movie, and is instead working on expectations drummed up over a month ago.

    While one can’t completely ignore this sort of thing, it’s a mistake to give it too much attention. Mel and company will almost undoubtedly be continuing to work overtime to dispute any such interpretation of the film. I don’t get the impression that he’s looking to market the DVD in 10 months with the tagline “See the film that lynched 1000 Jews.”

  3. i don’t think your anti-free speach I just think your anti-religion.

    Fight club had a better chance of setting off a revolution then the passion.

    Get over it

  4. I have GOT to go with YOU, on this one, Peter. I’ve seen the movie…is it brutal? Yes. Is it the truth? WHO but God and Christ himself, can really say? I am not now, nor have I ever been, anti-semitic. Seeing this movie did not make that way, either.

    Because, in the end, as Peter says…it’s just a MOVIE, folks. Mel Gibson is NOT recognized as some “Prophet of the Truth”, for God’s sake. He makes movies, plain and simple.

    By the way, I don’t let so-called “stars” tell em how to vote, either. Does that make me ~different~, PAD? LOL.

    Until later.

  5. Mel’s a member of such a “devout” sect of Catholicism that he’s been quoted as saying something about his Episcopalian wife being the most wonderful, sweet, caring, charitable saintly soul he’s ever known….and it’s such a shame she won’t be in Heaven with him. And isn’t it nice that Daddy Gibson has denied the Holocaust? What happened to the Polish Jews? Are they on vacation in Miami during the 1940’s?

    I am not amused.

  6. NO doubt about it, Jay. Hutton Gibson (Mel’s Dad) is one STRANGE guy with some drastically skewed views of the world. If Mel wants to follow in Dad’s foot steps, then that’s up to him. Note, though, I am NOT berating either man’s religious views nor their rights to have those views…I just don’t happen to agree with them, either.

  7. Kalev: In think it’s a mistake to view the film as anti-Semitism. That church groups would support it makes perfect sense, as the focus of the film is supposed to be on the sacrifice of Jesus.

    (Please keep in mind that I was raised Roman Catholic, came all the way up through all the ceremonies and attended Catholic schools through high school, but have been an agnostic with strong atheistic leanings most of my life. To me it’s mostly fable with some underlying historical elements.)

    The focus of this film (much as with THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST several years back) is to focus on Jesus as a man. So much of the mainstream has presented him walking the Earth as a glowing, almost ethereal figure, and what films like this are trying to do is re-emphasize that regardless of what happened eventually, he lived and died as a man. The alternative is having Jesus be nothing more than God playing dress-up. The doubt, the terror, the pain of the sacrifice are what make it a sacrifice.

    For me, the sickest thing about comparing the two films is that there was more of an outcry against TEMPTATION among the faithful, apparently because whereas PASSION emphasizes the bloody pain, TEMPTATION dared to suggest that he had sexual urges.

    What a country.

  8. OK Let me see if I have this straight. Some people hate the Jews because the Jews killed Jesus. Now Jesus was a Jew so do they hate Jesus too. Lets remember that Jesus forgave his killers. All us sinners killed Jesus.

  9. I hate to flail a deceased equine, but…

    As a devout Christian, I cannot sit idly by while someone mouths such nonsense as, “The Jews killed Jesus.”

    The Jews did not kill Jesus.

    We did.

    All of us – all of humanity, all the whole squabbling, hating, sinful bunch of us – made the Crucifixion necessary. Only the torture, humiliation, and death of God’s only Son was a huge enough sacrifice to pay for the sins of an entire species.

    All of you who espouse violence – you killed Christ.

    All of you who would deny others rights you reserve to yourselves – you killed Christ.

    All of you who see love, and want to kill it because you disapprove of who is doing the loving – you killed Christ.

    All of us who know how to do right, yet continue to do wrong (and that’s everybody, folks) – we killed Christ.

    The Jews and Romans were just the people present at the actual event.

  10. Not to belittle Peter’s concerns, but until there are news reports of Passion-inspired hate crimes, I’d be a little wary about giving too much weight to this one letter. There will always be bigots and hate-mongers and just plain clueless folks who will use whatever’s convenient to justify their ignorance; The Passion is merely the convenience du jour.

    No, I have not seen the movie, nor am I Jewish nor Christian. But one report of one idiot does not a trend make.

  11. Who’s going to see this movie? It’s too violent for the average church-going America, and it’s too solemn to satisfy slasher fans. I have a friend who saw it at the Butnumbathon. As Jesus was being slashed by a venal-looking hooked whip, he went out for ten minutes to take a break and check his car. When he came back Jesus was still getting slashed. I don’t see what audience it’s for. Maybe FCC Chairman Powell’s family.

  12. First off I’m not racist, anit-semetic or anything else like that that springs to mind. I hate everyone! (old, but I like it)

    That’s the problem with the human race, we as a whole are incapable of living up to the ideals of our religions, all the faiths I can think of advocate peace and tolerance and respect for others. And yet there have always been wars et al in the name of whichever god takes somebodies fancy. The idea of religion is good but we just aren’t mature enough as a speices to be able to handle it, the sad thing is that if we ever evolve enough to cope with religion we’ll most likley have outgrown the need for it.

    Also, Has hollywood actualy made a film that is meant to be fact based and not completely re-written history? Yeah right, That’ll be the day! And before you start on, I know their job is to entertain not to educate, but come on they can do both at the same time, or are the vast majority of Americans so self obsessed that they realy think the U.S. is the center of the universe?

  13. The Jews killeed Jesus? I thought the Romans killed jesus and they had all sorts of gods and godesses

  14. apparently all of these people seem to forget that Jesus was in fact Jewish in the first place

  15. Got no intentions of seeing it. A New York Times critic, I think it was, said that this film crushes hope, and isn’t inspiring at all. There are probably some S&M freaks who’ll go see this for prurient reasons unrelated to any theological views they may hold.

    Jesus — if he existed — was a Jew. I think the most likely story is what’s found in Thomas Jefferson’s translation of the Bible, which ends with his death. And I think that if he heard all the trinitarian ideology that came along later, he’d laugh or cry.

  16. And at this point, it becomes relevant, proper and necessary to share what my mother once said to a prosletyzing Baptist:

    “At my age, I’m interested in any man who can come twice.”

    I love my mother. :^>

  17. I don’t know if it’s part of a “wave” but I can see how you’d find it disturbing. I hope that you’re wrong about this, Peter. We’ve already got too many thing deviding us in this poor sad world of ours.

    Irony time: I currently have in front of me, this weeks issue of Newsweek. In their Perspective section there is a quote by Hutton Gibson on the Holocaust. It reads, “It’s all–maybe not all fiction–but most of it is.” People like that are frightening.

  18. You think that marriage-minded gay jews have it bad? Some of my friends are marriage-minded gay pagans. For a “melting-pot of the world,” Our Nation (under whichever deity you see fit) has never been particularly tolerant one.

  19. As a matter of historical fact, there’s not question who killed Jesus – it was the Romans. Crucifixion was reserved by the Romans for their highest crimes, and the Jewish authorities could pass a death sentence – only it was death by stoning.

    This film does perpetuate the basic historical error single most responsible for perpetuating anti-Semitism – that the Jewish people (either a group or as a whole) were responsible for Jesus’s death. Pilate executed Jesus in all likelihood for crimes against the state; his entrance into Jerusalem was likely interpreted as an attempt to foment revolt against Roman rule. While The Passion may not – in and of itself – be anti-Semitic, it perpetuates the historical myths repsonsible for anti-Semitism.

  20. I won’t give a dime of my money to watch a violent movie in the best of times, but pair it with a point of view that I find offensive? Tis is certainly not the way to get the average person in the theater. Of course, many people will go see it just to find out what all the controversy is all about. Let’s hope the unstable personalities who may be swayed by this propoganda stay at home.

  21. As a Jew, as a human being and as a person who takes responsibilty for my own actions, I can say with absolute certainty that I did not kill Jesus Christ. I was born some 1,958 years after he was and never even got to Israel until 32 years after that.

    Whether other Jews killed Jesus, again, any evidence is hearsay since I wasn’t there and none of y’all were there either.

    Mel’s film? I hear it is brilliant and brutal and I probably won’t see it – not for any boycott but simply because I’m not interested. I know the story. I know how it turns out.

    Don’t get me wrong. I have utmost respect for the messages that Jesus taught his followers. I have tons of respect for those who follow the precepts of their religion even when they’re NOT in church.

    But like PAD, I’ve got a bad feelin’ in my bones about some ignorant people who might like to use this movie as an excuse to justify a new wave of anti-semitism.

    I hope we’re both wrong.

  22. Oh my gosh, there are bigots…IN AMERICA?!?

    Having seen the film this morning, which is more than Peter David seems to be able to say, I can comfortably state that the film is not antisemitic in any way, shape or form. Those who wish to be offended will be offended, regardless of what is or is not in the film.

    Antisemites can get a hard-on for a Jew-bash when the wind blows in the right direction, so it seems wrongheaded to point the finger of blame at a film that’s surprisingly evenhanded in its treatment of all parties involved in the Gospel narrative.

  23. As a Christian, I’ve never seen the point of anti-Semitism. After all, Jesus was born a Jew- from the line of David, lived life as a Jew, came first to the Jewish people, died a Jew and on the third day rose again- still a Jew. We Christians are the adopted children of the promise made to Abraham.

    If I believe that Jesus died for my sins so I may go to heaven, why does it matter who killed Christ?

  24. I haven’t seen the film myself, but doesn’t it stand to reason that if the movie is considered anti-Semitic, then shouldn’t the source material itself be considered the same? I’ve always disagreed with the idea of blaming something for the way it’s interpreted by radicals.

    Let us also not forget that if there are Christians that blame Jews for killing Christ, then the RC church itself should accept some responsibility for this. As recently as the late 1800s the Vatican was openly advocating the idea that Jews carry a collective guilt for Christ’s crucifiction.

  25. I just saw this movie today, and speaking as someone who is agnostic. I didn’t find it all that great.

    I liked CBS’ Jesus mini series from a few years ago better.

    Come to think of it, I don’t remember anyone crying antisemitism back then, and truthfully, there wasn’t much difference between Mel’s version and that version.

    Except to say that the CBS version went more in depth about who Jesus was and what he was destined to do.

  26. This is very disheatening to hear about. Although, in truth, these bigots don’t need a movie to set them off – it just presents an excuse to them. Which really is just sad. That society feels the need to be inexpressive just becuase there are idiots without a lick of sense or morality.

    I have to admit I haven’t seen the film, but from the few clips I’ve seen, it looks like a very well made, and an inspiring movie. I was surprised to hear how much was apparently displayed accurately. I know the Bible didn’t go into every detail, and every blood-soaked moment, but we do have historical knowlege about what dying on the cross involved. (The cross was just the end of the ordeal) It isn’t known as the most painful form of execution for no reason.

    To me, with the level of detail and vision, this movie wasn’t thrown out there just to inflame bigots.

    I suppose the concept of not letting the movie release crossed everybody’s mind’s? Correct? Well, I think that would have been just as big a disaster – fueling thoughts that Jews stopped the movie. Really, in the end, it’s an no-win situation. Idiots will find ANY reason to do these horrible things.

    Then again maybe I’m wrong. Maybe society simply needs to give up freedom of expression, just to tow down to the violent acts of hate mongers. Either which was this is sad.

    Please tell Mr. Seltzer that our prayers are with him, that such acts like this won’t happen again.

  27. to quote the above comment ‘as recently as the late 1800’s the Vatican was openly advocating the idea that Jews carry a collective guilt for Christ’s crucifiction’ That was over a hundred years ago at the least, and what bugs me about how people harp on with religion is that the past is persistently found to be the driving force of these inter-religious frictions. (not that i’m taking it out on B. Vladimir mind, just an example situation he mentioned) How many people who bûggër on about how so and so wronged so and so a thousand years ago and that’s why we should kill all (fill-in-the-blanks) actually talk about the future? For their people, for their religion, for their planet? We can argue over what happened and why over the crucifiction et al until we build a bloody time machine, then go back and check it out, but for now how about a little living in the present? Maybe even thinking about the future.

    we’re all human, we ALL f**k up, we all need to get over ourselves and look forward as well as back.

  28. I’m not a Roman Catholic myself, but it’s my understanding from discussions with some online thta the Roman Catholic church didn’t actually abandon the “collective guilt” idea until the Second Vatican Council, in (I believe) 1968.

    That was rather less than a hundred years ago – although if you’re still intent on sweeping it under the rug, I guess you could point out that it was during the last century – or even the last millennium…

  29. Me, I just don’t get any of it. See… I was raised atheisist. Up until recently I knew about religons but I didn’t understand the need for them. It wasn’t until reading, oddly enough Supergirl of all things, that I understood why some people even NEEDED a god. I mean why believe in perfect thing that sits in judgement of you especially one who no matter what you do, you can never live up to? Or one that you can never live up to but he forgives almost everyone for anything? Or one that created everything and then doesn’t do anything? I mean really, what’s the point. Then I realized that those same gods also, somehow, gave people hope. Made them want to be some something more than themselves. Me, I find the ability to be more than myself through my friends and family.

    Thus whenever I see any story about members of one religion hating another, well, it makes me sick. Mainly because, if I’m right all the anger, hatred, and loss of life is for nothing. That all of it, and I do mean all of it, is just a sick joke.

  30. Ditto to Jonathan’s post. That’s Christianity in a nutshell. As a wee little Catholic, I was taught that the Crucifixion of the Savior was God’s Will. That’s where the buck stops. Any “Christians” looking to say otherwise are just looking for a reason to hate. If the press can just control themselves and report news instead of inciting it, maybe this can blow over quickly.

  31. I’m gonna see this movie. I want to base MY judgements about it on the actual work, not just what someone else has said on the talking-heads shows.

    But I have to give credit to the Jewish groups out there, they have gotten everyone to worry about the response that will come about because of The Passion. Hopefully the movie will make people think more about how things are spun, and how public opinion can be swayed, without the majority having seen the material that is being discussed.

    Again, I haven’t seen the movie, yet, but I will, and at that time I’ll make the decisions about what has been said.

    Maybe more people should do that.

  32. Agreeing with Janice here…I went to Catholic school for a grand total of 12 years, and I can say with pretty certainly that I was taught Jesus’ “dying for our sins” was a good thing. If Jesus didn’t die in that way (meaning if he lived a full life and died of natural causes)…then God’s plan wouldn’t have been brought to fruition. So assuming everything catholics and christians learn from our religion is true, it shouldnt be a question of who we should blame, but who we should thank.

    Mike

  33. Anyone who holds a grudge against an entire people for something that happpened long before anyone doing the blaming or being accused was born is just plain stupid. I don’t care how important Jesus may or may not have been (depending on your faith or lack thereof), no one alive today was there or involved. So, blaming the Jews, blaming the Romans, blaming the shaved sasquatches and their infernal ufo’s is pointless. It’s kind of like some black people who’s parents aren’t even old enough to have been slaves holding slavery against any white person alive today, despite the fact that said white people weren’t themselves slave owners, and some of us don’t even have slave owners in our ancestry. And this is also in spite of how open-minded and completely non-rascist those same white people could be.

    And as far as Mel’s dadyo, he should be (and others of his mindset) sat down in a large room with every still living holocaust survivor for a chat. He is entitled to his (informed) opinion, but blatantly ignoring fact and history is another issue.

    Monkeys.

  34. This has been brewing for over a year. Mel promised to remove scenes and they’re STILL in the film. While I knew Mel’s dad Hutton was “off” – it’s sad that his brand of HATE spanned both generations. Hutton has been condemned by sensible Christians. (http://www.wfn.org/2004/02/msg00160.html).

    AOLers likely know of my opinion of “Jesus” — & I don’t think Jews can be blamed for the death of an imaginary person. That won’t stop those full of hate.

    – Alan AKA Sparky

  35. There are some things about the Passion that should be recognized. from Newsday, on the 23rd of february:

    http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/news/ny-p2twoside3682268feb23,0,1496034.story

    (i will reproduce key points, head to newsday.com to read the whole article)

    The mystical visions of Sister Anne Catherine Emmerich (1774-1824) are the basis of some of the more stunning, non-biblical scenes in Gibson’s movie – from Jesus’ confrontation with Satan in the Garden of Gethsemane, to the explicit details of his scourging by Roman guards, to a crucifixion scene in which his arm is pulled out of its socket, according to a reading of her work.

    Gibson has said that he based his film in part on the visions of Sister Anne Catherine Emmerich recorded in “The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ.”

    Emmerich’s 19th century biographer, the Rev. C.E. Schmoeger, wrote about how she had one vision of an “old Jewess Meyr,” who confessed to her “that Jews in our country and elsewhere strangled Christian children and used their blood for all sorts of suspicious and diabolical practices.”

    Gibson, who carries a relic of Emmerich in the form of a faded piece of cloth from her habit, vehemently rejects characterizations of the nun as anti-Semitic. “Why are they calling her a Nazi?” he is quoted by New Yorker writer Peter Boyer as saying. “Because modern secular Judaism wants to blame the Holocaust on the Catholic Church. And it’s revisionism. And they’ve been working on that one for a while.”

    I dunno, but basing your non-gospel stuff in the movie on the words of a nun who propogated blood-libel seems a little iffy to me.

  36. I’m curious: Has any other religious film about the last days of Jesus been hated and protested so much? I tend to think that folks have such hated notions will just find this film as an excuse to express their hatred. Weren’t we supposed to be above this?

  37. oops… copy and paste that link into your browser, i dont know why it didt make the whole thing clickable.

  38. The worst thing to do is judge a group by it’s exterme elements.

    Just because some bozo put a sign out like that doesn’t mean all Christians feel that way!

    I guess one might as well judge all Muslims for Osama’s theology and subsequent deeds and so on.

    Oh and since they started it:

    **Brian: There’s no pleasing some people.

    Beggar: That’s what Jesus said. **

  39. Denise wrote:

    If I believe that Jesus died for my sins so I may go to heaven, why does it matter who killed Christ?

    I know it’s rude to waste time and bandwidth to say that I agree, but… what she said.

    Seems to me that, if anyone really wants to say that the Jews were responsible for Christ’s death (and how on earth can you blame a whole people for something like that?*), they shouldn’t be too upset about it anyway — if He hadn’t been killed (regardless of who’s responsible), it seems that we’d be missing an important part of that “died for our sins” thing.

  40. The worst thing to do is judge a group by it’s exterme elements.

    Just because some bozo put a sign out like that doesn’t mean all Christians feel that way!

    Amen (no religious pun intended), Zeek. And kudos on quoting Life of Brian—I was just about to.

    That said, I suggest that whatever we hear about an church posting a anti-Semetic message has come to us through a second-hand email posted on the Internet (and the quoting of it is in fact the classic ‘friend of a friend’ format).

    I’d treat this ‘sighting’ as suspect until proven otherwise.

    After all, everybody knows you can’t believe a message was actually on a church board until you see it with your own two eyes, or if you see it at 8PM (7PM central) Sunday nights on Fox.

  41. It would definitely be a shame if anti-Semitism was the result of anyone seeing this movie. I hope Mel doesn’t mean it that way as the Bible speaks of the Jews as God’s chosen people. After all, Jesus was a Jew.

    This movie focuses on such a small part of what Jesus really did for us. I am concerned that it doesn’t present the whole picture of the good news and true hope of the gospel. I would like to present a few verses from the Bible that shed more light on the subject.

    “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23

    “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23

    “No one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” John 3:3

    “”I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’” John 14:6

    “If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, ‘Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.’” Romans 10:9-11

    “He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who dies for them and was raised again.” 2 Corinthians 5:15

    “’Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.’” Revelation 3:20

    Some closing questions to think about:

    Are you a sinner?

    Do you want forgiveness

    for your sins?

    Do you believe Jesus dies on

    the cross for you and

    rose again?

    Are you willing to surrender

    your life to Christ?

    Are you ready to invite

    Jesus into your life

    and into your heart?

    If the answer to these questions is “Yes,” here is a prayer:

    Heavenly Father, I have sinned against You. I want forgiveness for all my sins. I believe that Jesus died on the cross for me and rose again. Father, I give You my life to do with as You wish. I want Jesus Christ to come into my life and into my heart. This I ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.

  42. This has always been a country brimming with divisiveness, hatred and bigotry. But I don’t think it’s been this prevalent–or this sanctioned at the highest levels–in half a century.

    God help you if you’re a marriage-minded Gay Jew.

    PAD

    Peter, just what do you mean by the “highest levels” here? Are you suggesting that just one anti-Semitic sign on one church constitutes bigotry sanctioned on a “high level”. Seems like a stretch to me.

    >God help you if you’re a marriage->minded Gay Jew.

    It could be worse. You could live in a European democracy where the anti-Semitism is much more prevalent and the government doesn’t aid Israel in its efforts to, well, exist. And you probably still wouldn’t be able to marry someone of the same sex, although that’s not quite the painful life-threatening bummer that anti-Semitic violence is. Or you could live in a dictatorship. I imagine that would be much worse.

    Hey, maybe America’s not such a bad place after all.

    -Dave O’Connell

  43. Not gonna see the movie. No interest in it. The subject matter isn’t exactly my favorite mythology, particularly in light of the behavior of some of the more agressive modern followers of it.

    That said, a local church member (not the church…a single member) bought out an entire movie theatre to the tune of $42,000 for his fellow church-goers to be able to see the movie at a midnight showing.

    The local media has covered such screenings and the high attendance of the “faithful” with the attitude of, “Ain’t this great, that all these people are coming together to see this story that means so much to them.”

    The same local media, when big-name, highly anticipated movies such as //Star Wars// have equally long lines for midnight shows and high attendance on opening day (or, for that matter, attendance at the few local comic conventions), cover it with the attitude of, “Hey, folks, look at the weirdos wasting their time and energy over this stuff.”

    Maybe if Lucas titles Episode III “The Passion of the Jedi….”

  44. “Posted by Karen @ 02/25/2004 08:26 PM ET

    I won’t give a dime of my money to watch a violent movie in the best of times, but pair it with a point of view that I find offensive?”

    Wow…way to keep an open mind. Wouldn’t want to judge something before we see it, would we?

    People, go see the movie for yourself, and make up your own mind. Remember, this type of thinking can (and is) carried over to TV and Comics. Remember how upset everyone here was about CBS not airing the Reagans? Yet I see people here condeming the movie without seeing it themself. A closed mind is a very very small mind.

    As for the story of the church marquee, I find that very hard to believe. If I see it myself, or in the news, then I will believe it. I remember post 911 there were emails about arabic owned or staffed gas stations being burned down. A couple of news sites actually ran these as facts. Turned out, there was no basis for the truth. It’s something that sounds like it COULD happen, so people are eager to believe it.

    Jerry

  45. During the first vatican council from AD 322 to AD 324, many aspects of modern christianity were cast. Which books would appear in the bible, which would not, and whether Christ was divine. I sometimes wonder what our world would have like if the vote on Christs’ devinity had gone the other way.

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